Ban
- If you're looking for information on bans from the wiki, see YPPedia:Blocking policy.
A ban is a disciplinary action by an Ocean Master that results in a player not being able to access the game at all. This may be done for various reasons including theft, swearing in public, shouting repeatedly, and "making rude and unsavoury allusions as to the sexual or other propensities of other Pirates."[1]
Contents
Banning Activities
Some activities that can get you banned (from TOS).
Stealing and Scamming
Stealing is defined as taking the in-game property of another player without the knowledge and permission of that player. Stealing will most often involve misuse of access to the inventories of ships, shoppes, and houses. One way to prevent theft is to protect your account password and never share it with anyone at all.
Scamming is stealing from another player through misrepresentation - an example would be stating that an item had magical powers.
Regardless of the form they take, stealing and scamming are against the rules and are likely to result in an account being banned from the game.
Harassment
Harassment can be defined as repeated actions that target an individual or group for the purpose of bringing about feelings of discomfort or distress.
Harassment is not allowed and may result in an account being banned from the game.
Swearing
Using vulgar, obscene, or offensive language is considered swearing. This includes any racial, sexual, or religious slurs or other deliberately offensive remarks directed at another player.
While there is a chat filter present in the game, this does not excuse offensive language or behavior. Misspelling or mis-spacing words to get around the filter will be treated as swearing and dealt with accordingly.
Foul language used outside the chat, for example in pirate names or in building news, is likewise not acceptable.
Spamming
The chat client exists so that players may communicate with each other. Spamming is repeatedly sending letters, messages, or nonsense, in a way that makes it difficult for other players to communicate. Spamming annoys other players and is considered bad behavior.
Types of Disciplinary Action
Suspensions
A suspended account is one in which the player is not allowed to play for a set number of days. When the player tries to log in, they receive a message that says, "You must wait X days before you may re-enter the game," where X is the number of days of the suspension. In addition, the suspended player must agree to and retype the condition of his or her suspension in the text box provided. The condition is listed above the text box. It will usually be in the following format, "I agree not to <whatever the offense was>."
If the "Accept" button on this screen does not become enabled when the player types out the condition, either the period of the suspension is not over, or the suspension condition has been mistyped.
The period of a suspension usually ranges from one day to one week in length. Please note that it does not show the exact number of hours until there is less than a day remaining, so if it says 1 day, there can still be more than 24 hours remaining on the suspension.
Permanent Ban
A permanent ban is a ban that lasts forever, unless the Ringers decide to reverse it after receiving a ban plea at submitted via the Puzzle Pirates Support form.
Any subscription time or doubloons that haven't been used at the time of a permanent ban are forfeited. (Subscription time cannot be gifted to or from a banned account.) Subscriptions are automatically canceled in the case of a permanent ban.
Machine Tainting
If a player is banned, either temporarily or permanently, their machine becomes tainted, and cannot be used to create new accounts to get around the ban. The machine will also be unable to use existing or new accounts to play in any other Three Rings games.
How Do I Get Unbanned?
The only way to get a ban reversed is for the owner of the banned account to use the Puzzle Pirates Support form to request a review of their case.
A petition or complaint will not help in a banning case, nor will getting friends of the player to plead on his or her behalf. Unless specifically invited by the Ringers to do so, it is not appropriate to post in the forum professing innocence or otherwise pleading to be unbanned. It is considered especially poor form for a banned player to create a new account in order to ask about a ban--this is called ban evasion. The evading account will also be banned.
