Rules: Why Do They Need To Be Repeated?

While logging into Lord of the Rings Online several days ago, I noticed the above warning on the main page. Turbine is banning anyone who exploits a bug with the skirmish system, without warning (no slap on the wrist) or appeal. They can tell who is doing it, and are watching for those who attempt to slip by.

This, alongside other examples I will get to, continues to make me ask: Why do MMOers need to be constantly reminded not to break the rules? Are we that exploitative, selfish, greedy, or ignorant that we have to be reminded that exploiting the system, cheating in some fashion, or otherwise break the rules is, in fact, against the rules and is punishable? Or does this small minority just have the mindset that they are invincible, that they won’t get caught. To me, this is akin to a police officer who greets with “now you know stealing is against the law, we will arrest you if we catch you doing it,” to everyone walking down the street, because a couple unruly teens in the neighborhood decided to ransack and beat the tar out of one of the older gentleman’s house down the street.

More after the break.

I don’t blame this on Turbine, or on any other developer, I blame it on the players. The players who think they won’t get caught, and then don’t understand what they did wrong when they see the “this account has been permanently banned,” message on their computer screen, when many of them were likely bragging about their exploits on various forums/chat rooms just the day before.

In Runescape, the big 6/6/06, a player discovered a method of gaining player vs player combat abilities in areas that did not allow player vs player combat. He was able to go through a major city, killing everyone in his path with no chance of resistance, removing a large number of the game’s rare items from circulation. Eventually, the player and several others who also abused the glitch were banned. The one player grew a following of players who practically idolized him, who ended up making Jagex seem like the evil party in this, for banning him. Players flooded the forums with demands that he be unbanned or they would unsubscribe and quit the game. Naturally, none of them followed through on the threat.

Again in Runescape, this time just last year, a glitch arose with one of the distraction events. In this mini-game, players seek out penguins in a hide and seek style mini-game that can be repeated once a week. Players spy a penguin for points, which they can turn in for cash and experience. One week, a penguin experienced a bugging allowing players to gain an unlimited number of points from it. Jagex announced that only those who had maliciously exploited the bug  to gain millions in cash and experience would be banned, with temporary bans for lesser offenses, and blackmarks for even lesser. Once again, players took to the forums and questioned why players exploiting bugs were being punished.

World of Warcraft has gone deeper into the punishment system, when they started banning party members who lie and steal from their groups to gain valuable items for themselves. The Warcraft forums went up in flames after it was announced that this (previously assumed) less traceable form of fraud was being taken very seriously.

What is especially pathetic about these players, and those who support them, is that they like to throw the blame everywhere but themselves. In the case of the Runescape PvP exploit, it wasn’t the exploiter’s fault because, let’s face it, everyone would have done it given the chance. It wasn’t his fault because Jagex put in the bug, and it wasn’t his fault because he was “just having fun.” Players who exploit bugs and glitches, only to get caught for it, like to blame the company. It is the company’s game, therefore if it’s in game, they obviously wanted it to be that way, I’m just using a feature of the game.

But what about the victims? The accused love blaming the victims, especially when it comes to scams and phishing. Players who scam other players (lie about the item’s worth, its uses, etc) love to blame the victim, as if it somehow makes them completely innocent. The rules in place in games are very similar to those in place in real life that stop people from lying about products they are selling in order to make a quick buck. Players who find an obscure and exotic item looking/sounding item in-game and pawn it off as something valuable and rare. Players who say that these scam rules are to protect “stupid people and kids,” are partially right, and for the wrong reasons. We have rules and laws to protect people others would refer to as “stupid” because of the people who prey on them, their too-high level of trust, and slight lack of common sense.

It is a test of wills to work for the customer service section that handles ban appeals. People blaming it on their siblings, cousins, family members, trying to claim that it didn’t happen (even though the chat log is sitting right there), and even getting as vulgar as one can stretch the English language. I even once saw someone blame their cat for installing an aimbotting program, which I chalked down to a lack of common sense. Everyone knows cats are notorious cheaters in online games.

It may be a cultural issue, but players appear to think that the rules are there just as suggestions. Sure, they say you can’t run around Orgrimmar shouting every racist word ever uttered in the Western Hemisphere, but they won’t actually ban you for it, right? I pay for the game, I should have the right to say what I want, freedom of speech man. They say you can’t make offensive comments, but what about offensive statements? What about an offensive limerick? Or perhaps an offensive soliloquy.

So instead of reminding us all that breaking the rules is, in fact, against the rules, what developers should be doing is instructing their customer service teams to explain to each person who is banned why they were banned, so there are no questions. Instead of a copy and paste “you were banned for breaking rule #1,” how about “You were banned for standing in the middle of the town and shouting expletives in caps. Here is your chat log.”

And more importantly, stop going soft on rule breakers. You don’t want to alienate your userbase by banning every person who utters a single word you don’t like, but if you announce that you’re not going to ban people for purposely exploiting systems (as Jagex did several times last year) then you are setting up an atmosphere where people will simply exploit the system, enough but not too much, and then sit back and enjoy their ill, but not too ill, gotten gains.