Accounts being suspended over appropriate names

Lephrel

DMuehlhausen wrote: »

BloodMagicLord wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hey all, while we're not able to get into the specifics of this particular ban, we can clarify that names of in-game item sets, locations, major NPCs, bosses, etc are technically against the TOS (outlined in section 6.1).

With due respect, that is quite silly. Some people want to roleplay a character in the Elder Scrolls universe, that's why they bought a... Elder Scrolls roleplaying game.

With due respect it's in their ToS

With due respect, their TOS can be quite silly.

Tandor

Vaoh wrote: »

An offense should require a name change. Furthermore it shouldn’t even be an offense to use a lore-appropriate name, it’s not as if we’re trying to get around word filters here....

Well anyway, time to tell people in zone about this.I can go in any zone rn and get a huge portion of people banned based on Gina’s reply.

Obviously not going to lol but now that they actually made that comment, someone out there is going to be reporting a lot of names.

Before anyone does, they should consider Gina's use of the phrase "technically against the TOS" - with particular emphasis on "technically", which to me implies very strongly that while ZOS could force changes to any names that breached that particular rule they don't do so in the absence of other factors. They might also consider any likely consequences for their own account of trying to get other players banned.

As you say, there are a lot of players with lore-based names, and they are untouched so there must be very significant additional factors in this isolated case to warrant the extreme action of permabanning the account.

Synaryn

Amottica wrote: »

They literally ignored the reason they were forced to change their name which is why harsher action was taken. Heck, Gina even said they can't comment on the specifics of the case here which in a roundabout manner does suggest there is more to the story than we are getting here.

This is nonsense. Community team members in every game almost never discuss the specifics of bans in the public sphere due to privacy issues, it's a common policy to protect the user and the company, especially in an ongoing case. To state that standard procedure is a sign that there's more to the story is reaching.

It's deeply concerning that an account and characters named in honor of a Trial gets permabanned, without a single warning or being made to change their name. We have all seen characters with inappropriate names, it's almost a contest at this point to come up with the funniest dirty Argonian name in some circles. And those players get forced namechanges, not permabans. This is an extreme overreaction and I'm hoping ZOS corrects this and offers clarity.

Amottica

Destai wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

thejadefalcon wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

I have toons with "Tyravel" and "Sil" in their names, which are lore names, so now I'm worried I'll eventually get banned and expected to pay for a name change because of this pedantry.

While ZOS and namechange bans are inconsistent as hell (some players I know have simply been forced to change names, others have gotten a suspension at the same time), the name change is free. If they rename your account, you can change that at any time from your account page. If they rename a character, they'll make it like "23Tyravel", which isn't a valid name (you can't include numbers normally) and the game prompts you to rename it when you next try to log in.

It blows my mind that a suspension is involved for these at all. You'd think they suspend only after they haven't renamed their character within some window of time.

@Destai

There was a thread last year. Someone complained they got a bag due to their name and was complaining about how unfair it was. It turned out they had been forced to change their name and chose a name that was phonetically identical.

They literally ignored the reason they were forced to change their name which is why harsher action was taken. Heck, Gina even said they can't comment on the specifics of the case here which in a roundabout manner does suggest there is more to the story than we are getting here.

That's interesting - do you have a link to the thread?

Did not save the link as it is not that important of a topic.

Regardless, it is made to appear in this thread that the person was banned without warning. That there were no other circumstances involved. That does not make sense that Zenimax would ban an account due to the choice of name if this was the first offense.

Chiaroscuro

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hey all, while we're not able to get into the specifics of this particular ban, we can clarify that names of in-game item sets, locations, major NPCs, bosses, etc are technically against the TOS (outlined in section 6.1).

This is neat considering all the random doodads and whatnots keep getting added every update.

Love to extensively search uesp before naming my character only to have to change it if I'm unlucky and zos steamrolls my choices.


Please recognize how deeply inane this decision is. Literally it means the game becomes more friendly to naming yourself FartsLoud24/7 or one of those ohsocute cute slur workarounds than something genuinely lorefriendly and immersive good god this is so dumb please see this is so very dumb.

Tallon_IV

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hey all, while we're not able to get into the specifics of this particular ban, we can clarify that names of in-game item sets, locations, major NPCs, bosses, etc are technically against the TOS (outlined in section 6.1).

There's been a disturbing trend of people getting banned over trivial things such as this. Not even warnings, just plain bans. It doesn't send a good message and is harmful to the game and community. I don't know if you have any sway over the ToS/Customer Support side of things (my understanding is it's a third party of some sort possibly), but if you could look into this problem or forward the feedback to the right parties, I think everyone would appreciate it. Something definitely needs an overhaul.

redspecter23

Amottica wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

thejadefalcon wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

I have toons with "Tyravel" and "Sil" in their names, which are lore names, so now I'm worried I'll eventually get banned and expected to pay for a name change because of this pedantry.

While ZOS and namechange bans are inconsistent as hell (some players I know have simply been forced to change names, others have gotten a suspension at the same time), the name change is free. If they rename your account, you can change that at any time from your account page. If they rename a character, they'll make it like "23Tyravel", which isn't a valid name (you can't include numbers normally) and the game prompts you to rename it when you next try to log in.

It blows my mind that a suspension is involved for these at all. You'd think they suspend only after they haven't renamed their character within some window of time.

@Destai

There was a thread last year. Someone complained they got a bag due to their name and was complaining about how unfair it was. It turned out they had been forced to change their name and chose a name that was phonetically identical.

They literally ignored the reason they were forced to change their name which is why harsher action was taken. Heck, Gina even said they can't comment on the specifics of the case here which in a roundabout manner does suggest there is more to the story than we are getting here.

That's interesting - do you have a link to the thread?

Did not save the link as it is not that important of a topic.

Regardless, it is made to appear in this thread that the person was banned without warning. That there were no other circumstances involved. That does not make sense that Zenimax would ban an account due to the choice of name if this was the first offense.

True, there were likely other circumstances, but if that is the case, those circumstances should be listed as the reason for the ban when the player is contacted. Simply stating a naming violation in the correspondence is extremely misleading and can lead to threads like this where screenshots are shared behind the scenes and players are left to fill in the gaps as to what actually happened.

If it was repeated naming violations, the ZOS email should state that. If there was some other reason for a permaban as I suspect most players feel is the case, that exact reason should be in the email explaining why someone was banned. If ZOS indeed sent an email stating a player was permabanned for a lore friendly, non offensive name, that's on ZOS for not being clear enough in the email to the player about the actual reasons, even if that player is fully aware. If ZOS didn't think that email would get shared on various other sites and that there would be blowback, I don't know what to say.

I also don't really think the name itself was the reason for the actual permanent banning, but if ZOS states in an email to a player that is the exact reasoning, then we get situations like this thread.

DagenHawk

I just don't understand what is wrong with Revengeofthebunnymen....

NeeScrolls

[edited cuz moot]
.

endorphinsplox

If there's more to the story than the names, why use the names as an excuse for the ban? Just... be honest? People can't hope to improve their behavior in the community if they're being deceived as to what is actually considered a violation. And yeah I've had this go around with support staff before about what names are and aren't allowed. I had one name get reported and they changed that and two others, but in my communication with support following the three day suspension I was slapped with, I pointed out that they missed several other names that technically made the same violation, simply because the support team wasn't knowledgeable about those specific references. I'd asked this before and gotten no real answer but tell me, does the Zenimax support team genuinely expect every one of their players to know every single in-game NPC's name just in case they might be considered "major"? What if you incidentally have the same name as a minor side-character from the game and in a later DLC that side-character gets a major role? Does a name have the capability to go from being not in violation of TOS to becoming a violation with no fault on the user? And again, where is the consistency? I guarantee (because I actually checked) that within seconds, I could find dozens of names that technically violate TOS simply by looking through old screenshots I've taken which incidentally contain player names in a public zone that violate this section of code. I would be willing to bet that roughly 80-90% of the playerbase has at least one name associated with their account that violates TOS.

All this said I think it prudent to point out that I have interacted with the player whose account is the subject of this forum thread. I personally dislike them greatly, and think they have a tendency to behave in a toxic way that is bad for the community. If they were banned as a result of such behavior, which as far as I'm aware they have been reprimanded for in the past, then that would be understandable, but using character names that are in no way offensive or disruptive to the community and only "technically" violate TOS as an excuse to ban them is wrongful. Again, to expect improved behavior without specifically showing the behavior that is considered wrong is foolish.

I would also like to point out that I am personally familiar with numerous cases of accounts getting reprimanded for various reasons where things were a lot more dire, but the consequences were barely a slap on the wrist, such as a case where someone, in yet another vicious tirade that they are infamous in the community for, threatened to shoot up a school. This person was sentenced to three day account suspension and nothing further. How in any sense of the word, do you justify such a thing? I mean... I genuinely adore ZOS as a development studio, but the support team and TOS/Code of Conduct I find extremely lacking and poorly executed. I'm not even kidding when I say that my interactions with EA's support team have by and large been superior. EA will even e-mail me thanking me for a report that led to successfully doling out consequences to people in violation of their TOS, which is generally just encountering cheaters in Apex Legends.

Holycannoli

Jazraena wrote: »

Again, people, relax. ESO has a vibrant RP Community using lore-friendly names, and none of us are getting banned over it.

There is more to this case than just naming a character Telvanni Nelvyna Telvayn or somesuch.

Exactly. We are not getting the story here. You don't ban for lore-friendly names. You don't even force name changes unless someone's running around as Divayth Fyr or Uriel Septim or something.

Abelon

endorphinsplox wrote: »

All this said I think it prudent to point out that I have interacted with the player whose account is the subject of this forum thread. I personally dislike them greatly, and think they have a tendency to behave in a toxic way that is bad for the community.

So basically we are right, and this person got banned for their toxic behaviour and not a name. Case solved, everyone, pack your things.

redspecter23

Abelon wrote: »

endorphinsplox wrote: »

All this said I think it prudent to point out that I have interacted with the player whose account is the subject of this forum thread. I personally dislike them greatly, and think they have a tendency to behave in a toxic way that is bad for the community.

So basically we are right, and this person got banned for their toxic behaviour and not a name. Case solved, everyone, pack your things.

That's all fine and good, but then why was the stated ban reason a naming violation?

Abelon

redspecter23 wrote: »

Abelon wrote: »

endorphinsplox wrote: »

All this said I think it prudent to point out that I have interacted with the player whose account is the subject of this forum thread. I personally dislike them greatly, and think they have a tendency to behave in a toxic way that is bad for the community.

So basically we are right, and this person got banned for their toxic behaviour and not a name. Case solved, everyone, pack your things.

That's all fine and good, but then why was the stated ban reason a naming violation?

Because the person got warnings in the past and the last warning (which was a tiny naming violation) was the final straw that led to the ban. It's a pretty common practice that a certain amount of suspensions/warnings/whatever leads to a ban.

And yeah, sure, whatever message the player got should have contained that information. But that's not what this thread was about. This thread was about starting unfounded panic about how we are all about to be banned due to our lore-friendly names... Which is obviously not going to happen. Because that's ultimately not why the player got banned.

endorphinsplox

And I meant to add, does ZOS also expect every player and every support team member to be personally familiar with every single copy-write protected name that exists? And does that apply only to US copy-write, or every country ESO is available in? Are we also expected to be familiar with every single person that could be considered famous in the real world, since I've been informed that names referencing real people are also against TOS? And the same question for NPCs applies: what if you have a character name that is similar to a real world person's name, and then someone with that same name becomes famous suddenly? Does the name suddenly become a violation, without any fault on the user? It would also be nice to know how ZOS keeps record of previous violations, and how they stack up against future violations, how long they're kept for, and how detailed they are since, to my understanding from my own issues, there is some arbitrary and unknown severity measure when it comes to violations of TOS, hence a three-day suspension out of nowhere for 3 character names I had no idea were against the vague and poorly-worded TOS?

Also, I should re-iterate: REWRITE THE TOS. It is so poorly written that in some places there can be no meaningful information gleaned from it as to what is expected of us, hence why numerous posts in this thread still don't even see where the violation took place.

Destai

endorphinsplox wrote: »

If there's more to the story than the names, why use the names as an excuse for the ban? Just... be honest? People can't hope to improve their behavior in the community if they're being deceived as to what is actually considered a violation. And yeah I've had this go around with support staff before about what names are and aren't allowed. I had one name get reported and they changed that and two others, but in my communication with support following the three day suspension I was slapped with, I pointed out that they missed several other names that technically made the same violation, simply because the support team wasn't knowledgeable about those specific references. I'd asked this before and gotten no real answer but tell me, does the Zenimax support team genuinely expect every one of their players to know every single in-game NPC's name just in case they might be considered "major"? What if you incidentally have the same name as a minor side-character from the game and in a later DLC that side-character gets a major role? Does a name have the capability to go from being not in violation of TOS to becoming a violation with no fault on the user? And again, where is the consistency? I guarantee (because I actually checked) that within seconds, I could find dozens of names that technically violate TOS simply by looking through old screenshots I've taken which incidentally contain player names in a public zone that violate this section of code. I would be willing to bet that roughly 80-90% of the playerbase has at least one name associated with their account that violates TOS.

All this said I think it prudent to point out that I have interacted with the player whose account is the subject of this forum thread. I personally dislike them greatly, and think they have a tendency to behave in a toxic way that is bad for the community. If they were banned as a result of such behavior, which as far as I'm aware they have been reprimanded for in the past, then that would be understandable, but using character names that are in no way offensive or disruptive to the community and only "technically" violate TOS as an excuse to ban them is wrongful. Again, to expect improved behavior without specifically showing the behavior that is considered wrong is foolish.

I would also like to point out that I am personally familiar with numerous cases of accounts getting reprimanded for various reasons where things were a lot more dire, but the consequences were barely a slap on the wrist, such as a case where someone, in yet another vicious tirade that they are infamous in the community for, threatened to shoot up a school. This person was sentenced to three day account suspension and nothing further. How in any sense of the word, do you justify such a thing? I mean... I genuinely adore ZOS as a development studio, but the support team and TOS/Code of Conduct I find extremely lacking and poorly executed. I'm not even kidding when I say that my interactions with EA's support team have by and large been superior. EA will even e-mail me thanking me for a report that led to successfully doling out consequences to people in violation of their TOS, which is generally just encountering cheaters in Apex Legends.

I feel like this at point they just need a name generator. Wipe everyone's names - that way no one gets offended by inane jokes and lore references.

Would really appreciate some follow-up @ZOS_GinaBruno.

SilverBride

redspecter23 wrote: »

Abelon wrote: »

endorphinsplox wrote: »

All this said I think it prudent to point out that I have interacted with the player whose account is the subject of this forum thread. I personally dislike them greatly, and think they have a tendency to behave in a toxic way that is bad for the community.

So basically we are right, and this person got banned for their toxic behaviour and not a name. Case solved, everyone, pack your things.

That's all fine and good, but then why was the stated ban reason a naming violation?

I don't know what the letter said but Gina said that they are not able to get into the specifics of this particular ban. She didn't confirm that the name was the reason for the ban.

She then went on to "clarify that names of in-game item sets, locations, major NPCs, bosses, etc are technically against the TOS (outlined in section 6.1)." since the thread is discussing if this type of name is bannable.

Jazraena

tyran404_ESO wrote: »

Jazraena wrote: »

You don't seem to realize how many people this would affect.

ZOS isn't going to randomly ban thousands for the lolz.

Nope they will just ban anyone with a lore friendly name that is gets reported by lol random pvper with a grudge and the report button. Perma-banning for a name infraction like this only sets a dangerous precedent that ZoS's undoubtingly outsourced customer service reps will turn to in future scenarios. Its an overkill measure, a forced named change would have sufficed ESPECIALLY for a first offense. Especially since the name is confirmed to have been many years old at this point.

Will they? Seems unlikely to me, and so far, all I am seeing is a bold, unsubstantiated claim. It's far more likely that there is more to this case than just a Telvanni in the name.

redspecter23 wrote: »

Then why ban even one?

As above - has even one been banned for something so trivial?


We're not getting the full story, simple as that.

Dagobertfuk

Charackters wich are named like NPC's from the singleplayer games like The Elder Scrolls:Oblivion/Skyrim, but do not exist in The Elder Scrolls Online are also against the code of conduct? @ZOS_GinaBruno

SilverBride

Jazraena wrote: »

We're not getting the full story, simple as that.

I'm beginning to think that, too. Another player posted this which indicates that more than one reason was given for the ban.

React wrote: »

I read through the email this player received and the reasons cited are completely invalid, as there was zero breach of TOS whatsoever.

Priyasekarssk

I think because of automated bot. Contact support

redspecter23

Jazraena wrote: »

tyran404_ESO wrote: »

Jazraena wrote: »

You don't seem to realize how many people this would affect.

ZOS isn't going to randomly ban thousands for the lolz.

Nope they will just ban anyone with a lore friendly name that is gets reported by lol random pvper with a grudge and the report button. Perma-banning for a name infraction like this only sets a dangerous precedent that ZoS's undoubtingly outsourced customer service reps will turn to in future scenarios. Its an overkill measure, a forced named change would have sufficed ESPECIALLY for a first offense. Especially since the name is confirmed to have been many years old at this point.

Will they? Seems unlikely to me, and so far, all I am seeing is a bold, unsubstantiated claim. It's far more likely that there is more to this case than just a Telvanni in the name.

redspecter23 wrote: »

Then why ban even one?

As above - has even one been banned for something so trivial?


We're not getting the full story, simple as that.

We both know that ZOS isn't going to go around banning every lore friendly name. That would be ludicrous. I do think it's a very reasonable expectation to not use that as an official excuse to ban someone if they have other legit reasons to do so. They should just clearly state the actual reasons for the banning in the email to the affected player. This sort of banning sets a precedent that it could be used in the future. You could do anything ZOS doesn't like and they can pull a technicality reason out of a hat to ban you. I know I don't want that hanging over my head as a potential excuse to ban me in the future.

Jazraena

redspecter23 wrote: »

Jazraena wrote: »

tyran404_ESO wrote: »

Jazraena wrote: »

You don't seem to realize how many people this would affect.

ZOS isn't going to randomly ban thousands for the lolz.

Nope they will just ban anyone with a lore friendly name that is gets reported by lol random pvper with a grudge and the report button. Perma-banning for a name infraction like this only sets a dangerous precedent that ZoS's undoubtingly outsourced customer service reps will turn to in future scenarios. Its an overkill measure, a forced named change would have sufficed ESPECIALLY for a first offense. Especially since the name is confirmed to have been many years old at this point.

Will they? Seems unlikely to me, and so far, all I am seeing is a bold, unsubstantiated claim. It's far more likely that there is more to this case than just a Telvanni in the name.

redspecter23 wrote: »

Then why ban even one?

As above - has even one been banned for something so trivial?


We're not getting the full story, simple as that.

We both know that ZOS isn't going to go around banning every lore friendly name. That would be ludicrous. I do think it's a very reasonable expectation to not use that as an official excuse to ban someone if they have other legit reasons to do so. They should just clearly state the actual reasons for the banning in the email to the affected player. This sort of banning sets a precedent that it could be used in the future. You could do anything ZOS doesn't like and they can pull a technicality reason out of a hat to ban you. I know I don't want that hanging over my head as a potential excuse to ban me in the future.

So far I do not have reason to believe that has even happened, honestly.

Sallymen

This thread was about starting unfounded panic about how we are all about to be banned due to our lore-friendly names

That is not what the thread is about. It is about standing up against the reason cited to the player in question on what they were banned for. If this person has done anything wrong in the past, by all means they should be punished by it. The fact is that they got permanently suspended over a name stated in the email.

It is becoming more and more clear that people would rather see a person they hate over pity PvP shenanigans get punished than to stand up for what is arguably an unjustifiable reason to permanently suspend an account.

Jazraena

Sallymen wrote: »

This thread was about starting unfounded panic about how we are all about to be banned due to our lore-friendly names

That is not what the thread is about. It is about standing up against the reason cited to the player in question on what they were banned for. If this person has done anything wrong in the past, by all means they should be punished by it. The fact is that they got permanently suspended over a name stated in the email.

It is becoming more and more clear that people would rather see a person they hate over pity PvP shenanigans get punished than to stand up for what is arguably an unjustifiable reason to permanently suspend an account.

What you are claiming as fact is the precise thing people are skeptic about.

It seems unlikely that this is the full picture, that's all there is to it.

JoeCapricorn

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hey all, while we're not able to get into the specifics of this particular ban, we can clarify that names of in-game item sets, locations, major NPCs, bosses, etc are technically against the TOS (outlined in section 6.1).

"6.1 You will not post, transmit, promote or distribute any dynamic or static user-created or custom content which is not wholly owned by the account owner. Names or material protected by copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights cannot be used at any time except by the rightsholder. Rights ownership must be established prior to use on any ZeniMax Media, Inc. site or service. Any use of material protected by intellectual property rights that is not wholly owned by the account owner is a violation of the Agreement, including the Code of Conduct."

Technically doesn't really say that. So the two characters I have that have names that match in game NPCs out of coincidence are fine. The characters I named in tribute to various bands are fine. The characters named after my own characters are fine.

This sorta sounds like a case where AI did the banning.

Let me express my opinion that ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SHOULD NOT BE USED TO BAN PEOPLE EVER - that should always Always ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS come down to a human mind that can understand context and sensitivities and make a sound decision based on the data presented. This would avoid false-bans much better, especially ones that occur while human staff might be away for a significant amount of time. Do we really want to leave such decisions up to a machine whose art skills result in horrifying liminal nightmares (I'm looking at you DALL-E)?

Don't become like Facebook.

Arthtur

"Technically" bannable offense...
So... if i dont like someone i can report him for "bad" name because he named his character after something from the game and he will be banned? Even tho there are probably thousands of ppl like that? The only diffrence is that other ppl didnt get reported?
...uhhh....

Either follow the rules for everyone or change those rules so they wont be abused. Right now u just need to make somebody mad enough to report u so u will get "technically" a ban.

So i checked on YT why that person was banned... sigh...
If i get it right - Banned person had warnings before (most likely because of PvP) and now somebody reported him for "bad" name ("technically" bannable offense) so he got perma banned as it was his X time breaking the ToS.
Well i will leave this without a comment...

Holycannoli

Synaryn wrote: »

It's deeply concerning that an account and characters named in honor of a Trial gets permabanned, without a single warning or being made to change their name. We have all seen characters with inappropriate names, it's almost a contest at this point to come up with the funniest dirty Argonian name in some circles. And those players get forced namechanges, not permabans. This is an extreme overreaction and I'm hoping ZOS corrects this and offers clarity.

Which means this is not about the name. Nobody is going to be banned for naming their character after a Trial, or an amusing Argonian name if it's not too suggestive.

What if this person threatened the GMs or someone else in response to a request for a name change? What if they also have a history of being reported in game for totally inappropriate behavior, threats, harassment etc? What if they issued a chargeback because of the name change? It's not like these things don't ever happen online or in MMORPGs.

There's no way this ban is because of a lore-appropriate name.

Amottica

redspecter23 wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

thejadefalcon wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

I have toons with "Tyravel" and "Sil" in their names, which are lore names, so now I'm worried I'll eventually get banned and expected to pay for a name change because of this pedantry.

While ZOS and namechange bans are inconsistent as hell (some players I know have simply been forced to change names, others have gotten a suspension at the same time), the name change is free. If they rename your account, you can change that at any time from your account page. If they rename a character, they'll make it like "23Tyravel", which isn't a valid name (you can't include numbers normally) and the game prompts you to rename it when you next try to log in.

It blows my mind that a suspension is involved for these at all. You'd think they suspend only after they haven't renamed their character within some window of time.

@Destai

There was a thread last year. Someone complained they got a bag due to their name and was complaining about how unfair it was. It turned out they had been forced to change their name and chose a name that was phonetically identical.

They literally ignored the reason they were forced to change their name which is why harsher action was taken. Heck, Gina even said they can't comment on the specifics of the case here which in a roundabout manner does suggest there is more to the story than we are getting here.

That's interesting - do you have a link to the thread?

Did not save the link as it is not that important of a topic.

Regardless, it is made to appear in this thread that the person was banned without warning. That there were no other circumstances involved. That does not make sense that Zenimax would ban an account due to the choice of name if this was the first offense.

True, there were likely other circumstances, but if that is the case, those circumstances should be listed as the reason for the ban when the player is contacted. Simply stating a naming violation in the correspondence is extremely misleading and can lead to threads like this where screenshots are shared behind the scenes and players are left to fill in the gaps as to what actually happened.

If it was repeated naming violations, the ZOS email should state that. If there was some other reason for a permaban as I suspect most players feel is the case, that exact reason should be in the email explaining why someone was banned. If ZOS indeed sent an email stating a player was permabanned for a lore friendly, non offensive name, that's on ZOS for not being clear enough in the email to the player about the actual reasons, even if that player is fully aware. If ZOS didn't think that email would get shared on various other sites and that there would be blowback, I don't know what to say.

I also don't really think the name itself was the reason for the actual permanent banning, but if ZOS states in an email to a player that is the exact reasoning, then we get situations like this thread.

I agree that clarity is always best though I don’t recall seeing an image of whatever notice they got. However, if they had just been warned and forced to change their name that the reason should be obvious.

Regardless, there is something more than just a simple name change because they used an NPC name. I doubt they were banned because they used a name that’s part of the ESO IP once.

Just did a quick scan of this thread and do not see any screen shot of an email from Zenimax concerning the ban so we don’t know any of the details.

Durham

Still, I know someone who got banned this weekend for a name that was not offensive in any way. Im not sure who is behind the naming policy but It's going in the wrong direction.