Preface
I’d like to start off by saying my intent here is to actually engage with the CM’s/Devs in a transparent discussion.
With this being said, I expect every commenter to be thoughtful, concise, and constructive. If you do not have something constructive to say…please do not say it or @Luxendra will lock this thread as bans/ban appeals are not supposed to be discussed over the forums and this “discussion” will have to be moved to reddit where we will receive NO transparency. This is on you to keep this civil.
Additionally, I would like to shout out @Dedaoff and his post at [Critical issue] Customer Service / Support / Appeal feedback.
This is the single most informative and well written post I could find over forums OR reddit after 20+ hours of digging. As such, I will be recommending this read (even though it is closed) to you.
I will attempt to keep my thoughts and questions clear here so that CM’s/Devs can actually respond without being “attacked.”
Finally, I would like to say…I have never felt strongly enough about something to post about it (or even make an account for something. I don’t even have a reddit account and have been on reddit for YEARS.) This is something that is important.
Body
Starting off, I will dialogue about what I have been through in the past 2 days (regarding my unwarranted and abrupt ban.) In my own attempt at transparency, I will not be taking down my video showing my ban and the 3 hours preceding my ban. If you feel something is misconstrued or misrepresented, I actually encourage you to call me out. My own thoughts and feelings CAN be biased in representing this information. I will do my best to remain unbiased.
The Issue
TLDR: I posted my Twitch link in global chat (which is normal for a twitch streamer. Many others do the same in my populated server.)
I was streamsniped by 3-4 enemy players while I was farming motes (again, not out of the ordinary, this is something that is semi-expected as a streamer. There will be trolls in every game.) I called them out in global chat.
I admit that I was mildly irritated and called them “sad and scummy.” Which, tbh, is not REALLY that offensive but that’s a different discussion.
I made it back to town, turned off PvP, went back on my way farming motes.
They proceeded to follow me trying to grab the motes I was going for before I could. (This is also a different discussion about what counts as griefing and what does not count as griefing and is just “normal” gameplay)
When they realized I was still getting the motes before they could, they tried to round up several alligators to try and kill me. I was able to run away perfectly fine. The alligators did not kill me and I escaped them. (Again, this is an argument over what counts as griefing.)
Within a couple minutes of escaping the Alligators and the Enemies, I was banned for being “abusive.” PLEASE NOTE This is where I encourage you to play devil’s advocate and list reasons that these things are in no way related.
TL-TLDR: Sorry the TLDR is still long…I tried to condense but keep relevant information.
The Long Story: Watch VOD for yourself. Streamsnipers and and Ban are towards end of VOD (for obvious reasons lol.) Ban/Streamsnipers are roughly at the 3h15m mark…ish.
Ban Appeal
Unless I am greatly mistaken here and there is something I deserved to be immediately banned for, I hold the right to believe I deserved my chance to appeal a ban, so I went that route.
I spoke with 4 different live reps and additionally put in a formal ban appeal at the ban appeal link. (pretend I have the link here b/c I’m lazy and frustrated)
I *want to release SS’s of my interactions but I fear retribution for any information that may or may not have been provided to me that may or may not have been company policy to provide me. I have a source on that which I will post.
I ultimately got the run around until I did something I’m not very proud of…I social engineered a rep and lied to them to get the information I wanted. I feel horrible for having to do that and apologized profusely for deceiving them into giving me what I wanted. The rep informed me that my ban would expire on XX Date at XX time and that my ban was not increased to a perma-ban after I filed an appeal. This is a known issue in the system with bans, currently. I have multiple non-official sources for this being verifiable including my own rep that told me such.
This brings me to my first real question/statement to @Luxendra @NW_Mugsy @NW_Berserker_Mike @Kay @Macondo @Critias @Zin_Ramu @Tosch @FinF and that is:
Is there some way to ping “all mods” without having to type everyone’s name?
Ha, but all jokes aside…Why do we not have an official update that "Due to a discovered error, small numbers of cases of “Temporary” bans are showing as “Permanent” bans after filing an appeal. We can verify that this is not the case and are working to resolve the issue. If you currently have a Temporary Ban, please refrain from reaching out to Support as this has already been reported. Please wait your original ban time or file an appeal at “insert link here b/c I’m lazy.”
Feel free to make a post using that exact wording. I don’t have it copyrighted and I’m pretty sure it qualifies for PR Legalese official updates 
Secondarily, for commenters that are unaware. It is a normal business practice to have reps make reports on each other. This is NOT something to bash AGS for. It is normal for businesses to use reps to report on each other if they discover something out of company policy another rep has done. They enforce this by making you liable for what the other person did out of policy. (Source: I worked Tele-comms)
Further, I can verify with ~90% confidence (with sources of my own I fear providing out of concern for the reps in question) that the ban-appeals process work like this:
TLDR Process:
File appeal
Ban lifted or ban denied with no specific reasoning added in ban template
File appeal again
Auto-email saying previous information was already provided and response will not be read
Speak to live chat
They recommend putting in another appeal - check
They recommend emailing even though it says don’t - check
They recommend going to forums to speak with mods - can’t b/c also banned from forum
They will file an “escalated” appeal for you - See Note Below
They recommend emailing amazongames-wwe-support@amazon.com (link b/c I’m not too lazy)
If you’re a NW CC they recommend emailing newworldcreator@amazon.com
They apoligize, They can do nothing more.
You end call and give that person 5-stars on the review b/c you were REALLY nice to them and they probably have dad 4-5 people already tell them they were “stupid, useless, and should KYS” all day long b/c customer service is a horrible awful job and people are terrible. (source: I worked tele-comms and you get told to KYS daily)
NOTE I’m 99.9% sure an “escalated” appeal is just them emailing amazongames-wwe-support@amazon.com. For them to fill out this “report” they need your recent Logs, Dxdiag reports, and any supporting files/videos/SS of issue. This is the internal email they use to reach out to moderators and I’m not 100% certain if I was supposed to be given this email or if this is just the “last” option if a customer “presses” the issue. (I’m withholding source SS for this due to protecting workers in question)
So, 2nd question/statement for CM’s/Mods…Is our best bet to file a legitimate appeal THEN reach out to amazongames-wwe-support@amazon.com if we are still banned illegitimately? It costs us valuable time to speak with Reps that ultimately cannot help us and legitimately are trying to do something for us b/c their reports and wages rely on getting 5-star reports. Additionally, it wastes AGS cash to pay reps to help people that they actually can’t help. It’s a lose lose in both terms of bottom-line and customer satisfaction. It’s a lose-lose-lose if you count the reps that get cussed out by horrible awful people and then rated 1-star for service through no fault of their own.
3rd question/statement. I’m going to speak both personally and generally here. Acknowledging that there is a flaw in the report/ban process where innocent Governors/Faction members/Streamers will only make the problem worse. People will know with 100% certainty that the ban system can be weaponized. This is something that is already common knowledge though. There’s enough “fringe” cases that it’s all over forums/reddit/twitter that it needs to be acknowledged somehow. Can you please somehow reassure us that the ban appeal process is being "looked into for further improvements or something? Streamer/Company Leaders are really really frustrated with getting wrongly banned while streaming/right before war starts. You don’t even have to confirm you “know” it’s an issue just tell us something that can reassure us b/c it’s really really awful to be banned and then put through the appeal system to prove you didn’t do anything.
4th question/statement. How can we (the community) offer feedback or improvements on the ban system? (Obviously, I’m trying to start a discussion here but still.) We don’t even know what information you would even want? You know we’re not happy with the report/ban system…but how can we offer wide-spread feedback or thoughts when we get shutdown for speaking about it? Tell us what you want to know from the playerbase!!! Use us as a tool for information. There’s a lot of negativity but if you at least give us something to look for or ask us…there’s plenty of us that will answer anything you throw at us to try and help!
5th question/statement. In transparency, I’m 100% asking this to be vindictive. How can people who are targeted seek retribution on those that falsely report them? It’s easy enough to trick reps into giving you information regarding bans…but they will not give player names or what players wrote in the report. It is absolutely terrible that you get treated like this by other players…but the fact that they get away with it with no consequence is even worse.
I’m frustrated and losing focus. So I’ll be opening discussion here. If I have any edits…I will clearly indicate what I edit, going forward.
Many Thanks,
- GamerQing93
Edit 1: Mod moved post to Game Support…I am not having an account issue. Would like to create constructive discussion. Will attempt moving post back to “Game Feedback” as this is not related to a “technical” account issue.
