Ban Update on cMike aka Seith, Druidrevolution, Chaos Heretic, etc

[Glitchless]

This person was originally banned for failing security checks on the S1 character Desturbingthepeace, which is owned by a different person. Over 15 security checks were failed (timeout failures, ie no answer in the 60 seconds provided) with 1 check being passed in the middle of the string of failures.

The player then protested the ban publicly, saying that he had no idea how it could have happened, that he always watched the screen while playing, and he insisted that it was a bug in the game or connection issue that caused the banning.

We investigated further, the results of which showed that his character was invoked the security checks while performing both movement and bez commands. This behavior was consistent with someone using a plex bez macro. It was also clear that he was not watching the screen of the character in question while it was doing these actions. By being dishonest about the situation which caused the original banning and attempting to discredit the game's security check system, he earned a permanent ban on all his characters.

This morning we received an e-mail from him stating what probably actually happened. He admitted to using multiboxing software - which is perfectly legal - but admits also that he failed to log off of Desturbingthepeace and minimized the window while continuing to bez on other characters - all while broadcasting keys. Broadcasting keys is legal. Broadcasting keys to a window which you aren't looking at is not legal. Players always need to be paying attention to the window(s) of the character(s) they are performing actions on - otherwise they tend to fail security checks!

Assuming this latest story is correct, cMike screwed up twice: Once with the multiboxing software (make sure you turn off the ability to broadcast to minimize windows if it is available) and, more importantly, again when not coming clean about exactly happened in the first place. Both of these are bannable offenses. However, we're going to err on the side of leniency and unban his characters. The bezing performed on the Desturbingthepeace character was somewhat erratic, returning to the same location and attempting to rebez unnecessarily, lending credibility to the story. He is paying a HEFTY price for this screw-up, in that all the kingdoms held by his characters that were walked while banned are lost (and if you settled them in the meantime, don't feel bad - they're yours now), but since we really believe that this was a screw-up caused by foolishness and embarrassment for having lost another person's assets - not ill intent - we are unbanning all the characters involved.

[Lord Tabasco]

I don't think the multibox tool should be allowed. It's clearly causing issues with players failing security checks, and leading to bans that shouldn't have happened.

In regards to "broadcasting keys when you're looking at it", how exactly can YOU tell whether a player is looking at the screen while doing an action, and when they aren't? Was this not the issue when you banned Spacta and his alts?

While I am glad players are being given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these issues, there's something drastically wrong in using third party tools to play the game because the system is being manipulated and it seems that on your end you can't tell whether it's a macro that's running or if a player not paying attention, or a screen was minimized.

[l337]

I partially agree with Tabasco..
Is it ideal to let people bezz 5 plexes [3b per click]?
Or alternatively could be levelling 5 mules to level 10 in an hour or two?

I'm all for quality of life changes, but I feel it's a little on the lenient side and perhaps reducing game play time a bit too much. Especially given the issues it's brought with it.

[bismarck]

He admitted to using multiboxing software - which is perfectly legal - but admits also that he failed to log off of Desturbingthepeace and minimized the window while continuing to bez on other characters - all while broadcasting keys. Broadcasting keys is legal. Broadcasting keys to a window which you aren't looking at is not legal.

Is it ideal to let people bezz 5 plexes [3b per click]?
Or alternatively could be levelling 5 mules to level 10 in an hour or two?

I'm all for quality of life changes, but I feel it's a little on the lenient side and perhaps reducing game play time a bit too much. Especially given the issues it's brought with it.

Who uses mules anymore for starters, and I know what I did was wrong, but it was the dishonesty in the first place that caused the bans on server 2, not the security check failures.
Is it the same difference than somebody that uses 2 or 3 monitors? It is not.
The quality of life in this game has changed since 2002 when I started playing, I remember having friends that had to bez by having multiple windows open so they could manually bez and then send gold to another player to put into runes. And back then, we didn't have a reliable method to get the gold back out, aside from losing gold by crafting mace of ressurections. I am sure nobody that plays nowadays could imagine not having the /pe function and 48 hour combos like we didn't have back then.

[Lord Tabasco]

Mules are being used for storage of gems and other beast drop items.

People who don't have a D*D who have kingdoms in the Forge have to use two characters to bez from there right now. So I don't get the complaint about how that used to be an issue. I understand that you've had those features for a long time, but believe it or not there are players who don't or haven't ever had them, or have ever had other players they can rely on to get access to those features.

I also feel like you were being honest the night you were banned, and then reflected. But the issue is that if the administrators can't tell the difference between a window being minimized and not being paid attention to and an actual macro then a third party program shouldn't be allowed. I also think that the multi-tool is "1 click - 2 or more actions" which is in direct conflict with the "1 click - 1 action" rule.

[bismarck]

The fact remains, that it was investigated, and determined that I wasn't in fact macroing due to the fact that the character kept going to the same location and embezzling. The rules were followed, and I stated in my email, if not for the fact that Glitchless did state that it was perfectly alright to use the multibox tool for multiple plex bezzing, I may never have used it. Lesson learned I just have to pay more attention when I am bezzing with multiboxes.

[Anubis]

Players who get banned for not paying attention should eat the penalty. Allowing players to multibox is fair because everyone can do it. I created a guide specifically for it and have helped quite a few people. Not sure why you have an issue with something that's available to everyone who wants to put in the effort of setting it up. I understand that if someone gets banned because they had a window minimized it's ****ty, but don't ruin it for the rest of us that use it correctly just because you can't pay attention.

[Laughing At Noobs]

If this were to give certain people an unfair advantage in the sense that no one else could do it, then yes I agree it shouldn't be allowed, however ALL players have the capability of now creating 5 mules in the same time period as it takes to make 1. All players that have multiple plexes to bezz that are their own have the same capability. There is no preferential treatment that gives an unfair advantage to one person vs another.

Objectively speaking - multiboxing does NOT lead to increased failed security checks. Dumbass idiots who don't pay attention and/or macroers are failing security checks. Does it increase the chance of failing security checks if you're not paying attention to 2, 3, 4 or however many windows you have open? yes. But if you're actually paying attention there is no increase in fails than otherwise.

[Glitchless]

Just to be clear, using the excuse of "I screwed up multiboxing" is not something that people will be able to exploit in the future. This is the warning that if you screw up multiboxing (or play drunk/stoned), you are likely to lose everything. If you get off with losing just one char or some plexes, you can consider yourself lucky.