EA Says Shut Up Or Else

[Telefrog]

Twentysided has the scoop (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1969) on an enlightening post from an EA Official Forum Moderator. In it, the mod threatens that a ban from the EA forums will result in your EA games possibly being rendered inoperative.


Well, its actually going to be a bit nastier for those who get banned.

Your forum account will be directly tied to your Master EA Account, so if we ban you on the forums, you would be banned from the game as well since the login process is the same. And you’d actually be banned from your other EA games as well since its all tied to your account. So if you have SPORE and Red Alert 3 and you get yourself banned on our forums or in-game, well, your SPORE account would be banned to. It’s all one in the same, so I strongly reccommend people play nice and act mature.

All in all, we expect people to come on here and abide by our ToS. We hate banning people, it makes our lives a lot tougher, but its what we have to do.

Those banned will stay banned, but like most other internet services, its not that hard to create a new fake e-mail account. However, its a lot harder to get a new serial key =)

Avatars should be back within 2 weeks of the launch.

-APOC


It should be noted that posting complaints about DRM, as well as generally bad behavior, can result in a ban. Essentially, EA is telling customers to shut up or they'll take your toys away.

[LongStepMantis]

So much for the "New EA" we've been hearing so much about.

Back to being the pricks I love to hate, and it feels right.

[DangerousDaze]

It could just be an over-zealous moderator; forum moderators generally have no control over game access. Does it explicitly state in the ToS that a forum ban can lead to a game ban?

[biosc1]

I bet they are wishing they didn't tie everything together like that. It sounds like a neat idea to have only one account to cover everything...but...

[DoctorFinger]

I think this is more a case of a mod trying to be a big man than any nefarious scheme by EA. In fact I bet the mod himself is banned for saying this. Remember: not everything EA does is evil.

[itchyeyes]

Why do I keep seeing these stories about forum moderators? Mods do not speak for companies, and often aren't even employees. If this is someone who actually has the ability to ban people from the game, then their position at EA most certainly isn't "forum moderator" and the article needs to refer to them by their real title. If they are just a mod then they're simply full of it and people need to stop getting their panties in a wad. "douchebag posts inflamatory message on Internet forum, news at 11"

[LongStepMantis]

I think this is more a case of a mod trying to be a big man than any nefarious scheme by EA. In fact I bet the mod himself is banned for saying this. Remember: not everything EA does is evil.

But...but...Damn, I was really hoping I could openly loathe them again.
I can wait, it's only a matter of time. ;)

[J Arcane]

1) This story is old.

2) It's also been debunked already, in exactly the fashion that DoctorFinger described.

[TrackZero]

Sounds like "APOC" is about to get his ass fired. You don't threaten the customers over petty shit, that are completely unrelated to the product they purchased from you.

Edit: And yeah, all signs point to the fake.

[DangerousDaze]

The blame obviously partly resides with the mod in question but it also lies with the community manager who allows his moderators to make statements like this in the first place. Speaking personally, our rules explicitly forbid moderators from making any kind of community statement on pain of dismisal. Even the devs aren't allowed to post willy nilly.

If everyone understands the boundaries from the outset then problems like this (which paint EA in an extremely bad light) can't occur.

[Telefrog]

1) This story is old.

2) It's also been debunked already, in exactly the fashion that DoctorFinger described.

Links to debunking?

As far as I know, many (not all) of my old EA games are tied to the same Master EA account for online play. From what I know, Spore is directly tied to that account, so getting a Spore forum ban should make it very difficult to utilize the online Sporepedia features.

[Johan]

True or not, I don't care. I dislike EA.

[itchyeyes]

The blame obviously partly resides with the mod in question but it also lies with the community manager who allows his moderators to make statements like this in the first place. Speaking personally, our rules explicitly forbid moderators from making any kind of community statement on pain of dismisal. Even the devs aren't allowed to post willy nilly.

If everyone understands the boundaries from the outset then problems like this (which paint EA in an extremely bad light) can't occur.
Sure they can occur. You can't actually dismiss the mod until after they post the inflamatory message, by which point the entire Internet has already linked to the message and interpreted it as representative of your company. And since this is the Internet, nobody ever bothers to actually check the source or updates on the story before passing judgment. As J Arcane pointed, the mod has already been dismissed, yet here we are a month after it happened, people still blaming EA for... for what? Not being able to predict with 100% certainty what their unpaid volunteers will post on their boards?

[itchyeyes]

Links to debunking?
http://kotaku.com/5054372/ea-responds-to-spore-forum-banning-concerns

[DangerousDaze]

for what? Not being able to predict with 100% certainty what their unpaid volunteers will post on their boards?

I'm not sure whether EA use unpaid volunteers on their forums. The mod in question obviously thought it was acceptable to post a message like that in order to try and clamp down on a situation on his or her forum. What I'm saying is that if she knew that any kind of statement would result in her dismissal then she would in all likelihood not have posted.

I accept your point though, saying it "can't happen" is too strong. Let's say it's far less likely to happen.

/edit - EA's statement says they do use volunteer mods.

[Telefrog]

http://kotaku.com/5054372/ea-responds-to-spore-forum-banning-concerns

Not to poop on your link, but that's from September. The mod threat in the Twentysided story is from the 18th of this month, when EA rolled out the new forum for Red Alert. It's a different incident from the one you're referencing. Here is the original EA Forum thread (http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=449687&tstart=0&start=0) in question.

It could easily be that this mod is talking out of his ass, but it could also be that EA is actually rolling out a "STFU policy" on all their games.

[itchyeyes]

I'm not sure whether EA use unpaid volunteers on their forums.
"These comments are absolutely not true or inline with EA's moderation policy. They were made by an over-zealous community volunteer ho does not work for EA." - link (http://kotaku.com/5054372/ea-responds-to-spore-forum-banning-concerns)

[DangerousDaze]

"These comments are absolutely not true or inline with EA's moderation policy. They were made by an over-zealous community volunteer ho does not work for EA." - link (http://kotaku.com/5054372/ea-responds-to-spore-forum-banning-concerns)

I already accepted that in my previous edit.

/edit - a volunteer ho? :)

[itchyeyes]

I already accepted that in my previous edit.

/edit - a volunteer ho? :)
Yeah sorry, this thread is picking up pace.

[Telefrog]

"These comments are absolutely not true or inline with EA's moderation policy. They were made by an over-zealous community volunteer ho does not work for EA." - link (http://kotaku.com/5054372/ea-responds-to-spore-forum-banning-concerns)

Again, to clarify. This is the wrong story.

This is a separate and new incident.

[itchyeyes]

Not to poop on your link, but that's from September. The mod threat in the Twentysided story is from the 18th of this month, when EA rolled out the new forum for Red Alert. It's a different incident from the one you're referencing. Here is the original EA Forum thread (http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=449687&tstart=0&start=0) in question.

It could easily be that this mod is talking out of his ass, but it could also be that EA is actually rolling out a "STFU policy" on all their games.
I missed that. Regardless, if that was EA's stance on the previous incident, you can almost guarantee it will be the same stance on this one, given that they are practically identical incidents and only a month apart.

[Doctor Setebos]

I missed that. Regardless, if that was EA's stance on the previous incident, you can almost guarantee it will be the same stance on this one, given that they are practically identical incidents and only a month apart.But isn't it telling that we've had two separate incidents within a month of one another where an EA mod told people that their EA forum account and Master account are tied together, and a forum ban will result in a loss of access to EA games?

I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, nor am I a huge EA hater (I don't like some of their practices, but I'm not completely anti-EA), but this just reeks of a potential corporate policy that has gotten out a bit too soon.

[itchyeyes]

But isn't it telling that we've had two separate incidents within a month of one another where an EA mod told people that their EA forum account and Master account are tied together, and a forum ban will result in a loss of access to EA games?
If they were company employees, I might agree. But volunteer mods? Extremely doubtful.

[Dukefrukem]

I think it's even more funny that the mod, has this little threatening post, and doesn't know the difference between "to" and "too". Then again, we all make typos now and then.

[Adam Blue]

APOC is more than a mod. He's been around for a while and as an employe he does what he's told - like pass down information as a community manager. Those forums are so full of shit heads, I'd love to see half of them banned.

But this thread is a good example of people commenting/arguing for the sake of it without knowing what's going on.

[Widgetcraft]

This is why SecuROM is bad. Whatever though, no one should be buying their games to begin with.

[Telefrog]

But this thread is a good example of people commenting/arguing for the sake of it without knowing what's going on.

So what's going on then? Is it bull, or is something up?

[Adam Blue]

So what's going on then? Is it bull, or is something up?

Honestly, if APOC is saying it, it's probably true. Plus the trolling and spamming over there is mind-fuckingly horrible. ..I don't doubt there desperate to shut people up.

[KingGorilla]

I think this is more a case of a mod trying to be a big man than any nefarious scheme by EA. In fact I bet the mod himself is banned for saying this. Remember: not everything EA does is evil.

How dare you bring your barbaric "critical thinking" into the internet.

[Hotcod]

i know, some one go get banned and see if they can still play spore or some such... that should sort this out

[Dukefrukem]

http://kotaku.com/5070957/backtalk-in-eas-forums-get-banned-from-your-games

[Telefrog]

http://kotaku.com/5070957/backtalk-in-eas-forums-get-banned-from-your-games

I eagerly await EA's response.

[Sonic Alpha]

As I stated over in the Red Alert 3 thread (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1807), I hope it's not true.

If it is, EA have just shot themselves in the foot. It's potentially more than just getting banned on their forums, if you get banned in-game (for whatever reason), it also bans you from other games (according to Apoc's statement) :/

[Dukefrukem]

It can't be true.

[Goronmon]

The mod in question obviously thought it was acceptable to post a message like that in order to try and clamp down on a situation on his or her forum. What I'm saying is that if she knew that any kind of statement would result in her dismissal then she would in all likelihood not have posted.Volunteer mods for any board are little more than regular posters who have some extra permissions from my experience. I doubt they have any serious training over how to moderate the boards, and most are just working with their superior's assumption that they are not going to post stupid crap. Nothing prevents them from making an ass of themselves, just like nothing prevents a regular poster from making an ass of themselves.

[Adam Blue]

FACT:

APOC is an employee of EA. He's a community manager.

FACT:

Gamers are among the biggest group of douche-bags on the net. And as time goes, they continually get away with it (internet fuckwad theory). EA has such a huge following that a few bans won't hurt them - it will prove a point.

You know why it doesn't bother me? I have no plans to do anything that would result in a ban.

[Hotcod]

FACT:

APOC is an employee of EA. He's a community manager.

FACT:

Gamers are among the biggest group of douche-bags on the net. And as time goes, they continually get away with it (internet fuckwad theory). EA has such a huge following that a few bans won't hurt them - it will prove a point.

You know why it doesn't bother me? I have no plans to do anything that would result in a ban.

but that's not really the point... the point is that if this is true then a company is dictating the use of your licences based on things you've said. It's a very very dangerous precedent really

[hideouslywrinkled]

Kotaku isn't a worthwhile source. If it turns out this is just an message board threat they'll just write a story blaming CheapyD and talking about how message board's don't have as much journalistic integrity as they do.

[Goronmon]

but that's not really the point... the point is that if this is true then a company is dictating the use of your licences based on things you've said. It's a very very dangerous precedent reallyThere already is precedent. You can easily get banned from subscription-based online games.

[Telefrog]

There already is precedent. You can easily get banned from subscription-based online games.

Yes, but this is a bit different. The threat here is that misbehaving on a forum (an area outside of the game) will not only render that particular game inoperative, but that it would render all past and current EA games that you own inoperative if they use that master EA account.

It would be like Valve threatening to turn off your account and games if you misbehave on the Steam community forums.

[Hotcod]

There already is precedent. You can easily get banned from subscription-based online games.

Yes but in that case you are paying for a service not for a licence. If you brake the rules of that service they stop supplying it to you. On top of that i've never heard of any one being banned from an MMO purely for there actions on official forums.

But anyway In this case, if this is true, EA will for behaviour on forums block your accesses to any licences you hold with them. Like Telefrog said, it would be like valve letting a community forum moderator ban you from steam beacuse of something on the forum.

[MagGnome]

Hasn't Valve done just that in the past? I thought there was some controversy over something like that a couple of years ago, but I could very well be mistaken.

[Hotcod]

There's been some problems with them seeming to ban innocent users but that was over VAC stuff... which is all about ingame cheating and suspected account abuse and so on. i also remember some people being banned over some Linux stuff who wanted to flood the forum with Linux suppourt request or something but the forum accounts are in no way tied to your steam account so unless they went as far as to cross match e-mail or IP addresses or some such there is no way they could have banned users from steam with a ban from the forums.

So in other words... no... valve as far as i know (and i did google to check) has never banned some one from steam beacuse they got banned on the forums. I don't even think there is a way for them to tie a forum account to a steam one.

Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong

[Disgustipated]

Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong

This is the Internet. You're wrong. No correction necessary.

[wyeast]

You know why it doesn't bother me? I have no plans to do anything that would result in a ban.

Says you. This sets up a horrible precedent of them implementing policy to have you banned everywhere for "violating TOS" not related to the service you're purchasing.

"Hi, I wanted to ask a question about the DRM on..." *WHAMMO!*

Banned.

Don't think it doesn't happen. Plenty of criticism arises out of devs message boards. Sometimes things get heated. It's a forum, not a court of law, and sometimes justice gets handed out arbitrarily. I've never seen a game go without criticism to some degree. I've thrown plenty of criticism at them over Burnout Revenge. So what if now criticizing the game is "against TOS?" I've seen this attitude of "Positive feedback only or STFU" fester on other dev forums. I would not be surprised one iota if it went there as well.

Yes yes yes. I know. Vote with your wallet. I have. Trust me. And if draconian policies like this turn out to be true, my wallet will continue to vote as such.

[Adam Blue]

Keeping you guys up to date. (http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=457006&tstart=0)

Hey everyone,

If you didn't notice, your C&C Community Manager, me, had a bit of a run-in with the video game blogging media today in reference to a direct quote I made on our forums here a few days ago in regards to how we handle bans and suspensions on the forums and in-game. You all know how we are greatly trying to protect and serve you from those who wish to disrupt our C&C community by breaking ToS on our forums or in-game, and I know everyone appreciates when we take action on those that are the worst.

That said, the previous statement I made recently (that's being quoted on the blogs) was inaccurate and a mistake on my part. I had a misunderstanding with regards to our new upcoming forums and website and never meant to infer that if we ban or suspend you on the forums, you would be banned in-game as well. This is not correct, my mistake, my bad.

If we suspend or ban you from the forums, that does not affect your in-game account and certainly it does not impact your in-game account for other games. Quite often we usually warn you before taking any type of action, suspend you before considering any type of ban, etc. I am sure you guys know that we are fairly tolerant and stress that you please show respect to others, but we also understand the forums are a place to be heard and express your opinion in a constructive manner. Everyone has their "flame" moments.


Your Posting in our official C&C EA Forums is enabled by an EA Nucleus account (the Master EA Account you typically login with to chose your Persona) -- but access to the forums and access to the games are separate. Players who have been banned from EA Forums are not automatically banned from online access to their other EA games, or the game associated with that particular forum. Players can be warned, suspended, and/or then banned if they breach the Terms of Service or Code of Conduct in a forum, game or service. Each forum, game and service is managed independently by our customer support representatives responsible for that specific forum, game or service.

Suffice to say, when we take action on someone on our C&C forums here, for any number of ToS breaking reasons, it does not impact your C&C game account or any other EA Game Account connected to your forum name. The mods here do a great job of alerting me when we need to warn someone or take further action, if I haven't seen it myself or heard it in a thread from one of you, but any action we take on a C&C Forum User, doesn't impact their in-game status.

I apologize for the misunderstanding, but I hope everyone is able to see the greater good intent in that we are simply trying to keep the forums and in-game as friendly and fun environments as possible, just know that those two environments are treated seperately by myself, the mods, and especially our Customer Support team. =)

Sincerely,
APOC

*hopefully i'll have better historical memorable moments as your C&C Community Manager than this one =) *

[Hotcod]

ah so his just a dumb ass then

[Sonic Alpha]

Apoc is really in the loop... </sarcasm>

That is one major balls up, could he not have confirmed what he was going to say before he said it? lol

[MagGnome]

There's been some problems with them seeming to ban innocent users but that was over VAC stuff... which is all about ingame cheating and suspected account abuse and so on. i also remember some people being banned over some Linux stuff who wanted to flood the forum with Linux suppourt request or something but the forum accounts are in no way tied to your steam account so unless they went as far as to cross match e-mail or IP addresses or some such there is no way they could have banned users from steam with a ban from the forums.

So in other words... no... valve as far as i know (and i did google to check) has never banned some one from steam beacuse they got banned on the forums. I don't even think there is a way for them to tie a forum account to a steam one.

Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong

I honestly wasn't sure, so thank you for your reply! :)

[DangerousDaze]

So, over-zealous mod as originally expected. I bet he loved posting that message. ;)

[Rakael]

I bet he got the ass chewing of his life over that one, whether he is the scapegoat for an EA policy that was quickly cancelled or not.

[Telefrog]

I bet he got the ass chewing of his life over that one, whether he is the scapegoat for an EA policy that was quickly cancelled or not.

As I said before, what the Hell? A very similar thing happened in September on the Spore forums. Is there a huge miscommunication issue between EA corporate and their community managers? :confused:

I have to assume that the last incident prompted a flurry of memos to their people explicitly spelling out that the Spore CM was incorrect, reiterating the official policy regarding forum bans, and containing some boilerplate text that could be cut and pasted into any communication on the subject to customers. At least, this is what would happen in any sane company.

[kropotkin]

This stinks of a mod doing an excellent impression of 'YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHOROTAAAAAAAAAAAGH' in true Cartman like fashion. Only to fall flat on his face as his neo-Nazi like tendences are quashed by the grand poo-bah's within EA.

Oh hey! I made a nazi reference on a forum post. Isn't there a name for that?