New World: A Flawed Banning System

Since the launch of Amazon Games' popular open-world MMO PC game, New World, there have been a number of bugs and exploits that seem to have deterred players from returning to Aeternum.

According to SteamCharts data, it seems that New World has lost over half of its player base since the launch. Statistically, it suggests that the MMO is losing around 135K players a week!

While it is unlikely that all of these players left the game for good, it is likely that some numbers have migrated to other MMOs or virtual worlds until the mass amount of bugs has been resolved for uninterrupted gameplay. However, Amazon's extremely flawed banning system may just be an added reason which may not only hurt Amazon Games but Amazon as a whole.

Amazon Games' premature banning system is sending gamers into a dark rabbit hole filled with trolls, suspensions, and time wasted. In essence, Amazon has given millions of gamers the opposite of the virtual escape that they were expecting. Me included.

Like many gamers, I've been hoping that the introduction of Amazon Games to Steam would generate discussion, conversation, and entertainment among gamers as diverse as the world. But when it came to banning in particular, I expected a gradual course of action but was surprised to find out that Amazon is outright banning gamers the moment they receive mass reports of a user.
My story may differ from others' experiences, but I'm fairly certain there are a good number of people in the same position.

I was issued a permanent ban for cracking a joke. A joke about the coin-for-sale bots that would frequent the servers. No fighting, no profanity, no toxicity like you normally would read in-game chat, but a joke. Now, keep in mind that this is only an assumption as to why I was banned, but this is the only thing I can imagine it being.

Amazon games claim not to use bots to issue auto-bans based on mass reporting from the game. Their claim is that each report is reviewed by a human and that accounts will only be banned if the report appears to be legitimate.

Now, if my particular ban was not done by auto-ban bots, then the "human" reviewing any report was downright lazy. Obviously, it's not an official statement of case/s, as this is all conjecture at first sight. The story goes something like this:

On November 8, 2021, at approximately 5:00 PM PST, the global chat was buzzing with, surprisingly, a civil conversation about the condition of New World. We commended the game as a whole, but many in the chat offered their opinion on the recent bugs, exploits, and waitlist for consumer-requested additions wanted in-game. It may sound a bit corny, but it was wonderful to finally see the community humming together with good-natured conversation and playfulness within the chat.

We carried on joking together for the next few minutes. One player made a sarcastic comment about how much they "missed" the bots. We laughed about the naked fishing bots that would swarm our shores, and someone laughed about "missing" the coin bots and how they missed out on buying coins.

As we were all joking with one another, I wrote something along the lines of,

"Well, you still can! Go to C O I N F O R N E W W O R L D . C O M (just kidding)"

Someone cracked a joke about how they are going to go there, to which I replied, "Ok, well I made up the website, so let me know lol"

Another player joined in the joke by saying they went to the website and that their service was fast, but there was a bit of a language barrier.

Anyway, the topic changed as quickly as it was brought up and we moved on to something new. About 10 - 15 minutes later, I get banned...

A permanent ban for "Disruptive Behavior". You can imagine my frustration. I had no clue as to why I was banned. For a moment I thought it was just a lag glitch of some sort, however, re-logging was not going to fix this.

My frustration grew as I knew I wasn't being "disruptive". Just a bunch of globies chatting it up. It took me several minutes to put together this theory.

What exactly is my theory? Well, either other players purposely reported my comment to be trolls, or they weren't paying attention to the global chat, saw caps like the bots would write, then reported my post.

Now, to be fair, I can see how this could be mistaken as spam. My own fault for not thinking that someone would report a comment without reading it first. However, the fact remains that if there are humans reviewing all of these reports, why did they not see the context of the comment? Why didn't they read it and realize that it was friendly banter?

The problem with the banning system isn’t just the ban itself. It’s also how it is handled by Amazon. It seems that the canary is dead, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel for me. Customer service has been poor, and without a resolution in sight, I have no choice but to cancel all my subscriptions and boycott Amazon as a whole.

Some may believe it to be a petty thing to do, but when you have used Amazon services practically since their launch, you continue a service as such based on the quality of that service. From the start, I have been impressed with Amazon's customer service. Though, now not so much.

When you are banned from New World, the first thing they do is take away your voice. You are no longer allowed to post in their forums, nor can you complain about their service in their Discord, as I was banned there without reason. Though that is their right and I understand that.

Players have written and shared screenshots online about Amazon agents stating that we should hear back about an appeal within 24 hours. I decided to wait over 24 hours before attempting to reach out to Amazon after my submitted appeal.

You are now connected to David from Amazon.com.
David (5:24:55 PM] : Hello, my name is David. I'm here to help you today.
Me [5:25:35 PM]: Hi David, I am trying to figure out why I was banned last night from New World. It's been over 24 hours and I have not heard back from anyone about the appeal.
Me [5:26:28 PM] [SENSITIVE INFORMATION REDACTED], and was not being disruptive. I merely made a joke about the coin-for-sale bots in global and 10-15 minutes later I was banned.
Me [5:26:59 PM]: I am not sure how that constitueds "disruptive behavior".
Me [5:27:55 PM] : Hello?
David has left the conversation.

You can tell from the typo how frustrated I was. Not only did Amazon’s customer service not even acknowledge me, but they disconnected and sent me a scripted email response.

Clearly, David wasn’t his real name…

If you are going to send me anything scripted, at least send it through chat, not disconnect without notice. That is just bad practice.

Later, I decided to go to the Discord server that New World’s Twitter account posted earlier. I wanted to see if anyone had any idea about how much longer I would have to wait to hear back from my appeal. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one. No one was being abusive, but only sharing their experiences. I too jumped the bandwagon and shared my experience. Suddenly, I was banned from Amazon’s Discord server as well.

I understand that it may not be the place to discuss a ban, however, what do you expect when you deliberately silence the banned and get no acknowledgment from a customer service rep? This is not the service I ever expected from Amazon.

Here are my suggestions on Amazon's banning system.

First, be sure that you are 100% not using an automated banning system. Maybe not from you, but whatever 3rd party vendors you are using. Based on my own experience, it screams auto-ban bots.

Second, if you have a notification box that fills your screen, you can at least display the chat comment that was the ultimate decision for the ban to be warranted. This will allow the banned to be better prepared for their appeal.

The last is the most important. Your customer service via Amazon Games needs serious revamping. You must remember that these players are still your customers. No, that doesn't warrant violating the terms of service, but at least teach your agents what you teach your general Amazon agents, that is empathy.

Right now, it seems that Amazon games, specifically dedicated to New World, have it in their mind that the majority of banned players are guilty. Whatever the case may be, going in with that mindset, empathy is stripped from their service, and mistakes are made. Not all banned players are guilty and they shouldn't be treated as such.

There is no reason for a gamer to seek out a less active game over the one they paid for. And no gamer should lose their game progress, MMO currency, or gold coins due to a failure of Amazon Games to properly police the player base.

Maybe I will go back to Amazon if this issue is rectified, though unlikely, I would hope I also get an apology. As of the datestamp on this blog post, it has been 3 days, 3 hours, 9 minutes, and 45 seconds and I have yet to hear back about my ban appeal. I will be sure to update this post if that ever happens.

TLDR:

• New World has lost over half of its player base since the launch. losing around 135K players a week

• Amazon banned me for making a joke about the coin bots

• Amazon claims to use real humans rather than auto-ban bots, yet the context of my comment was ignored, thus making the “human” reviewer either a lie or lazy

• Amazon deliberately silences any banned from all of their platforms

• Compared to customer service from Amazon.com, Amazon Games needs to be revamped

• Recommends that Amazon Games provide the comment that was the deciding factor of a ban on your screen

• Not all banned players are guilty and they shouldn't be treated as such

Duck Dynasty; A slight business standpoint

I am so disappointed in reading so many peoples responses to the whole Duck Dynasty thing. The fact that I have to read things like, "What's wrong with what he said? It's the TRUTH!", "Homosexuals are wrong and should die", and other ignorant ideals such as those make me beyond sad.

The fact is, you don't know what is or isn't the truth. None of us do. This is why we have faith and hope and LOVE. Gay, straight, bi, transgender; we all are children of the same universe. The general principle should always be about supporting and loving each other.

Now, on the topic of what was said, the guy has every right to have an opinion, BUT as any company would do with any other hired/contracted employee, when you do not promote the BUSINESS in a professional manner, while keeping their image clean, THEY, the BUSINESS, have every right to suspend and or terminate such employee. Go ahead, try it at your job. Go ahead and say whats on your mind about any minority, or any person in a negative manner, see where it gets you. He is lucky that he was just suspended for such a public response while representing a BUSINESS and not removed completely!

By all means, you can easily respond by quoting misinterpreted scripture from Leviticus, 1 Corinthians and Romans, but I can easily do the same with some other everyday element that you should supposedly be put to death for.

Just love and be loved. It is the meaning of our very existence. We live for love; without love, life doesn't seem worth living. Live for love, people...Live for love.


~Rev. William Marcus McFarland III

If you feel the same, feel free to SHARE, LIKE, and even TAG someone who supports this as well. Together, we are as one. Our voice is our virtue.

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Although I do agree that some may spend a little too much money on something that can be achieved with a creative mind and little to no cash spent. I can't complain when someone is going out of their way to be romantic. It is perfectly healthy at that age. As we get older, some people would give anything to have that spontaneity left in their lives. But, don't take it from me, here is an article written about the newest fad: Promposals.

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The Maid of Honor

Ancient Romans believed that evil spirits haunted weddings so to protect the bride and groom they required ten witnesses to dress in the same clothing as the couple so the spirits wouldn't know who was who. The maid of honor was one of these attendants. She and the other bridesmaids dressed like the bride for another crucial reason – to trick very mortal aggressors, the men in the groom’s village who were jealous of the groom and might try to steal the bride away before the ceremony. Brides in ancient times traditionally traveled to the groom’s village for the ceremony so she really needed reliable protection. The maid of honor made sure to stick by the bride, dressed exactly like her, to confuse any threats natural or supernatural until her fate was secured.

The maid of honor also helped the bride dress before the wedding, as she still does today, and helped her weave a wreath of aromatic flowers believed to protect her from evil spirits. The term “maid of honor” came from the United Kingdom, meaning female attendants to the queen.

The position of maid/matron of honor today is usually reserved for the bride’s closest confidante. She plays an essential role in the event planning and assisting the bride. She performs all of the bridesmaid expectations as well as many additional tasks to ease any stress on the bride.

When you begin to plan a wedding, you may be a little confused about all the terms involved with the wedding party. Some wedding parties include simply the bride and groom, but more often than not, wedding parties will have several bridesmaids and groomsmen. One special member of the bridal party is the maid or matron of honor. What exactly, though, is the difference between the maid of honor and matron of honor?

Traditionally, the maid of honor is the unmarried best friend or sister of the bride. Most brides have at least one maid of honor in their wedding party.

The matron of honor is usually a close friend or relative of the bride who is already married.

No matter which title is used, the duties are the same. Here are a few to mention:

Generally the MOH shops with the bride for wedding dresses and attends fittings. She also usually has a voice in choosing the bridesmaid dresses.

She helps the bride with wedding event planning as the bride needs. Some brides want the MOH to come along to all vendor consultations; others just want someone to bounce ideas off of.

Takes the lead on any bridesmaid group gift to the bride (if applicable) and organizes a bridesmaid luncheon, if the bride chooses to have one.

Serves as the bride’s assistant on the wedding day, helping her with everything from lipstick freshening to herding the single ladies for the bouquet toss.

Gives a toast at the wedding reception.

Often plans the events such as bridal showers or bachelorette parties, but is not required, and these duties can be split amongst other bridesmaids and friends.

Just keep in mind, although you are the “go to” person for the bride, don’t let that get to your head. You are there to help the bride and assist, she trusts you more than anyone, don’t try to take over. Many relationships have ended due to “power hungry” MOA’s. Don’t worry ladies, your day will come.

You should know by now what you plan to do and how to go about doing it, but here are some “DON’TS” to add to your list:

DON’T: Get drunk.

At least not before your speech! If you are one of the terrified 15% of Americans, use other relaxation techniques to calm yourself. Feel free to jump into the libations (responsibly) when you’re done. If you make a fool out of yourself while drunkenly attempting to deliver your speech, you will most likely end up on YouTube.

DON’T: Be anti-marriage.

Don’t express these sentiments in your speech, even if you are doing so in order to emphasize how the bride’s relationship defies your preconceived notions. You might be booed offstage before you can get to that part. For example, avoid quotes such as this one from Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary:

“Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage.”

If your goal is to never be invited to another wedding ever again, this is the way to go.

DON’T: Mention the bride’s past boyfriends or any other intimate details.

There is no good reason to mention past boyfriends, and if you do you’re liable to make everyone in the room uncomfortable. The last thing you want to do is open a can of worms between the bride and the groom on their wedding day. Also, don’t mention past exploits, including those crazy college nights or anything that happened at the bachelorette party.

DON’T: Drag on forever.

You can say everything you want or need to say within five minutes. Anything else can be said in private later on. You are probably not going to be the only one giving a speech, and you don’t want to put your audience to sleep. Ceremonies can be long, so everyone probably wants to get to the dancing and eating by that point. You don’t want the only memorable thing about your speech to be that it wouldn't END.

DON’T: Express your undying passion for the groom.

Or the bride. Or anyone really.

And lastly,

DON’T: Take your frustration out on crew and vendors the day of the service.

This can be a little tricky to explain, but if you have an issue with someone who is hired help, the worst thing you can do is cause a scene and feel you have to address it then and there. If it is something you feel you need to take care of that moment, find the appropriate person to bring it up to in private. Normally if you have a wedding planner, this is the correct person to go to. You have to remember that these workers are getting their orders from several different people leading all the way up to the bride. I know we all want everything to be perfect for this special day, but do remember that they are still human and mistakes may be made. If you can wait, bring these issues up after the service. This is supposed to be a fun filled day, don’t let something get in the way of achieving this.

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