Weird LFM

[Freeman]

Sounds like someone at Turbine followed the Stormtrooper law-enforcement approach:

All suspects are guilty. Period. Otherwise, they wouldn't be suspects, would they?

[dasein18]

Someone PM who got banned for this on Thelanis?

I will sign the petition for un-banning them. This stupid LFM has been up for weeks and I have also put up LFMs making fun of it... good think I did not get banned.. oh no did I rat myself out and now will get banned?

[tfangel]

This person is a well known and respected member of Thelanis. He is not an exploiter. Turbine issued their verdict with no research. Yes, maybe they should not have joked about it (because of the risk, not because it was wrong to do so) - but the worst action taken should have been a temp ban pending an investigation.

Not saying he was an exploiter, just that someone may have seen him joking about it and not gotten the joke, reported him, and then Turbine banned. Seems there should always be a check to see if they are in fact exploiting before a ban (maybe suspended until then or just watching them without suspension), but i don't know what kinds of records or logs Turbine keeps.

Though, i'm probably not the only one who remembers the people who got banned from exploiting the dragon raid back in the day, and people rose hell and got them unbanned. Even though they exploited and bragged about it. Not saying this is the case here, just pointing out an opposite point of view.

Out of curiosity, has the LFM stayed up through server restarts?

[moorewr]

Bunk for President.

Does this change what "I been Bunked!" means? Or are there two definitions now?

Vhlad, incredibly well put and analyzed. +1 Shouldn't you be using your genius more productively than capping DDO toons? Oh that's right...you live in Canadia.

Tread lightly, lest ye be bunked.

Goor lord, I just repped a Gunga post.

[Cyr]

Hold on are you guys screwing around or serious about someone getting banned for a joking post about that LFM? If so that is 100% outrageous.

[Gunga]

Hold on are you guys screwing around or serious about someone getting banned for a joking post about that LFM? If so that is 100% outrageous.

Yeah...a respected vet on Thelanis got Bunked for weak sauce.

[Borror0]

Hold on are you guys screwing around or serious about someone getting banned for a joking post about that LFM? If so that is 100% outrageous.

When you know the player in question, it's even more outrageous.

[DoctorWhofan]

screwing around...3 day ban...he knows better

permaban...heck no!

[Alter]

I can't believe they bunked him for joking around over an LFM.

turd-bine!!! VROOOOOOM!!

[Syrin]

[Gunga]

He's not banned. I just pulled Bunk out of the left chest in Pt 1 of ToD.

[Thorzian]

Just ******** that he got banned.. even dumber is that the lfm is still up over a week later. the 5 year olds still programming thelanis huh?

[Glorious]

I agree with Trissa - a 3 day slap is what is deserved here.

I strongly urge Turbine to 'review the tapes' and realize that this was a harmless, albeit, obviously ill-advised, joke, and not in any way an attempt to exploit the game. Please reinstate all players who have been banned for the same problem accordingly.

Also please remove this LFM it's a bit of an eyesore and is now also a constant reminder to all those on Thelanis about this whole situation.

[Murgatroyd]

I'm going to go cry in my Bunk

[JayDubya]

I'm sure if they could remove the LFM,they would. My guess is that the original poster was banned with the LFM still up, and, for whatever reason, the LFM got detached from the player. So no there's no player object that can be used to connect to the LFM to remove it (which is why when you attempt to /tell the owner of the LFM, that it responds with a String Table Error).

Which is a perfectly forgivable and minor problem, except for the RIDICULOUS OUT-OF-PROPORTION RESPONSE BY THE FORUM WRANGLERS to jokes about said LFM.

Tolero, and Tarrant - we all make mistakes. Saddle up, and admit it, and fix the ridiculous damage that the Ban-Hammer has caused, and we can all move past this and be happy.

[moorewr]

I'm sure if they could remove the LFM,they would. My guess is that the original poster was banned with the LFM still up, and, for whatever reason, the LFM got detached from the player. So no there's no player object that can be used to connect to the LFM to remove it (which is why when you attempt to /tell the owner of the LFM, that it responds with a String Table Error).

Which is a perfectly forgivable and minor problem, except for the RIDICULOUS OUT-OF-PROPORTION RESPONSE BY THE FORUM WRANGLERS to jokes about said LFM.

Tolero, and Tarrant - we all make mistakes. Saddle up, and admit it, and fix the ridiculous damage that the Ban-Hammer has caused, and we can all move past this and be happy.

Well said.

I've sent T&T a PM expressing my disapproval of the ban in this case. If you feel the same way, I suggest you write a polite but firm PM to them as well. That might make a bigger impression than this thread will.

[staples]

There is a LFM on Thelanis which states:

"We recently find out an amazing BUG which helps working out 10000kpp within a fe"

This LFM has been up for weeks.

If a player comes along and jokingly states in the trade channel: "I recently found out an amazing BUG which helps working out 10000kpp!! I'm using this money to buy gold coins! Sell me your gold festivut coins!"

It should be very clear that they are
a) buying gold coins, and
b) joking about the LFM that's been up on Thelanis for weeks

To take a longtime VIP player with no prior warnings, temp bans, or exploit history, who makes such a joke/reference to the LFM and PERMBAN them is completely nonsensical. To claim such a longtime player will remain permbanned because they advertised to other players that they had found an exploit that would award the player with a large amount of in-game currency is a gross misunderstanding.

To anyone currently playing on Thelanis, this is clearly, absolutely clearly, a jab at the LFM that hasn't gone away, and not a real advertisement of any mysterious bug or exploit.

Furthermore, dissecting the code of conduct #17: "You will not exploit, distribute or publicly communicate any game error, miscue or bug which gives an unintended advantage within the Dungeons & Dragons Online game world. Bugs should be reported via the Ingame Bug Reporting Form.""

The above example is:
a) not exploiting
b) not distributing or publicly communicating a game error, miscue, or bug. No details of any game error, miscue, or bug were given to anyone. No steps or process to obtain any unintended advantage was given.

Banning someone permanently for the above trade chat example or for something similar to it is akin to permbanning someone for saying: "I found a bug that lets you grow wings and wield 6 swords at once! Therefore I'm buying 6 vicious longswords to make the clerics cry. Sell me your longswords!"

It's absurd.

Turbine, remedy this situation. Reinstate anyone and everyone who had been banned for making fun of or reference to what is contained in the LFM. And get rid of the blasted LFM if you're banning people for making reference to it.

Could not have typed it out better. From a CS point of view, recognizing your faults with your customer base, apologizing for their existance, and laying out a plan of correction for them is the only path to take.

[binnsr]

In defense of T&T, they are forum moderators. The action in question happened as a [lack of] ingame actions and was implemented by in-game GMs. I doubt that either T or T have much say in who gets banned or not banned from the game itself.

[Borror0]

In defense of T&T, they are forum moderators. The action in question happened as a [lack of] ingame actions and was implemented by in-game GMs. I doubt that either T or T have much say in who gets banned or not banned from the game itself.

While true, it's important to remember that both Tarrant and Tolero are "feedback gatherers". their job is to collect our feedback, and our experience with the ban system is one aspect of it. Of course, we have to do so in PMs because of the forum guidelines but I would say it falls under their job.

The decision that was made by the GM is a poor one, as it seems to have been done hastily and without checking for solid evidence. (Of course assuming what the affected player said is true and, knowing the player, there is no good reason to think he is lying.) If Turbine were to leave their policy untouched after this incident, it could cost Turbine, both financially and in reputation, in the longer run for having trigger-happy GMs.

[Zipper]

I completely disagree with any ban...seriously, you can't tell he was joking. His date on his lovely furry faced timestamps at Jun 2006. This is like a cell phone company not giving an existing customer a discount but giving new clients a discount. <open discussion up here>

Is Turbine a cell phone company? Why run out of town a guy that you can pull up his posts and defends Turbine?

This ban is prolly one of the most Bunk things I have ever seen Turbine pull. This and pulling the halfling with the g-string out of 3BC are the two most Bunk things I have ever seen Turbine pull. And when they put in the death xp penalty. This, the halfling and the xp penalty are the most Bunk things I have ever seen Turbine pull. And also when they couldn't find the lag monster for seemingly 2 years. This, the halfling in 3BC, the xp penalty and the lag monster are the most Bunk things I have ever seen Turbine pull. And when they quit giving monthly updates. This, the halfling in 3BC, the xp penalty, the lag monster and quitting the monthly updates are the most Bunk things I have ever seen Turbine pull.

Give the guy back his account and punish the programmer who couldn't fix the LFM, not the player base who asked, criticized and joked about it in the game they pay to play and have payed since you guys almost closed the door a year ago.

screwing around...3 day ban...he knows better

permaban...heck no!