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Dear ZoS - We appreciate the public apology on the Mistaken Bans. Thank you!

  • Audigy
    Audigy
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    Kyotee0071 wrote: »
    Nehemia wrote: »
    "Banned innocent people"

    Don't download youtube speed hacks so your account cannot be turned into a mindless bot of a gold seller.

    I guess you missed the link to them admitting legitimate accounts were caught up in the ban..and after further investigation they were found of no issues breaking anything to do with the ToS.

    Keep patting yourself on the back "grasshopper"...hopefully one day you fall of your high horse and learn some compassion.

    They said "some", so please don't think all bans were not justified.
  • Miezi
    Miezi
    Thank you for your effort to reassure us that things are under control now - at least for this issue, Jessica. Maybe hope is not lost ! ;)

    Yet, I'd like a word about the lost gametime of a whole day (in my case, for both @Mauzi and @Miezi since we only play together).
    Edited by Miezi on April 19, 2014 4:19PM
  • Kyotee0071
    Kyotee0071
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    Hi @Miezi,

    We made a mistake, and we're sincerely sorry about it. We've unbanned all accounts that we wrongfully identified as having cheated. The amount of people impacted by this was not in the thousands, though the number doesn't really matter--this happening to a single one is too many. We do understand what led to this unfortunate error, and have already taken measures to improve our process.

    The help portal going down last night was due to a maintenance. We did not take it down to keep people from submitting help requests. The timing was regrettable, and we got the help portal back up as quickly as possible.

    We hope that additional info helps, and we appreciate you giving us a chance to answer your questions.

    ^^^ If they have an employee of the month ^^^ JessicaFolsom should win :smiley:
    I didn't think my hangover was that bad this morning until I spent 10 minutes trying to log into my old Etch-A-Sketch

  • bwilson.homeb16_ESO
    MissyJ wrote: »
    Would be nice to have all the trolls and other ppl told off that they were wrong when they said, that we all deserved the ban. But no...it's okay that they kept trashing the banned playerbase even after the rest of us got banned from the forums too.


    This.
    100 times this.

    Even now, the 'you got banned, you must've deserved it!' trolls have just changed their trolling to 'well maybe a few people didn't deserve it, but the rest of you did!'

    I thought trolling was against the rules, but it seems defending yourself was frowned upon and the trolls were allowed to flourish without any censorship whatsoever

  • Bangstin
    Bangstin
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    Mistakes happen sometimes. It's happened in other mmo's too, whenever there is a mass ban of some sort few innocent people tend to go with em.
    Edited by Bangstin on April 19, 2014 4:22PM
  • l-wilson-1986b16_ESO
    I am personally very grateful for the apology and acknowledgement and feel nothing further is required. It helped appease all the sour feelings from last night and was dealt with swiftly which is all I can ask for.
  • bwilson.homeb16_ESO
    Kyotee0071 wrote: »
    ^^^ If they have an employee of the month ^^^ JessicaFolsom should win :smiley:

    Employee of the month?

    An apology is the least I'd expect for this comment which exasperated the problem more than it needed to be, and leant weight to the impression all the bans were individually accessed and deemed appropriate:

    http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/comment/670210/#Comment_670210
    Hey folks, just wanted to add a bit of clarification for the ban we issued today. The ban today was not automated.

    If the ban was not automated, how did so many GMs make the exact same mistake and individually falsely ban 100s of players, all at exactly the same time?
  • Magdalina
    Magdalina
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    FINALLY UNBANNED.
    Only took them about 20 hours to unban my forum account>_>
    I do wonder if it was accidental or an attempt to keep people from speaking up. If it's the latter, too late for that, guys. We did, and we will, speak up about this. This is unacceptable. And taking away my voice on forums makes it even more so.

    That being said, ZOS_JessicaFolsom sounds the nicest person of their CS. Also the only overall nice one, it seems. Thank you for your post, Jessica, please don't you take offence on all the CS-related b*tching we do.

    It was somewhat faster than expected - with previous experience I expected it to take like days. So maybe they're learning something. Maybe.
    But I really, REALLY hope this does not repeat. I paid to play, not look for fixes for my launcher, ways around stuck quests and chances to appeal an "accidental" ban.
  • w.greyshieldub17_ESO
    w.greyshieldub17_ESO
    Soul Shriven
    One of our family's three accounts got caught up in the ban. We had duplicated items as result of a bug I won't describe here, which is different from the banking exploit that garnered the recent publicity. We had reported it, but the agent working on the report never removed the duplicated items.

    Today, we have received three separate apologies, at least two of which appear to have been custom written after actually reading our tickets. We believe this an appropriate step, and I consider the matter closed. Our lost bank slots can be re-earned, and we'll get over the frustration the past 24 hours have brought us. My wife, whose account was the one banned, may not be as understanding [edited after speaking with her] (she isn't, but then, she was the one accused of cheating, and she was the one who received the form email stating that they had investigated our dispute and determined that, yep, they intended to ban us for an unspecified ToS violation and considered the matter closed.)

    A server revert to launch, with a 15 day bonus time allotment would be appreciated, but I'm not demanding it. Such an act, I expect, would cause more frustration than it would resolve - though I haven't a clue how they intend to fix the economy.
    Edited by w.greyshieldub17_ESO on April 19, 2014 5:28PM
  • fromtesonlineb16_ESO
    fromtesonlineb16_ESO
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    The amount of people impacted by this was not in the thousands
    So we can clearly say it was in the hundreds, and probably the high hundreds.

    And STILL no explanation why a MANUAL operation banned so many innocent players, you simply implore people to believe you fixed it without any clarification, even to those directly falsely accused of cheating, let alone the wider community many of who last night were pouring scorn on those protesting their innocence.

    Edited by fromtesonlineb16_ESO on April 19, 2014 4:33PM
  • cappaspada
    Now any action are going to be taken against all the troll in this forum that accused us to be cheater and exploiters? I had my account suspended for 14 hours and they answered to my ticket only some minutes ago. I lost 14 hours of paid game (no refund) i still have the bank bug and i'm really angry with the hundred on trolls that were infesting this forum some hours ago...
  • KerinKor
    KerinKor
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    Finally got my forum account unbanned.

    @ZOS_JessicaFolsom, can we have an assurance that all the trolls who posted in the umpteen threads last night sneering and openly laughing at myself and every other innocent player protesting have received infractions or better for their behaviour.

    I have copies of their posts if you need them. I'd post the names here but your mods would delete the post even though I feel every right to call them out for their behaviour.
    Edited by KerinKor on April 19, 2014 4:38PM
  • mkorny
    mkorny
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    Kyotee0071 wrote: »
    Again I'm not worried at all about the lost game time.

    I'm glad to have my account back.

    A public acknowledgment of their mistake to the community as a whole would be the correct thing to do.

    Guess there are some decent people still left in the community :)

    Really appreciated your post and felt it up close for a few of my friends who actually got the exact same thing...

    It's also good to see not every single person here has 0 gaming experience and cries for every second of gametime loss they have :)
    -=Tenebrarum=-
    The Shadowlords Society
  • mkorny
    mkorny
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    About everything on the trolls... tbh i would open a ticket to report them... but that's just me :)
    -=Tenebrarum=-
    The Shadowlords Society
  • Nickdorlandb16_ESO
    Nickdorlandb16_ESO
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    MissyJ wrote: »
    Would be nice to have all the trolls and other ppl told off that they were wrong when they said, that we all deserved the ban. But no...it's okay that they kept trashing the banned playerbase even after the rest of us got banned from the forums too.


    This.
    100 times this.

    Even now, the 'you got banned, you must've deserved it!' trolls have just changed their trolling to 'well maybe a few people didn't deserve it, but the rest of you did!'

    I thought trolling was against the rules, but it seems defending yourself was frowned upon and the trolls were allowed to flourish without any censorship whatsoever

    Dont be ignorant, there are people that deserve it, if they dont.. Then just proof it and you get unbanned.. Dont see how this is such a big deal..

    Its never good aint it ? People whine about things, they do somthing about it.. They do make a few mistakes, but at least they are doing things about it.. Just send a ticket with explenation or proof, and you have nothing to worry about i suppose ?
  • Klarick
    Klarick
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    Thank you Jessica for the response. I for one appreciate the extraordinary efforts that all of you are putting forth to deliver such a great game. All new MMOs have the doom and gloomers. TESO, it appears, is no different. keep up the outstanding work you guys have created an amazing world for us to explore.

    I thank you.
    Edited by Klarick on April 19, 2014 4:50PM
    They crawl out of their holes for me, and I die - you die.
  • Miezi
    Miezi
    Dont be ignorant, there are people that deserve it, if they dont.. Then just proof it and you get unbanned.. Dont see how this is such a big deal..

    So you basically suggest to throw everyone into jail without telling them why and people have to prove their innocence to get out, and while in jail they are taken away any chance to communicate properly and get slow support only.

    If you think that's how things are fine, I'd call you much more ignorant. By the way, trolling is disallowed and so is public accusation of wrong-doings. The trolls better watch out.
  • Swampster
    Swampster
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    ....trolls have just changed their trolling to 'well maybe a few people didn't deserve it, but the rest of you did!'

    I thought trolling was against the rules, but it seems defending yourself was frowned upon and the trolls were allowed to flourish without any censorship whatsoever

    But they'd be correct in their assertion, how is that trolling? Zenimax have said some innocents were caught up*, which implies that mostly they got who they were genuinely targetting...

    *it's been stated that it wasn't in the thousands, so if we take 'hundreds' as the baseline then if you look at the server population as a whole that is probably a very small percentage!

    As others have said, this often happens when they (both in this game and others) swing the ban hammer and get people en masse.. some innocents are mistakingly swiped too. Those people generally appeal and get re-instated the rest don't.

    Yeah it's an annoynace for those who are caught up, but in the longer term taking out all those who did exploit is good for the game, and a bit of short-term annoyance is probably worth it in the scheme of things.

    And yeah it's has happened to me too, not in this game thus far.. but in another, so I can empathise with those who are innocent, but looking at the bigger picture Zenimax can't be afraid of trying to get a grip of the game with whatever tools they have at their disposal. Hopefully as they've said they'll improve their techniques and not get as many innocents next time.
    Swampriel - Nightblade (Archer Build) - Ebonheart Pact - Veteran
    Swampess - DragonKnight - Eboheart Pact - Lowbie Faceroller
  • Ryudar
    Ryudar
    Soul Shriven
    Hi @Miezi,

    We made a mistake, and we're sincerely sorry about it. We've unbanned all accounts that we wrongfully identified as having cheated.

    Sorry, but you didn't.
    My partner is still waiting for his un-ban and even after a phone call with your support (who told us that he will give the case to the proper department since he can't do anything).

    He fell through the game world and used /stuck to fix it. Then he was warped to a wayshrine he hadn't discovered and the game began to lag horribly. After he tried relogging, his account was banned.

    Are the cases which involve banned by accused goldselling, banned by bugs such as mentioned above and the item duping seperated?
  • bwilson.homeb16_ESO
    @swampster the point is that it was bad enough being completely erroneously labelled a cheater without having an official statement implying that every banning was the result of an individual investigation.

    That rubbed salt into the wound, gave the impression getting the false ban overturned would be a difficult and drawn out investigation, and encouraged the trolls to further insult the innocently wronged.

    It's patently obvious it was a script to identify the accounts to be banned. Everyone was kicked at the same time, the amount of mistakes were huge, and everyone was restored in a batch. Those are the facts, all public record, and they simply don't tally with the suggestion automation wasn't used for the original bannings.
  • Swampster
    Swampster
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    @bwilson.homeb16_ESO I don't disagree with you on that point (the automation thing), there was a bit of a PR faux pas thrown in with respect to that for good measure.. :\

    Hmm.. can't get the @ tag to work for your name..
    Edited by Swampster on April 19, 2014 5:18PM
    Swampriel - Nightblade (Archer Build) - Ebonheart Pact - Veteran
    Swampess - DragonKnight - Eboheart Pact - Lowbie Faceroller
  • bwilson.homeb16_ESO
    Ryudar wrote: »
    Are the cases which involve banned by accused goldselling, banned by bugs such as mentioned above and the item duping seperated?

    Last night they ran some script to identify people who used the specific item duping bug, and banned them all en masse. This morning they realised they'd screwed up on the parameters used to determine who exploited the dupe bug. They probably reran the script and reinstated everyone who cleared the corrected version.

    Any bans for other reasons wouldn't have been affected by the restore
  • Miezi
    Miezi
    Wilson, you wish it was last night (EU time)... it got my friend during the day already, right when we wanted to start playing. :(
    Edited by Miezi on April 19, 2014 5:15PM
  • Nimerian
    Nimerian
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    Another epic major HUGE fail from ZOS. Thank you for having no idea how to manage our game :)
  • KerinKor
    KerinKor
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    KerinKor wrote: »
    Finally got my forum account unbanned.
    I'll assume the 1 LOL that post received was from one of said trolls, as no one who suffered from their hate would think it funny.

  • kestrel_mpb16_ESO
    We made a mistake, and we're sincerely sorry about it. We've unbanned all accounts that we wrongfully identified as having cheated. The amount of people impacted by this was not in the thousands, though the number doesn't really matter--this happening to a single one is too many. We do understand what led to this unfortunate error, and have already taken measures to improve our process.

    The stickied thread on this forum needs to be amended to reflect the mistake made by ZOS in this matter.
  • knaveofengland
    knaveofengland
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    what you can say a mistake was made they have said sorry and to their credit was reversed super fast, I was 1 of them players who also was suspended now have account back so we can now enjoy the game ,
    I have played the whole elder scrolls series I am still playing the first game so far like what I see .trying to look positive rather then negative or I know what will happen like gw2 netherwinter perfectworld eve star trex to name a few have played, so look forward to more content
  • Mauzi
    Mauzi
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    what you can say a mistake was made they have said sorry and to their credit was reversed super fast, I was 1 of them players who also was suspended now have account back so we can now enjoy the game ,

    I'd agree to this if not it needed several of hours of forum research and customer support contacting for both the forum and game account to get this fixed along with about a day of lost gametime.

    Bah, why should I complain about having been wrongly banned... the game server's not running anyways...
  • Phantax
    Phantax
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    Hi @Miezi,

    We made a mistake, and we're sincerely sorry about it. We've unbanned all accounts that we wrongfully identified as having cheated. The amount of people impacted by this was not in the thousands, though the number doesn't really matter--this happening to a single one is too many. We do understand what led to this unfortunate error, and have already taken measures to improve our process.

    The help portal going down last night was due to a maintenance. We did not take it down to keep people from submitting help requests. The timing was regrettable, and we got the help portal back up as quickly as possible.

    We hope that additional info helps, and we appreciate you giving us a chance to answer your questions.

    So nice to see admins/devs actually replying to people. A honest straight forward answer is all we every really want and this is exactly that.

    Well done Jess

    :)
    High Elf Sorcerer VR12 - Destro / Resto Staff
    I'm a werewolf. If you vamps don't like it.... Bite me !
    We're not retreating... we're advancing in a different direction !
  • Ironclap
    Ironclap
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    A few false positives is a small price to pay for getting rid of exploiters
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