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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Most of amazon chat help is useless, they are there to appease not solved problems . Most are out of country low paid employees who even if they say will help will not . This is from 10+ times attempting to deal with them over the years and it never changes .
ReplyDeleteThis is very sad to hear. Amazon had supurb customer service through Amazon.com and Prime, but it appears that it is rapidly declining. Seems so.
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