Nothing justifies gaming firms destroying their customers’ property. These firms claim their "Codes of Conduct" are a contract; however, I do not believe they are since they are not revealed until after purchasing the products and because they are one-sided, meaning it only benefits these firms.
These firms state that it is not their policy to disclose any information regarding the reason for issuing permanent bans and they provide no recourse, stating that permanent bans are final. They foolishly claim that their system is "perfect", thus implying that all victims are guilty as charged without any discussion of the matter. No system is perfect for no human is perfect.
Supposed reasons for permanent bans include using Youtube links in a bios and the use of programs called "Mods". Activision has some of these Mods built into their games; however, using them while playing with others online -- even if you know the players personally -- is considered a big "no, no" . In fact it is considered to be the worst thing anybody could ever do in the gaming world, even worse than bullying.
I believe that thousands of gamers are being victimized by these firms. Since their policy is to not disclose the reason for the bans, I firmly believe that these are issued for either bogus reasons or petty reasons. The firms are claiming that they are simply "protecting the gaming environment" and declare that the use of mods is "detrimental" to the game. Seriously?! These are just games; not life and death situations! Even if a "code" is really violated, a permanent ban is like issuing the death penalty to a jaywalker!
I admit that I am not a gamer, but I see the injustice of this practice not just by a love one who plays games, but by many others who post on sites such as this one stating they have been unjustly treated. I believe them all. Unfortunately, many sites such as this delete comments about the truth regarding permanent bans. Only ones that are left are ones where victims are bullied further by others, picturing them as "nothing more than cheating cry babies". Control the rhetoric; control the people. We see from these posts that this practice actually encourages bullying and the illusion is spread that these firms are “just gods”. Microsoft Xbox is even furthered helped with their “godly” image by Youtube videos that claim a glitch in their system will allow permanent bans to be lifted if the victim simply puts vulgar words in their bios. There is no such glitch, but Xbox uses this as a further “justification” for issuing the permanent ban. At least they did in my love one’s case.
I sincerely doubt that the use of these Mods are "detrimental" as the gaming firms claim. If they are, then why don't they modify their own games to disable these items? They should ban the actions; not destroy the use of someone's property. Or, they could do like Mojang did and let people ban others they don’t want to play with on their own servers. They could even have a server dedicated for players to use as many mods/cheats as they like. Yet, these firms choose to vilify these programs to “justify” in creating a “need” to repurchase the product(s) due to permanent bans. These firms are the cheaters!
Perhaps other gamers find the use of mods/cheats as a nuisance just as a neighbor who plays his music too loud. However, the police would not blow up the neighbor's house! Instead they would simply tell the neighbor to turn down the music and perhaps pay a small fine if he continues to refuse to do so.
I believe that many do repurchase these products (although my love one did not) for various reasons. I can see how many victims want to prove that they are indeed as good as their scores stated and/or they simply want to play with their friends the games that they play. There is much talk of gamers being addicted to gaming. How does this affect those who truly are addicted? I believe it encourages gaming addiction or at least these firms certainly have no problem profiting from this addiction.
This is my first post and I hope that it will not be removed, but I am not holding my breath. The truth about permanent bans must be revealed. Permanent bans must stop and all permanent bans must, at the very least, be lifted.
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