Hello Sunrise Citizens,
We want to take the time to bring to everyone's attention regarding the issue of players calling out fellow community members for cheating in open public chat, as well as accusations against a certain group of players in the community.
While we appreciate all of you coming forward and providing us information on those violating our in-game policies, we strongly encourage everyone to use the proper means to do so. The most common problem we face is those calling other players out in public chat. While this behavior is a common reaction in online gaming communities with games that provide a competitive nature, all of us on the support team strongly discourage this as this leads to many problems regarding in-game harassment, as well as interfering with internal investigations we have regarding reported suspects.
Most importantly, you alert these suspected player(s) that you and the community are on to them. It also provides them an advance notice of their actions, which is no different as assisting that person, or "aiding and embedding" as they call it. The common reaction is the majority of them log off immediately, thus preventing the GM staff from concluding their investigation. These actions prevent us from completing the task-at-hand, as well as delay any proper action being enforced to these players. In the end, you are not helping the community, but causing more harm than good.
Another reason is due to our privacy policy, which is here for good reason. When you discuss an issue for the world to see, you will end up with more people sticking their hand in the cookie jar. This leads to more people adding their two cents, as well as those who wish to troll and spread misinformation during the investigation. Most importantly, what if you’re wrong? Not only is that person called out for everyone to see, but you also slander an innocent player and mark him or her as a cheater in front of the community, which often we see this escalate into a personal vendetta between both parties. Also, be aware that continued outbreaks for calling that user out in public chat will be viewed as harassment, which is a violation of our in-game conduct policy and will result in action taken against your account.
There is currently three ways to report fellow players breaking our in-game policies.
1) The Customer Service ticketing system at www.crimecraft.com/cs_tickets.
2) Using the "Report Cheater" option in the main menu.
3) Contacting a GM currently online. We currently have a sticky thread in the General section of these forums of all official GM staff members. If you're still unsure, then ask for GM assistance in the public chat. The list to the official GM staff is located here: http://www.crimecraft.com/forums/General/topics/Game-Master-and-Moderator-Listing
Keep in mind that demanding action, or else, is not the best method to report a violation. Also, be mindful that continued use of filing false accusations of policy violations just because you have a personal vendetta against that player, can and will result in action taken against your account for abuse of the ticketing system.
Report Processing Tips
When it comes to ticket writing or contacting a GM, please use the following when discussing the report with us:
Name: Provide us the name of the player in question. Make sure the name is spelled correctly. There is a big difference when reporting "ToM", when the character name is actually "T0M" with a zero or "ToM84". Any character we're unable to find can slow down the investigation process and/or prevent it from actually starting. This is the #1 reason many cheat report cases go cold, because not enough time was spent to verify the actual spelling of the name. We can't start an investigation if we can't find information on the suspect; so please take the time to thoroughly verify the name before submitting.
Realm: With the introduction of new realms recently, we need your support to provide us the name of the realm the suspect is on in the message body, since this information will help assist us in narrowing down our search. Right now, we have two copies of the character name for characters created prior to 9/5/2011 for both the US and EU realms. As you can see, this can be a daunting task when researching and verifying which character is being reported.
Observation: Pretty much, describe to us what you've observed to conclude the person is cheating. Simply telling us the person is cheating does not help assist us with what to look for and this is a common report we receive on a daily bases. Not only do we have to contact the user to ask for clarification, it also delays the investigation regarding the suspect. If the person is doing questionable accuracy, then give us that detail. If you're unsure, what it is, but know something is off or fishy, then do your best to describe what you've seen and let us know you're unsure what it is. Don't be afraid that not knowing what you've seen will result in the report being ignored, it won't. We process, check, and follow up on all reports.
With the introduction of the “Report Cheater” system, we have been receiving a number of tickets with no description what so ever. While we do receive information by default on your location, the ticket doesn’t provide us the information needed to assist you, nor provide the information needed to start an investigation regarding the suspect in question. So we please ask that you take the time to describe to us what the suspect is doing and not leave the description field “blank”.
Screenshots: Provide screenshots based on the type of hack only. A screenshot sent regarding someone using a speed hack for example, will not provide us much information to confirm cheat use. That type of feature needs to be observed. Screenshots work best for exploit use or weird gameplay features done by 3rd party programs; for example, being surrounded by BOTS and taking no damage like your Superman, someone clipping inside a map wall with only their gun sticking out, or someone raining an endless amount of grenades from their grenade launcher. Also, anything regarding a damage modification will work as well by displaying your combat log in the screenshot, along with the current victim/attacker notice screen that displays after death.
Videos: If you do submit a video, we ask you take the time and provide us a small description what the video shows, including a time frame. This will assist us tremendously and save us time during our investigation when reviewing your video. During many occasions, we received video evidence with little or no detail provided in the report.
Here is an example of a detail video report:
2:43 - aimbot: suspect "LilTimmy" targets myself and kills me, then quickly snaps about 90 degrees to his left to target another player after killing me.
3:24 - wallhack: suspect "LilTimmy" kills me with a sniper rifle hit across the map just after I activated the stealth ability before running out in the open. No other players were near me, nor was I in the middle of a fire fight between others players.
And not considered a detail video report:
Video proof the Regulator gang is hacking so ban them now
What Not to Do:
• Reporting players in open public chat and/or on the forums. This will be considered harassment and a violation of our privacy policy, which can lead or result in action to be taken on your account. All reports are anonymous and confidential during our investigation. So please, exercise that right. You wouldn't want the accused and their friends to come after you now, do you? This also applies to the new spectate mode during player matches and the tournament. Using the Battle chat or public chat channels to describe and call out players regarding their gameplay for hack use, is, and will be considered harassment. If you find anything questionable, then keep it private and alert a GM on staff ASAP. If none is around, then file a report ticket and provide any detail you acquired.
• Contacting the suspect after reporting them to GM personal to inform them that (taunt or sending abusive messages) they have been reported. This is considered in-game harassment and it also interferes with our investigation as well.
• Avoid making report tickets with messages like "UGotPwned is cheating ban him now". We need more clarification on the type of cheat used. You can't expect a Crime Scene Investigation team to investigate a possible murder at a location with no blood present, no signs of a struggle, no murder weapon, and not even a body. Same thing here regarding a player report. We need to verify if the report is legit vs. a typical report by someone that was just upset because Lil' Timmy just pwnd them with his pea shooter.
• Accusing an entire gang, or ethnic group, for hacking. Someone's association with a gang, nor their ethnic background, is not the proper method and will not be accepted and used to determine hack use. Not now, not ever! As the saying goes, one bad apple does not guaranty the entire apple tree is rotten. Those found spreading such misinformation over a course after being warned to cease, will face account action for harassment. As for accusations against a certain ethnic group, not only is this harassment, but is also a violation of our Rules of Conduct policy regarding racism. If you want to report someone in that gang or group for policy violations, then do so by providing their ACTUAL name and not because they're from a certain gang, or from a certain country or region.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How come we never receive any news on the outcome of our report?
Due to our privacy policy, we cannot discuss any information regarding our investigations, current or previous. We take user privacy seriously and we will not provide information regarding the account, characters, billing info, or actions taken to outside users who are not the owner of the account. While we understand you want to receive the results of our investigations, we cannot allow any information to be released as this always leads to more misinformation spreading regarding the user, even harassment towards the user itself and anyone associated with them. We do however provide a follow-up report regarding your submitted reports to inform you when the investigation is concluded and the appropriate action was taken.
Player “xxxxxx” been reported and is still not ban. Why is that?
While some methods of cheating is obvious and considered an open-and-shut case, some cases will require more time to verify the report, or to better study the questionable method to better inform our staff to assist them for future detections. Another problem we face is the increase of false reports. It can be either the user lacking the knowledge regarding in-game mechanics or because the “cheat” card is the excuse to cover their stream of defeats in the game. While we try to better inform the community regarding basic report mistakes, it’s simply impossible to take the time to educate every single member on what is, or is not, an actual cheat. If you're not really sure what it is, just simply ask someone for their imput.
While we do close accounts (and any alternate accounts) when 3rd party program use is verified, there is nothing we can do if players continue to voice their opinion (or fact if they believe so) that someone is actually cheating when observation finds the report to be inconclusive. You can show them the sky is blue, even with evidence, but they will still continue to debate the sky is green. Because of this, there are actual “good” gamers out there who perform as skilled (elite) players, but are often falsely accused of cheating by a few of their fellow players. If there is no evidence to show the person actually committed the crime, then unfortunately you can’t throw them in jail to do the time.
Last Edited on: Dec 17 2011 05:43 PM UTC (157 Days ago)
Submitting...
Hello Sunrise Citizens,
We want to take the time to bring to everyone's attention regarding the issue of players calling out fellow community members for cheating in open public chat, as well as accusations against a certain group of players in the community.
While we appreciate all of you coming forward and providing us information on those violating our in-game policies, we strongly encourage everyone to use the proper means to do so. The most common problem we face is those calling other players out in public chat. While this behavior is a common reaction in online gaming communities with games that provide a competitive nature, all of us on the support team strongly discourage this as this leads to many problems regarding in-game harassment, as well as interfering with internal investigations we have regarding reported suspects.
Most importantly, you alert these suspected player(s) that you and the community are on to them. It also provides them an advance notice of their actions, which is no different as assisting that person, or "aiding and embedding" as they call it. The common reaction is the majority of them log off immediately, thus preventing the GM staff from concluding their investigation. These actions prevent us from completing the task-at-hand, as well as delay any proper action being enforced to these players. In the end, you are not helping the community, but causing more harm than good.
Another reason is due to our privacy policy, which is here for good reason. When you discuss an issue for the world to see, you will end up with more people sticking their hand in the cookie jar. This leads to more people adding their two cents, as well as those who wish to troll and spread misinformation during the investigation. Most importantly, what if you’re wrong? Not only is that person called out for everyone to see, but you also slander an innocent player and mark him or her as a cheater in front of the community, which often we see this escalate into a personal vendetta between both parties. Also, be aware that continued outbreaks for calling that user out in public chat will be viewed as harassment, which is a violation of our in-game conduct policy and will result in action taken against your account.
There is currently three ways to report fellow players breaking our in-game policies.
1) The Customer Service ticketing system at www.crimecraft.com/cs_tickets.
2) Using the "Report Cheater" option in the main menu.
3) Contacting a GM currently online. We currently have a sticky thread in the General section of these forums of all official GM staff members. If you're still unsure, then ask for GM assistance in the public chat. The list to the official GM staff is located here: http://www.crimecraft.com/forums/General/topics/Game-Master-and-Moderator-Listing
Keep in mind that demanding action, or else, is not the best method to report a violation. Also, be mindful that continued use of filing false accusations of policy violations just because you have a personal vendetta against that player, can and will result in action taken against your account for abuse of the ticketing system.
Report Processing Tips
When it comes to ticket writing or contacting a GM, please use the following when discussing the report with us:
Name: Provide us the name of the player in question. Make sure the name is spelled correctly. There is a big difference when reporting "ToM", when the character name is actually "T0M" with a zero or "ToM84". Any character we're unable to find can slow down the investigation process and/or prevent it from actually starting. This is the #1 reason many cheat report cases go cold, because not enough time was spent to verify the actual spelling of the name. We can't start an investigation if we can't find information on the suspect; so please take the time to thoroughly verify the name before submitting.
Realm: With the introduction of new realms recently, we need your support to provide us the name of the realm the suspect is on in the message body, since this information will help assist us in narrowing down our search. Right now, we have two copies of the character name for characters created prior to 9/5/2011 for both the US and EU realms. As you can see, this can be a daunting task when researching and verifying which character is being reported.
Observation: Pretty much, describe to us what you've observed to conclude the person is cheating. Simply telling us the person is cheating does not help assist us with what to look for and this is a common report we receive on a daily bases. Not only do we have to contact the user to ask for clarification, it also delays the investigation regarding the suspect. If the person is doing questionable accuracy, then give us that detail. If you're unsure, what it is, but know something is off or fishy, then do your best to describe what you've seen and let us know you're unsure what it is. Don't be afraid that not knowing what you've seen will result in the report being ignored, it won't. We process, check, and follow up on all reports.
With the introduction of the “Report Cheater” system, we have been receiving a number of tickets with no description what so ever. While we do receive information by default on your location, the ticket doesn’t provide us the information needed to assist you, nor provide the information needed to start an investigation regarding the suspect in question. So we please ask that you take the time to describe to us what the suspect is doing and not leave the description field “blank”.
Screenshots: Provide screenshots based on the type of hack only. A screenshot sent regarding someone using a speed hack for example, will not provide us much information to confirm cheat use. That type of feature needs to be observed. Screenshots work best for exploit use or weird gameplay features done by 3rd party programs; for example, being surrounded by BOTS and taking no damage like your Superman, someone clipping inside a map wall with only their gun sticking out, or someone raining an endless amount of grenades from their grenade launcher. Also, anything regarding a damage modification will work as well by displaying your combat log in the screenshot, along with the current victim/attacker notice screen that displays after death.
Videos: If you do submit a video, we ask you take the time and provide us a small description what the video shows, including a time frame. This will assist us tremendously and save us time during our investigation when reviewing your video. During many occasions, we received video evidence with little or no detail provided in the report.
Here is an example of a detail video report:
2:43 - aimbot: suspect "LilTimmy" targets myself and kills me, then quickly snaps about 90 degrees to his left to target another player after killing me.
3:24 - wallhack: suspect "LilTimmy" kills me with a sniper rifle hit across the map just after I activated the stealth ability before running out in the open. No other players were near me, nor was I in the middle of a fire fight between others players.
And not considered a detail video report:
Video proof the Regulator gang is hacking so ban them now
What Not to Do:
• Reporting players in open public chat and/or on the forums. This will be considered harassment and a violation of our privacy policy, which can lead or result in action to be taken on your account. All reports are anonymous and confidential during our investigation. So please, exercise that right. You wouldn't want the accused and their friends to come after you now, do you? This also applies to the new spectate mode during player matches and the tournament. Using the Battle chat or public chat channels to describe and call out players regarding their gameplay for hack use, is, and will be considered harassment. If you find anything questionable, then keep it private and alert a GM on staff ASAP. If none is around, then file a report ticket and provide any detail you acquired.
• Contacting the suspect after reporting them to GM personal to inform them that (taunt or sending abusive messages) they have been reported. This is considered in-game harassment and it also interferes with our investigation as well.
• Avoid making report tickets with messages like "UGotPwned is cheating ban him now". We need more clarification on the type of cheat used. You can't expect a Crime Scene Investigation team to investigate a possible murder at a location with no blood present, no signs of a struggle, no murder weapon, and not even a body. Same thing here regarding a player report. We need to verify if the report is legit vs. a typical report by someone that was just upset because Lil' Timmy just pwnd them with his pea shooter.
• Accusing an entire gang, or ethnic group, for hacking. Someone's association with a gang, nor their ethnic background, is not the proper method and will not be accepted and used to determine hack use. Not now, not ever! As the saying goes, one bad apple does not guaranty the entire apple tree is rotten. Those found spreading such misinformation over a course after being warned to cease, will face account action for harassment. As for accusations against a certain ethnic group, not only is this harassment, but is also a violation of our Rules of Conduct policy regarding racism. If you want to report someone in that gang or group for policy violations, then do so by providing their ACTUAL name and not because they're from a certain gang, or from a certain country or region.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How come we never receive any news on the outcome of our report?
Due to our privacy policy, we cannot discuss any information regarding our investigations, current or previous. We take user privacy seriously and we will not provide information regarding the account, characters, billing info, or actions taken to outside users who are not the owner of the account. While we understand you want to receive the results of our investigations, we cannot allow any information to be released as this always leads to more misinformation spreading regarding the user, even harassment towards the user itself and anyone associated with them. We do however provide a follow-up report regarding your submitted reports to inform you when the investigation is concluded and the appropriate action was taken.
Player “xxxxxx” been reported and is still not ban. Why is that?
While some methods of cheating is obvious and considered an open-and-shut case, some cases will require more time to verify the report, or to better study the questionable method to better inform our staff to assist them for future detections. Another problem we face is the increase of false reports. It can be either the user lacking the knowledge regarding in-game mechanics or because the “cheat” card is the excuse to cover their stream of defeats in the game. While we try to better inform the community regarding basic report mistakes, it’s simply impossible to take the time to educate every single member on what is, or is not, an actual cheat. If you're not really sure what it is, just simply ask someone for their imput.
While we do close accounts (and any alternate accounts) when 3rd party program use is verified, there is nothing we can do if players continue to voice their opinion (or fact if they believe so) that someone is actually cheating when observation finds the report to be inconclusive. You can show them the sky is blue, even with evidence, but they will still continue to debate the sky is green. Because of this, there are actual “good” gamers out there who perform as skilled (elite) players, but are often falsely accused of cheating by a few of their fellow players. If there is no evidence to show the person actually committed the crime, then unfortunately you can’t throw them in jail to do the time.
Last Edited on: Dec 17 2011 05:43 PM UTC (157 Days ago)