If that really is the rule, then why is there no punishment for it? And how is leeching your friend all day not assisting them with their gameplay? 99% of the playerbase will not receive such a luxury. Are we also not allowed to give friends items for free? Seems like an unfair advantage to everyone who doesn't have friends who will give them stuff! It's clear that having one person put in the hours for another's gameplay advantage is perfectly acceptable here, so why does it matter what account they are on? Regardless: The rules on account sharing are not fully defined, so much so that GMs do not understand it / allow certain players to account share. The staff let people write off months and months of vote abuse because the rules were not fully defined. But now you're permanently banning people when the rule doesn't even exist?
It's part of the agreement. It does not matter whether or not there is a punishment duration next to every single mention of a rule. They are all punishable if you break them. I did not say that leeching your friend all day is not assisting them with the gameplay. As long as the person who owns the accounts are logged in themselves and not by the same person it is fine. Somebody logging into another persons account while they are at school so that they can leech them until they come back from school is not.
What is the difference if you're logged in while you're at school/work/asleep and someone else leeches you during that time? The leecher does not have to be present to get assisted with their gameplay, yet there is no rule against that in particular.
You're basically just saying 'it's against the rules because we said so,' without providing any reasoning or ever specifying the punishment. Whether someone is leeched all day from one account or another, the outcome is exactly the same. How is one more unfair than another?
This is a pretty pointless distinction without much reasoning behind it. Why does this even matter? Siblings and couples (and even just friends) sharing accounts is nothing new to gaming. And let's be clear. There are a LOT more advantages to playing on two separate accounts than on the same one, so this idea of account sharing being unfair is absolutely absurd. If you want to decide that this offense of the ToC is permanently bannable after never specifying that it is permanently bannable for almost a year, be my guest. But I hope you see why this action feels unfair. And given the way you dealt with the vote abusers (i.e. not banning people who vote abused until the rules were made clear), it seems as though you can recognize how this is unfair as well.
One is more unfair than the other because there would be more than one person using the account which would give them an advantage over others. If somebody has put time and effort to create a character to then multi-client and leech one of their own characters it means that there is still one person using those accounts which is different. It all seems pretty straight forward and fair to me.
Hi, i went to read the 25 laws of the T&Cs. The only law which i found related to this issue is.. 24. Attempt to obtain a password or other private account information from any other person or user of the game. Punishment: Permanent ban Even so, it's only really vaguely related. This statement is really ambiguous. So if my friend logs in to his account for me but DOESN'T tell me his password, it's okay if i use it to power level someone else to 200, because i don't have his password or private information? Maybe i missed out a rule about account sharing somewhere. Or not?
The distinction between logging into someone's account for them and them doing it themself is the transfer of information, specifically ID and password. Sharing log in info can create multiple problems for the staff and the players with shared info because there could be security issues (friends getting hacked), one friend trolling another (this recently happened with the guy that got his characters deleted), and they can blame something happening to their account on their friend, which would open up a whole new can of worms the staff shouldn't have to deal with. The more exceptions you make the more people expect special treatment because "My situation is different." Although doing things in a case by case basis may seem ideal it's much more difficult and flawed. You never know if you're getting the whole story, or if some parts are exaggerated, left out, or they're just flat out lying. So to avoid the hassle of dealing with each and every case, which the staff does not have the time to do, it's easiest and most efficient to ban the practice all together and say, as they have in the past, don't get caught if it's something minor. Like transferring items or doing the Zakum jump quest. Also self leeching is different from power leveling because the self leeched has already put effort into getting a character a high enough level to leech others. Whereas if someone's being leeched on their first character they put in very little effort for the same effect (high level).
Please read an earlier post where this exactly was brought up. In the TOS it states: Mekansm, to respond to this point, there is no reason a punishment needs to be stated to this. By registering, you are agreeing to this condition. If you are found in violation of this condition, we the staff have every right to terminate your account (aka a permanent ban).
I would also like to add that in most, if not all workplaces, you can lose your job for logging into someone else's work account (if applicable) and especially their work email. I experienced this when I worked at GP. I was asked to log on someone else's work DB to do some organization, and the man and I both almost lost our jobs. Also, at school, you can get suspended for using someone else's school account. Account privacy is a factor too. TL; DR - It is hardly ever a good idea to log into someone else's account, anywhere.
It's to stop, for example: Me quitting, and giving my account to some else to use, and then they start using MY BISHOP to leech themselves. With multi-clienting you still have to actually CREATE your own bishop. This also stops people from selling accounts illegally. From my previous post, disadvantages are: Reasons not to change the rule: 1. Stop people sharing HS/HB/SE Mules. 2. Stop friends from stealing other friends stuff, and have them whine about it to the GMs. "omg ebonics stole my stuff, because I shared my account with him." "gm help please". 2. Stop instances like Tiger, where you have more than one person grinding on your account.
As long as each person logged into their own account it's totally allowed. Leeching a a part of the game and always has been. Some may look down on it, other profit from it, but regardless of individual opinion on it, leeching someone is completely ok.
Actually the account sharing issue is brought up every couple months and several people in the past have been banned for it. I knew very early on that it was bannable and permanent.
However, it was usually only enforced when people abused it. i.e. grinding on someone's characters (ricky&suzi) or doing something totally stupid (like when people report their friend has hacked them). So Lance/Model is a first when it comes to GMs actually finding account-shares without any notice of foul play.
Hence the "don't get caught." It's very hard to prove account sharing especially if you play from the same IP or in the same area.
Well, that is where I disagree, I don't think the GMs should be trying to find people that break this rule, unless there is a smell of foul play. i.e. they are doing one of these things: 1. Sharing HS/HB/SE Mules. 2. Dual Grinding 2. Transfer of ownership of the account. Since the rule, as far as I can see, were only made to negate those things. The rule might be broad, to stop people from slipping through the cracks, but that doesn't mean you have to permanently-ban someone if they did something pretty irrelevant. (i.e. not harmful to other people's gameplay or unfair).
Oh no, I definitely agree. If there's foul play, investigate. Otherwise meh, and usually you won't find out about the "meh" situations. But if someone is caught in the "meh" situations you have to ban them because the rule is there. The moment you make an exception everyone will be asking for an exception. It's like working with young kids, if you give one a piece of candy you have to give them all a piece of candy or they'll start crying. You make an exception for one person you have to start making exceptions for others or they'll make a fuss about it.
I want to clarify and say that I don't (nor do I think others who have access do) look for people breaking the rule. You need to realize, the burden of proof falls on us to prove that the person is indeed sharing their account with someone else, and not just visiting another location. I do not feel it is proper to speak of specific circumstances, but the cases where I have dealt a ban for account sharing, I was usually informed by someone else that there is suspicion of account sharing occurring. Only then do I investigate.
