archangelsx
03-22-2008, 10:12 AM
Dear Game Players,
When you downloaded this his game you probably had to a check a box saying that you agree to the Terms of Service before you could play this game. The, "Terms of service" contract that you agreed to is an extremely long lists of things that you may feel are not worth taking the time to read. In most cases such as down loading a typing program for personal use, the rules are quite obvious. Don't pirate, hack or modify the program. Reading the rules and agreeing to the Terms of service in many cases is a bit un-necessary because you know them already. However, the rules here in a live interactive game are not always so strait forward. I highly recommend reading the Terms of service for your self. This will remove all possibility of you falling a fowl of the law, so to speak. (Or will it?) There is so much legal jargon in that document that there is no way that just any one can understand it. Which brings me to the reason for writing this post and the reason is simple. If you break the rules you, even at level 79, which may take you as long as a few years to accomplish depending on how avid a gamer you are, you can be banned. What is banning you ask? It is the complete removal of your Character and the deletion of your account. Yep, it is nothing less that the loss of thousands of hours of your life. And over what? A misunderstanding of some rule that you may have broken a thousand times un-knowingly. And why did you misunderstand? Because of a Terms of Service contract that you agreed to months ago which reads like just about every legal document. (And you know that as soon as you saw the Terms of service contract you went, "Huh, What...OK I agree." and clicked the, "I Agree" box not even guessing the final result and not believing that something as simple as an off hand comment about how cute you thought some one was acting could lose you so much which, in most cases it wouldn't happen, but not in all cases.)
The Goal of this post: To get the facts strait!
It would be nice for me to say that I could tell you what the rules are in simple terms that every one can understand but in this case, I can't. Why, because I don't, can't and won't except responsibility for making a mistake and not deciphering the Terms of service for you correctly. SO! What is the solution? I am asking every one to ask those whose responsibility it is to provide us, the game players, with a real world explanation of the Terms of service. The practical applications of the Terms of service are not always obvious and, "word of mouth" communication of the rules is not reliable enough to catch every one. (I know because I am one of the ones who slipped through the cracks and fell all the way down to the bottom.) It is my greatest hope that, with enough support, the makers of this wonderful game will see the benefit of doing this and respond with some much needed positive clarity regarding the practical applications of the Terms of service.
I hope that you read this and see the benefit of such a thing. My intent isn't to make this a complaint forum. If you have been burned through a misunderstanding just let it go. Move on and consider posting a, "I think that this is a great idea" message to this Post. Please, do post your positive messages to this thread and remember how much fun you have had playing the game. The more positive input the better! Let us all help each other to make our gaming experience one that is free from un-intentional mistakes.
In the mean time, I say, "Have fun! Make friends! Enjoy your self! But, watch your step. If you have any doubts about doing or saying anything in the game or on the forum ask first and try to avoid miss steps and therefore the consequences there of."
Once again, please show your support for this idea for the benefit of every honest game player! And to those who break the rules on purpose I say, "Watch out! When honest people work together to help each other we can make a difference!"
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and consider this idea.
When you downloaded this his game you probably had to a check a box saying that you agree to the Terms of Service before you could play this game. The, "Terms of service" contract that you agreed to is an extremely long lists of things that you may feel are not worth taking the time to read. In most cases such as down loading a typing program for personal use, the rules are quite obvious. Don't pirate, hack or modify the program. Reading the rules and agreeing to the Terms of service in many cases is a bit un-necessary because you know them already. However, the rules here in a live interactive game are not always so strait forward. I highly recommend reading the Terms of service for your self. This will remove all possibility of you falling a fowl of the law, so to speak. (Or will it?) There is so much legal jargon in that document that there is no way that just any one can understand it. Which brings me to the reason for writing this post and the reason is simple. If you break the rules you, even at level 79, which may take you as long as a few years to accomplish depending on how avid a gamer you are, you can be banned. What is banning you ask? It is the complete removal of your Character and the deletion of your account. Yep, it is nothing less that the loss of thousands of hours of your life. And over what? A misunderstanding of some rule that you may have broken a thousand times un-knowingly. And why did you misunderstand? Because of a Terms of Service contract that you agreed to months ago which reads like just about every legal document. (And you know that as soon as you saw the Terms of service contract you went, "Huh, What...OK I agree." and clicked the, "I Agree" box not even guessing the final result and not believing that something as simple as an off hand comment about how cute you thought some one was acting could lose you so much which, in most cases it wouldn't happen, but not in all cases.)
The Goal of this post: To get the facts strait!
It would be nice for me to say that I could tell you what the rules are in simple terms that every one can understand but in this case, I can't. Why, because I don't, can't and won't except responsibility for making a mistake and not deciphering the Terms of service for you correctly. SO! What is the solution? I am asking every one to ask those whose responsibility it is to provide us, the game players, with a real world explanation of the Terms of service. The practical applications of the Terms of service are not always obvious and, "word of mouth" communication of the rules is not reliable enough to catch every one. (I know because I am one of the ones who slipped through the cracks and fell all the way down to the bottom.) It is my greatest hope that, with enough support, the makers of this wonderful game will see the benefit of doing this and respond with some much needed positive clarity regarding the practical applications of the Terms of service.
I hope that you read this and see the benefit of such a thing. My intent isn't to make this a complaint forum. If you have been burned through a misunderstanding just let it go. Move on and consider posting a, "I think that this is a great idea" message to this Post. Please, do post your positive messages to this thread and remember how much fun you have had playing the game. The more positive input the better! Let us all help each other to make our gaming experience one that is free from un-intentional mistakes.
In the mean time, I say, "Have fun! Make friends! Enjoy your self! But, watch your step. If you have any doubts about doing or saying anything in the game or on the forum ask first and try to avoid miss steps and therefore the consequences there of."
Once again, please show your support for this idea for the benefit of every honest game player! And to those who break the rules on purpose I say, "Watch out! When honest people work together to help each other we can make a difference!"
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and consider this idea.