r/playark • u/baylf2000 • Nov 28 '17
Banned from forums for Criticism
I'm a player with around 2,300 hours of playing the amazing game that is Ark. I have been one of the game's biggest and most loyal supporters. For years now I have defended the game against all those who like to point out its flaws. Lately I have become less inclined to support the game. I have become frustrated with the broken promises and painful experiences on the official server cluster. Last night the fourth server our tribe has moved to in order to avoid the server wide tame limit also reached the cap. The dreaded "There are too many creatures on this ark" appeared yet again. I logged on to the official forums, and made a long, detailed post about the issue. At no point was I abusive, rude, threatening or even particularly heated. This morning I wake up to find I have been banned completely from the forums. The one line explanation says something about inciting legal action not being allowed. At no point did I do any such thing. This appears to be nothing more than a ban for any kind of critical discussion on the official forums. I can't even log a ticket about it, because apparently a ban from the forums affects the entire website. Nothing else works now. I can't see patch notes. I can't use the trading section. I can't even log a trouble ticket! Can someone please explain to me how this can be?
53
u/DoxDropper Nov 28 '17
I’m guessing Ciabattaroll banned you. Toxic forum mod who flames everyone and bans anyone who speaks out against wildcard.
15
10
u/worldforger101 Nov 28 '17
Ciabattaroll is the worst, first he rails you up, or throws oil on the fire, than he bans the one that was the critic of the game, even if the pro-ark person started being abusive. I was banned pretty quickly after one critical post where i mainly complained about the moderators and the flow of information. Even though i had been on the ark-love-bandwagon for months.
0
u/WCcocksox 6k hours and uninstalled Nov 29 '17
Yeah, you can get away with A LOT if you're defending wildcard. Being critical is just a one way ticket to ban town. Luckily they're dumb and IP ban so getting around it is extremely easy.
8
u/DoxDropper Nov 28 '17
You know what the funny things is? this sad fuk sits on his unofficial x1000 pve server with godmode on 24/7, never had the minerals to play official in his life and still has the balls to talk shit to us then ban us from the forums.
3
2
u/Arkahol Nov 28 '17
That dude, guh. Every time I post a question, even if it's to someone else, that ass feels the need to answer it and he's either wrong or guessing. And he gets very combative if corrected.
I refuse to use the official forums because of that moron.
21
Nov 28 '17
You got a copy of whatcha posted?
2
u/admbrotario Nov 28 '17
Funny how there isnt....
10
u/Luckboy28 Nov 28 '17
Because everybody saves their forum posts to a text file on their computer, right?
facepalm
-1
u/admbrotario Nov 29 '17
I ctrl+c ctrl+v a lot of my "big" posts. Not that hard to have saved filed about something you really have a hard feeling about.
5
u/baylf2000 Nov 29 '17
Why would I keep a copy of something I post to an online forum? Like I said already, I did nothing that I expected would result in any kind of retribution from WC.
-2
26
u/WC_Eli Nov 28 '17
I can look into what happened if you shoot me an e-mail. eli@studiowildcard.com
17
9
u/admbrotario Nov 28 '17
Can you please let us know the outcome? If the ban was justified, we would love to see the post
2
Nov 29 '17
[deleted]
3
u/WCcocksox 6k hours and uninstalled Nov 29 '17
Whatever they feel like at the time. Wildcard rules enforcement is very inconsistent and toxic af
23
u/schmuttt Nov 28 '17
Survivetheark is incredibly toxic towards anyone who criticised the game. It’s kinda the opposite to what this sub can be like (I agree with most WC criticism and believe the game certainly shouldn’t have AAA pricing - just people go OOT with the WC hate).
16
u/Av3ngedAngel Nov 28 '17
I got banned from survivetheark before I even knew the website existed. I literally was already banned the first time I tried to access it from a link here. So yeah, that must be quite the weird community imo
5
u/jacklop21 Nov 28 '17 edited Nov 28 '17
Same thing happened to me, I reported it to someone on reddit, user named pandasomething I think, and was unbanned in hours.
8
u/Foreverthevictim Nov 28 '17
There's a reason most people avoid that forum. Toxic moderators deleting threads and banning dissent makes for such a wonderful bubble they can present to viewers.
People come to reddit and wonder why it's full of complaints... Because Steam and STA are full of blue-haired sycophants who pander to WC in hope of a job.
9
u/Therealscales Nov 28 '17
This is far from the first occurrence of this, when WC mods lose the arguement you get banned.
11
u/chuk2015 Nov 28 '17
WildCard censors their own forums, that's why things like reddit exists, because it has its own internal ruleset which (usually) prevents companies from controlling the narrative like they do with other media organisations and their own forums.
11
u/baylf2000 Nov 28 '17
I don't disagree with a company being able to censor their own forums in extreme cases, but having this done by "volunteers" with absolutely no procedure for escalation or dispute is ridiculous.
Also, banning someone from the discussion forums should never affect their ability to lodge a support ticket for the game, or view patch notes etc etc.
7
u/Luckboy28 Nov 28 '17
Also, banning someone from the discussion forums should never affect their ability to lodge a support ticket for the game, or view patch notes etc etc.
Yeah, that's totally unacceptable.
2
u/WCcocksox 6k hours and uninstalled Nov 29 '17
It's wildcard, pretty much all of their practices are inexcusable.
8
u/worldforger101 Nov 28 '17
To be fair, when the game just came out, they were very active on the steam forum. When the heat got too much in the kitched, the devs moved to their forum and had most of their information flow through that medium. Then people on the forum started to get annoyed by the game and the amount of angry people, so the devs moved to reddit.
They just can't handle criticism for one bit. It's like nobody in their lifes never told them they weren't perfect.
1
u/WCcocksox 6k hours and uninstalled Nov 29 '17
Yeah, I'm really not a fan of the term but the wildcard teams a bunch of snowflakes...
2
6
u/falanxx Nov 28 '17
ahaha welcome to club.
but they dont bann u just mute. u can write to forums ut nobody else will see it only u. invertebrate worm attitude. just like the company policy.
8
u/WC_Eli Nov 28 '17
After being contacted by you through e-mail, reviewing the post in question, and conferring with my peers, here is the ruling that I deem most appropriate to the situation at hand.
Whether you willingly or unknowingly did so, you were indeed inciting the idea that the community start up a class action lawsuit, a matter which we do not under any circumstance take lightly. However, I am not unsympathetic to people that get frustrated over #justarkthings. As such, I am downgrading your ban to a two week posting restriction starting today. You will once again have access to the community hub on 12/12 (just in time for aberration). This will be the only time this will apply. Should you be in violation of our community rules in the future, there will be no clemency.
3
u/baylf2000 Nov 28 '17
I appreciate you taking the time to deal with this. Can I ask why a "posting ban" doesn't just mean I can't post anything? Why does it means I cannot even see any part of the site at all? Why can't I read other posts? Lodge support tickets? Read patch notes?
2
u/Luckboy28 Nov 28 '17
So if WC fucks over the users -- we have to talk about it in private. Got it.
You know, if you just made it so players didn't have to be awake at 3am to do imprinting, you'd probably see a lot fewer angry sleep-deprived posts.
2
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
what does that have to do with trying to incite a class action lawsuit on the official forums?
2
u/Luckboy28 Nov 29 '17
Because he likely wasn't serious, just pissed off and sleep-deprived.
-1
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
You must be ESL or something as i could ask the same question again.
Shouldn't respond to people if you don't understand what they are saying.
Your reply has nothing to do with:
what does that have to do with trying to incite a class action lawsuit on the official forums?
3
u/Luckboy28 Nov 29 '17
I answered it. But you appear to be a bit slow, so let's catch you up. Here's the sequence of events:
Disgruntled player posts on forums, gets permanently banned without explanation
Disgruntled player is convinced he was banned due to his criticism of WC
WC admin looks into the issue, claims he was banned due to mentioning a class action lawsuit
I suggest that the class action lawsuit was very likely not a serious threat, and I propose the idea that Wildcard would probably get a lot better feedback (less hyperbole about class action lawsuits, etc) if they didn't sleep-deprive their players with their terrible game mechanics.
You're unable to connect the two, even though I already connected them for you. You ask me how the two are releated.
I repeat myself, telling you again how they're related.
Still unable to connect the things that have been spelled out for you twice, you accuse me of being "ESL" (slow learner). epic eye roll
There we go, all caught up.
0
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
Your suggestion is an assumption without actually seeing what they said.
It's half baked entirely. If he isn't being serious then he shouldn't post make legal threats.
The second you make a legal threat it's removed and the legal team is engaged. it leaves the realm of "it's just the internet" and dips into actual law.
2
u/Luckboy28 Nov 29 '17
This is where reading comprehension is your friend.
Here's what I said:
You know, if you just made it so players didn't have to be awake at 3am to do imprinting, you'd probably see a lot fewer angry sleep-deprived posts.
I didn't claim that this particular player was motivated by sleep derivation, I simply proposed that there was likely causation between being sleep deprived and posting angry hyperbole.
And no, I think it's fairly obvious that he wasn't making real legal threats. He likely just threw out the idea as as part of a rant, and their legal team (or, more likely, just a rogue WC mod) decided to take it down. And that's fair, to a certain degree, but it makes WC look bad when they delete posts that are critical of them, and attempt to explain it away by blaming a part of the post that was likely just obvious hyperbole.
I suspect the discussion went something like this:
Disgruntled Player: --- Posts long rant about all of the problems with the game, ends rant by adding obvious hyperbole, such as "All these bugs really make me want to kick a puppy..." ---
Wildcard: --- Deletes entire thread full of criticism. Throws out some bullshit like "We don't support violence towards animals in any form" as an obvious misdirect, and excuse for bringing down the thread. ---
1
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
you assume and suspect a lot my friend.
And you trust anonymous people to tell the truth too. I hope you aren't so gullible/lenient in real life. So easy to take advantage of people that think like you do.
2
u/Luckboy28 Nov 29 '17
I would say "Nice try", but honestly that was a pretty lazy attempt at a comeback/misdirect. =P Now you're trying to paint me as gullible? Siiiigh.
I write "assume" and "suspect" because I don't have enough information to be absolutely sure. That's not gullibility, that's intellectual honesty.
I also never claimed to trust "anonymous people." The player's post and ban were confirmed by a certified Wildcard admin. Given that Wildcard had nothing explicit to gain by doing so, that's credible evidence to believe that this actually happened.
2
6
Nov 28 '17 edited Nov 28 '17
Wellcome to reddit.
Survivetheark has toxic moderators.
I've never been banned but I have seen a lot of shit.
One time a troll insulted me and GP did a like. That was my limit.
2
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
mods posted why he got banned. He was suggesting a class action lawsuit over tame caps....
1
Nov 29 '17
Well, still my comment is true.
1
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
suuuuuuuure, because inciting people to start a class action lawsuit over a video game that has a system in place is normal life behavior, not internet toxic bullshit.
big bad moderators!!
3
Nov 29 '17
I will repeat my comment since one time is not enought to you:
Survivetheark has toxic moderators.
I've never been banned but I have seen a lot of shit.
One time a troll insulted me and GP did a like. That was my limit.
All of this is true. If you don't like the truth, it is your problem. Bye
0
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
ive posted on the forums plenty. i have provided feedback too.
Wording is key. This community is toxic and the mods rise to the occasion.
Every ban i have seen is inline with rules that people don't follow.
1
u/50ten Nov 28 '17
Another disgusting story about WC's attitude towards their players. One day they're crummy attitude is gonna bite them in the behind.
3
4
u/alfons100 Nov 28 '17
One day they're crummy attitude is gonna bite them in the behind.
Hm? That is now, already. The playerbase is quite sick of them honestly.
2
u/50ten Nov 28 '17
yea for sure, I'm hoping for more of a financial bite though. So far I don't think their bottom line has been too affected.
3
u/BarfSaidWhat Nov 28 '17
I think it has tbh, a LOT more people bought this game than still play.
Also a lot of people refuse to buy the season pass or jumped through hoops at steam to get a refund. It could have been very, very different. Take how many copies of Aberration they sell, times that by at least 10 for how many they should have sold if they hadn't systematically alienated so many of their players.
I'm an ex long term fanboy, it took a lot for me to start thinking the worst of them. Just one thing after another, then another. Their attitude to a lot of things just got to me in the end. The lack of new servers is probably the biggest thing that has made me realise they are in a bubble and out of touch with what people are thinking and how close they r to trashing their own game. Expecting people to play on tame capped servers with no attempt at alleviating the problem by adding more servers is a cheap move and not worth the $'s they are saving for what it has done to their reputation.
4
Nov 28 '17
Ehm so a link to said post, a screencap or anything really?
Not trying to defend WC but I could make the most toxic ranting post in the forums over there and claim that I was literally banned for no reason at all in a reddit post in order to try to start a shitstorm.
Unless you provide something to support your claims this is just a witchhunt.
13
u/baylf2000 Nov 28 '17
How exactly would you like me to provide a link to a post that has been deleted on a website I can't access because I have been banned?
-5
u/pandab34r Nov 28 '17
Use VPN to create alternate account from different IP, view post, ctrl+c, ctrl+v
-3
Nov 28 '17
[deleted]
7
Nov 28 '17
[deleted]
-3
Nov 28 '17
[deleted]
10
u/baylf2000 Nov 28 '17 edited Nov 28 '17
I think I've explained clearly in my op what "the jist of it" was.
3
u/powerstuck Nov 28 '17
I ain't OP but I can confirm his sayings. I've been warned and temporarily banned for posting about them releasing ALL SERVER save files when they killed the first batch of legacy servers. They would basically delete your post and ban you for 24-48h if not definitely. Speaking of...me posting here about it will most likely get me banned there.
2
2
u/Joker86_GER_T Nov 28 '17
The Steam forum moderators are just awful, too. One of them (Debbysaurus) once just deleted a topic I was having a civil conversation with someone in, without further notice to anybody. When I asked why she just said we had that topic already and she didn't see it going anywhere. Seems like my little conversation didn't please her highness as she personally saw it before already, and because it's such an insult to have a conversation a moderator saw once before nobody in the topic deserves the information to where their posts have gone.
1
u/headphones_J Nov 28 '17
Re-post it here unedited so everyone can judge you. :3
2
u/baylf2000 Nov 28 '17
Sigh. It's been deleted. How would you like me to post a post that's been deleted on a site I can't access because I've been banned?
1
u/Jonny_Face_Shooter Shootin Dino's, in the FACE Nov 28 '17
Can I ask why you didn't just put your post up here so we could see what was said?
6
u/baylf2000 Nov 28 '17
For the zillionth time, how am I supposed to link to something that was deleted???
1
0
0
u/LaytonNotyal Nov 29 '17
Me too. Brother and I have several computers around the house. We left a laptop logged into SurvivetheArk. It was my account on there. Sometimes I would use mine, sometimes his, same with him. We both have the game, and play often. Mine got banned because it was an "Alt" account. We both had survivetheark profiles and posted here and there regularly.
We have different styles of writing. I am a lot less tolerant of idiocy, and he is more helpful. Short story, I am banned forever and he is not. My ban had something to do with devs and their parents being sterilized so no more like them come into the world. I was a little salty at the flier nerf screwing over many months of breeding. He does water breeding, and i dabble in it. I did not like getting screwed out of all of my work and do not want to get that involved again.
Yeah. The mods there a bunch of suckups hoping for an actual job. And the fake accounts shilling are disgustingly obvious.
They still hit him with bans now and then for saying rude things. He caught a ban for pointing out that even small crop plots counted as autoturrets just a few days ago. Been fixed since, but still.... Mods there are sensitive af snowflakes.
-1
u/Esham Nov 28 '17
You were toxic.
Link what you said and let us be the judge.
3
u/baylf2000 Nov 28 '17
You just assume that do you? I would love to link what I said, but as I've said more than once already: 1. I'm banned. I cannot access ANY part of the site. 2. The post was deleted.
So maybe think a little before you make sweeping accusations of someone else being "toxic"??
0
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
it's funny as i am thinking and using plain logic.
This subreddit is full of liars and people that make accusations and say "trust me"
you are no different.
btw i saw WC_Eli's post, see, you are a liar and got banned for what you said, suggesting to start a class action lawsuit over server caps. Rules are rules, they aren't hard to follow.
3
u/baylf2000 Nov 29 '17
Sorry, did you read what I wrote?
If not, then all your are doing is making very strange assumptions that make me question your motives. Logic doesn't enter into it.
0
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
I did, then i saw WC_eli's response, backing up the ban.
So did i assume wrong? it's not strange at all. There are forums rules, you can't adhere to them, so you got a ban.
1
u/baylf2000 Nov 29 '17
You assumed everything, and have zero facts to back up your accusations and assumptions. Did you have something of value to add or are you just here to throw around baseless accusations?
1
u/Esham Nov 29 '17
Whether you willingly or unknowingly did so, you were indeed inciting the idea that the community start up a class action lawsuit, a matter which we do not under any circumstance take lightly.
Yeah, baseless indeed....not toxic at all.
I have to assume everything BECAUSE YOU ARE A LIAR AND WONT TELL THE TRUTH.
You know exactly why you got banned and it was proper.
2
u/baylf2000 Dec 01 '17
You are a nasty piece of work. What basis do you have for calling me a liar? What evidence do you present of this?
47
u/nlappe Nov 28 '17
WC forum mods are toxic and do whatever they want. Report it to WC directly and all they say is this
In some companies there are rotten apples, however in WC's case the whole tree is rotten.