An official permission to EA to name details why my account was banned in the public!

[feath]

having had several, dreary, years in customer service, i recognize a copy/paste that is required of employees... that said;

Due to the nature of your issue, more time is required for investigation.

this line is not usual. this looks to me to be added before the normal copy/paste employer recommended canned response.

i would take this as a good thing. it sounds to me as if they really have kicked it up a level of management.

 

[THP]

I really hope both u Zof and Lucy both get the answers u both so despertally seek.. i for one would be the exact same if i had been banned,,,wanting answers why!!!

The last round of burning houses nobody complained because they were ALL guilty as charged....This time is sooo different

However i cant accept anyone would be banned for owning 200-300 1m gold checks... thats stupid as that amount is easily acheived in 7-8 years play legally and legit too!!!

Also most players of 7-8 years will have many many bods too - quite litterary thousands of bods...so that aint gonna be the cause either....

I for one aint buying jack squat form any player or vendor untill the root of the problem as been exposed

Good luck to the both of u

 

[Elffin]

It is worrying that it could be gold checks that may have been the duped items, I have made over 200 million gold in the last few weeks by x-shard trading the 25k point checks, With 4 suits sold to the same person for 80 million any number of those checks could be duped ones and i would never know untill one of my houses or keeps fell. My parner and i have around 10 - 12 accounts with 4 of them running all the tiime and the others either holding houses and re-activated every 3 months or just being activated over gift periods to x-shard trade. Maybe checks could have serial numbers so if you have 2 numbers the same you know you have dupes and need to get it sorted out sooner rather than later.

Elf.

 

[Zofinur]

Due to the nature of your issue, more time is required for investigation.

this line is not usual. this looks to me to be added before the normal copy/paste employer recommended canned response.

Just checked my Inbox for this sentence and i´m sorry to say i found it six times.
So it looks canned as well.

 

[Black Betty]

Just checked my Inbox for this sentence and i´m sorry to say i found it six times.
So it looks canned as well.

Ok, come on!!! While your frusteration is completely EVIDENT and understood, give it a rest for a bit. (At least they are investigating and working on it). Just because it is not on YOUR time frame, doesn't mean that it isn't being done.

Are you posting NON-STOP here and on U-Hall because you have nothing better to do, or do you honestly believe you are the ONLY person that has sent emails and waiting for a response?

Good grief, give people a chance to work things out. It takes time to INVESTIGATE. This is what you wanted, correct? To prove that you are innocent, be vindicated and have your account reinstated?

I am hoping that this doesn't come off as harsh, but rather the way it is meant, to wake you up a bit to the fact that they ARE working on it. Whining and complaining that they are merely working on it will not change anything.

Let's think positive and believe that this is just the beginning to you and Lucy having your accounts reinstated and your names cleared.

 

[Zofinur]

It takes time to INVESTIGATE

Thought they did investigte before they banned, and now they just have to copy the reason from their internal document.

But OK, u might be right and i will slow down a bit.
Just afraid of that it will sleep till next week.
And they just want us to give up.

 

[Black Betty]

And they just want us to give up.

If you are truely innocent as you say, then I can't think of anyone that wouldn't want to support you and help you to keep from giving up the 'good fight'.

For me it would be about reputation. As brash as I can be sometimes, I have worked very hard to establish an honest/trustworthy reputation and would hate for it to be messed with. I do genuinely care about the Europa community that so willingly embraced me when I transferred there years ago.

Hopefully it won't take very long, but at least you will have support through all of it.

 

[THP]

It is worrying that it could be gold checks that may have been the duped items, I have made over 200 million gold in the last few weeks by x-shard trading the 25k point checks, With 4 suits sold to the same person for 80 million any number of those checks could be duped ones and i would never know untill one of my houses or keeps fell. My parner and i have around 10 - 12 accounts with 4 of them running all the tiime and the others either holding houses and re-activated every 3 months or just being activated over gift periods to x-shard trade. Maybe checks could have serial numbers so if you have 2 numbers the same you know you have dupes and need to get it sorted out sooner rather than later.

Elf.

Yahh im in the same boat elffin...after selling over half a dozen keeps in last year for like 30-50m a shot...what if i was paid in duped 1m checks too???

Surely this cannot be right..how can u tell a duped check from a ok check??

MMMM... maybe the devs need to include a ''dupe test machine'' at a bank location that can be used for secure window trading?? were item the for sale is put inside and the gold checks to buy it are put inside too.. a safe trade for both parties...if either is a dupe then its errased on the spot and the trade is forthwith cancelled ..???

 

[Nyte Doombringer]

It is worrying that it could be gold checks that may have been the duped items, I have made over 200 million gold in the last few weeks by x-shard trading the 25k point checks, With 4 suits sold to the same person for 80 million any number of those checks could be duped ones and i would never know untill one of my houses or keeps fell. My parner and i have around 10 - 12 accounts with 4 of them running all the tiime and the others either holding houses and re-activated every 3 months or just being activated over gift periods to x-shard trade. Maybe checks could have serial numbers so if you have 2 numbers the same you know you have dupes and need to get it sorted out sooner rather than later.

Elf.

Yahh im in the same boat elffin...after selling over half a dozen keeps in last year for like 30-50m a shot...what if i was paid in duped 1m checks too???

Surely this cannot be right..how can u tell a duped check from a ok check??

MMMM... maybe the devs need to include a ''dupe test machine'' at a bank location that can be used for secure window trading?? were item the for sale is put inside and the gold checks to buy it are put inside too.. a safe trade for both parties...if either is a dupe then its errased on the spot and the trade is forthwith cancelled ..???

You guys better take those checks to the bank, and cash them in and redo them into new mil checks then. HEHE

 

[gjohnson5]

Returned from a short WE-trip to find an email saying

"Violation: Exploitation of game properties/distributing exploitation of the Ultima Online service"

Honestly, i have no clue why! Rarely bought stuff in the past.
And definetly no bulk-runics, no rares at all, ...

I would like to discuss this with a living person on the phone, but maybe im to upset to find it.

Anybody can hellp me out with this?

Anyway, from what i read all ppl that have been banned lost their houses and stuff. So this is definetly the time for me to say byebye to this game
All i want now is to understand & discuss the reasons.

I might keep you updated if i get info on what happened ...
Hope those 4 scrolls i received as payment for 2 pets werent contaminated (sorry to the buyer of the pets, no offense! didnt even mention ur name! but that was the only 'mayor' deal i did in the past)

This UO crap is getting stupid dude
If they want to ban everyone one let'em bury themselves

 

[feath]

how's this going, Zofinur?

 

[Zofinur]

how's this going, Zofinur?

Any further replies regarding this subject will not be acknowledged.

And this is not my answer to feath, but EA´s answer to me!

 

[feath]

oh dear. so the previous 'hold on, we're investigating' email was followed by a 'shut up' email.
how...lovely.

 

[feath]

im going to say what this makes me think;

EA did not document what they were doing to accounts. someone checked the account, looked for duping, too many runics, too many checks, too many *insert criteria here*.
they found an account matching one of their criteria. *delete button*... next account... *delete button*...next...um, maybe, maybe not - *delete button* (better safe then getting chewed out by the boss)... next account...
and no where did they post by WHICH criteria they were deleting by.

so, perhaps its not that they don't want to tell you why you were deleted, but they just dont know. and admitting they don't know, would drive a spike the size of the Washington monument into the coffin.

 

[Zofinur]

Bah.

This wasnt even sent as email.
Just as"hidden" comment on a ticket.

This player has been responded to numerous times. No further replies will
be acknowledged. any issues in regards to their termed account should be
closed with no response

*spits out*

 

[Zofinur]

Closed the auctionsite.
Sorry, but i cant stand it at the moment

 

[Ivan Drago]

Same thing with me, I was unable to login to the ea support site with my username, but have now submitted using the form you linked. Expect the same response.. incredible. My friends confirm my keep with everything I own is deleted and replaced..... just amazing.

 

[Black Betty]

Is it at all possible that sending and unending number of emails would have caused them to reply in that manner? If I were to tell you that I was "investigating and going to be working on it", I would have expected that it would be taken as just that. I have no idea about programming or anything like that, but I am guessing that there are at least a million different codes to go through and read/investigate. That in itself would take a good deal of time, no?

Again, EA has never been into banning innocent people and have reversed a ban when it was found to be unwarrented. Talk to Tia. She was one of them. Maybe she will have some tips for you on how to proceed or handle this situation.

Good luck

 

[LadyNico]

Yup, Sadie. If I tell you I am working on it, then I expect you to leave me alone so I can get on with it.

Rather than motivating me to work faster or harder, someone pitching hissy fits in email and on public forums, threatening further account closures, etc is going to have quite the reverse effect.

Just sayin'.

 

[Kiss Of Death]

Zofinur, since u are an archer... I know it 's incredible man but maybe you had bugged quivers and you didn't notice.

bugged quivers may give u a ban , it's v v v v stupid but it's like that

P.s. however EA has a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very unpolite customer care for ULTIMA ONLINE players....

it's incredible, instead of loving CUSTOMERS who are being on UO since 10-11 years...they don't even give a real answer or a real explanation.

It's v bad.

If EA bans ppl who bought from vendors val hammers cheap or bks cheap...it's TOTALLY madness . Why?

Because nobody can understand when an item is duped or not, nobody. UO is like a real world and if you see something cheap why ppl shouldn't buy it? maybe the player sho is selling needs FAST money.

Which mecanisms a player has to understand if an item is duped or not? if you page a gm , he'll tell you that he's gonna investigate but he won't do anything at the end.

So, what's the point in banning ppl? Bans must be done just on dupers who had 1000 mils one day and 2000 mils the day after.

Or who had 1 ari one day and 20 aris in a week. Those players have to be banned. They are not even uo players but ppl who make money irl.

Ban the chinese scripters (when afk making tons of gold, like 5 mils per day on each account) players in all Fel dungeons.

but again...what's the point in banning ppl who , in a legitimate way, bought some stuff on luna vendors?

is this madness?

About the bugged quivers , ppl got suspensions for those, when it's so stupid , because it's difficult to notice that they're bugged, you should look in the stones, instead of the normal 40 , it says 400 stones....

but hej, who is watching the stones quantinty in bagpacks or quivers?

who? who notice that little number? lol...how to make bugged quiverS? so easy and this bug is up since ages! if somebody mistakes placing the quiver on a vendor and press esc, lol it's bugged.

nice one . And ppl get banned for bugged quivers . it's hilarious. I hope there will be soon a REAL customer care for veteran players, ppl who pay monthly 13 Euros since 11 years on 2+ accounts should be threated with the golden gloves.

a veteran uo player has like 2-3 accounts , payed for 10+ years, it means 3000 $ payed for just one account. It's like a person who bought all EA games ever existed, no wait! even more...this person bought ea games 3 times. For all platforms, Xbox, PC etc lol...

c'mon...let's be serious, let's threat uo players in a good way pls. Ban dupers, threat with the golden gloves instead veteran players

 

[Kith Kanan]

Any further replies regarding this subject will not be acknowledged.

And this is not my answer to feath, but EA´s answer to me!

Same as I got after e-mailing them several times

 

[Kith Kanan]

Yup, Sadie. If I tell you I am working on it, then I expect you to leave me alone so I can get on with it.

Rather than motivating me to work faster or harder, someone pitching hissy fits in email and on public forums, threatening further account closures, etc is going to have quite the reverse effect.

Just sayin'.

Well then the e-mail should say so , and they should not start to delete peopels stuff before !!!!!! I mailed them 4 times and still got that snotty response , and that includes the first repsonse on the banning , imho thats not swarming them with emails.. Ea is just doing a **** poor job and thats that...

 

[LadyNico]

Yup, Sadie. If I tell you I am working on it, then I expect you to leave me alone so I can get on with it.

Rather than motivating me to work faster or harder, someone pitching hissy fits in email and on public forums, threatening further account closures, etc is going to have quite the reverse effect.

Just sayin'.

Well then the e-mail should say so , and they should not start to delete peopels stuff before !!!!!! I mailed them 4 times and still got that snotty response , and that includes the first repsonse on the banning , imho thats not swarming them with emails.. Ea is just doing a **** poor job and thats that...

Holy Ra, but these new/temp forums LAG as bad as UO in the old days... *awaits page loading*

Kith, just for one moment, let's pretend that you are the EA employee who is investigating the Kith Kanan account.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that as part of that ongoing investigation perhaps you read what Kith Kanan has to say for himself on Stratics and probably some other forums, too.

So...Now, Mr EA employee, now that you have just read what Kith Kanan has just said (quoted above), I wonder how motivated you might feel to perhaps consider giving Kith Kanan the benefit of the doubt if there are, perhaps, some "shades of grey" areas where you might have some discretion?

Flies and their noted preferences between honey and vinegar aside, all I'm really sayin' is that maybe biting the hand that wields the Bardiche of Banzor might possibly be counter productive.

 

[Serafi]

I feel so bad for you Zofinur, and hope it will get sorted out in the end. As others have said, hang in there.

 

[Bobar]

Yup, Sadie. If I tell you I am working on it, then I expect you to leave me alone so I can get on with it.
QUOTE]

Lets be fair here, If EA had evidence of grounds sufficient to do an instant delete of a player's house, those grounds should be noteworthy enough for a response to made to a players request for details of such evidence fairly quickly.

 

[Black Betty]

Yup, Sadie. If I tell you I am working on it, then I expect you to leave me alone so I can get on with it.
QUOTE]

Lets be fair here, If EA had evidence of grounds sufficient to do an instant delete of a player's house, those grounds should be noteworthy enough for a response to made to a players request for details of such evidence fairly quickly.

In all fairness and trying to follow the "innocent until proven guilty" thing, there had to of been something to trigger the account for banning. That doesn't mean that some individuals did anything illegal, but perhaps even without knowing. They have stated they are working on it. The more e-mails they have to read that say the same thing over and over again and again from the same people, is the more time spent even spending a 'canned response' and less time working on the request to investigate.

If this were me, I guess I would prefer that they work on investigating my situation rather than individually answering a multitude of emails trying to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy. Until the investigating in finished, as far as they know, everyone they banned is guilty and has been removed from the game as many of us have been begging for years to have done.

The multiple posts and threads with non-stop complaining and only saying the same things over and over makes it hard for me to remain sympathetic.

While I don't want to see anyone unjustly banned, I'm glad that there has at least been an attempt to remove those players that ARE guilty for helping to destroy a game that I have loved.

Good luck to those that are truly innocent and hopefully there will be a good outcome for you and will be vindicated in the end.


P.S.
Nico, you have been missed greatly. So glad you are back!!!

 

[Bobar]

Yup, Sadie. If I tell you I am working on it, then I expect you to leave me alone so I can get on with it.
QUOTE]

Lets be fair here, If EA had evidence of grounds sufficient to do an instant delete of a player's house, those grounds should be noteworthy enough for a response to made to a players request for details of such evidence fairly quickly.

In all fairness and trying to follow the "innocent until proven guilty" thing, there had to of been something to trigger the account for banning. That doesn't mean that some individuals did anything illegal, but perhaps even without knowing. They have stated they are working on it. The more e-mails they have to read that say the same thing over and over again and again from the same people, is the more time spent even spending a 'canned response' and less time working on the request to investigate.

If this were me, I guess I would prefer that they work on investigating my situation rather than individually answering a multitude of emails trying to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy. Until the investigating in finished, as far as they know, everyone they banned is guilty and has been removed from the game as many of us have been begging for years to have done.

The multiple posts and threads with non-stop complaining and only saying the same things over and over makes it hard for me to remain sympathetic.

While I don't want to see anyone unjustly banned, I'm glad that there has at least been an attempt to remove those players that ARE guilty for helping to destroy a game that I have loved.

Good luck to those that are truly innocent and hopefully there will be a good outcome for you and will be vindicated in the end.


P.S.
Nico, you have been missed greatly. So glad you are back!!!

Right let's see.

I am saying that if EA looked at an account/house ,whatever, individually and found there were illegal items present giving them enough reason to summarily delete said house and ban the account. How much effort can it need to be able to tell the victim of the ban the reason?.

What you appear to be suggesting (and it does seem to be the more likely scenario) is that they didn't actually look at the individual accounts but had (as you say) some kind of trigger for the bannings. This method of operation as a means is supported by the individuals concerned all receiving the same letter quoting a 'multitude of illegal items' present after the fact. If, as seems likely, this is the way it was done, the way is open for all kinds of errors. We are all aware of the huge number of bugs that are in the game and that appear with monotonous regularity.

The total silence from EA in the face of a barrage of posts from concerned players worries me too. It suggests to me that having carried out irrevocable actions they are aware that it is possible mistakes have been made. Many of the posts and requests have been made by players who are NOT banned. Yet the response has been the same, NOTHING. It is certainly easier for them, if there have been mistakes made, to totally ignore it and say nothing.

Could it be that the lack of response to people such as Lucy and Zofinur is simply that they do not know what to do?. Having deleted the houses where is the physical evidence for their actions?. Act first and talk later is, in general, a faulty maxim unless you are not subject to human frailties.

This whole issue has caused me to make posts far in excess of my usual one every couple of weeks, why?, because I am greatly concerned about the way these bannings were done. I'm afraid I have no faith in EA's assumption of godlike powers they have made far too many mistakes in the past for that.

I have said in other posts. To carry out bannings I fully support without reservation. To have done them in this way i cannot.

 

[Black Betty]

While I do understand what you are saying, I would not be holding onto info for accounts banned and saving it 'just in case'. Seems there was tracking and investigating that occured well before these bans took place.

I guess I would not be keeping that account info 'on hand' in case a cheater/exploiter/duper wanted to protest his/her innocence, hence it would take a while for me to find the account info to investigate an innocent one caught in the net.

Maybe they aren't saying anything because they found that these accounts were justifiably banned and believe they have said enough. We don't know.

Bottom line is, while I am not willing to burn Zof or Lucy at the stake, I don't believe that you can get any further assistance by poor-mouthing the people you are wanting results from or constantly posting/whining about the responses you do get after they have stated they are working on it and looking into the situation to be sure they were justified in banning whom they did.

There is just no way to know for sure exactly what is going on. It isn't the first time they have taken a while to respond to questions. Why is now any different?

 

[cheerful]

My feelings are that, the justification for any bannings should be made prior to any subsequent bans and not after the event. The justification comes from gathered evidence that should be recorded and readily avaliable to all parties concerned.
I sometimes have to deal with exculsions, investigate-evidence-document-report, no one is left in the dark whether guilty or not and we do this partly because we know we are fallible.
A bit long winded to say that even the guilty should know what they are guilty of.
Another thing that concerns me is the punishment. Terminatation of one account but not any others allowing continued access to the game. Seems to me like a slap on the wrist, 'you have been a naughty boy/girl and we hope this teaches you a lesson'
Slap on the wrist Cheerful style:deletion of illegal items 1-3 month ban.
Slap on the wrist EA style:deletion of all items housing and characters.
Seems more like amputation from the elbow.
Of course the above statement does not hold true for the cast iron cases of guilt, punishment should be absolute but EA's actions allude to a scale of serverity of the crime.
If the pouch of cheques that i have in the bank from a recent trade turned out to be dupes i would'nt fancy EA's slap on the wrist much.
In my eyes it's all about infomation and that seems to be in short supply at the moment.
I accept that there is an expectation of player responsibility for their actions but in turn i expect EA to accept accountability for their actions.

Oh well, hope it all turns out well, i'm off on my hols.

 

[Lucy of Kenton]

Bottom line is, while I am not willing to burn Zof or Lucy at the stake, I don't believe that you can get any further assistance by poor-mouthing the people you are wanting results from or constantly posting/whining about the responses you do get after they have stated they are working on it and looking into the situation to be sure they were justified in banning whom they did.

you are of course correct but please understand the effect that injustice has on people and i for one have always been vocal about cheaters etc so that injustice feeling is heightened.

 

[Black Betty]

While I do believe those whom are innocent should be steadfast in their quest to have their names/reputations reinstated, I guess the point I was trying to make was that you can't expect people to do you a favor while calling them names or insulting them. While some may consider it their obligation to reverse innocent bans, I view it more as a courtesy.

I would be more willing to go out of my way to help someone that is innocent if they were merely pleading their case and stating facts. Lowering to name-calling and insults would get you a cold shoulder. Not any different than being in a restaurant and complaining about the food. You can be nice and have it corrected or call names/insult to get it corrected but with spit in it as well. (or possibly something even worse, YIKES!)

We do not have any control over what others (i.e. EA) do, but rather over ourselves and how we choose to handle the situation. It's in the hard times that we are squeezed that you see what is truely inside. If you look like an orange on the outside and lemon comes out when you are squeezed, then you weren't really an orange now were you? It's during these trials of life that one's true character is revealed.

If you have the support of those of us that choose to believe you are innocent, and EA is not responding, what are your options? You can continue to play and rebuild or quit and take the loss. Those that are innocent will be vindicated at some point. Maybe not when we think they should, but someday! Have a little faith. We are strong if we band together.

 

[Lucy of Kenton]

I wonder if your sentiments would be so noble if you were banned so i shall assume they are as you are not currently banned but imagine how you would feel if you had pressed for bannings and shown ea clear ways to find the cheats but been ignored and instead been banned yourself?
like it or not there are some of us that have been banned and we have no idea why.
we will never be vindicated as can you imagine the speed of the backpeddaling of ea to do that?
more important is the support from those that think we are innocent as they are not idiots but people that actually know us! they base their opinions on their knowledge of us.
i strongly object to the fact that ea have branded me as a cheat and a liar without giving not only everyone the reason why but not me!
like zof has said, if you wont tell us why we are banned then tell everyone so they can make an informed decision. why be afraid to publish them? maybe because the reasons for banning will not stand up to public scrutiny? thats all i can assume.

 

[Black Betty]

Noble? I don't think it's so noble, but rather common sense to believe that in "crunch time" you get to see a person's true character. It's easy to appear one way until you are squeezed a little bit and made to be uncomfortable. Tia was able to weather the storm of an innocent ban, why is it now not good enough to know that if you are innocent, you will be vindicated?

If you are so angry and disgusted by this injustice, then why are you still playing?

I am trying to be supportive and positive. I'm sorry if that's not enough for you, especially since I really don't know you, (even though I am guilded with you).

Black Betty/aka Sadie

 

[NewThunder]

like it or not there are some of us that have been banned and we have no idea why.
we will never be vindicated as can you imagine the speed of the backpeddaling of ea to do that?
more important is the support from those that think we are innocent as they are not idiots but people that actually know us! they base their opinions on their knowledge of us.
i strongly object to the fact that ea have branded me as a cheat and a liar without giving not only everyone the reason why but not me!

If what you claim is true, how could you continue to support EA by continuing to play their game. The strongest objection you could make would be to close your remaining account(s). You do realize that your continued playing violates the TOS for the game and to me justifies your being banned from the game.

 

[Hemisphere]

I didn't read through most of this thread as it's pretty long, but I could imagine the ban would have something to do with the connection between Marion, Zofinur, and UO-Auction2.

The UO-Auction page has a section offering all manner of services including soulstones, character transfers, gametimes, etc, instructing interested parties to contact either Marion or Zofinur. I don't know what Zofinur's connection with any of that actually is, but it would certainly seem to the casual observer that there is at the very least some form of shared interests going on there, and that could be enough to ban in the eyes of EA, akin to the old school "guild" bannings, and other bans by association.

 

[Kith Kanan]

I would like to hear from anyone who hassent just gotten a canned response so fare ........

 

[Zofinur]

I didn't read through most of this thread as it's pretty long, but I could imagine the ban would have something to do with the connection between ... Zofinur, and UO-Auction2.

(Removed the other name because IMHO naming others is not allowed here ...)

Hemisphere, i am quite sure u know i left that site more than a year ago! I did ask the remaining staff quite some times to remove my data from their "donation"-page.
If u take a look over there u would even recognize my ICQ is way out of date & the email is not valid anymore.

Plus, the reason for my ban was "in posession of multitudes of highly illegal items". And they say they did proof this, and the ban was legit.
Absolutely no idea what they are talking about and they wont tell me any details because of their privacy policy, but the ban was neither for beeing part of uoa2 in the past nor for running that new auctionsite that was free and strictly limited to ingame-payment!