My first UO suspension

[JC the Builder]

For having UOGuide listed in my character profile.

After that we conversed some more about how unfair it was. Then I just told him to finish it because it was clear there was no way out without him pressing the suspend button and I don't want to take up important GM time.

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

Sounds like someone was just itching to report you for something, anything. Sheesh.

PS I use UOGuide all the time. Thanks a lot for hosting it!

 

[LeeHarvey]

Yep, you broke the rules. Good to know they are enforcing them.

Dont advertise a URL in Game, pretty simple. Heck he even told you it was because of an advertisement of a sale, of something you dont have any right to sell. Kudos to the GM's.

Thanks I hope you are not the last.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

It's a shame that due to the actions of a small group of people be it malware/trojan hackers, or dupers/exploiters running RMT sales sites that there has to be what basically amounts to a blanket ban on potentially helpful websites by legitimate players.

You got jacked by "zero-tolerance" and the lack of reason and logic that such policies demand.

Just shows that the problem are the exploiters, not what that which people tend to point their fingers.

 

[Halister Marner]

I wish UO would add Stratics/UOguide/UOforums to an approved website list, actioning accounts for linking to sites that help the community seems somehow wrong. Perhaps create a whitelist of links that are acceptable?

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

I have never seen RMT solicitations on UOGuide, but I could be just blind (I am, nearly). I also run AdBlockPlus....but maybe I should not say that since I am depriving Stratics of revenue.

 

[Chad Sexington]

I have never seen RMT solicitations on UOGuide, but I could be just blind (I am, nearly). I also run AdBlockPlus....but maybe I should not say that since I am depriving Stratics of revenue.

I think they're talking about the Item Shoppe.

 

[Blade_Thugluv]

super funny, not that you got banned but that Jeremy even said at the townhall EA has no policy on selling items for reallife cash and that it was perfectly ok. Yet here a player gets banned for a site that has a set of phoenix armor for sell but has a ton of useful UO info.

Hate to say it but EA is super messed up and is losing support. I dont know if i should trust the GM's the Dev Team the EA reps or who they all say something different and none of them are on the same page.

Dev team says something isnt bannable then we get banned for it. Dev team says something is bannable and no one gets banned for it. Bravo!!!

Hey EA/Mytic its called communication!!!!! You should try it sometime before you lose all your player base!

~Blade

 

[Littleblue]

The GM Staff should take a few minutes to review each alleged violation for seriousness and intent. I would think that removing the website address should be enough, especially since you immediately offered to remove it.

I understand why we have to have such regulations since there are unscrupulous people that cannot police themselves. A little more personalized attention from the GM Staff and Customer Service would be very appreciated.

When the only communication involved in every help request and inquiry, regardless of topic, is mostly template emails and copy/paste text, it makes people wonder if the same logic is applied in all situations, including major violations and bannings.

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

I think they're talking about the Item Shoppe.

Ah, found it! That's a classy way to handle it though.

 

[Galad]

Hey EA/Mytic its called communication!!!!! You should try it sometime before you lose all your player base!

At this point, I don't think they really care if they lose their player base. Priorities are elsewhere.

 

[UltimaSword]

Yes!!! UO is a better place......wait a second...... you actually saw a gm!!! Good thing you took pictures! What a rare sight. Did you guys know they only appear for ridiculous reasons and never for anything useful?

 

[LeeHarvey]

The GM Staff should take a few minutes to review each alleged violation for seriousness and intent.

Its obvious they did, the GM told him exactly why he was receiving the suspension. A suspension IS NOT A BANNING. The Gm had to have gone to the site and saw that there where things for sale, pretty easy call.

 

[RoycroftLS]

Rule #8 in the UO Rules of Conduct:

With the exception of the sale of in-game items for in-game items or services, you may not market, promote or advertise anything, or make any other form of solicitation (including pyramid schemes and chain letters) through the Ultima Online service or Ultima Online web site.

So I guess technically you were "advertising" your website through your paperdoll, and since your website had a page where items were listed for US dollars, you were in violation of the rule as it is stated.

Doesn't mean it wasn't a lousy thing for them to enforce the rule so harshly... You are providing a service through your encyclopedia that UO has refused to do themselves for years now. Most people I know go to your website first when they have an in-game question, simply because the UO website is so outdated and uninformative. I hope you will keep your site running in spite of this.

I know some people are calling for a whitelist, and while that may seem like a good idea, it would require more monitoring (i.e. some) than EA is willing to give (i.e. none) at this point in time.

 

[Lord Kynd]

For having UOGuide listed in my character profile.

After that we conversed some more about how unfair it was. Then I just told him to finish it because it was clear there was no way out without him pressing the suspend button and I don't want to take up important GM time.

looks like it was more because your site altho very helpfull also has things for sale, remove that stuff and it should be just like stratic's.

must be a new policy change that for some reason EA/Mythic is keeping hush on there end.. first stratic's changes policy's and now this..

wish they would have done this 10 years ago.

 

[Lord Kynd]

wonder what they do if your guild site has things for sale, say in a forum section.. i would guess the GM's don't sift thru each site.
they one you delt with prolly use's your site so already knew.
it's possiable.

 

[Ash]

Man, sorry to hear that, as I use UOGuide almost as much as Stratics and I never even knew there was an Item Shoppe. There is a huge difference between sites such as UOGuide and sites that only function is selling items/gold.

The sadder part for me is how did this 'gross violation' come to the attention of a GM? Only 2 possibilities i can think of, a highly unlikely scenario where a filtering script is running on ever piece of text spoken or entered into any book or profile, or the idea that griefers are using GMs to do their dirty work.

In the past I don't know how many times I have referred someone to your site to find information on a quest, map or information on skills. And now I can no longer offer that help to others, so what I am left with, responding "go figure it out yourself i am not risking helping you".

Didn't help that the GM wasn't even paying close attention to what you were saying or would have seen you instantly volunteered and actually had already removed it from the profile.

So now what is next, are guild websites going to be taboo if they have a link to UOGuide? Wonder how long before someone finds a reason to consider Stratics a no-no to say in game.

JC, sucks man, your website has been a great part of my UO experience and hate to see you get dinged for it.

 

[Satanatra]

Hate to say it but EA is super messed up and is losing support. I dont know if i should trust the GM's the Dev Team the EA reps or who they all say something different and none of them are on the same page.

Dev team says something isnt bannable then we get banned for it. Dev team says something is bannable and no one gets banned for it. Bravo!!!

Selling UO items is not, never was bannable. Advertising websites is - for very good reasons which are designed only to protect players.

The only thing i dont understand is why they let you advertise the guild url.
Both should go.

 

[Cogniac]

I have not the words to describe this.

I am irate.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

No good can come of this.

 

[Draxous]

Dont advertise a URL in Game, pretty simple.

So then... why is there a space to enter a URL for our guilds webpage in the Guild window?

Can't advertise your own guilds web page?

lol?

 

[Redxpanda]

At this point, I don't think they really care if they lose their player base. Priorities are elsewhere.

I think they care about the player base. The problem is they listen to the wrong people. They don't even stop to think that the wrong people are the ones driving this game into the ground. Furthermore, if they stop listening to them it will drive them out but bring in a much better player base. To see a perfect example of "Wrong Player" just look up.

***Edit in: I guess you can look down now lol

 

[AmanitaMuscaria]

Link, think of the suspension not as necessarily a bad thing, but as a blessing: It will give you some time to reflect on your recent actions.

 

[AesSedai]

Yipee! Dare I say? Is it possible? Do I finally feel the urge to do it?
No. I just had to say a wee bit more than simply put up a little image.
This is silly^much.
Drats, I missed my chance.
Hrmm. Well durn, I'll just do it anyway:

 

[UltimaSword]

LoL JC today I read the atlantic forums and this thread and I saw how ridiculous people can be. I think i know who I will side with when me and my cousin go to Atlantic.

Sometimes when people fail, they will play dirty and act like rats to try and gain victory. But it is insanely easy to see through their veil... if they are even truly trying to veil their idiocy at all.

 

[Orvago]

Keep it clean. Any personal vendettas should be hashed out either in Private Message or some other forum of communication besides Stratics Public Forums.

Thank you,
~Orvago

 

[Zosimus]

Well it's been a long time since I made a post. I had to get my passy sent in email b/c I forgot it and I have to see the topic about stratics stance of web sites. So didnt they make an annoucement a while back about advertising UO sites ingame? I mean even if the site had items for sale and JC "forgot" they were on the site, it still broke the TOS of UO for having the site listed. I mean big deal on a 24 hour ban. Look at it this way, your on holiday an denjoy it.

 

[Cogniac]

So didnt they make an annoucement a while back about advertising UO sites ingame?

I'm pretty sure that you're thinking of the new Stratics policy of not allowing sales of items for real-life money or links to sites that primarily deal in sales of items for real-life money.

 

[Maplestone]

This causes me to think twice about the idea of public wikis ... they can be poisoned with bannable information.

(edit: on the other hand, if wiki-editors are paying attention, hopefully they can enforce rules of conduct)

 

[Harb]

JC my friend, I'm a big fan of your contributions, and do love and reference your site. There are a couple items for sale there, and technically, the GM did as proceedure required. I am sorry though it happened to you. But I'm sure you'll bounce back tomorrow! The pity is that you were reported from unknown vendetta, and that there's so many things in violation of the spirit of the law/ policies, often reported, that fall on deaf ears. Oh, I am surprised though to see you're such an in game youngin! Best to ya

 

[AmanitaMuscaria]

The logic is simple: You violated the TOS and now you must face the consequences. You can't just run wild in this game and expect to get away with it. There do have to be clear limits. You ran afoul of the TOS for long enough.

And not everything is up for debate!

:loser:

 

[Radun]

isn't this thread a violation of stratics new policy? it's pretty clear that uoguide sells uo items for cash, and i can see the website in the first post.

 

[Priam_Sonoma]

isn't this thread a violation of stratics new policy? it's pretty clear that uoguide sells uo items for cash, and i can see the website in the first post.

wahhhhhhhh!!!

 

[Velvathos]

I actually had no idea that I could get banned for having links in my profile that have items for sale...

May I ask why then? The DEVS SUPPORT A WEBSITE that has things for sell... I am speaking of course of Whsipering Rose Radio...

I would also look at EA's policy on this, someone find it... Do they have something that says, no advertising links that sell in game items? If they don't, then they wrongfully gave you a suspension, and owe you an apology..

 

[Maplestone]

um ... I would remind everyone that JC has a long history of faking screenshots to create random chaos.

 

[Orvago]

isn't this thread a violation of stratics new policy? it's pretty clear that uoguide sells uo items for cash, and i can see the website in the first post.

Noted. Please, any further comments of this nature should be made to [email protected] or a UO Stratics Administrator directly and not publicly.

 

[trammelite]

@JC the builder

don't get me wrong, and i hate to see this happen to a dedicated veteran player like you, but sales of uo items for RL money are one of the big problems that need to have taken care of.
if advertising of uo items for non-uo money is prohibited, i technically consider the action taken against your account being justified, and according to the RoC this is not allowed.

furthermore, and no offense here, for the sake of everybody knowing what has happened and that it is not allowed to act like this, someone being caught (if he did it intentionally or not) in any act of violation of the uo-rules, they should be displayed on a pillory in front of brit bank and the town criers should shout out their shame as a warning for other players who might consider doing the same, even so they do not intend a criminal act etc.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

I wonder how UOGuide is against UO policy??? It is a non-profit site that does not advertise anything! Anybody can explain that? This site is very informative and practically advertises the game. Why would EA want this to be removed???

What bothers me even more is, that GMs have time for banning someone for advertising a site which explains UO and helps players, while player help requests to GMs remain unanswered.

(I have my travelogues site in the profile of one of my characters, and I'm not going to remove it: Ultima Online Travelogues)

 

[Lady Michelle]

I actually had no idea that I could get banned for having links in my profile that have items for sale...

May I ask why then? The DEVS SUPPORT A WEBSITE that has things for sell... I am speaking of course of Whsipering Rose Radio...

I would also look at EA's policy on this, someone find it... Do they have something that says, no advertising links that sell in game items? If they don't, then they wrongfully gave you a suspension, and owe you an apology..

Whispering rose radio is posted on the fof which is posted on the herald on UOs main website, Others can send in their legit websites or events to be posted on the fof also, but that does not mean the Devs support the sites nor do they get on the game sit there and spam websites or have them written in their profiles on the game.

To the one who mentioned guild rousters
No one on the game sees the websites unless they are in the guild or go to the webpage myuo guildpages.

Basicly they started cracking down on websites being spammed or written in profiles not just for selling in game items, but also illegal websites, and ones that might have a key logger on them to protected the players.

 

[Farscape]

I have not the words to describe this.

I am irate.

Petty excuses from Game Masters still in nappies!
there are far more pressing items to be addressed of a larger priority than this knee jerk reaction guess you must have p****d them off on the forum saying something they do not like and this is their payback
Now see them attack medare them

 

[wee papa smurf]

Ahhh, reminds me of my first suspension, all alone in them dark cells

 

[Lucy of Kenton]

now im under the impression that selling uo stuff for rl cash is illegal?
but good to see they used some sense in using a brief suspension rather than a straight out ban.

 

[Harlequin]

Sorry to hear that JC, but I think you handled it really well. And I thank you for the post.

I remember once JC did post a fake pic re using using the theads of life and fate with the cloak of corruption. But this time it doesn't look like he's pulling our legs.

Let's ignore the name calling and griefing/grievances etc for a bit - I find some thing very positive about this:

*the guild website is fine*

1) There's no blanket suspension to say or type URLs in your paperdoll
2) GMs don't go around policing the shards to catch offenders
3) Someone has to page a GM
4) GM does come and take action
5) They do go and spend time to review the site
6) Links to cheat/RMT/malicious(phishing/keyloggers etc) sites are no go
7) Links to guild pages/help sites are fine as long as it doesn't break 6
8) Exceptions to RMT are EA's own site (but then it's not really 3rd party, since EA owns it)

Should settle some of the panicking this last week.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

I just took a closer look and found a section on UOGuide where items are sold for real money. I'm pretty sure that it is against UO policy. And, of course, I now understand the action that has been taken.

 

[Maplestone]

But this time it doesn't look like he's pulling our legs.

I tried. Have fun kicking the football Charlie Brown.

(personally I'm of the attitude that April 1st should only come once a year, but I'll wager some credibility that I'm right ... at least he usually admits his deceptions in the end, I'll give him that)

 

[Leto]

The in-game advertising of URLs to websites that offer items for cash has been illegal for a long time and JC certainly isn't the first to get a suspension for it.

No injustice has been done here, JC. Just suck it up and be glad the GM didn't give you a more severe punishment even after you were rude to him.

 

[Peaches]

I had a link posted in my profile, for my guild. I just logged in to make sure it was no longer there, and it wasn't. I recall, quite a while back, that they didn't even want links to guilds in profiles, so I guess I removed it back then. It isn't worth a suspension for posing a link to a guild, and no, we never sold any items or advertised any items in the guild page. Still, better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Radun]

Sorry to hear that JC, but I think you handled it really well. And I thank you for the post.

I remember once JC did post a fake pic re using using the theads of life and fate with the cloak of corruption. But this time it doesn't look like he's pulling our legs.

Let's ignore the name calling and griefing/grievances etc for a bit - I find some thing very positive about this:

*the guild website is fine*

1) There's no blanket suspension to say or type URLs in your paperdoll
2) GMs don't go around policing the shards to catch offenders
3) Someone has to page a GM
4) GM does come and take action
5) They do go and spend time to review the site
6) Links to cheat/RMT/malicious(phishing/keyloggers etc) sites are no go
7) Links to guild pages/help sites are fine as long as it doesn't break 6
8) Exceptions to RMT are EA's own site (but then it's not really 3rd party, since EA owns it)

Should settle some of the panicking this last week.

in 6, you forgot to mention sites that sell anything, including anything non-uo related.

 

[Radun]

now im under the impression that selling uo stuff for rl cash is illegal?
but good to see they used some sense in using a brief suspension rather than a straight out ban.

selling stuff for rl cash is legal, as long as you don't solicit for-cash sales using the game service or link to any site that solicits any such sale. you're not allowed to use the game service to promote or solicit any transaction using currency other than in-game gold.

 

[Amathist of PoC]

Sorry to hear of your ban it seems a tad OVER the top when other things in the game could and should be addressed. I mean I had a player come and openly swear at me and my guild mates more then once - we reported and he was still in the game a few hours later. Yet having a URL got you a 24hour ban. I know what offends me more.

I have been trying to get them to clear up the TOS and answer us as to what URLS if any are acceptable. From your post I could assume guild sites are fine...but as yet still have not received an answer from Ea Mythic despite emails,Pms, thread posts and FoF requests.

Here is the thread I was discussing it in if you would like to add your views there hopefully we can get a response. http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=95269