After playing since late last summer, I basically quit during the 3rd week of the ABCd/AHCd fiasco. I stuck my head in for the occasional spider or harvest, mostly to keep my medals collection up-to-date. During rounds when MWM Green was being given a run for its money (congrats, btw, MWM OJ), I tried to chip in some more in hopes of making up the gap. But I did not hear about the apparent new tools and new bans until late last night. I commend Grey Area for taking action to counter abuse and cheating in this game. However, after talking to several people and observing the fallout today, I feel it is important to make a point:

I think this whole mess comes down to the same issue as always: There is no trust between the players and the developers/moderators. 

After months and months of utterly arbitrary enforcement and gameplay changes and a "because we said so" approach to customer service, GA has created and introduced these tools and policies with poor (as usual) communication and explanation. The community reaction seems to me to be extremely similar to all the other modifications.

Until some effort is put into transparency and rebuilding trust with the customers, no one is going to believe policies are being enforced accurately or fairly. 

A few sub-points:

- Status-chat statements of policy are by nature impermanent and lend themselves to rumor-spreading. There needs to be a real statement of what has been changed, and what is now actually a bannable offense, as most of these things have had a spotty at best enforcement record in the past. You have a staff channel. Use it. 

- As long as banned players can immediately, publicly, and without consequence make another account, this whole effort is fairly pointless. I'm all for second chances, so I believe part of the disciplinary process might involve the opportunity to create a "probationary" account to play within the rules. But until that is implemented, either you're allowed to make a new account or you aren't.

Lastly and most importantly:
- I understand that there are privacy issues involved, but there has to be a better way to execute the disciplinary process, where people are given an opportunity to view at least an outline of the offenses being banned for. Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and I truly believe that a more transparent effort would go a long way.

Yours sincerely,
Kieri

Amen.

Kieri, I personally thank you for your many contributions to the feeling of community you provided for me. I have fond memories of doing research and designing sigils. I throw my support to you and your statements with the following caveat:

Something I did not even really realize until yesterday is that this game is still in BETA according the third paragraph of the Terms of Service at the bottom of this page (EVERYONE WHO PLAYS THIS GAME NEEDS TO READ THE TOS!) GA can terminate the Service at any time, with our without cause. It's the wild wild MMMORPG west.

Caveat lector, "let the reader beware"
Caveat emptor, "let the buyer beware"
Caveat venditor, "let the seller beware"

update, May 24, 2012: I didn't want to believe these very words, I was being cynical. Now they are simply a sad, sad truth. My expectations have been too high. I thought this small independent company, on the cutting edge of the gaming world, might do business differently than others. I have been naive.

Edited by Snogripple (May 24, 2012 18:14:54)

yep. +1.

Sno - I have read the ToS, many times, and of course Grey Area can do whatever it likes with its game. This post (and the several others I have written in a similar vein) are posted under the assumption that the good people at GA got into the MMORPG game in order to provide their players with the best possible experience. I'm simply offering my opinion as to ways they can improve that experience.

Snogripple

Something I did not even really realize until yesterday is that this game is still in BETA according the third paragraph of the Terms of Service at the bottom of this page (EVERYONE WHO PLAYS THIS GAME NEEDS TO READ THE TOS!) GA can terminate the Service at any time, with our without cause. It's the wild wild MMMORPG west.

Caveat lector, "let the reader beware"
Caveat emptor, "let the buyer beware"
Caveat venditor, "let the seller beware"

Anvar


Regardless, the changes of late appear to be a move in the right direction, IMO. Yes, cheating will occur no matter what, but it doesn't mean it should be tolerated in such a wide-spread fashion.

I agree completely. I just think that the execution could use some refinement.