WARNING: Your Purchased Mana Potions Are At Risk
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- PleaseListen
- Acolyte
If I were GA's legal counsel, I might feel it was a good idea to tell players that they risk LOSING any money they spend on Mana potions and any potions they put into their realms to increase their Willpower buff. I'd feel it important to draw attention to a provision in the Terms of Service that allows GA to terminate your account WITHOUT CAUSE and WITH NO ADVANCE WARNING. I would probably want to add that GA has NO APPEAL PROCESS and that account closures are IRREVOCABLE. While I was on the subject I might also point out that the risk is not theoretical since accounts have ALREADY BEEN CLOSED under exactly these circumstances. And as a wrongfully banned player I'd like to point out that since it happened to me IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU.
Still want to play?
Still want to play?
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- FeRaLcHiLdE2
- Archmage
I think this should be written into TOS or at least the help file somewhere.
Add together the small mana purchases of a paying player over time and it can add up to hundreds of dollars. While paying for entertainment in the moment can be understood as a luxury expense, the ability to invest in realms develops long term expectations. Even for those players that can only afford to earn potions and invest them are expecting to reap the rewards of their efforts in the future. To lose all of that time and money because the requrements for being banned are not clearly defined in all cases is not fair.
If a player is consciously and willfully violating TOS, that is one thing. To be banned for violation in some 'gray area' thought acceptable is altogether a different story. To believe ones' play is legitimate and invest $$$$$ just to be banned is outrageous.
I believe EVERY possible act that can cause an account ban should be listed comprehensibly, with a legal disclaimer added that states how you might lose any or all money spent on the game at any time. As TOS currently reads, there are many questions and few solid answers come from the staff.
+100 for this post.
Add together the small mana purchases of a paying player over time and it can add up to hundreds of dollars. While paying for entertainment in the moment can be understood as a luxury expense, the ability to invest in realms develops long term expectations. Even for those players that can only afford to earn potions and invest them are expecting to reap the rewards of their efforts in the future. To lose all of that time and money because the requrements for being banned are not clearly defined in all cases is not fair.
If a player is consciously and willfully violating TOS, that is one thing. To be banned for violation in some 'gray area' thought acceptable is altogether a different story. To believe ones' play is legitimate and invest $$$$$ just to be banned is outrageous.
I believe EVERY possible act that can cause an account ban should be listed comprehensibly, with a legal disclaimer added that states how you might lose any or all money spent on the game at any time. As TOS currently reads, there are many questions and few solid answers come from the staff.
+100 for this post.
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- DoMortas
- Enlightened
What is GA's position on all of this..?
To quote what ChadJ said to a player "If you don't like the game the way it is you should quit"
If that's GA's official word, don't like it, quit.. Then advice taken, I'm gone.. Ohh. And FUGA
To quote what ChadJ said to a player "If you don't like the game the way it is you should quit"
If that's GA's official word, don't like it, quit.. Then advice taken, I'm gone.. Ohh. And FUGA
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- Anvar
- Archmage
I believe Chad said to people to "take a break", not quit altogether. But, I won't argue semantics, as someone in an emotional state will see either in a negative light.
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- Anvar
- Archmage
And, not to sound trite, but hasn't ToS always stated GA can revoke an account at any time for any reason?
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- PleaseListen
- Acolyte
@Hiss: That's fine - you're going in eyes wide open which is what I'm trying to help with. Caveat Emptor and all that. It's like if me and a bunch of my friends went to some cool new store and we liked it a lot and went there often, and then out of the blue a few of us got mugged by the store owner, then I'd want to warn the rest of my friends so they'd know the risk.
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- PleaseListen
- Acolyte
@Anvar, I'm sure it does. I'll bet the click-through license for Internet Explorer or Firefox or Chrome have virtually the same wording. But it's one thing to have some CYA language in the license to protect yourself (the vendor) against the unforeseeable bugs and unintended consequences of complex software, and another thing to use it as an evasive maneuver to avoid responsibility, accountability, and transparency in your handling of player misbehavior. I've swung over to the view that GA's position of "Take what we dish out or walk - those are the two choices" is both impractical and wrong, even if stated in the ToS and even when repeated by Chadj and Khamos. But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. (Apologies to Dennis Miller!)
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- Sentrosi
- Archmage
i'd say don't spend a single dime on the game until the issues are resolved to your satisfaction as a customer. if you want to invest pots into your realms, earn them the hard way. that way if you suddenly get banned for reasons unknown to you, you will have lost only your time, and it shouldn't hurt that much because at least you got entertainment value for it. losing your hard-earned money over something you think is unfair is just terrible.
Edited by Sentrosi (June 12, 2012 01:36:16)