Banned for Gardening?
My Condolences
I normally would not make a post in reaction to FFXI news, but I felt that this was a good exception.
Banned for Gardening?
(Thread 1)
(Thread 2)
(Thread 3)
(Thread 4)
Recently, there was another wave of RMT bannings that focused on characters using a gardening NPC method of making gil. In SE's attempt to ban RMT using this method (note: not what most would typically call an exploit, just a legit farming method on a massive scale), they banned many actual players without notice, labeling them as RMT. It's actually a very interesting situation as how to distinguish real players from RMTs can be somewhat difficult - especially when you consider most large scale gardening occurs on mule accounts, which don't produce typical chat logs.
As an LM-17 myself, I definitely sympathize with those affected, especially since what they supposedly got banned for is pretty much impossible to label as an exploit or "cheat". Unlike the January Salvage bans, which was clearly targeting real players using what is pretty much the very definition of cheating in an MMORPG (duping), it seems in this instance, real players just got caught in the crossfire between SE's Special Task Force and RMT. Either way - deserved or not - I know the feeling of waking up one day only to find that you will never see your beloved account again.
If anyone reading this is one of the affected, it may pain you immensely to read this, but in the end, I can draw many parallels between the LM-17s of this gardening ban and the January Salvage bans. Though one group clearly cheated, while the other group did something benign, ultimately we are both examples of the fact that we do not own or control our accounts. As the ToS clearly states, you can be banned "for any reason, or no reason," at any time.
As I stated months earlier, throw online morality out the window. You are not in real life with laws to protect you from being potentially screwed over by what you perceive to be unfair. The ToS is not capatable with law because in life, the law is written to protect its citizens - the ToS is written to protect SE, not you. Debating what is fair or unfair makes for an interesting forum debate, but ultimately, it just doesn't matter in the world of Vana'diel.
TL;DR Version:
As hard as it may be, don't take this game or your characters too seriously. I promise you - the guys that really own your account don't.
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__________________________________________________________________________________________________
I normally would not make a post in reaction to FFXI news, but I felt that this was a good exception.
Banned for Gardening?
(Thread 1)
(Thread 2)
(Thread 3)
(Thread 4)
Recently, there was another wave of RMT bannings that focused on characters using a gardening NPC method of making gil. In SE's attempt to ban RMT using this method (note: not what most would typically call an exploit, just a legit farming method on a massive scale), they banned many actual players without notice, labeling them as RMT. It's actually a very interesting situation as how to distinguish real players from RMTs can be somewhat difficult - especially when you consider most large scale gardening occurs on mule accounts, which don't produce typical chat logs.
As an LM-17 myself, I definitely sympathize with those affected, especially since what they supposedly got banned for is pretty much impossible to label as an exploit or "cheat". Unlike the January Salvage bans, which was clearly targeting real players using what is pretty much the very definition of cheating in an MMORPG (duping), it seems in this instance, real players just got caught in the crossfire between SE's Special Task Force and RMT. Either way - deserved or not - I know the feeling of waking up one day only to find that you will never see your beloved account again.
If anyone reading this is one of the affected, it may pain you immensely to read this, but in the end, I can draw many parallels between the LM-17s of this gardening ban and the January Salvage bans. Though one group clearly cheated, while the other group did something benign, ultimately we are both examples of the fact that we do not own or control our accounts. As the ToS clearly states, you can be banned "for any reason, or no reason," at any time.
As I stated months earlier, throw online morality out the window. You are not in real life with laws to protect you from being potentially screwed over by what you perceive to be unfair. The ToS is not capatable with law because in life, the law is written to protect its citizens - the ToS is written to protect SE, not you. Debating what is fair or unfair makes for an interesting forum debate, but ultimately, it just doesn't matter in the world of Vana'diel.
TL;DR Version:
As hard as it may be, don't take this game or your characters too seriously. I promise you - the guys that really own your account don't.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________