Character model bans (Discussion, same as we had for xp abuse, not breaking rules)

Community General Discussion
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Before I start the thread, this is discussion, same as there were on xp potion abuse, no rules are broken here as no rules were broken back then. I’m not appealing as I was not banned.

Today I’ve heard of a few people, one being a dear friend I play with, get 6 month ban for using custom models, which in no way affect other people’s gameplay, nor give them benefits over other players. Option to appeal not available.

So I’m comparing this to xp abuse, which actually was abuse that gave players the edge, people received (most of them) 2-7 day bans and were allowed to keep their levels.

Now the question is, what’s the basis of ban durations? Since when is direct abuse a minor offense, but using a different model only you can see, that you feel more comftorable playing game with, a severe offense worth a 6 month ban without receiving a warning of any sorts beforehand?

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I’m going to repeat what others and I said in that thread before.

  1. Speaking as someone who works in Software Support, you cannot go changing bits of the software just because you want to if you’ve agreed to ToS saying you won’t. If you do then you’ll get the software taken away from you, get banned or nullify any support contracts you have. If you want something to be added, you raise an enhancement request. The devs then might put said feature in the software. There’s a chance they may not but you’ll have to live with it. Agreeing to a ToS does not mean “I agree to everything except these things I want to do”

  2. You can appeal the ban. For anyone who has been banned, contact support, explain the situation and they may reduce your ban length,

  3. The software Blizz use to detect when the software has been changed is probably not clever enough to see what has changed, just that something has and as you agree to a ToS to not change the software, it sees it as malicious.

  4. In regards to you saying there was no warning, the ToS is a warning. It tells you what you are agreeing to, they don’t need to give you another warning when you have already agreed not to modify the softare.

  5. I completely appreciate the frustration with a feature you really want not being in the game when Blizz could probably do it but this does not give you a greenlight to modify the software. In doing so you are bypassing Dev and QA testers whilst, again, violating the ToS

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Gonna highlight this.

Constantly see people surprised about being punished for things they’ve already agreed to not do :thinking:

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When can we expect people using addons to be banned? You know the things that show people casting spells, when to interrupt, addons that all but interrupt for you, stuff like that.

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They aren’t against the ToS. Blizzard decides what AddOn makers can make through their API (and are quite vocal with the addon makers) and if they disagree with anything then they’ll remove the functionality.

I think you’re being a bit petty now. ToS is thatta way ->

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As Akurenia has stated, they are not against the ToS. If you can’t do what you want to do via an addon, it’s against the ToS.

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Those are addons that work WITH the game code using the allowed LUA. The model editors (like the hack and exploit software that Warden detects) injects into the game code/memory.

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I see.

Still a bit sad to see some people go away for 6 or more months for something so little.

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To be honest, I agree, changing a texture doesn’t really seem 6 months ban worthy but as stated, they can try to appeal it.

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Unfortunately says it can’t be appealed, but can always try I suppose.

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It’s a matter of “where to draw the line”… if it’s injecting into the game code/memory then the line has to be drawn there, regardless of anything else.

Also, the alternative reply would be “Why would they risk so much for so little?”… I have replied to countless threads on these editors clarifying that they can warrant a ban.

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I think 6 months is quite harsh for this. But I think they aren’t necessarily banning for the ‘results’ but the method they obtained those results (if that makes sense), aka modding gamefiles is a big no no.

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I feel for you and I would have kicked off too but he must have known that it was against the rules? Maybe if he appeals, pleads stupidity and shows how he was only messing with cosmetics it may be reduced.

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Shame, people you play with are more than half the reason to log on every day, oh well.

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You, me and everyone else are well aware that this won’t happen. It’s more likely that another Blizzard Employee will make fun of those being banned on twitter, rather than these ban lengths being reduced.

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@Kraglin: Thank you for finding a way to put this topic in these forums without getting a resounding spanking with the silence stick and for that I already love you heaps :smiley:

Personally I feel that changing how things appear, even if only to yourself is wrong. However, if this is the worst that these people have done then its nothing. There are bots, people using exploits that give their character an edge, scamming and probably a myriad of other things that we dont yet know about. Discussion is key and if the powers that be were to take a chance and just read what people are saying instead of deleting threads and suspensions being thrown around like peanuts at a circus then they might be pleasantly surprised.

Know your enemy Blizz and your players arent it

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I’ll also add (rather than edit my earlier post) that I can somewhat see why many could be tempted to these editors. I used to beleive there were enough customization options… until I tried Star Trek Online. It took me two hours to create my character while I modified:-
Height
Leg Length
Leg Bulk
Chest Bulk
Hip Size
Eye Colour (From a full colour pallete picker)
Eye Shape
Hand Size
Hair colour (From a full colour pallete picker)
Hair Style
Face shape
Skin colour (From a full colour pallete picker)
and the list goes on and on and on…

I was amazed. We need this in wow.

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I’m just hoping for facial scars and more facial hair and regular hair options, shouldn’t be too hard. Cult of the damned would be amazing, but that’s human only (I think).

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Well… blame your friend for breaking the rules then?

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He’s been using models for a long time from what I hear, never knew it would be bannable, 6 months seems severe, imagine if people who abused xp thing knowingly got 6 months, would be an outrage.

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