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Banned for talking with fleetmates about spam mail.

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  • notorycznynotoryczny Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    tilarta wrote: »
    I assume what happened is the autoban software keyed off the last 3 letters in Paypal, which happens to be very similar to the word we must not speak of.

    No system is perfect, especially if it's a new one.

    Its utterly stupid to use 3-letter keywords; they are WAY too short. Wait till someone get banned for saying "I'm with you pal", or "color palette", or "paltry"... Just like the cabinet guy.

    There is a lot of issues with the system as it is, it COULD work in theory if it just filtered words and covered them with profanity filter; this way people would get a laugh from it (at worst). Spammers already circumvented it; I found fresh spam in my mailbox couple minutes after I was able to get back after un-ban. Now its just killing off normal players.



    Okitsunega - please, allow us to copy your signature.
    May 2013, automatic permanent ban for mentioning gold-seller sites
    pwebranflakes: this system is currently in place and working the way it should.
    moradum: I got banned for saying "I started my day with cutting off 3 MM off of the bottom of my cabinet"
  • okitsunegaokitsunega Member Posts: 32 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    bpharma wrote: »
    Hey I like your sig and I think it really will help bring awareness to the issue, any chance you could post it so we can paste it to our own sigs? Then we can get a community wide take up of it (or at least myself) to spread awareness.
    (SNIP)
    notoryczny wrote: »
    (SNIP)
    Okitsunega - please, allow us to copy your signature.

    Sure, I don't mind at all. It was the main reason I put the sig up in the first place - I don't post very much on the forums so it won't show up in many places.. but if it makes a couple people aware of the issue, and gets them to warn their fleets about the potential ban.. then it's served it's purpose. I've also mentioned and linked the thread a few times on zone chat, just so people would become aware of this... feature. In my opinion the worst scenario is people getting banned by the system without ever having known it was in place, and never actually intentionally even mentioning anything related to the gold sites.

    So, if anyone wants to copy the sig, they're perfectly free to do so:

    ========== CUT HERE ==========
    (link to sig)
    May 2013, automatic permanent ban (link) for keywords in all forms of chat
    pwebranflakes (link): this system is currently in place and working the way it should.
    moradum (link): I got banned for saying "I started my day with cutting off 3 MM off of the bottom of my cabinet"
    ========== CUT HERE ==========

    The signature can be set by following the blue User CP link at the top of the page (or the link on this line). Both will take you to same page, where you can edit your forum account properties, including the signature.

    You can extract the full text from this message (including the embedded links on the names to this thread) by clicking the Quote button on top of this message (or the link on this line) and doing copy/paste from the editor window that opens. You can 'cancel' the reply afterwards if you don't want to post it.

    -- edited to update sig code --
  • theanothernametheanothername Member Posts: 1,511 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Just warned my fleet about that madness. AFAIK no randombans there yet. I have not got any goldseller spam yet (not even aware how they are called besides the ones mentioned in this thread) but since you apparently can get banned when parts of what you say contain certain words makes me very afraid of my account.

    Would be better reduce my ingame communication to "yes" and "no" just to be safe but thats kind of impossible as a leader :(
  • mancommancom Member Posts: 784 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    tilarta wrote: »
    One of my Fleet was banned for saying PAYPAL.
    Maybe he said something along the lines of "yadda yadda yadda, e.g. paypal"? With a slightly different use of punctuation and spaces, I could easily see this being caught by the new autoban feature.
    1042856
  • tilartatilarta Member Posts: 1,801 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Would be better reduce my ingame communication to "yes" and "no" just to be safe but thats kind of impossible as a leader :(

    Ironically, I'm in the same position as you.

    I'm also a channel moderator, which adds extra complications.


    I'm usually quite verbose, but thanks to this policy, I'm saying as little as possible and when I do type, it's usually with an economy of language, using the absolute minimum of words that I can get away with.

    Since I don't know, nor have we been told what the trigger words are or how the system may react to completely innocent errors, I'm choosing to err on the side of caution.


    And as, the poster above me pointed out, the system can indeed make an error.

    The cabinet guy I have no explanation for, but now I'm afraid to use numbers and units of measurements!

    And heaven forbid we mention the computer equipment supplier! ;)


    Also, as it has been shown, this "solution" did not stop anything.
    The only thing it achieved was to penalize the honest players, not the guilty parties.

    Given that it's so flawed and it didn't even stop the intended targets down for no more then an hour, I'd get rid of it so we can just go back to enjoying the game without worrying about what random word may get us banned.

    Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
    Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad :'(
  • racerexiaracerexia Member Posts: 101 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    This is a good example of what we can expect out of communism. I mean PWE is a Chinese company, no? I got nothing against China, just so you know, but its a hilarious thought nonetheless, that they might be teaching us Westerners about how we will be treated in a few years. Say something the government does not like: insta ban your IP and have the Feds Storm your house in less than 30 seconds, that or a predator drone melts your brain with a military laser.

    OK maybe I am making a joke sound like something more serious, or is it? I mean, if this is the way a company behaves, what can you expect? Exaggerated as my scenario might be, I am cognizant there are people who take such notions more seriously. And who is to say there is not a person wishing they were that kind of Dictator? Not gonna point fingers, but there are people doing that already.

    I feel sorry for those who got banned, and just knowing there is this kind of psychological engineering going on in a small scale, even if its unintentional, makes me worry, and loose all interest in the game. Suddenly I regret purchasing the Romulan Pack.

    EDIT: I have decided not to play Cryptic games until this is fixed, removed or a list of words that will get you banned is presented and an apology given to my fellow players who have become victims of this system. In fewer words, lest go on stirke people!
    I do have my principles and I abide by them. Even if I have to sacrifice my enjoyment.
  • romeowhiskey4romeowhiskey4 Member Posts: 266 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Possibly...the lack of response from PWE bar Brandon's 'Paypal is not on the list' quote (which I have to say confuses me somewhat that that has been the only response considering how serious an issue this actually is) is that the person responsible is on a longer holiday and as such has not 'instructed' the staff to change it or respond.

    I think we are overdue an explanation here...

    PWE and Cryptic...you have the responsibility of not just a franchise MMORPG but of canon relating to the Trek Universe. With behaviour such as this you are SINGLEHANDEDLY destroying the legacy that Star Trek envisaged and the countless fans enjoy. This isn't World of ******** or Never Winter which has no real history... This is a responsibility that YOU have taken on to keep the torch alight.

    Get a grip... These things have a tendancy to snowball out of control as you well know.
  • d1dooley1d1dooley1 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    exactly a week later - still banned and support ticket sitting in open status. A bit disappointing tbh. I kinda regret getting a LTS now :(
  • nxnovacatnxnovacat Member Posts: 83 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    People are now trying to name there characters after these gold spam websites with the intention of trying to get people of typing these names into chat to get them banned. Freaking fix the problem Cryptic.

    Here is the support ticket

    ticket ID #1,711,073

    do something with this failure to do proper game management and making innocent paying customers suffer this BS
  • starboardnacellestarboardnacelle Member Posts: 67 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Someone just came into the STORP channel and tried to get a massive group of unknowing people to say the forbidden name twice. THIS SYSTEM IS UNACCEPTABLE AND NEEDS TO BE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY.
  • dalolorndalolorn Member Posts: 3,655 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    gypsyblade wrote: »
    I think it would be fair to post a blog about this "feature" so more people are made aware. I saw this post a few days ago and made my fleet and friends aware. But, something in an official capacity needs to be done. They should of also implemented a way to verify accounts are indeed spam/gold farmer accounts.

    When I was heavy into City of Heroes, all gold bans were investigated by an actual GM. Automated systems have a way of being abused and wrong. This only proves another reason why our ingame chat is an archaic system. I've already advised my fleet to mainly chat in Teamspeak to avoid any risk.

    Yes to the part in red, because of what starboardnacelle just posted, which I was about to reference:
    Someone just came into the STORP channel and tried to get a massive group of unknowing people to say the forbidden name twice. THIS SYSTEM IS UNACCEPTABLE AND NEEDS TO BE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY.

    I was among the "unknowing people", though I refused to say it for other reasons entirely - not to mention the fact that several others intervened before anybody else could do it.

    Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.p3OEBPD6HU3QI.jpg
  • echattyechatty Member Posts: 5,916 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I don't even glance at the chat window most of the time because those yellow "<insert name here> has just acquired a Tal Shiar destroyer" messages were the only things showing up.

    Yes, I'm a noob to any sort of MMO and didn't know there was a way to turn them off. Still, if a warning gets buried in messages of who acquired what, it's still an unmitigated fail.

    As has been suggested, the warning needs to be in the channel that can't be turned off, the administrator thing or something, or else in a big popup that they have to read and acknowledge before they can click it off.

    Personally, I don't care to know who acquired what and which system I just entered. Can those just be eliminated? They're very annoying.

    I certainly hope that those who were banned unjustly get their accounts back and I'll just continue to not even use the chatbox.
    Now a LTS and loving it.
    Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
    I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything. :D
  • nxnovacatnxnovacat Member Posts: 83 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    They need to fix there freaking system. Cryptic may have good intentions with this new countermeasure against gold spammers, but the cost is having customers deal with one hell of a headache were they have to fight to get their account unbanned after doing something unwittingly.

    This new moderation system is just a new tool for trolls and griefers to ruin other peoples fun and cause them a TRIBBLE ton of heartache. We pay for this game from time to time. All Cryptic is going to do is ultimately TRIBBLE off legit player and never get the money from them.

    Cryptic needs to get there butts in gear and actually read their damn support tickets. They seem to skim them or ignore them entirely and reply with a generic message when they actually do read them.
  • askrayaskray Member Posts: 3,329 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Someone just came into the STORP channel and tried to get a massive group of unknowing people to say the forbidden name twice. THIS SYSTEM IS UNACCEPTABLE AND NEEDS TO BE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY.

    I hope you reported that person! AFAIK attempting to get someone to say something that'll trigger a ban is pretty much a violation of TOS.
    Yes, I'm that Askray@Batbayer in game. Yes, I still play. No, I don't care.
    Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
    Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113


  • milesvaugnmilesvaugn Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    askray wrote:
    Someone just came into the STORP channel and tried to get a massive group of unknowing people to say the forbidden name twice. THIS SYSTEM IS UNACCEPTABLE AND NEEDS TO BE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY.
    I hope you reported that person! AFAIK attempting to get someone to say something that'll trigger a ban is pretty much a violation of TOS.
    I respectfully disagree. This thread is almost a week old, and we know folks at Cryptic are reading it -- and in that time we have gotten a 'working as intended', a 'the victims had it coming', and a 'Nope - that single word is not on the super-secret auto-ban list'.

    I am not affected -- yet -- but this is a major TRIBBLE up, and it affects people who pay. By now there should have been an official apology, the mystery-word auto-ban lottery removed, and compensatory in-game goods and services for those wrongfully punished by this stupidity... and swift action to get all of those accounts un-banned.

    The apparent lack of movement is appalling. If getting hundreds of legitimate players auto-banned by the current mechanized moronity is what it takes to get Cryptic to admit wrongdoing and make good, then maybe that is what needs to happen. The current system is badly thought out, badly implemented, and treats the players shoddily -- good show, then, if it is manipulated and abused to hit Cryptic in the wallet.

    I do not engage in, or promote, abuses like getting unwitting players banned -- but the only actions possible in-game are the ones that got coded in; the only systems that work are the ones that Cryptic chose to deliberately put there. We have been officially told that the auto-ban is working as intended, so it's hard to call using it an abuse. If Cryptic comes to regret creating it, they should remove it -- and try to avoid similarly egregious disasters in the future.
  • urniv821urniv821 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    askray wrote: »
    I hope you reported that person! AFAIK attempting to get someone to say something that'll trigger a ban is pretty much a violation of TOS.

    ah.. good to know. If i see anyone ill report em asap
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Your Javelin deals 125417 (89066) Disruptor Damage(Critical) to Tholian Recluse. > lol
  • rapshikorapshiko Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Beyond how much of a colossal TRIBBLE up this is in terms of system design there is something else that is drawn to my mind. Paying customers, subscribers, can be losing days (or weeks) of service time because of a system that is not working.
    ...To note: Players are given a detailed warning stating what they did wrong, and to not do it again, before being banned -- continuing to do it past the warning will cause the ban. The warning is there for a reason :) ...

    A message you have never been made aware of is one you have not received (i.e. it was not given). That it can be missed or lost (in the unending stream of useless/irrelevant information that it is shoved into) is unacceptable. It is utter nonsense to consider it otherwise. The system is not working as intended.

    So, players are losing a week or more of service time because your system doesn't work and you are too lazy to actually do something about it. It is not acceptable for there to be no staff to ensure service to customers on the weekend when they are being paid for the service for the product's lifetime or (more applicably) for the span of the month.

    Power/water service loss on holidays (or the weekend) is not something that gets dealt with after the holiday, it is dealt with immediately. Loss of this service is not as critical, certainly, but it is one being paid for by many of your customers and is being taken away by a faulty and obscured system.

    It is no wonder Cryptic is so widely poorly reviewed.

    EDIT: That the solution to the problem considered is "don't use chat" it makes this even more of an awful joke.
  • camaroguy819camaroguy819 Member Posts: 9 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    mines back up and running. Really it was kinda annoying but in the end come on, this happened in middle of a huge patch, give em a break. This is just horrific timing. Thanks to my fleetmates for the support.
  • stargazerjmbstargazerjmb Member Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    The problem is not that it was in the middle of a huge patch but the system itself. For any system to be in place which auto-bans players for simply typing a word is beyond ridiculous. The fact that it has been stated to be "working as intended" either shows considerable short sightedness (given that the warning can be easily missed) or down right indifference to the suffering of innocent players (If it was known that the message could be missed). The first is forgivable assuming that there is a sound apology (of which there has been none). The second is considerably worse and I'm sorry to say is starting to look more likely.
  • hravikhravik Member Posts: 1,203 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I'd say report that this is going on to all the major MMO sites. See if a little bad press while they try to promote LoR gets them motivated.
  • stargazerjmbstargazerjmb Member Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    hravik wrote: »
    I'd say report that this is going on to all the major MMO sites. See if a little bad press while they try to promote LoR gets them motivated.

    I was thinking along similar lines myself given that I have previously been in touch with someone from Future Publishing who was very helpful (for another matter not concerning STO). However I have no wish to add to the previous bad press that the game has received given that the recent expansion shows much promise for the development team. I would recommend holding back for a few more days to see if there is a change in attitude. I'm sure this thread is still being looked at so lets see if things are addressed before this snowballs into an EA size public relations disaster.
  • tilartatilarta Member Posts: 1,801 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Where is the actual warning displayed?

    If it's in System Messages, then that's not terribly helpful.


    By default I disable all System Messages because seeing things like "You have completed mission" "you have earned X skill points" "you have recieved mission reward xyziop" and so on is just spam by any other definition.

    So, if that's where the warning appears, I won't see it.


    And for another windows/microsoft fail, my browser on that computer periodically forgets my login cookie, but my mac has rarely done so!

    Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
    Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad :'(
  • john98837john98837 Member Posts: 761 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    tilarta wrote: »
    Where is the actual warning displayed?

    If it's in System Messages, then that's not terribly helpful.


    By default I disable all System Messages because seeing things like "You have completed mission" "you have earned X skill points" "you have recieved mission reward xyziop" and so on is just spam by any other definition.

    So, if that's where the warning appears, I won't see it.


    And for another windows/microsoft fail, my browser on that computer periodically forgets my login cookie, but my mac has rarely done so!

    The warning is shown as a system message, someone posted a screenshot in one of the many threads that got merged into this one inorder to hide the issue.
  • shroommageshroommage Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    An issue is causing dozens of innocent players to become permanently banned for reasons of which they are completely unaware!

    Any other company: "Oh, my god! Take the servers down for a hotfix and find out who was affected immediately!"
    Cryptic: "Serves you right, idiots."
    tilarta wrote: »
    And for another windows/microsoft fail, my browser on that computer periodically forgets my login cookie, but my mac has rarely done so!

    That's almost definitely a browser problem. I can't imagine it being related to the OS.
  • tikonovtikonov Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    total WTF on this

    i recall back in the earlier days of subplay, their would sometimes be spambots in ESD on a loop for an hour or so blurting out this websites name :P

    still receive random mail on new chars from these guys

    yet crytpic decide that we are the ones needing banning?
  • tilartatilarta Member Posts: 1,801 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    john98837 wrote: »
    The warning is shown as a system message, someone posted a screenshot in one of the many threads that got merged into this one inorder to hide the issue.

    Wait a minute!
    So the message warning us we're about to get banned is in the messages everyone disables?

    Are we seriously expected to go through all the System message spam after every chat message to find out if our next chat message will get us banned?

    Bees like honey, they don't like vinegar.
    Everytime someone makes a character that is an copy of an existing superhuman, Creativity is sad :'(
  • lucho80lucho80 Member Posts: 6,600 Bug Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Most people turn off system messages because frankly, it gets annoying. For this kind of warning they should have something that overrides players preferences so they can be warned in time. This are two cents in the topic to keep it going. Give Yak his account back you bums!
  • okitsunegaokitsunega Member Posts: 32 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    askray wrote: »
    I hope you reported that person! AFAIK attempting to get someone to say something that'll trigger a ban is pretty much a violation of TOS.

    I imagine it would be violation of something, if the person continued it after being informed (preferrably officially) that they are doing something wrong. As far as I know this system has not been publicly announced, and so depending on situation and context, there is no certainty that the person asking something on chat line is intentionally abusing the system.

    It can easily fall under the same despotic mentality that the original system implements. Seeing the way the system triggers often apparently random bans for people who aren't doing anything wrong that they would have been informed of (the case in my sig is a pretty good example), the only part of EULA that I can think of giving the 'right' to implement this kind of system is the part 19 of PWE EULA.
    PWE may at its option issue warnings and temporary suspensions and permanent terminations of Accounts for user violations. We retain the sole discretion as to when and how to impose warnings, penalties and/or disciplinary actions. We consider the severity of the violation and the number of infractions in making our determination; however, any determination shall be under the absolute discretion of PWE. Notwithstanding the foregoing, PWE always retains the right to terminate or suspend your account at any time for any reason, or for no reason, with or without any warnings and with or without notice..

    For the avoidance of doubt, you hereby acknowledge that PWE has sole discretion with respect to termination of your Account, even if there are credits remaining on your Account.

    Bolded for emphasis.

    Funny thing - I always felt that part was just the generic 'cover your TRIBBLE' thing. This is the first time I've actually seen that clause in action.
  • edna#7310 edna Member Posts: 21 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    This game is obsessed with bans and threats with bans.Chat bans ,account bans ,threat with bans...ffs ,if you want people to invest time and money in the game you should NOT threat every move with a ban.

    People are naming their toons using keywords and talking in zone chat to make people type their name...and no I wont report them because that will chat ban them and players should NOT be allowed or be able to ban other players.
  • beefsupreme79beefsupreme79 Member Posts: 234 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    its so easy to make ec in sto, why are spammers even bothering with this game?

    "People are naming their toons using keywords and talking in zone chat to make people type their name"

    these people should be banned immediately.
This discussion has been closed.