Closed Ban Appeal

Character Name: xlordgrim, megumine, threeleaves, coolwant, tousatsu, buccannot, emilia1 - emilia...15 or 20? (storage+pilgrim hat mules) These are my attackers, buff mules , mules and mages/bs, I have way too many char to recall the others, apologies
Last thing you did: chatting with friend in NLC
Why do you think you got banned?: Using "mousekeys" technique to drop mesos that is actually not allowed
Ban message when attempting to log in: This is an id that has been deleted or blocked from connection
What GM banned you (optional): -

Spoiler: Description (long read)

As recommended by Tim, i'm going to appeal for my case. Given the timing of this ban, it is definitely linked to the mesos explosion video posted on General Discussion few days ago. It shows my character (emilia3) dropping mesos with 2 other friends to kill Bigfoot, using the mousekey method where I hold down CTRL, and alternate between V and num+. There has been concerns raised on the rate of mesos dropping, which I clarified that i'm using the Mousekeys, without assistance of mousewheels or any sort of illegal program/bot/macro. Despite that I got banned the next day.

So after searching extensively on why my method of mousekeys still got me banned, I managed to find this thread which leads to no conclusion and finally this ban appeal that basically explains why I got banned. I have immediately informed my friends not to drop mesos in this manner. I PM-ed Tim to inquire if there is even a chance to salvage this situation which otherwise saves everyone's time, to which I was told to go ahead and make a ban appeal.

This is going to be cliche but in my defense, I am genuinely unaware this was even a bannable offence.

There are some things I already know from my time in forums about Shadowers:
1) Usage of mouse wheels/bot/macro/illegal program is not allowed
2) There is a bug with mesos explosion with the mesos bag not disappearing

With that in mind, I'm also following the only detailed Shadower guide available, which solidifies my belief that using Mousekeys is completely allowed, so long I don't have any 2 actions set on my V button. That was my mistake however, as it turns out that using num+ on mousekeys was not allowed as well (I wasn't even aware that num+ does a "double click" until researching it)

As mentioned in the video post, I would definitely not risk my years of progress here just to drop mesos in an illegal manner, knowing how strict the rules in royals are and how vigilant the GMs are, to which i'm grateful for. It is presumptuous of me to plead for leniency, so I am prepared for the worst if this ban is permanent. However, I'm appealing for a chance for the ban not to be permanent, if it is even possible for such cases. Thank you.

 

You were banned for abusing the mouse keys tool in a manner where one physical action rendered more than one in-game action.

 

Indeed, I did break the rules, intentional or not and for that I do expect some form of consequence. However, i'm appealing for it not to be permanent, and to reiterate my stance above:

I think it may be too harsh to issue a permanent ban when many budding shadowers like me or even some experienced players are genuinely unaware of the strict definition of "one physical action rendering more than one in-game action". Despite visiting the forums daily for the past year, the only things i'm aware about is the ban on mouse wheels and the bug on mesos explosion. What more for those shadowers who just play the game without using the forums much.

It is hard to argue against the T&C, especially the definitions set by the admins themselves but there might be a lack of description in what constitutes a "1:1". At least prior to my ban (before I went to extensively search up on this topic), I did not think that by using num+ I was breaking any rules, rather it is a method simply faster than using mouse clicks, the trade off being that it is impossible to do any skill macros (setting dark sight, assassinate, bstep in V button) when dropping mesos. I did not even think much about me possibly breaking the rules because despite this method, I was still spamming the keys of V and Num+. In fact I wasn't even aware of this num+ method until my friend brought up this method, with good intentions of wanting to help me kill bigfoot faster as a chief bandit, something that is not usable once I become a shadower and will use the V skill macro.

Another small additional note is that this guy who got banned was banned for Game Hacking under "Major Infractions". I just went to read the T&Cs again and it honestly talks nothing about the usage of mouse wheels (that i'm aware is now illegal), num+ mouse key, or even any sort of 1:1 description. I wouldn't even consider myself hacking unless I went to edit the .wz files or went to download some sort of illegal 3rd party program. It is far too vague in my opinion to ban someone based on "unfair advantage" because what exactly is that? To me, excessive multiclienting and ease of telecasting also comes to mind.

It is probably natural due to the scope of your job to view us from the perspective of someone trying to break the rules and get away with unfair advantages. However, we are just players who, without the assistance of any illegal program/macro/bot, trying to explore the different functions of mouse keys (which the shadower's guide have talked in detail about) with intentions to find optimal methods of mesos dropping. We genuinely thought the usage of mouse keys are well within the T&C.

In royals, it is all about efficiency, and one prominent point is the usage of Telecasting for Mages/BS, which someone discovered by experimenting within the realms of what the character could do, without usage of any illegal programs. Broadly speaking, it may not even be 1:1. Another point would be the Bowmasters, with the "hold down hurricane", where hurricane would continue to fire even when the client is not the main one. The point is that we really just wanted to be more efficient under the assumption that we are not doing anything wrong/illegal. It is hard to prove intent, but if you were to look through my chat logs when I first started playing chief bandit and discussing with my friends on how to drop mesos, in fact I was the most skeptical and fearful about using Mouse Keys, as it doesn't seem like the normal way of playing Maple. Only upon persuasion that it is not 1:1 and me reading the Shadower's guide was I convinced to use it, which sadly landed me in this situation.

Lastly, I have played for over a year, having a lvl 200 character, mage/bs, summon mules, buff mules etc and am also rather active on this forum. I believe the stakes are too high for me to bet risking all my progress just to drop mesos faster usable only while i'm a Chief Bandit. If I really wanted to do anything shady, I would have done it wayyyy before I had any of my progress, and I wouldn't even show my face on the forums, knowing that I would be checked by the GMs.

Sorry for the long reply.

Edit: Just a curious question, why was the video post on General Discussion removed?

 

Telecasting and hurricane tab-out are fine, because those "features" are built into the client itself and therefore don't require third party software outside of Maple.

It was removed due to the subsequent loss of context after video evidence of your ban was removed by the video owner.

Bans are not lifted for players who commit permanent-banworthy offenses. In this case you abused mouse keys to get an edge in dropping speed. The appeal you linked explains why what you did is grouped under Game Hacking.

 

Is it not the same for Mousekeys? Being a windows feature, not requiring third party software. The only issue is the 1:1 that is often quoted, but where am I supposed to draw the line as to when it is considered an "abuse"? Do you really expect all inexperienced shadowers to dig up every thread about shadowers to see what is allowed or not allowed? What more, in a forum without search function. And one small misstep even without ill intentions gets us permanently banned, with the same roundabout argument that it is an "unfair advantage" as stated in the T&C because it is not 1:1.... but where?

It honestly says nothing. Like nothing about all these in-depths stuffs like 1:1, num5 being allowed, num+ not being allowed, mouse wheel is banned.. Just how many more players need to get permanently banned before we actually understand what's going on? It is just another easy ban pulling out the same T&C argument but years of progress for us. Years of progress, being careful to not break any rules, just enjoying the game and suddenly perm banned. Regardless of the outcome, I feel the need to emphasize just how unclear the rules are regarding playing shadowers. Num5, Num+, Num Enter are pretty close to each other, but pressing the wrong one, intentional or not, leads to a permanent ban. 1:1 mouse wheels? Not using mouse wheels? Sticky keys? Re-configuring keys? What to do if Mesos explosion glitch? The ambiguity is endless but any of them could be phrased to "unfair advantages" -> Perm ban

I'm getting a permanent ban not because I downloaded any 3rd party illegal program to hack, not because I disrespected or harassed other players, not because I do any RWT but simply because I choose to explore my mousekeys beyond num5, thinking that it is a fully allowed windows feature. Was my way of thinking naive? Perhaps, but I would like to at least appeal that I be punished severely but not get issued a permanent ban right off the bat, because anyone not tech-savvy like me and/or just didn't scrutinize every single rule regarding shadowers lying around random places in this forum could end up in the same situation I am facing, even though they have zero malicious intent of breaking any of the game's T&Cs.

I'm not excluding the possibility that there are people who purposely misuse this num+ method. If possible, I would like to prove that I have no malicious intentions, be it through my chat logs, or through my daily conduct (however that is interpreted). For the past few days, there has been several discussions on the shoutbox and on various post discussing about this ban appeal, with several point of contentions being making amendments in the shadower guide, and especially in the TnCs, ways I could have educated myself more but one point we can all agree is how bad of a reputation shadower is getting, seems like even breathing gets innocent shadowers perm banned. It is honestly not a class I would recommend anyone to play unless they have read a textbook-worth of rules regarding what gets them banned or not.

As audacious as it might sound, I would like to kindly request for a review discussion for bans regarding 1:1, because it is really unfair for us without any chance to correct our mistake (which is not stated but inferred from TnC).

That discussion was going in a good direction to prevent such cases from happening again. Also, I have indicated my intentions that I may not know what i'm doing is 100% right, and if it is not so, that I will apologize and immediately cease dropping mesos in this method.

Once again, apologies for the long reply.

 

Wanted to update you that your appeal is still being discussed mainly due to circumstances which could've spurred confusion along with complications from precedents set in previous bans–we will get back to you soon.

 

Thank you for the update, and the staffs for discussing on this possible ambiguity. Rest assured I won't be bumping this until your next reply.