Here is a question to all of my…Runescape peeps out there. How many times have you had someone report you, maliciously, for something that was not against the rules, just to harass you? In all likelihood, at least a few. Now, Jagex claims that rule 10: abusing customer service does result in a punishment, however I have never heard of anyone getting much more than a warning for clogging up the customer support.
Earlier this week, Aika released the full list of rules, not only the rules but the punishment associated with breaking said rules. To put it lightly, gPotato is looking to provide “an experience at a very high standard.” (Their words, not mine) To put it more plainly, gPotato will not allow Aika to turn into other free games that we’ve seen, let’s single out Combat Arms for this comparison, the kind populated by children who can barely spell the insults they are flinging.
- Sending in a false abuse report on a player will result in a permanent ban on the first offense. If the character is new (unsure what this constitutes) than any accounts from that IP address will be banned as well, permanently.
- Impersonating other players may result in a permanent ban.
- Falsifying information about Gala-Net, Aika, and other players may also result in a permanent ban.
- Inappropriate guild demeanor will result in a ban for all guild members.
- Disrupting in-game events by harassing event coordinators may result in a permanent ban.
- NPC blocking may result in a permanent ban.
- Not taking offenses seriously (deliberately breaking the rules as a joke) may result in a permanent ban.
This is a comprehensive list of what can result in a permanent ban, and although some of these are pretty straightforward, I can see some eyebrows being raised at the grey areas. For instance, will the rule on “false abuse reports” allow free reign for griefing, because the players with their fingers on the report button are too afraid of gPotato not seeing the situation as they did, and receiving a permanent ban?
Or disrupting in-game events, or even NPC blocking. If any of you can give me a clear, concise explanation as to the process behind “npc blocking,” then by all means leave a comment below. My favorite of the list is without a doubt the last: Not taking offenses seriously, which can result in a permanent ban. How exactly does this work?
Harassing player = Temporary mute
Harassing player with a smiley face or an LOL in the message = Permanent ban?
Is there a form of numerical quantification where someone’s seriousness of a situation can be determined? At what angle must a person’s smirk be before it is considered not taking an offense seriously, where a temporary ban becomes permanent? It sounds like anything that is determined to be trolling is punishable by a permanent ban, but how do you determine who is cheating for an edge, and who is simply doing it for the lulz?
I’m going to keep this issue up and will be contacting gPotato as soon as Aika becomes a valid game to query Customer Support over, and will be following this up hopefully with a direct explanation for the rules. Until then, more news on Aika as it appears.
MMO Fallout 
