I play on the Classic Anniversary Realms and I was advertising in Services for Mara Princess Kills for Blackstone Ring. It was dead, so I figured I’d try a few posts in Trade about it. Mistake on my part - I should’ve kept it to services as people began blasting me for GDKP and Boosting, even though to my understanding it’s not.
Within a few minutes, I was kicked from game and I got an email that I had been silenced for ‘Abusive Language’. I’m a long time player and I cannot recall ever getting silenced for this reason, nor do I recall ever saying anything during that ordeal that came close to that. My conclusion was that I was right click reported by people for advertising for the worst reason to keep me quiet, or maybe it was due to competition from other people doing the same thing.
I tried to appeal this and ask for examples of what I said that qualified as ‘abusive language’. I received a copy-paste reply from a GM that gave no indication that they even read my chat logs or my explanation. -If- I did break protocol and what I was doing was considered GDKP, then I’ll deal with the ban and learn from my mistake.
But don’t uphold the punishment saying I breached ToS via ‘abusive language’ when I did no such thing. I’m not claiming to have a spotless record, but from my point of view - I was silenced for posting a few times about selling a Mara Princess kill, and I got no clarification on what this ‘abusive language’ is. I don’t want to ticket my appeal again because I know repeatedly submitting a ticket about a closed issue can incur further penalties.
If a Blue is watching over this, can you PLEASE just confirm if I got Silenced for my Selling post? If it was for a message not related to this situation, could you just send my account an email with the actioned chat log included? At this point I don’t know if my Mara runs were breaching GDKP, or if my issue incorrectly handled.
The Support Forum Agents won’t exactly tell you what you exactly said as to why you were silenced, though they can give a hint to what might of been said or what the violation was. But when you think about it, if you were silenced in game for abusive chat, think it would be wise to mention it here on the forums?
Also, they won’t send chat logs of the penalties either.
Customer Support cannot provide game logs, chat logs, or voice chat records. Visit our Privacy Policy for more information.
They’ll only take penalties towards your account if you refuse to stop appealing after they told you to stop.
I realize it’s a shameful moment for me to come here with this information, but I really just need closure on this. Making repeated appeals after they’ve closed your issue also looks bad and can lead to further account actions. If it was unrelated to the Selling issue, all I ask is that they find a way to email me the chat logs that were actioned. If it was warranted, I’ll endure the ban and learn to be a good boy.
It’s completely possible this Silence had nothing to do with my Mara issue, and if that’s the case, I just need to know that at the VERY least, otherwise it seems like ‘Abusive Language’ is being applied incorrectly here. I’m not frothing-at-the-mouth mad here, just a bit stressed and annoyed that it’s happening and just need closure.
I appreciate the help you’re giving, and yeah that’s what I’m speculating too. But you’d think people would report me for Boosting or Spam and not Abusive Language? I don’t know, it just seems the greater of two evils and I’d rather not have that reason on my account.
As for asking again, this line from their copy/paste stands out:
“We now consider this matter closed and would not look to enter into further discussion on the subject.”
Which makes me think appealing again will be pointless. I don’t know. I’ll leave this thread up for a few hours and if nothing comes with it, I guess I’ll just never know.
I help you with the best advice that I can from another player. And just so you’re aware, I don’t have access, so I do not know what was said or done for you to recieve action.
But silences are usually more or less a warning. This could range from spamming the channels, to maybe being toxic within the game. While none of us other players can confirm what was really said, thing is, we’re all here at risk of any action if reported if we were caught breaching any of the policies. Even small things like telling someone “your bad uninstall” is enough for action.
Though I am not accusing you of anything, but best things to avoid:
Spamming the channels with advertisements or using the wrong channel for advertisements.
Toxicity within the chat.
Profanity
Basically all that, and few others. It is usually best to try and keep the chats clean by just doing the right thing, and be friendly to others, or not spamming the channels, etc.
Because even people such as myself, are at risk if we broke Blizzard’s policies. And abusive chat covers a lot of areas as well just to add.
I am not blue but can explain the penalty system to you Fear not!
All Social infraction using the chat system fall under “Abuse of the Chat Systems” or - Abusive chat. Spamming or advertising is “abusing” the chat system.
Don’t get too invested in the title of the infraction. If you were not using profanity, masked profanity, slurs, insults, trying to troll/cause fights - then you are probably right it was advertising infractions.
Now you know not to do that again. Second penalty is a Suspension.
That helps explain things a great deal. With that context, it was probably to me posting that in trade, though the question remains if what I was doing was considered GDKP or not. I suppose that’ll continue to be a mystery, as I’m probably not the only one lost on that issue.
GDKP services result in a different penalty. That falls under their anti-cheat policies so would have a different penalty category in the email. It also results in a Suspension not a Silence.
A Silence is def for a chat system infraction. Probably the advertising your legit run for gold in the wrong channel - like you said.
Mostly just want to clear up the whole appeal confusion:
Appeals aren’t an avenue to plead your case, there’s no jury or judge to sway. It’s only the data that they’re able to see, and the appeal process is them double checking what they have.
When they add in they’re not going to look at any more appeals, that means they’re sure of their decision and will indeed not look at it anymore. At this point it’s best to stop sending appeals as that can only land you in more hot water.
Anyway, as mentioned above it’s most definitely a chat infraction, but of course we have no way what was said, or the nature of it. A CSR can drop in and give additional information but they’re under no obligation to do so. Could very well be how frequent the ad was posted, that seems to be a common one that pops up.
Best of luck, know being silenced isn’t exactly a good time since it really makes it hard to interact to anyone, but it’ll be over before you know it, and you’re still able to play so you’re not falling behind or missing out on anything.
Makes me wonder personally if this was the event, usually reports take a bit to process, though advertising in the wrong channel is new for classic, I’m guessing it was another event, and could still be marked as spam. There’s technically no safe period between time to make posts in any public channel.
Fear not!