So hindsight being 20/20 and all, couldn’t you log into an android device to make the purchase? OP stated it’s an iOS issue and that’s why they installed emulator.
You certainly wouldn’t have received a ban for logging in from android device.
I think the crux of OP's argument is "I broke a rule put in place and enforced by Kabam, but I didn't gain any advantage while breaking it." That's like saying "I drove drunk, but I didn't get into an accident or cause any harm or damage."
You broke a rule set by Kabam's TOS. How severe you felt you broke that rule has no bearing on your argument... you broke the rule.
I know that this topic will certainly divide opinion. Nevertheless, I would like to post this here once and see if I am completely wrong with my opinion.
My account was suspended yesterday for 7 days due to a violation of TOS11.
What happened? I wanted to buy the triple pass very much, but in Germany there is no discount for buying the triple pass compared to the single purchase, on the contrary it would even be cheaper to buy the months separately. This again contradicts Kabam's announcement, which clearly states that there will be a discount when buying the triple pass. Through posts here in the forum, I learned that this is due to iOS. Because via Android there is the discount. So Kabam has not managed to create a level playing field... again.
So what to do? I don't have access to an Android device, unfortunately. So I downloaded an Android emulator for the PC. However, I didn't know that this violates the TOS. Yes, I know: ignorance is no excuse. BUT I didn't give myself an unfair advantage nor did I circumvent any restrictions in my country. I just used the emulator to buy the triple pass, nothing more. And honestly, has anyone ever used such an emulator? It's horrible! Everything takes forever, there are glitches all the time and it crashes in one go. So here I am being punished for voluntarily giving Kabam money... for buying an offering that they can't offer to everyone equally. Or maybe even want to? And that even though they advertise it that way for everyone in the ingame message.
What makes me so extremely upset about this is that Kabam manages to immediately enforce a suspension here, even though they can clearly see that only a purchase has been processed here. But they don't manage to fix the actual problems in the game, where offensive third party software is used. Through which all other players are disadvantaged and damaged, such as bots in the arena or cheaters in the BGs.
I have already submitted a ticket to the support, but here you only get standardized answers. A lifting of the suspension is not possible and final. Sorry, but why should it not be possible to lift something if you find that it is not justified? That would be fatal, because mistakes can always happen and it should be possible to correct them.
Am I completely alone with my opinion?
My advice, dont go to forums whenever something seems unfair. The community will offer no assistance or a slither of sympathy for the issue you are dealing with. It sounds unfair but yeah emulators regardless of the scenario aren’t allowed. Try to be more cautious next time
My friend received a permanent ban for cheating in BG (according to Kabam's reasoning), although he stated that he did not play BG at all last season. He just fought like 4 bouts in bronze at the start of the season and left it where some people sent laughing emoji upon his win - yet he is also banned. He explained that he didn't have time for BG because of job, therefore he left it in bronze-silver. He believes that these players submitted bogus reports against them, and that Kabam just banned everyone who received a report against them, or even made the tiniest fault in their gaming. He claims that if he were cheating in BG, he would be in Mysterium or Celestial for awards and why would he be in bronze-silver during end of reason.
If I had a dollar for every time someone vouched for their "friend" and it turned out virtually everything they said turned out to be a lie, I'd have a top ten prestige account right now.
On the other hand, if you're talking about emulators, let me tell you about someone who used a legitimate Android device and was also permanently banned. He used a rooted Samsung S21 mobile (for his privacy purpose it was rooted as he uses root with some dev apps It seems), and he utilized an app to screen record his gaming battle in the Quest. In our LINE chats, he liked to share his bouts and brag about his fighting skills. There was no mods or hacks!
Turns out, Kabam has permanently banned him for usage of Third Party Applications. Kabam wouldn't say what it was but just claimed "Third party application," to which the dude replied that the screen recorder he recently downloaded to share gameplays was the sole program that overlayed the MCOC app and was the reason for Kabam's detection of Third Party program, as well as the fact that his smartphone was rooted. Consider how unrealistic the prohibition is! He's also a big spender, and he seemed irritated during the discussions.
This is not a careless random ban. They were banned because their detection systems detected a modified platform. That's what an emulated system basically is. A rooted phone has exactly the same issues as an emulated environment: the end user has completely control over all aspects of it, so Kabam cannot trust any information that comes from that game client, so there's no way to know for certain if the game is being modded or the player is cheating in any way. That's why emulated platforms are banned, and modified devices count as essentially the same thing.
It isn't just Kabam that prohibits the use of such platforms. Google actually provides app developers with APIs to detect and then block (or take other actions on) such devices via their Play Integrity API (aka SafetyNet 2.0). Apple goes one step farther and not only offers ways to detect such devices, you can also flag them as bad (and in theory perma-ban them) even if the phone is wiped and reloaded. There is no way for the owner of the phone to shake this flag, as it is not stored on the phone it is stored on Apple's servers and locked to the phone's hardware identifiers.
Anyway, this guy initiated a refund for his recent MCOC purchases directly with his bank and received $1900 in reimbursements from his chargeback with bank, and he stated that he will never return to the game after what Kabam has converted themselves to - like careless/random ban over players.
Once upon a time, the biggest problem in the credit card industry was fraud. Fraud was a sizeable percentage of all credit card transactions, but the card networks believed that fraud was just the price of doing business. Then one day they just got fed up and the result was (among other things) the PCI security infrastructure that is the bane of most merchants and the reason so many small businesses no longer accept credit cards (or use a processor like Square). One day, the credit card networks simply decided they would rather completely eject whole businesses from their networks than continue allow widespread rampant fraud.
Today, chargebacks can get you into a ton of trouble. Try doing it to a business you have a *direct* relationship with. Those chargebacks hurt them in a variety of ways, including triggering all sorts of problems with the merchant banks and the card networks. In response they'll just straight up globally ban you sometimes. Google will do this, and when Google bans you, there goes your Google play account, your Youtube account (including even if you are a content creator), your Gmail, your everything. I've heard of Sony, Steam, Apple, and tons of other companies do this to people, and in one fell swoop cause all sorts of chaos and tears. In rare cases I've seen actual banks and card networks (i.e. VISA, Mastercard) blackball people permanently. The one big bastion where people can still sometimes get away with this sort of thing is the two big app store operators. They still insulate their customers from the merchants, so chargebacks don't directly reach the merchants, they just affect Apple and Google, and of course no one is cutting those two off.
However, just like in the past, one day someone is going to have enough, and someone is going to be the first to find out this sort of grey area fraud is no longer tolerated. I just hope I'm still around to see it.
Comments
You certainly wouldn’t have received a ban for logging in from android device.
It isn't just Kabam that prohibits the use of such platforms. Google actually provides app developers with APIs to detect and then block (or take other actions on) such devices via their Play Integrity API (aka SafetyNet 2.0). Apple goes one step farther and not only offers ways to detect such devices, you can also flag them as bad (and in theory perma-ban them) even if the phone is wiped and reloaded. There is no way for the owner of the phone to shake this flag, as it is not stored on the phone it is stored on Apple's servers and locked to the phone's hardware identifiers. Once upon a time, the biggest problem in the credit card industry was fraud. Fraud was a sizeable percentage of all credit card transactions, but the card networks believed that fraud was just the price of doing business. Then one day they just got fed up and the result was (among other things) the PCI security infrastructure that is the bane of most merchants and the reason so many small businesses no longer accept credit cards (or use a processor like Square). One day, the credit card networks simply decided they would rather completely eject whole businesses from their networks than continue allow widespread rampant fraud.
Today, chargebacks can get you into a ton of trouble. Try doing it to a business you have a *direct* relationship with. Those chargebacks hurt them in a variety of ways, including triggering all sorts of problems with the merchant banks and the card networks. In response they'll just straight up globally ban you sometimes. Google will do this, and when Google bans you, there goes your Google play account, your Youtube account (including even if you are a content creator), your Gmail, your everything. I've heard of Sony, Steam, Apple, and tons of other companies do this to people, and in one fell swoop cause all sorts of chaos and tears. In rare cases I've seen actual banks and card networks (i.e. VISA, Mastercard) blackball people permanently. The one big bastion where people can still sometimes get away with this sort of thing is the two big app store operators. They still insulate their customers from the merchants, so chargebacks don't directly reach the merchants, they just affect Apple and Google, and of course no one is cutting those two off.
However, just like in the past, one day someone is going to have enough, and someone is going to be the first to find out this sort of grey area fraud is no longer tolerated. I just hope I'm still around to see it.