The Daily Grind: To banhammer or not to banhammer

Depends on the game...Activities unertaken in EVE Online, for example, would get someone banned from other games so fast the player's PC would explode.

Personally, I think that banning on first offense is OK as a way to get the message across, but there MUST be some way of appealing the ruling. Perhapse in this case, people will see that trying to circumvent the rules has consequences, but it's going to be up to the PLAYER to do a lot of non-game work to try to get their account back in good standing. Some (not all, of course) might think twice if they have to do any REAL work to keep playing.

Pretty soon people are going to learn that its just not the best option to cheat while playing Darkfall.

People who cheat don't need warnings - they know exactly what they're doing. Warnings are for people who do something that might be borderline, and you need to 'fire one down their nose' to let them know that what they're doing is not OK. Cheaters know they're exploiting/hacking/and generally making the game less fun for the people they're playing with, especially in a PVP-centric game like Darkfall. Bring the Banhammer.

One and done, for sure.

Agree, ban if it is very clear that someone is cheating. Blizzard could learn a thing or two from Aventurine, I find them far too light on people cheating.

Wait, are you telling me that macro-ing AKA "dressed up" key binding is a bannable offense?

That seems rather harsh...

Juwa, if the game does not support it ingame, then yeah, it's a third party program.

@OP- I know that scamming is not a bannable offense in DF. When I played some of my guild leaders went to a newb town and asked to buy a crap ton of resources. They lured a guy to a remote location in the town to do the deal and ganked him (in town), stealing the resources, and keeping the money. That is one of the things DF is all about imo. (If it is in fact a bannable offense, then, lol)

I definitely agree with the harsh banning. As the article says, it keeps the game equal and fair for everyone else, and from what I gather about Darkfall, it is a skill-based combat system, so it becomes that much more important.

Ban 'em all and let Greyskull deal with 'em.

Ban them. Players are people and people push limits. Most cheaters know that they can cheat because the game company is too afraid to lose their subs. So, cheaters keep cheating until they can't. In DF that happens to be once. I applaud Aventurine for being mature and firm about their rules.

To the note about the "potential for error" in the article. If they can verify the cheating then the potential for error is pretty darned low if you ask me.

Ban them all.

Players seem to think that having made a purchase of the software, they can do what they want and the customer is always right.

You are buying access to a sandbox/amusement park/railway line that is run by people who expect all the kids at campt to get along. If you cheat, you should be sent home.

You don't get your money back either if you run on the field at a baseball game or puch the kids at swim camp, so you shouldn't cry if you get kicked out for good in an MMO.

Ban 'em. One cheater who keeps being seen to get away with it can cost you 50 subscriptions. Many of those people would have stayed longer than he will; once enough people quit because the cheating is out of hand, the cheaters quit, too, calling the game "lame" because there aren't enough people around to gank.

I'm all for these bans, and applaud them for getting rid of cheaters and not accepting the 'I was only testing' or 'I didn't know it was an exploit' excuses.

That said, I don't do anythings questionable at all. And if I found myself wrongly banned, I'd be pretty angry about not having any recourse.

Time will tell how accurate they are.

It's harsh, but they're only PVPers, so who cares? :)

Dont ban, why? Because they brought the bug to your attention to be fixed.

On a test server for Warcraft I discovered how to do 500 million damage per swing, and upon executing this on a test dummy, a horde raid entered Ironforge... well... I tested it on them as they zoned in from the subway... with sweeping strikes and bladestorm...

And upon the billions of damage being processed by a dying horde raid the server crashed for a day, and I /flex'd on the PTR forums that day... I hit the game SO HARD I broke a server, and I didnt get banned for it :)

I've stated before in previous article regarding the banning that I'm all for Aventurine's hard-line stance. One thing I mentioned but didn't really expand on was that I feel we need to change the mentality of gamers. There's far too many gamers who do on play the games as they were intended to be played. They don't see any respect or lack thereof to the spirit of which a game is designed.

Far too much focus is aimed at winning at all cost, or at very least boasting of one's gamesmanship. (I'm max level character, you're not therefore I'm elite!). Very few gamers see any reason to be creative within the means of the game. Juvenile behavior runs rampant, even among adult gamers. Cheating has become socially acceptable that it's not a moral issue but rather style of gameplay.

Players need to understand the point of playing a roleplaying game on a massive scale. They need to see it as chance to do some virtual pretending as opposed to just jumping in a pool of competitors and fiercely competing until they feel vindicated in some capacity. I'm sorry but MMOs are not the place for that kind of behavior. MMOs are about escapism, developing your made up character. Do you remember when you were kid and pretended to be a superhero and put the blanket around your neck to symbolize your cape? That's part of developing your character. MMOs are a social game, interact with players, get into character and build the experience. Be kids again without being juvenile punks.

I'm not against competition, and I'm not suggesting people be Care Bears to each other. I relish fierce competitors as long as there's a code of respect for each other and the games rules. I also want some respect towards the spirit of the games we play.

Players need to start accepting responsibility for their actions. The whole 'ITS JUST A GAAAAAME!!!!!!1' attitude is becoming a very, very tired argument in favor of unmitigated asshattery.

The customer is most definitely NOT always right, especially when it comes to shared, interactive online experiences.

Take notes Blizzard.