Permanent Ban Appeal

[vtbase]

Greetings,
This will be an appeal for this account, specifically the character in question was Happyminty, Level 60 Rogue, Nostralrius Begins PVP Server. The previous night I was contacted while in a BG that "actions were being taking towards my account, and any continued actions on my behalf would result in a ban". In the words of the GM who spoke to me, I was told I was receiving a warning. Later that night I contacted the GM staff to inquire what exactly was the offense, and what the issue was. After a lengthy conversation with GM #2, he informed me I was warned for AFK/non-participating in a BG, claims which combat logs and scoreboards can say otherwise, but that is not why I am here. He also informed me I was being investigating for anti-afk software for a permanent ban. Baffled, I scrambled to find as much information as possible. I also explained to this GM exactly the method I used to stay out of AFK, asking if it was against the Terms of Use. ( This method by the way, involves a program on my pc that prompts me at a given time to open the client and click, as to press an in-game macro that will /s a phrase, keeping me non-afk.) The GM informed me this was no against the terms of use, but I had my doubts that it would be explained so well to the investigating team.

The appeal on my part is as follows. I was punished with a punishment I would not have none about had I not contacted the GM staff ( I was informed that all I was receiving was a warning). Being a player since DAY ONE of this server, and no offenses to date, I find it harsh to punish me with a permanent ban for something that, in my mind was grey area. Understandable, this might not be such a grey area for your team, but for me and countless others in the player base, I can assure you it was borderline. I am not trying to say that there should be no punishment, but something like a warning or a suspension seems more equal to the crime, seeing as it was a first time offense from any account linked to my IP, and seeing as how it was being operated in a grey area. The terms of use say that botting is bannable, but if the entire story is told, botting was not occurring, so I wish you could take a moment to reconsider the severity of the given punishment.

Warm Regards,
Happyminty

[Glenzig]

Wait. You say in the beginning that you were not afking in bgs. Then you go on to explain the method you use to anti afk, which wouldn't be botting if it's true. So where are you using this anti afk method if not bgs?

[ravensareblack]

Seems like a black/white situation for me. Where else would you use an anti-AFK program?

[Vorfidus]

So you want us to believe that you went through all the trouble to get a program to alert you of an impending AFK but not automatically do actions to prevent that? Yeah.... OK.

[gangstanigga]

cya china

[Alenon12]

Even if what you say is true, why would they/we even want you on the server. You admit to wanting and devising a way to afk bg's which is clearly against tou, no grey area there, not to mention downright rude to the rest of the team.

[Maestrom]

Seems like a black/white situation for me. Where else would you use an anti-AFK program?

This is part 1 of my 2 part question.

What benefit do you gain from being not afk? If you're trying to farm BG while being afk and relying on your team to carry then i don't feel sorry for you one bit. It sounds like you were using a third party program to afk in BG and not help your team. Even if you technically followed the rules and didn't actually have it un-afk you automatically, I would probably still argue that the GMs should make an exception because you're trolling BGs. This isn't retail, there aren't 10 million people playing, a few trolls can make BGs completely unwinnable here.

But lets say that you weren't trolling in BG. Lets just say that you were doing nothing at all, and you just don't want to be afk for totally innocent reasons. If your reasons were totally innocent and you weren't receiving any advantage in the game by running a third party program, then why is it worth the risk? This is more of a personal question to you--why would you risk getting your account banned after you were warned that it was fishy and you yourself didn't believe that the investigators would rely on the GM's interpretation of the rules?

Just from reading your post, it seems like you knew you were doing something that you shouldn't have been doing--using a third party program to help you get around the anti-afk protection of BGs--and when you were warned about it you didn't stop. I don't really see this going anywhere.

[Arev]

I also explained to this GM exactly the method I used to stay out of AFK, asking if it was against the Terms of Use. ( This method by the way, involves a program on my pc that prompts me at a given time to open the client and click, as to press an in-game macro that will /s a phrase, keeping me non-afk.) The GM informed me this was no against the terms of use, but I had my doubts that it would be explained so well to the investigating team.

A GM told you that you were allowed to use a program to avoid being afk kicked from a BG? I don't believe that

I don't understand how you think this is a grey area when the ToU has clearly stated since the beginning that Using any means of botting (e.g. a program) will result in a permanent ban.



"Feel free to make a new account and respect the rules this time"

[Shaffarz]

You're scum, and I really hope they keep this ban in place. The admins need to do more trash sweeping in the battlegrounds.

[Mimma]

but for me and countless others in the player base, I can assure you it was borderline.

If you knew it was a borderline case, why even risk it anyway? And why go playing BG's if you would just AFK tne entire fight (using your script to avoid being kicked ofc).

Bye, you won't be missed.