Rant warning: Read at your own risk.
The ToS is meant to be a governing agreement between the company (SE) and the end user of the software (the player). SE, in their infinite wisdom (NOT) has decided to use the relevant section as a CYA clause. What it says in a nutshell is that SE is the final arbiter of all disputes, and that the player basically has no recourse whatsoever.
This is, quite disturbing, to say the least. Not that we haven't known it for a while now. We watched as hundreds got the banhammer for the duping incidents.
We knew the affected were guilty in all but a few cases.
Then comes the chargeback bans. Easy fix, right? Except that the next month, players got banned for--surprise--"irregular credit card activity"
Nothing they can do about that, thanks to that magical clause in the ToS.
Fast forward to a month or two later. Now, we're seeing bans for gardening. Some people, yes, got their accounts reinstated (although whether or not those accounts wrongfully banned were swiftly reinstated remains to be seen) but many, unfortunately, have yet to see justice done.
Now we have the CC verification requirement. Far as can be determined, this is being implemented "for our protection".
What the hell? For our protection? From what?
SE has stated that Securecode/Verified By Visa will add "an extra layer of protection to our accounts". Again, protection from what?
Will it stop RMT? No. Since some prepaid cards are covered under one of the relevant programs (rather, other threads would indicate such), what is there to stop a US person affiliated with an RMT group from sending hundreds of cards offshore to finance an RMT operation? The Patriot Act? No...the sole purpose of the act is to prevent the financing of terrorist organizations, and an RMT outfit hardly qualifies.
Is it a needless hassle? Absolutely. We, as the playerbase, fully expected the SE security token to be the final word in account security. Now this? What more will SE require "for our protection"? Social Security numbers? Privileged information? Our mother's grandmother's maiden name? I could go on ad absurdum, but I think the point is made. In this, is SE tacitly admitting to the thought the token may not be enough?
Furthermore, more and more players are being banned for seemingly random reasons. RMT activity? The entire process is run by a completely automated program, with seemingly no human element involved in the process whatsoever--at least not until after the ban is handed down. Irregular credit card activity? People move, play with one more account, or have a spouse/significant other that (surprise) might want their own account to play with but have a single credit/debit card for the purpose. Also--no big surprise here--people play at work and school as well, all relevant argument as to whether they should be aside.
So, the questions here seem to be these: Why are the bans being done at random? Why are the innocent almost invariably caught in the net? What will SE do to rectify these wrongdoings?
Apparently throw a clause of the ToS at the playerbase that says essentially, "we can do what we want, when we want, we don't have to warn you about it, and there's nothing you can do about it."
An American-based company, perhaps even a EU-based company would be smeared all over the news by the next business day. To say such a declaration would instantly make such a company's name mud is, succinctly put, an understatement. Most companies with such an approach to customer service are generally bankrupt in short order.
Yet, SE is a Japanese company. Never admit fault. Do not accept help from the outside. Save face above all. This is their mantra.
SE, in their headlong to eliminate RMT from the game, seems to forget one small thing: Though their base is in Japan, they are also a multinational corporation, doing business in several countries. A customer service approach that works in Japan may or may not work in another country.
If their current approach to customer service is the same approach the company uses in Japan, it most definitely does not work.
We, as the playerbase, deserve answers. We have faithfully given our money to SE for the game month after month, and we deserve more than to have a blanket clause thrown at us for an answer. "We can do whatever" simply will not cut it for those who have done nothing wrong and are still, to this minute, waiting for justice to be served.
We deserve more than the sterotypical Japanese stonewalling.
We deserve, unequivocally, an answer to the nature of these bannings, a revision of the RMT tracking process that includes human oversight to the findings of the automated programs before the bans are handed down.
In theory, that could work as follows: Automated program detects suspicious activity and sends an email to a member of the STF with the relevant findings documented. The STF then decides, based on the information in that email, whether or not to issue a temp ban. As a extra layer of verification, this triggers a review by a supervisor or higher ranking member, and the player is immediately notified (by standard email, since SE has this information) that their account has been banned, cite the specific reason they are being banned, and notify them their account is being automatically reviewed, allowing for a feedback for the player to state their case.
That being said, SE is drastically failing their playerbase by implementing draconian measures and using the ToS to justify them. The customer may or may not always be right, but one thing is defintely true: without customers, there is no SE. We can choose to put SE out of business, regardless of their size, and we can simply do so by choosing to take our money somewhere else.
Sam Walton said the same thing. Here's the thing: those words are true. Without the money of customers, SE goes bankrupt.
We deserve better, SE. Much better.
Edited, Jul 31st 2009 2:06pm by Magicalsquirrel
