End of an Era - Ban wave v3
Macmucito
Member Posts: 8 ★
Let's talk about Ban Wave v3. Several accounts appear to have been banned roughly 6-7 hours ago. The majority of the accounts are incredibly OG players from the beginning of the game, and some of them were also huge spenders. Regardless of previous ban history whether they have ever been banned or not in their life time, Kabam has issued them a permanent ban for violating the Terms of Service, which I find completely unreasonable. As any OG player knows, Kabam has made numerous blunders in the game, particularly with bugs and glitches. There was even a period in 2019-2020 when many gamers abandoned the game owing to Kabam's adjustments. Prior to that when Kabam decided to nerf champions like Dr. Strange or the Scarlet Witch dilemma (an OG would know). F2P literally does not exist in the game anymore, nor can F2P players advance very far.
Despite this, a large number of OG players remained loyal to Kabam and insisted on continuing to play the game. Even with the recent updates, which emphasize spending money in the game to advance, the players decided to stick with it. Kabam must understand that majority of these gamers play the game for amusement and to escape from their hectic lives, which is why they commit to it. However, what is extremely ridiculous is that they were handed a permanent ban (even if they were never banned previously) in the following cases:
• Players who gave accounts to Merc - Considering It's now about paying money to progress, What difference does It make you pay to Kabam or to your friend to help finish some content for you? It shouldn't be a violation in first place. Why do you think there are various workers in real life? Because one person cannot do multiple types of Jobs hence we hire someone or pay someone to get the work done. Isn't is what Kabam as a Company pay for their employees? There are different departments because that is real life.
Let's be honest: some claim it's all about your own ability to advance and not allowing others to play. But that was the old MCOC, but the current MCOC is all about spending money to advance in the game. So, how exactly do you make this money? Well, you invest your skill in real life work/occupation and earn money, but where would you find time to play the game or finish contents when the contents only get bigger every month, unlike before where one could actually spend his/her evening finishing a content? So you can only spend the money because you won't have time to play this game, so you hire a merc to finish the content for you. On the other hand, if you don't make money and have a lot of spare time to play by yourself, as we all know, F2P cannot progress in this game anymore, thus it will take you a year to get the same level as someone who spends money. It is Kabam who has led the situation for an increased usage of Merc yet then they ban players for it as violation of ToS? How so justifiable?
• Usage of Exploits / Emulators to gain advantage over another player - Personally, I agree with Kabam's decision to ban such players because it portrays a negative/dirty image of the Marvel community. However, what I and other OGs (people who have been with MCOC since 2014) disagree on is that everyone makes mistakes. Frustration can sometimes lead to poor decisions or routes. Especially OGs who is still sticking to this game knows all the frustrations they have gone through over the past 9 years yet decides to stick around as for love towards Marvel characters and habit. We are all humans, not AI - A permanent ban for somebody who has never been banned before is completely unforgiving. If the roles were reversed and players deserted MCOC owing to Kabam difficulties with the gameplay, Marvel Contest of Champions would not exist today. Something Kabam failed to recognize: the players were forgiving, but Kabam, question yourself. Were you tolerant? No, considering you permanently blacklisted players who have never been banned in their lives and have remained faithful to you.
• Account Sharing - This is plainly for AW Piloting, and I simply agree that it is penalized because it is a war between 30-30 people, and unlike the timing issue for contents mentioned above, AW fights do not take hours to complete. As a result, it is entirely skill-based and must be played by oneself.
As we know - result of all violations leads to one thing and that's called BAN aka you have been KABAMMED.
• Proper banning system - Instead, Kabam should implement a system in which a player is initially banned for 24 hours as a warning, then banned for 7 days, and finally permanently banned if they violate again in 6 months. This record expires every 6 months period. This type of banning system would be very merciful given the opportunities given to players and would lessen dissatisfaction on the part of the players, as Kabam must recognize that choices over permanent bans can cause major real-life issues (due to anger/frustration). One could even isolate himself from everyone simply because he is outraged that his/her account has been permanently banned, especially those who have put a significant amount of time and money (whether paid to Kabam/Merc) into the game. Players who have been really serious in the game may end up making unsafe decisions in real life as a result of any poor decisions as mentioned above. Kabam, as a member of the Marvel Community, should prioritize the health and well-being of their players over making permanent decisions that may harm their players' life.
When players are permanently banned (especially when they haven't committed any violations in the past or for an extended length of time), it's simply not the proper option. To anyone who replies, No, they violated the first time and deserve a permanent suspension. Let's look at a real-life example. If you were pulled over by a cop for any traffic infraction for first time in your DL history, would you like to be given a warning or would you prefer the cop to be unforgiving and permanently seize your DL and give you a straight up huge ticket / pull you into court? You have your answer there.
Having saying that, please feel free to express your thoughts! Personally, I think of Kabam and its long-term players that have always stood by side and supported expanding MCOC into the larger community that it is now. Especially for those who are well-versed in the game. Kabam should consider unbanning any recently banned accounts that haven't had any bans in the last 6 months, and then implement a genuine banning mechanism which includes a warning ban to respect fair-play and be merciful to its loyal players.
Anyone interested in learning more about me? I used to be a War Champion / War Elite [NY718] - Known as Noob King back in the day, and I spent a lot of money on the game. Nonetheless, I left the alliance and moved to another alliance for relax play. I was banned in the 2020 March ban wave. Personally, the majority of us utilize VPN. I was using a VPN for privacy purpose and randomly playing AW maneuvers when I got permanently banned for account sharing as AW piloting (I had no previous bans). I attempted to contact Kabam after the ban, even one year later in 2021, to request an unban, but their response is the same template stating that bans are final. I myself made very awful judgments in real life out of frustration, and I even severely destroyed my university grades, which still effect me today as for career. It took me months to recover from my melancholy and difficulty, and I now see a couple of my friends in the same boat.
That being said, I speak on behalf of many people I know and have known for over 9 years in the MCOC neighborhood. I feel it is past time for Kabam to recognize the consequences of such irrevocable actions on its players' lives and begin to rectify.
Signed,
OG Player
Despite this, a large number of OG players remained loyal to Kabam and insisted on continuing to play the game. Even with the recent updates, which emphasize spending money in the game to advance, the players decided to stick with it. Kabam must understand that majority of these gamers play the game for amusement and to escape from their hectic lives, which is why they commit to it. However, what is extremely ridiculous is that they were handed a permanent ban (even if they were never banned previously) in the following cases:
• Players who gave accounts to Merc - Considering It's now about paying money to progress, What difference does It make you pay to Kabam or to your friend to help finish some content for you? It shouldn't be a violation in first place. Why do you think there are various workers in real life? Because one person cannot do multiple types of Jobs hence we hire someone or pay someone to get the work done. Isn't is what Kabam as a Company pay for their employees? There are different departments because that is real life.
Let's be honest: some claim it's all about your own ability to advance and not allowing others to play. But that was the old MCOC, but the current MCOC is all about spending money to advance in the game. So, how exactly do you make this money? Well, you invest your skill in real life work/occupation and earn money, but where would you find time to play the game or finish contents when the contents only get bigger every month, unlike before where one could actually spend his/her evening finishing a content? So you can only spend the money because you won't have time to play this game, so you hire a merc to finish the content for you. On the other hand, if you don't make money and have a lot of spare time to play by yourself, as we all know, F2P cannot progress in this game anymore, thus it will take you a year to get the same level as someone who spends money. It is Kabam who has led the situation for an increased usage of Merc yet then they ban players for it as violation of ToS? How so justifiable?
• Usage of Exploits / Emulators to gain advantage over another player - Personally, I agree with Kabam's decision to ban such players because it portrays a negative/dirty image of the Marvel community. However, what I and other OGs (people who have been with MCOC since 2014) disagree on is that everyone makes mistakes. Frustration can sometimes lead to poor decisions or routes. Especially OGs who is still sticking to this game knows all the frustrations they have gone through over the past 9 years yet decides to stick around as for love towards Marvel characters and habit. We are all humans, not AI - A permanent ban for somebody who has never been banned before is completely unforgiving. If the roles were reversed and players deserted MCOC owing to Kabam difficulties with the gameplay, Marvel Contest of Champions would not exist today. Something Kabam failed to recognize: the players were forgiving, but Kabam, question yourself. Were you tolerant? No, considering you permanently blacklisted players who have never been banned in their lives and have remained faithful to you.
• Account Sharing - This is plainly for AW Piloting, and I simply agree that it is penalized because it is a war between 30-30 people, and unlike the timing issue for contents mentioned above, AW fights do not take hours to complete. As a result, it is entirely skill-based and must be played by oneself.
As we know - result of all violations leads to one thing and that's called BAN aka you have been KABAMMED.
• Proper banning system - Instead, Kabam should implement a system in which a player is initially banned for 24 hours as a warning, then banned for 7 days, and finally permanently banned if they violate again in 6 months. This record expires every 6 months period. This type of banning system would be very merciful given the opportunities given to players and would lessen dissatisfaction on the part of the players, as Kabam must recognize that choices over permanent bans can cause major real-life issues (due to anger/frustration). One could even isolate himself from everyone simply because he is outraged that his/her account has been permanently banned, especially those who have put a significant amount of time and money (whether paid to Kabam/Merc) into the game. Players who have been really serious in the game may end up making unsafe decisions in real life as a result of any poor decisions as mentioned above. Kabam, as a member of the Marvel Community, should prioritize the health and well-being of their players over making permanent decisions that may harm their players' life.
When players are permanently banned (especially when they haven't committed any violations in the past or for an extended length of time), it's simply not the proper option. To anyone who replies, No, they violated the first time and deserve a permanent suspension. Let's look at a real-life example. If you were pulled over by a cop for any traffic infraction for first time in your DL history, would you like to be given a warning or would you prefer the cop to be unforgiving and permanently seize your DL and give you a straight up huge ticket / pull you into court? You have your answer there.
Having saying that, please feel free to express your thoughts! Personally, I think of Kabam and its long-term players that have always stood by side and supported expanding MCOC into the larger community that it is now. Especially for those who are well-versed in the game. Kabam should consider unbanning any recently banned accounts that haven't had any bans in the last 6 months, and then implement a genuine banning mechanism which includes a warning ban to respect fair-play and be merciful to its loyal players.
Anyone interested in learning more about me? I used to be a War Champion / War Elite [NY718] - Known as Noob King back in the day, and I spent a lot of money on the game. Nonetheless, I left the alliance and moved to another alliance for relax play. I was banned in the 2020 March ban wave. Personally, the majority of us utilize VPN. I was using a VPN for privacy purpose and randomly playing AW maneuvers when I got permanently banned for account sharing as AW piloting (I had no previous bans). I attempted to contact Kabam after the ban, even one year later in 2021, to request an unban, but their response is the same template stating that bans are final. I myself made very awful judgments in real life out of frustration, and I even severely destroyed my university grades, which still effect me today as for career. It took me months to recover from my melancholy and difficulty, and I now see a couple of my friends in the same boat.
That being said, I speak on behalf of many people I know and have known for over 9 years in the MCOC neighborhood. I feel it is past time for Kabam to recognize the consequences of such irrevocable actions on its players' lives and begin to rectify.
Signed,
OG Player
28
Comments
IMO Kabam can do more to ban those players and accounts that make a mockery of the honest players.
TLDR: you cheated and got banned
Why should Kabam be merciful of people who have decided to go out of their way to cheat?
I'm gonna be honest I only skimmed through part of your post because it feels like a pity party and it's just way too much.
The difference is Kabam making money, it's not that hard, they're a company, they want to make money, it's why they exist.
I hope this don't get your account into trouble, As you are clearly damaging Good will of Kabam by stating Kabam only cares for their players money and they don't care about their players state/joy.
It's funny how so many people answer very black and white that if you break the rules you should get banned while KT1 gets an exception.
I know his offence was a long time ago and he reformed and it wouldn't be logical to ban him now and stuff. But that doesn't take away that it's an interesting observation. If you break ToS by buying an account a long time ago and you haven't broken the ToS since then your fine. Buy an account now and you're not fine I guess? So the ToS on buying an account have a statute of limitations?
IDK these were all just my random thoughts, I'm not trying to derail this thread just ignore me if anyone feels like I'm doing that.
And I never said they "only care for their player's money", it's just that that is the main driving factor behind most companies existing. I just think it's weird to think Kabam should be okay with other player's profiting in ways that they don't want or does not profit them. It is directly taking money out of their pockets.
I sincerely hope your mental health and that of your friends improves.
However, you will never grow as an individual if you blame others for imposing consequences on you, when you decide to cheat their systems.
It appears that even now, you fail to realise that cheating in a game where you compete with other players is not a victimless crime, any more than insurance fraud or dodging rail fares is.
I'm going to reflect your own words back at you, and it's intended to be constructive:
I feel it is past time for players who cheat to recognize the consequences of such irrevocable actions on other players' lives and begin to rectify
If players know their first or second times cheating will only result in short bans, what’s to dissuade them from, for arguments sake, modding their way through the next big bit end game content like EOP if they know they’ll only get a slap on the wrist.
"F2P literally does not exist in the game anymore, nor can F2P players advance very far."
🔥Play with fire = you get burnt 🔥
The OP’s post reeks of spoiled entitlement, and the state of competitive content will be better off without these cheaters. Hopefully the banned cheaters and OP take this as a life lesson.
Kabams bans have been very lax over the years. They've never perma-banned on first offense ever until recently with BGs coming into the picture. I highly doubt you were perma-banned on your first offense. Ny718 was notorious for account sharing and merc'ing for AW back in the day.
Kabam has stated they're taking a harsher stance when it comes to bans because the old system just wasn't working. Partly because of arena and mostly because of BGs. Super happy to hear they are sticking to what they said.
Kabam may well have been slack in the past dealing with cheating but that doesn’t give you the right to cheat; it means you’ve been lucky.
If you cheat in this game it doesn’t matter what your bank balance is, how much time you’ve spent in the game, you’re a cheat and should be banned. That’s the start and the end of the conversation.