This article covers Flight Rising’s penalty process. If your account was closed without first being issued a warning or suspension, please proceed to Why was my account closed without warning?
Table of Contents
- What are Flight Rising’s penalties for breaking the rules?
- What's the difference between an account penalty and a forum penalty?
- What goes into a penalty investigation?
- Why did Flight Rising Support issue different penalties for the same violation?
- What if I technically didn’t break the rules?
- Why was my account closed without warning?
- What is an escalated penalty?
- Can I appeal my penalty?
- What happens when I appeal my penalty?
- What is an appeal?
- Is having my account closed the same as being perma-banned?
- How will I know if I’m permanently banned?
What are Flight Rising’s penalties for breaking the rules?
In most cases, a warning will be issued for a player’s first offense. This warning is sent via private message from Flight Rising Support.
Repeat offenses or rule violations can—and often lead to—suspensions of increasing duration all the way up to, and including, account closure or forum ban. Players are notified of their suspension (or closure) via a pop-up modal on their next login attempt.
If a final warning is issued alongside a suspension, that information will be included in the pop-up notification as well.
What’s the difference between an account penalty and a forum penalty?
An account penalty affects a player’s ability to access their account. If you are issued an account suspension, you will not be able to log into your account until the set time has passed (ex: 24 hours).
Forum penalties affect a player’s ability to post in the forums and the Game Database. It is possible to lose your forum privileges but keep your account.
TOP
What goes into a penalty investigation?
|
Context is when we look at the circumstances surrounding the reported event or player, including any recent interactions with other players.
|
|
|
Severity is when we review the impact of the offense. When we say impact, we mean how the offense has affected the community through either directly observable responses on the website, through player reports, or commonly accepted meanings within society itself (ie, hate speech or profanity).
|
|
|
Intent is determined after reviewing the context and severity of a reported offense. We review what the underlying intent may be or otherwise communicated. Did the player make a mistake, misunderstand something, or did they know exactly what it was that they posted to the Flight Rising website?
|
|
|
Simply put, the account’s history directly influences Support’s conclusions about a report and any potential penalty: Does this account have a history of rule-violating behavior or is this their first offense? |
TOP
Why does Flight Rising Support issue different penalties for the same violation?
Two players who commit the same offense, at the same time, may receive two different types of penalties, when we take into consideration the context, severity, intent, and account history.
Example: Player A and Player B both name their dragons the same inappropriate name. Player A only receives a warning but Player B is issued a 72-hour suspension.
Player A: This is their first offense. They are given the opportunity to do better without losing access to their account. The dragon’s name is also reset to ‘Unnamed’ which allows the player the chance to choose a name that adheres to the Terms of Use and Rules & Policies.
Player B: This is their third offense. On their second offense, Flight Rising Support suspended their account access and set the dragon’s name instead of resetting it. This means that despite losing access to their account, and in order to give this dragon yet another rule-violating name, Player B made the conscious decision to acquire and use a renaming scroll. This establishes clear intent to knowingly break the rules via dragon names after receiving a warning and shorter suspension, and is why they were issued a longer penalty for the same name.
TOP
What if I didn’t technically break the rules, will my penalty be lifted?
Probably not.
If the intent of a rule violation is to depict or communicate something prohibited by our Terms of Use or Rules & Policies, to get around our language or name filter, or is otherwise done in a way intended to shock, offend, or elicit a negative response, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t technically break the rules. What it actually means is a player went out of their way to try and get around our rules. This is the type of rule breaking behavior that leads to escalated penalties.
TOP
Why was my account closed without warning?
That means you did something that warranted an escalated penalty.
In most cases a player’s first rule violation leads to only a warning. There are, however, exceptions where an account’s behavior or a rule violation is especially egregious and an account closure is warranted without prior warnings or suspensions. That’s an escalated penalty and you can read more about this below.
TOP
What is an escalated penalty?
An escalated penalty happens when a violation is especially egregious or disruptive to the site, game/game economy, and/or our community. An escalated penalty skips the Warning step and goes straight to either suspensions, final warning, or account closure, depending on the severity and impact of the violation.
Many violations of our Terms of Use lead immediately to account closure. This includes but is not limited to when we find an account: is cheating via multiple accounts, engaging in illegal activity, or the player is or was under the age of 13 or the age of consent for data collection in their country of residence at the time of registration.
TOP
Can I appeal my penalty?
Yes, players may appeal their penalty, including forum ban or account closure, if they believe it was done in error.
There is only one way to appeal an account penalty: Through Contact Us. Posts appealing your account penalty in our forums, clan profile or broadcast, dragon biography or broadcast, or on social media will not be considered.
TOP
What happens when I appeal my penalty?
Your account and the circumstances surrounding the penalty are reviewed by another member or members of the Flight Rising team. When this review is complete, a determination is made.
Once a determination has been made, the penalty will either be lifted or upheld.
|
If your account is closed and you register a new account, you forfeit your appeal for that account, and the closure will be upheld without additional review. |
TOP
What is an appeal?
An appeal is when a player submits a ticket to us stating that they believe the penalty is wrong, provide any context they believe is relevant, and that they would like the logs reviewed once more. In other words, when you submit your ticket about your account penalty (anywhere from an Account Warning to an account closure), you have initiated the appeal process.
|
|
An appeal can be successful or an appeal can be unsuccessful. |
The case is then reviewed. The player activity logs are reviewed by a second and sometimes third team member, the case is discussed, and finally a determination is made.
An appeal is not a guarantee that the penalty will be lifted or your account reinstated. In other words, appealing your account penalty does not guarantee that the penalty will be reversed.
There are very few circumstances where an appeal will not be considered. These are cases where the individual themselves is banned from returning to the site or they’ve committed an especially egregious violation of our Terms of Use or Rules & Policies: Real life threats, illegal activities, or the promotion, glorification, or referencing of real world fascism. (March 07, 2024)
TOP
Is having my account closed the same as being banned?
No, an account closure is not the same as a ban. If your account is closed and the closure upheld after appeal, it means the consequence for breaking the rules or Terms is the loss of all dragons, items, and currency currently on the account. You will be welcome to register one (1) new account, as long as it follows our Terms of Use and Rules and Policies.
|
When an account is closed, Flight Rising Support will not transfer any dragons, items, or currency from the closed account to an open account. |
How will I know if I’m banned?
If you are permanently banned from the Flight Rising website, meaning that you as an individual person are no longer welcome to return to our community and site, you will be clearly and without question notified either at the time of the account closure or by Flight Rising Support after the completion of investigation or appeal review.
Permanently banning an individual from the Flight Rising website is not something we take lightly. Given the final nature of this penalty, no single team member is empowered to unilaterally ban an individual from the game and website. This step is only taken when we believe it is in the best interest of the site, as well as the safety and security of both our community, site, and our employees. The Flight Rising team, including the owners of the company, review all of the available evidence and a team discussion is held before banning an individual occurs.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.