Tbh after getting banned from EA forums for using the word "sucks" I'd believe anything.

its clearly fake. other wise there would be copy and pasted ToS proof all over every page this article hit.

The wording in that email is suspicious, also there are grammar errors. And, "low level" chars can aquire lvl 50 loot by other means also. Like from buying crates for fleet commendations. 

Just made three new characters on two different servers, hoped on a buddy's ship and flew to ilum. Died a few times, looted several containers. 

it's been over four hours. False.

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by Zippy

I just gained some respect for Bioware.  Any player should know its an exploit to loot level 50 gear when they are a low level.  If they can get to Illum they should report and bug it, not exploit it.  BW did the right thing giving them a short term ban.  More games should do  he same and let people know any exploiting will result in severe punishment.  They are lucky it was not a permanent ban.

Why? It is easy to send money and gear to your character and that would be as wrong as this.

No, it sounds to me like the dude used a cheat to get the item and got banned for that, not for going to a high level zone and looting a chest.

Imagine if they would ban all people who gets help by higher level characters to powerlevel? They are plenty.

Very well reasoned there Loke666. This is either a complete bullshit story or as other people have stated a heavily edited "all I did was..." NOT ME excuse from an exploiter who got caught.

If this is true then bioware just made a totally huge screw up with this... It's apsolutley idiotic to ban someone for exploring the game (unless it was exploiting the game in some other way).

The only thing I could find in reading the TOS (yes I have free time at work)  was in the rules of conduct section...and it's thin, I mean real thin, but I supposed it could be pushed this way.

Engage in disruptive behavior in chat areas, game areas, forums, or any other area or aspect of EA Services.  Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to conduct which interferes with the normal flow of gameplay or dialogue within an EA Service. Disruptive behavior shall also include, but not be limited to, commercial postings, solicitations and advertisements.

That's all I could find.  Now I seriously doubt that EA is gonna tap somebody with the banhammer for looting a chest on illum when they are not lvl 50.  If they were going to be sticklers about this, and truely try to keep it linear, you wouldn't be able to take your ship to the other planets as you wish, you would be forced to fly to the next planet in "line" for your class quest, and that's it.

Originally posted by Jabrony

The reason I am thinking it may be true:  the story was cross posted on different sites

So you go and cross post it to yet another site... does that means it became even more credible (in your eyes) ?

Originally posted by Blasphim

The only thing I could find in reading the TOS (yes I have free time at work)  was in the rules of conduct section...and it's thin, I mean real thin, but I supposed it could be pushed this way.

 

Engage in disruptive behavior in chat areas, game areas, forums, or any other area or aspect of EA Services.  Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to conduct which interferes with the normal flow of gameplay or dialogue within an EA Service. Disruptive behavior shall also include, but not be limited to, commercial postings, solicitations and advertisements.

 

That's all I could find.  Now I seriously doubt that EA is gonna tap somebody with the banhammer for looting a chest on illum when they are not lvl 50.  If they were going to be sticklers about this, and truely try to keep it linear, you wouldn't be able to take your ship to the other planets as you wish, you would be forced to fly to the next planet in "line" for your class quest, and that's it.

I looked at TOS as well, but didn't tought this would be the reason under which they used ban actions on. As you said, if it was so then when I would be lvl 50 I wouldn't be allowed to enter low level planets to help out a low level friend or something?

Only time will tell. Tho with €A nothing suprises me anymore :D

Originally posted by Sora2810

Just made three new characters on two different servers, hoped on a buddy's ship and flew to ilum. Died a few times, looted several containers. 

it's been over four hours. False.

Itook my char when I was in my 20's to Ilium with similar results, this guy may have been using a loot bot (which I have seen one player use so far) and no doubt there are more hacks out there for these dweebs that use them. Yeah this guy didn't get a ban for what he claims I'd bet good money on that!

problem is that there has bin no proof of this as of yet, typing someting out aint proof. a screencap of the email is.

account names are secure in sw:tor, no reason not to mention it at all since nobody can know youre 5 aswers, personal data and game keys but the owner.   then theres always the option to use paint and black the names out.

next to that there is no signing of who at EA/Bioware wrote the mail, they have a very odd signing if thats not done correctly a fake could be identified very easy.

Originally posted by bdew

Originally posted by Jabrony

The reason I am thinking it may be true:  the story was cross posted on different sites

So you go and cross post it to yet another site... does that means it became even more credible (in your eyes) ?

 

Fair enough.  I should have stated further that we have different users (assumed, as they state different roles) cross posting.  But  I agree, it's flimsy enough to be critical of.

Regarding the poster who mentioned it being nothing more than words, I agree with you.  The thing is, if it is true, the only way the story is going to come out is like this.  I'd be very surprised if Bio/EA would say that this is their policy as the policy would be shitty.  And that's the only way to verify it.

That said,  the post on the TOR forums still hasn't been removed or commented on by BW after ~20k views.  That raises my eyebrows, at least temporarily.

LOL!

"Citizen, stay on the line. STAY ON THE LINE!"

That's what you get in games were the devs. are holding your hand and treatig the players like children.

It's lies, I go to the higher level planets all the time.   Lots of players go to the higher level planets to look around and go out and see what it is like.

I go to run around uncovering places for the XP and getting the flight points as I did in other games.  Been doing that since the 13th in ToR.

OP LOTR Monster Play feat. is calling you.

Did you reply the email OP ?

Did you try to take contact with support@swtor.com ?

Did you get any warning before you were banned ?

Well i was just about to buy this game...

---

Originally posted by Jabrony

The reason I am thinking it may be true:  the story was cross posted on different sites, there are multiple users on the TOR forums claiming Bioware/EA is doing heavy editing on the forums, and no Bioware official has outright said "this did not happen".
But yeah, I agree, hard to prove.
Edited to reply to Dub*:  However there is the e-mail(fake?) which states specific reasons.  Reasons which we can likely all agree are pretty goofballs.

---

People always re-posting from other boards, especially if it is some nice troll thread thus no wonder it is all over the place...

The poster does not really explain what he did. This is basically a rule, banned posters never tell the truth, or it is a half-true at best. If you want to apply the rule of Occam's Razer, here is the right place:

It is most probable that the ban is deserved.

Of course in case that the email isn't fake, which would still need to be proven. Also, expectation that forum mods are able and will react and clarify every troll thread on their boards isn't realistic either...

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

---

Originally posted by Jabrony

 

The reason I am thinking it may be true:  the story was cross posted on different sites, there are multiple users on the TOR forums claiming Bioware/EA is doing heavy editing on the forums, and no Bioware official has outright said "this did not happen".
But yeah, I agree, hard to prove.
Edited to reply to Dub*:  However there is the e-mail(fake?) which states specific reasons.  Reasons which we can likely all agree are pretty goofballs.

 

---

The poster does not really explain what he did. This is basically a rule, banned posters never tell the truth, or it is a half-true at best. If you want to apply the rule of Occam's Razer, here is the right place:

It is most probable that the ban is deserved.

 

Deserved per the content of the email?  The e-mail well explains what he did.  The veracity of the e-mail is suspect, but necessarily so.

Edit: Just re-read your last paragraph.  Quoted you too fast.  You could be right. 

And again, I agree it could be BS.

---

Originally posted by Jabrony

Deserved per the content of the email?  The e-mail well explains what he did.  The veracity of the e-mail is suspect, but necessarily so.

---

What you read does not mean it is truth and it does not mean it is a full story either. Those posters never tell true story. If you lurk these boards for a while, you should have know.

---

Originally posted by Gdemami

This is basically a rule, banned posters never tell the truth, or it is a half-true at best.

---

Basically, an honest post would start explaining what banned user was doing, then posted a reaction from BioWare. That way you could get a full picture.

This is most of the time not happening, for obvious reasons. Then, such posters either tell half true of what they actually did or they only post the ban mail, leaving it without context. Very usual twisting facts to suit their case and 'prove' their point.

I will try to dig out similar post from EVE Online boards that happen to pop there once in a while.