mmorchive

July 1, 2004 ac.turbine.com

Ibn is Alex Beckers, AC1 Live Team

Ibn:

The following post is to consolidate frequently-asked questions regarding the following stated inappropriate behavior in the Asheron’s Call Code of Conduct:

Allowing your character to gain experience points by engaging in combat without being at the keyboard, ready to respond to an Administrator on demand (this activity is commonly called a “Combat Macro”). Logging off as soon as an admin appears (visible or invisible) or when an admin tries to speak with you will be taken into consideration in determining unattended combat macros. First time-combat macro offenses may result in a permanent ban from the game.

The behavior listed is commonly referred to a Unattended Combat Macroing, or UCM.

Threads which duplicate questions answered in this post may be locked and/or removed at the discretion of the forum moderators.

Q: Why is UCM against the Code of Conduct?
A: Combat experience is a very major part of character advancement in Asheron’s Call. We believe it is inappropriate for a player to gain the benefits of combat experience when not actually playing the game. If a player wishes to gain XP at times when he or she is not playing the game, one strongly suggested method is to use the Allegiance System and recruit active vassals.

Q: But without UCM, I’ll never get enough XP to reach my character goals!
A: If you wish to increase the XP that your character receives, we strongly suggest that you attempt to recruit active vassals at as high a level as possible. The Allegiance System can provide a great deal of experience to the direct patrons of active vassals.

Q: Why is UCM against the Code of Conduct on Darktide? On Darktide players can just attack a macroing character if they don’t like it, and this gives players on Darktide something to fight over.
A: Please see the first answer. Whether or not a UCM offends a specific player, we feel that it is inappopriate for the game as a whole.

Q: What are the penalties for violating the Code of Conduct by UCMing?
A: On first offense, the account will be banned from all Asheron’s Call servers for 3 days. On second offense, the ban is for 7 days. Third offense is a year. In addition, all bans for CoC violations are considered “strikes” against your account. After three strikes for any reason, we reserve the right to ban an account for a year. However we also have the right to ban for a year even without three strikes, for particularly abusive behavior. It is possible for you to receive a short initial ban, only to have the ban extended after a review of your ban history.

Q: If I get banned for UCM, can I appeal the ban?
A: Yes. You may do so here: (ed: link removed)

Q: My appeal was declined. Is there anyone else that I can appeal to, like by posting on the forums or emailing the Community Relations rep?
A: No. The ban appeals process is handled solely through our Fuze support site.

Q: What if I just want to find out why I was banned, or if I feel that the Envoy who banned me acted unfairly?
A: In such circumstances you can send a private message on these forums to Frelorn, the Asheron’s Call Online Community Relations rep. Please provide the character name, world, and time and date that this occurred. Frelorn cannot overturn your ban but he can provide more information. In addition, if a problem is found in the Envoy procedures, Frelorn can work with Customer Service to resolve these problems.

Q: What if I feel another player was banned unfairly, or if I feel that another player should have been banned but was not?
A: In such cases we recommend contacting Ibn, as referenced above. Please keep in mind, however, that frequently in such situations not all of the facts are made public. The situation may be very different than what has been communicated to you.

Q: What do you mean by unattended?
A: If you are not at your keyboard and ready to respond to an Administrator (generally speaking, an Envoy) on demand, you are considered unattended. This can include being logged on to multiple accounts via the same PC, depending on your personal ability to attend multiple accounts simultaneously.

Q: What do you mean by combat?
A: Combat is when your character is either attacking or casting an offensive spell at a creature, or is the target of a creature or creature’s offensive spell. In each of these circumstances, your character can gain experience points.

Q: So is it a violation of the Code of Conduct to be unattended but be a member of a combat fellowship?
A: That, in itself, is not a violation of the Code of Conduct. However such a character may also be found to be UCM depending on the situation, for example if the character is attacked by monsters while performing some automated function.

Q: So in every single situation that a character is unattended and gets attacked by monsters, that character will get banned?!
A: No. Each situation is unique and is judged on its own merits and circumstances. These circumstances can include, but are not limited to, how that character’s presence impacts the play of attended characters in the vicinity and what actions if any are being taken by the unattended character.

Q: So if I don’t use any macros, leave my keyboard for a bit, and get attacked by a monster — I won’t be banned?
A: In general, you will not be banned.

Q: What about buffbots? Are buffbots UCM?
A: In general buffbots are not placed in locations where they can be in combat. However in certain special cases a buffbot may be judged to be in combat and tested for UCM. Each situation is judged on its own merits and circumstances.

Q: What about [any specific situation]? Will I be banned for it?
A: We cannot cover every possible specific situation in which a player may or may not be judged to be UCMing and thusly banned. We judge each situation on its own merits and circumstances.

Q: Why doesn’t Turbine just ban all third-party applications?
A: Such a ban would be difficult if not impossible to enforce. In addition, we understand that many beneficial third-party applications are harmless and well-loved by our players. We have no plans for such a flat ban at this time. There have been times in the past in which we have deemed use of a specific plug-in to be abuse and have banned players for using it, we reserve the right to do so in the future.

Q: Why not just ban all unattended macros?
A: Likewise, many such macros are beneficial and harmless. We have no plans for such a flat ban at this time.

Q: How do Envoys decide who to test for UCM?
A: There are a number of methods. If the Envoys receive an abuse report on a character, they will investigate. In addition, they perform random sweeps through areas that are known to frequently be trafficked by UCMing characters. In either case, if they determine that a character is in combat and appears to be unattended, they can perform a UCM test.

Q: How do Envoys determine if a player is unattended?
A: Envoys ask the player to follow a number of simple instructions, some which are difficult to complete via third-party applications but not difficult to complete by attended players. If the player does not follow the instructions within 30 seconds, the account will be banned. If the character logs out during the test, the account will be banned.

Q: How will I know that an Envoy is testing me to see if I am attended?
A: Your first indication is that you will be put into a limbo state, during which you cannot deal or receive damage or receive most in-game chat messages other than tells from an Envoy. This is to ensure that the Envoy tells are not lost in combat message or chat messages from other players, as well as to ensure that your character is not harmed or killed by creatures during the test.

Q: What if I’m using a third-party application that makes it difficult to see tells from Envoys?
A: We do not support third-party applications. If a third-party application is impeding your ability to respond to an Envoy, we recommend that you stop using the application until the issue is resolved by the third-party application developer.

Q: I think another player is UCMing! What should I do?
A: If you witness any violation of the Asheron’s Call Code of Conduct, you are free to report it by using the Report Abuse button in your Options panel. You are not required to do so.

Q: What should I do to determine if a player is UCMing?
A: This is not your responsibility, and you do not have access to all of the tools used by Envoys to make this determination. If you think another player is UCMing, you have the option of reporting it, but it is not your responsibility to test another character as an Envoy would.

Q: Another player appears to be testing me to see if I am attended! Do I have to answer him?
A: No, you are not required to respond to anyone other than an official Asheron’s Call Administrator, such as an Envoy. Official personnel can be recognized by the plus sign (+) in front of his or her name.

Q: Another player keeps sending me tells to see if I am attended. Is this harrassment?
A: If you are receiving unwanted tells from another character, your first option should be to squelch that character by typing, “/squelch [character name]“. You will no longer see messages from this character. However if you feel you are being harrassed, you may report it by using the Report Abuse button on your Options panel.

Q: Another player keeps reporting me for UCM, but I’m attended, he’s just trying to get me in trouble! What can I do?
A: Repeated intentional false reporting is an abuse of the Asheron’s Call help channels and is a violation of the Code of Conduct. The Envoy team monitors such cases and can ban the reporting account if necessary.