Company News BioWare Game Ban Explained

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: BioWare; Dragon Age 2

<p>EA community member whatshisname <a href="http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6465725/48#6483189" target="_blank">has been unbanned</a> and is now able again to enjoy Dragon Age II and all his DLC in all its glory. Turned out it was all an unfortunate error. There's really no one to blame here, Chris Priestly explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here is my official response. You will likely see this picked up on news sites soon enough.<br /><br />EA strictly enforces the code of conduct at Social.BioWare.com. If a player violates the rules by using profanity, they will be temporarily banned. Unfortunately, there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended a user's entire account. Immediately upon learning of the glitch, EA restored the user's macro account and apologized for the inconvenience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sounds credible.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>[Update] </strong>: I think it's obvious that this is a blatant lie and depriving legitimate customers of their purchased software as some sort of punishment for saying the wrong things on the Bioboards is a "business practice" BioWarEA endears for a longer period of time already, as evidenced by <a href="http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6465725/51" target="_blank">this post of CarFax</a> on their Forums.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

 

[turn_based_fanboy]

<p>Sounds credible.</p>

Yeah about as credible as Iraq weapons of mass destruction claims two years after invasion

 

[ortucis]

<p>Sounds credible.</p>

Yeah about as credible as Iraq weapons of mass destruction claims two years after invasion

Not their fault they misspelled "Iran" as "Iraq" and just decided to.. go with it.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

The fact that the power is still in EA/whoevers hands to 'turn off' an individuals bought game should be the crux of the matter. The banning was merely an example of usage.

Edit: Very amusing that the apology was just thrown in the middle of a 50 plus post thread. Very sincere. Not that it was a mistake, as Stanley Woo could easily tell you.

 

[curry]

Of course Bioware isn't butthurt! It was just a system error. I swear.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

So fucking retarded. They could just admit "Lol, some guy here went overboard, sorry about that. People commit mistakes sometimes, rite? His account is okay now, so no harm done" and people would stop caring - I mean, people forgive having to wait for patches that fix shit supposed to be noticed by playtesters, surely they'd accept a fuck-up like that. Pretending it was a glitch will only fuel the rage.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Hmm

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... 6465725/51

Carfax post. I wonder if this is legit and we have another one?

I hope so. The more drama regarding these bloated creatures, the better.

Edit: Oh, apparently he called someone a fag, or something of the sort. Such an evil hate crime should be punishable by corporate theft, at least according to the Biowhores.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Yes, seems it's not a single case and just business as usual for BioWarEA.

LOL this is a complete and utter lie!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps you remember me Mr. Priestly. My account name used to be Mordigan before I was banned last year, a long with having all of my DLC revoked.

You did not lift a finger to help me, nor did EA ever give me back my DLC because I didn't make a "scene" about it unlike the OP.

Here are some of the messages we exchanged between us about the affair:

Hello Chris.

Hopefully you can help me. I was banned approximately 2.5 months ago for uttering the phrase,"queer pushers" on the forum (for which I initially received a 3 day suspension), then a permanent ban for attempting to discuss the issue on the forum (something which I regret doing). My previous account handle was "Mordigan."

Throughout that time, I haven't really played Mass Effect 2, but a few days ago I made another account and attempted to log in to the game, and to my surprise, I discovered that I couldn't even load any of my saved games.

I got an error stating that the game was unable to authorize the listed DLC.

Now, I have supported Bioware since the time of the original Baldurs Gate. I have most of your games, and I paid for each of them legitimately....including the DLC for Mass Effect 2 (I actually bought the collector's edition)

But for me to be prohibited from using my DLC EVER AGAIN due to being banned, is a bit harsh I think.

There are plenty of people that don't even pay for the DLC. They just torrent them, and they never have any of the problems that I, a paying customer have had with my DLC.

Therefore, I'm asking you to either lift the ban on my previous account, or transfer the use of my DLC over to my new account so that I can finish my saved games and continue to support Bioware by purchasing future DLC.

Thank you for any assistance!

Being banned from the BioWare forums has no effect on your ability to play or download DLC for any BioWare title.

If your EA Master account was banned, which would have been done at the EA level not by me or some other moderator as we do not have the access, you should still have access to DLC. Only if your account was deleted would you not have access.

You would need to contact EA Customer support for assistance.

Thanks for replying. I've heard this was the case, as you put it, but EA is telling (and doing) me something completely different.

Not only was my ability to post on the forums suspended, but I couldn't even log into the game; even when I was suspended and not banned. Basically, your forum account and game account are one and the same it would seem.

I've contacted EA about this matter numerous times already, and they keep telling me the same thing. I even petitioned to have the ban lifted, but they would not listen.

Since you work for Bioware, is there any way you could contact EA over this to make sure the policy is as you've stated?

Also Chris, here are a few threads about the issue which verify what I'm saying is true; that being banned from the forum can and does affect your ability to play the game or use the DLC:

http://social.bioware.com/%3Cbr/%3Ehttp ... /1#2828065

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... /2014405/1

Mr.Priestly never helped me at all, and to this day, my DLC is still inactive.

Who knows how many have been deprived of their legitimately purchased products but never went public about it?

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

I like all the other posts where Bioware deleted the private messages he posted, that they had sent him during his attempt to lift the permaban. In conclusion, they knew all along that the EA system affected their end, and how the system works. Hopefully the gaming media will keep the drama rolling.

I cannot read any further though. Honestly, the apologists on that site are shocking, and my brain was seeping from the ear canals.

 

[Xor]

What utter horseshit. Do they seriously expect us to buy that? A glitch? How the fuck would a glitch bring this about? Forum access privileges and game access privileges are probably stored in completely separate databases FFS.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

What utter horseshit. Do they seriously expect us to buy that? A glitch? How the fuck would a glitch bring this about? Forum access privileges and game access privileges are probably stored in completely separate databases FFS.

Not to mention the 'glitch' that happened a year ago and still hasn't been...fixed, even though the user had long back-and-forward messages and emails with the Biowhore elite (Priestly and Woo). But they mustn't have remembered how the system works this time around...honest.

 

[Phelot]

The fact that the power is still in EA/whoevers hands to 'turn off' an individuals bought game should be the crux of the matter.

This. Unfortunately, I suspect that simply having the ability to do shit like that isn't illegal even if the actual act is. Still very troubling and unprecedented. It's not like if you get a bumper sticker that says "Kill niggers LOL" then your car's manufacturer comes and takes your disables vehicle.

 

[deuxhero]

<p>Sounds credible.</p>

Yeah about as credible as Iraq weapons of mass destruction claims two years after invasion

Yep, compared to a country with chemical weapons production equipment having WMDs, an "error" that popped up a few years ago (It happened with Spore LTIC) and was an "error" then and still isn't fixed is completely unbelievable.

 

[Black Bart Charley]

This thread went far enough!

LOCKDOWN!

:faggotemot:

edit

Who cares anyway? Shit is selling like hot cakes! Draggon 2012, 13, 14, here we come!

 

[aries202]

If you look at Fernando Melo's response,

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... 6465725/61

you should be able to play your DLC offline. However, for some people this is not an option. As F. Melo explains it 'this is a very elusive bug'.

I don't know why Carfax don't have access to his DLC anymore. The whole problem seems to be that the way the EA main account is tied to the Bioware forum account e.g when you hand a 72 hour ban on the Bioware forum. you'll also hand out a 72 hour ban on the main EA account. Steps seems to have been taken to not let this happen again.

However, EA seems to be monitoring the Biioware boards; EA will strictly enforce and apparently ban anyone, maybe via text parser, that breaks their rules and are using profanity on their forums. Words than can get you banned will be words like 'fag', 'hell', 'devil' 'rape' and other words of that nature.

However, the person posting about man-giraffe-dog is still allowed to post images and spam the forums. And his account(s) really needs to be banned for a very long, long time.

 

[Kz3r0]

If you look at Fernando Melo's response,

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... 6465725/61

you should be able to play your DLC offline. However, for some people this is not an option. As F. Melo explains it 'this is a very elusive bug'.

 

[deuxhero]

Words than can get you banned will be words like 'fag', 'hell', 'devil' 'rape' and other words of that nature.

Something tells me those are 1: Not offensive 2: Very, very, very bad choices for a gaming forum, where MANY games have "hell" and "devils" exist in-game.

 

[Mister Arkham]

Words than can get you banned will be words like 'fag', 'hell', 'devil' 'rape' and other words of that nature.

Something tells me those are 1: Not offensive 2: Very, very, very bad choices for a gaming forum, where MANY games have "hell" and "devils" exist in-game.

Even more telling is a guy a few pages in using the word shit, only to have it replaced by a mod(?) with [stuff] and a little smiley-ridden banner at the bottom asking to please not use profanity on the forums. Of course, he was being something of an apologist in his post so I guess he gets a pass.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Solution: Don't buy anything with an EA or Bioware label on it.

 

[HardCode]

Solution: Don't buy anything with an EA or Bioware label on it.

I haven't bought an EA game since they fucked things up with BF1942. People should really stop supporting scumbag companies with scumbag tactics. Just the fact that you need an account to play a single-player game is fucking stupid.

 

[Aermas]

I just got banned from Bioware's forum because I was asking if Stanley Woo had changed is avatar because to a thing a tried to start called Re-Volus-ion. Bioware is getting way out of hand. It's ridiculous

 

[sser]

I just got banned from Bioware's forum because I was asking if Stanley Woo had changed is avatar because to a thing a tried to start called Re-Volus-ion. Bioware is getting way out of hand. It's ridiculous

 

[RK47]

I just got banned from Bioware's forum because I was asking if Stanley Woo had changed is avatar because to a thing a tried to start called Re-Volus-ion. Bioware is getting way out of hand. It's ridiculous

I...uh..welcome to the forum.

Start of the line.

 

[ElectricOtter]

I just got banned from Bioware's forum because I was asking if Stanley Woo had changed is avatar because to a thing a tried to start called Re-Volus-ion. Bioware is getting way out of hand. It's ridiculous

Welcome to the Codex, Bioware refugee. Enjoy your stay - and watch out for the trannies and trolls.

it begins

 

[Suchy]

No warm hello with goatse/tubgirl?
I'm at work and can't do it myself, eh...

Welcome on the 'Dex.