We need more transparency about the bannings

[Krieg]

I’m am a paying customer of this game. Maybe because of that, I hate cheater and hackers. Feels like they stole from me and not only from Nexon. I report every cheater I spot and celebrate when they are banned.
But there is something very wrong in the lack of transparency of BHG and Nexon to deal with banning that may be a nightmare for honest players.
I have played for months alongside with Vikas in The 1st Dynasty. Learned to respect his skills and ethics. Honest an clean player, for all I could see.
3 days ago, he was nerfed and banned. When he asked for the reason, they said it was crown hacking. Vikas says, and I believe, that he didn’t even crowned anything for a long time. So, he asked for an explanation. Got no one, They say the decision is final.
We, his teamates, asked for explanations as wells. The answer is that they can’t discuss other players’ account.
There are no proof, no answers and no explanations.
But a great player and a great guy has left the game.
We all saw here in these forums a lot of case of errors and bannings, that Nexon was forced to acknowledge.
I found my account nerfed one day for an hour, “by mistake”.
This kind of episode ruins my confidence in the game, and my will of keep playing.
Nexon and BHG “final decisions” and lack of transparency would be bad even if was a company that don’t make mistakes. We all know this is not the case.
The account is not even the most important part. His reputation is. This is a community game. Is very hard to be labeled as a cheater in your community. He deserves answers. We deserve transparency.

 

[Michele Nx]

I agree! I too have played with Vikas for almost a year and have seen no sign of cheating, especially not excessive crown use. I am also a paying customer... and I have a stash of crowns built up that I bought during sales and have been waiting to use once the update comes out. Do I have to fear that using them will cause my account to be banned too, as happened when people used their stags from Marco to get crowns? I still haven't used those because of the bannings that happened in error to so many people. At least Nexon/BHG admitted that one and fixed it... after some trauma and many complaints.

How can I trust a company who bans first, and doesn't answer questions later?

I want to keep playing. I appreciate the recent increased communication. I strongly believe in transparency and fair treatment, too. Situations like this just don't feel right.

 

[Stars God]

I must say since something like this happened to a very well respected co-leader of my old alliance it's been a thought in the back of my mind. They did get their account back about 2 days later but still.

It certainly contributes to my unwillingness to get too invested in the game again, knowing that the account could be closed without explanation.

Hope Vikas gets his account back. Maybe with bonus crowns as an apology!

 

[LordJestix]

I have no idea about the banned player, but i have seen posted in these forums, many times an innocent player getting banned for things out of their control. People were getting banned for a "crown exploit" when all they did was do the free offers from the 3rd party vendor BHG has an arrangement with, or people getting banned for killing too many stags even though they were using the stag lures they purchased from marco polo. They have a ban first attitude yet its funny when we see blatant cheating and it takes for ever to get those players banned.

 

[Publio]

Hallo, my question is...who takes care of players rights? I mean, many players spend money on this game. What could happen if also them would be banned without reason? i think nexon has to consider this legal point of view. Maybe is this an abuse of rights??? Let s put this on legal prospective. Who set the rules to judge and ban? Many times all of us lost armies or whatever cause of nexon server...we all know, nexon knows. And many times we didn't get any refund. And we did not care so much, because we like this game. Bad feelings and crowns solved these moments. But now, the question is clear...what could a player do, if nexon decides to ban a player doing an error. Who will refund?

 

[Krieg]

Even from the legal point of view, this is wrong. When they ban a player, the person loses all the investment he or she made in the game and even the crowns or troops that was bought and not used. You can’t do it without a clear explanation. At least an email with the proofs of the alleged cheat. But they act as police, prosecutor, jury, judge and executioner without show any proof.
To me, is scary to invest my money and time in a company who acts this way.
Again, I’m totally for cheater banning. And not advocating public trials. But an account couldn’t be canceled without giving the player explanations and a chance to defend himself.

 

[KatZA]

TinSoldier Nb4powerup

 

[KatZA]

And he needs to get his account back...otherwise in my mind Nexon have performed an act of theft...

 

[KniferX]

Ever wonder why the Terms of Service of basically any game nowadays is miles long and almost unreadable? It's because they use them for these situations.
I haven't read the Terms myself but I can bet that one part of it states that your account and everything about it is the property of Nexon/BHG and that at any point in time they can do whatever they want with it, without the need to explain why.
So basically all that you have at this point is goodwill, and no grounds for any legal action because, you said "yes" to those Terms before you started playing.

 

[KniferX]

Metaphorical theft, yes, but legally speaking, they can't steal what was already theirs, as stated by the Terms of Service everyone agrees to before starting the game.

 

[Europeos]

I've retired from the game, but I need to speak up here. I played with Vikas for nearly 2 years. I saw his progress daily from the day he joined the alliance and it's just impossible he used crown freezing as the progress of his base was even lower than mine and I've hardly ever bought crowns. He always had one of the lowest xp level in the alliance.
What he has though is incredible skills, one of the best players, maybe the best player I've played with. And as fair decent and honest a player as it comes.
It wouldn't be the first time a player has been banned by mistake. Nexon, please check your logs again and repair this injustice.

 

[Nb4powerup]

Hi all,

We don't discuss player bans but I don't mind looking into this further. It seems the user was already kicked from the alliance, so I'll need the UID in order to look him up.

 

[Krieg]

Thank you Nb4powerup. He did pm you the details. I understand you don’t discuss publicly players bans and agree with it. But I’m pointing do a bigger point: the need for more transparency with the player banned in these cases. Hope you guys think about it.

 

[Butcherson]

The fact that Nexon/BHG ban players without providing evidence, that are more than accusations, is a disgrace! And not answering people you have banned, when they have legit questions, is near fraudulent.

I've played with Vikas for a long time and he is so obviously not a cheater. His base progressed slowly and would look way different if he was cheating. We report everything that looks even the least bit off. To be honest this makes me lose all confidence in Nexon/BHG.

I'm just back from a five month brake from Domi, and after seeing how Vikas is being treated - without ANY EVIDENCE (or even explanation) - I just feel like quitting again.
If this is the way you do your business you should be ashamed. This is unprofessional.

 

[Nb4powerup]

I understand the sentiment in this case, I used to be a guild leader and if one of my flock was ever banned, you bet I was going to get to the bottom of it. Our policy, as I said before, is to avoid publicly denouncing a user or outing them in any way. However, there are exceptions from time to time. At the moment, I'm still actively reviewing the matter. As I've said in the past, we don't just ban willy-nilly. Conditions have to be met and then actions are taken from there. We're always thankful to our community and we're open to reviewing policies when required.

 

[Csacsi]

I have been playing with Vikas for a year and a half. We have evolved together in Domination, his progress was rather slow but steady, nothing out of the ordinary. I was lucky to get to know his human side being his team mate; kind, helpful and passionate about the game.
In our alliance we don’t allow cheaters, if someone joins us who is suspicious, we report him right away just to make sure (s)he gets checked.
He deserves an explanation with detailed facts why this happened to him.
Frankly, banning people without explanation and make it final, not giving a chance for them to explain and protect themselves, can’t appeal against the verdict is a terrible case handling, one sided and autocratic.
Thank you for looking into his case.

 

[poop_]

You are right. There is that clause.

 

[GailWho]

I am touched by the open support for this player. I don't know him personally but can certainly understand the outpouring of support given to his situation. Here underlies the true value in this game... the community. We play alongside our friends as we raid for rss and ntgs, fight the wars, and work our way up the ages. Some of us spend more than others and it's clear who spends time and who spends money or both when you invest so much time playing a game with other human beings from all over the world. I agree with the OP in that when you invest so much time/money in something that's supposed to be fun and that is taken away, at the very least the devs should supply a reason. And the community in support of our friend will demand it. Because we are all in this together. Thank you NB4 for looking into this for us.

 

[nexusliM]

Was this issue resolved? I would like to appeal to the forum admins for my own erroneous banning from a “crown freezing” accusation. In Nexon’s attempts to deter cheating, I have been unfairly targeted and punished (7 day ban and seizure of +16k crowns). I have played Dominations for 3-4 years, purchased the Estate, and have saved all my crowns following the ‘cash is king’ mantra – mainly using them on permanent boosts (museum artifact space, Ironside upgrade manuals, etc.). But being punished in this way, with a ‘thorough investigation’ confirming the accusation but providing no evidence, is extremely discouraging for a long-time gamer. I am willing to share whatever details required to clear my name. I am confident that in review of my game logs, all crowns earned were legitimate (videos, defenses, hunting stags, etc) and it was also legitimate when I have used crowns albeit sparingly.
Nb4powerup