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pretty much what the title says. i wanted to write up a somewhat detailed argument and send it into POL through both a paper letter and an online e-mail. there's some sites that'll let you create a free petition, so once this is fully edited, i'll post it on the the petition site for people to sign up for. for those interested, hopefully we can get enough people to support the change, and hopefully POL will recognize their flaws. and for the people who don't know what's been happening, just read anyway and you'll see.
i'd appreciate it if people could read this over and lend any insight or perhaps changes they'd like to see before i finalize it. i was planning on augmenting the first paragraph because what i wrote about the realplayer exploit needs more detail. i realize there's tons of suggestions already out there, but it'd be nice if we could centralize them into here, in case changes or amendments need to be made to this petition.
also, once this was edited i was also planning on trying to organize people, especially the ones who've had their accounts stolen, in trying to call up the POL offices and ask for changes over the phone in unison. i think we all would like to see better safety measures and for us to do that, we do need to band together.
as a community, we should all be concerned because this affects us all directly.
it's quite long, but let me know what you think (other than it's long). and the formatting doesn't look like this, it's just copied and pasted from office. thanks.
On approximately December 11th, 2007 an exploit was found using Realplayer software which would submit users visiting certain popular sites to a virus that compromised account security. As a result, in the past several months there have been a number of stolen accounts reported, with a substantial increase in the amount stolen within the past month. Unfortunately, due to Playonline account policies, these players, who are the victims of a security exploit over which they had no control over, have almost zero recourse in taking back their rightful accounts. This petition is a proposal on some changes that we as the players, and in some cases victims, justly deserve.
Problems: The Lack of a Reasonable Process of Account Retrieval
Currently, players have close to zero options when they have their accounts stolen. The only chance these victims have to recover their accounts is to make an inquiry with Playonline Customer Service. However, due to the policies at Playonline, these victims have no plausible way in which to prove valid ownership over the telephone. Playonline policies require information regarding a player’s name, address, and most importantly, credit card information. However, the first actions taken with a compromised account are to change the Playonline password, the address and credit card number. The only information that players can possibly use in their defense are of complete unimportance, specifically the policy requiring current credit card information. Proof of names, past addresses, and financial transactions even dating back for years is made completely irrelevant. We, as players, have zero defense in this regard and are completely vulnerable to fraudulent activity.
Additionally, Playonline policies advise players to contact the local police and internet authorities for help, acknowledging that it is indeed a case of identity theft. However, having to rely on elaborate and sometimes drawn-out legal processes is simply not practical. Without a form of immediate recovery, compromised accounts can have their contents stripped entirely. Hard-earned work and characters, built up over years in many cases, can easily be destroyed within the time it takes to procure a court-ordered subpoena. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the authorities will take the case into decent consideration. While it is indeed a case of identity theft, authorities may (and have) question its validity because it is based on a game. Having to resort to legal processes that take significant time, subjects our accounts to devastation, and submits us as the players to being mocked, is both unreasonable and unfair.
It is also often-times the case that in a request for help, Playonline Customer Service representatives provide an inconsistent and sometimes arbitrary standard upon the players. It is also the case that these same representatives are both obstinate and insulting towards those trying to find help. Rather than being treated respectfully, players are instead accused of using illegal third party-programs and in some instances, accused of selling their accounts to Real Money Traders. The representatives often seem to operate under the notion that their policies insulate them from having to provide service to those who have lost their accounts, especially when they believe that the victims themselves were apart of fraudulent or suspicious activity. Furthermore, requests to speak with a supervising representative are typically met with the response that “they are too busy,†or that “they will provide the same answer as we do.†Follow-up calls from the supervisors, are also completely seemingly out of the question even when they have been arranged and guaranteed by the representatives.
Some players do, however, find help and are able to successfully retrieve their accounts. But this inconsistency with representatives, in that they are either helpful or hurtful, is simply unexplainable. For some players to be able to win their accounts back while others are left victimized and snubbed is, simply put, demoralizing. This inexplicable discrimination as well as the extremes in attitudes from the representatives is completely unacceptable. It seems quite obvious to us that our attempts, in the face of the only people who can possibly help us, are in vain.
Solutions: Rightful Demands for Relief
Though the situation has recently worsened and an increasing number of players are losing their accounts, we feel that there is still a chance to salvage those stolen ones through proper reparations. Additionally, we believe that there are quite reasonable solutions in being able to provide better protection over our accounts.
1. First, we respectfully, but rightfully, demand the fair return of the stolen accounts. The victims have unfairly lost their accounts due to circumstances in which they had no tenable link to. These victims should be able to provide some form of past records in order to prove their legitimate claim and ownership.
2. Second, we respectfully, but rightfully, demand extra methods of protection in overseeing our accounts. As it is now, any unauthorized access to our accounts can permanently abolish any chance of retrieval ever again, because of Playonline’s emphasis on current credit card information. We would like to see changes that allow us to provide prior addresses, credit card information, or some other type of proof over the phone. Having a valid way of identification that is inaccessible by anyone other than ourselves is surely a way to establish more than adequate protection. Not only would the extra authentication allow us to be more secure, but it would highly discourage Real Money Traders from trying to steal and sell accounts as the original owner could take back the stolen account at any time. Extra protection would essentially dissolve any incentives in the buying and selling of accounts.
3. Third, we respectfully, but rightfully, demand efforts from Playonline to ensure that these situations do not occur in the future. Square-Enix has committed itself in trying to eliminate the practices of Real Money Trader activities and has largely been successful. Commitment by Playonline should be parallel as well, as creating methods of obstructing account theft would further deter RMT activities as well as undermine their business.
Implications and Final Thoughts
We, as the players, are not interested in a radical change in Playonline policies. Rather, we are simply looking for a commitment in protecting our accounts, or rather, identities. While on the surface Final Fantasy XI is just a game, to us it is considerably more than that. For many of us FFXI has been a place to meet new people, build communities, and develop lasting friendships. For us, FFXI is a world in which we’re allowed to develop, maintain, and devote ourselves our own individual identities. However, by not giving us a chance to re-establish our rightful characters, and by not providing us with a decent means of protection, we are at the mercy of devious behavior. Moreover, by not allowing us these reparations, Playonline policies only serve further the cause of Real Money Traders, and only encourage them to continue stealing. These policies provide them with an internet marketplace in knowing that once they’ve stolen an account, it will be theirs forever, to use or sell as they wish. By not giving us the necessary change which we are pleading for, we as the players are being deprived of our hard work, characters, and identities.
Kisada of Quetzalcoatl
i'd appreciate it if people could read this over and lend any insight or perhaps changes they'd like to see before i finalize it. i was planning on augmenting the first paragraph because what i wrote about the realplayer exploit needs more detail. i realize there's tons of suggestions already out there, but it'd be nice if we could centralize them into here, in case changes or amendments need to be made to this petition.
also, once this was edited i was also planning on trying to organize people, especially the ones who've had their accounts stolen, in trying to call up the POL offices and ask for changes over the phone in unison. i think we all would like to see better safety measures and for us to do that, we do need to band together.
as a community, we should all be concerned because this affects us all directly.
it's quite long, but let me know what you think (other than it's long). and the formatting doesn't look like this, it's just copied and pasted from office. thanks.
On approximately December 11th, 2007 an exploit was found using Realplayer software which would submit users visiting certain popular sites to a virus that compromised account security. As a result, in the past several months there have been a number of stolen accounts reported, with a substantial increase in the amount stolen within the past month. Unfortunately, due to Playonline account policies, these players, who are the victims of a security exploit over which they had no control over, have almost zero recourse in taking back their rightful accounts. This petition is a proposal on some changes that we as the players, and in some cases victims, justly deserve.
Problems: The Lack of a Reasonable Process of Account Retrieval
Currently, players have close to zero options when they have their accounts stolen. The only chance these victims have to recover their accounts is to make an inquiry with Playonline Customer Service. However, due to the policies at Playonline, these victims have no plausible way in which to prove valid ownership over the telephone. Playonline policies require information regarding a player’s name, address, and most importantly, credit card information. However, the first actions taken with a compromised account are to change the Playonline password, the address and credit card number. The only information that players can possibly use in their defense are of complete unimportance, specifically the policy requiring current credit card information. Proof of names, past addresses, and financial transactions even dating back for years is made completely irrelevant. We, as players, have zero defense in this regard and are completely vulnerable to fraudulent activity.
Additionally, Playonline policies advise players to contact the local police and internet authorities for help, acknowledging that it is indeed a case of identity theft. However, having to rely on elaborate and sometimes drawn-out legal processes is simply not practical. Without a form of immediate recovery, compromised accounts can have their contents stripped entirely. Hard-earned work and characters, built up over years in many cases, can easily be destroyed within the time it takes to procure a court-ordered subpoena. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the authorities will take the case into decent consideration. While it is indeed a case of identity theft, authorities may (and have) question its validity because it is based on a game. Having to resort to legal processes that take significant time, subjects our accounts to devastation, and submits us as the players to being mocked, is both unreasonable and unfair.
It is also often-times the case that in a request for help, Playonline Customer Service representatives provide an inconsistent and sometimes arbitrary standard upon the players. It is also the case that these same representatives are both obstinate and insulting towards those trying to find help. Rather than being treated respectfully, players are instead accused of using illegal third party-programs and in some instances, accused of selling their accounts to Real Money Traders. The representatives often seem to operate under the notion that their policies insulate them from having to provide service to those who have lost their accounts, especially when they believe that the victims themselves were apart of fraudulent or suspicious activity. Furthermore, requests to speak with a supervising representative are typically met with the response that “they are too busy,†or that “they will provide the same answer as we do.†Follow-up calls from the supervisors, are also completely seemingly out of the question even when they have been arranged and guaranteed by the representatives.
Some players do, however, find help and are able to successfully retrieve their accounts. But this inconsistency with representatives, in that they are either helpful or hurtful, is simply unexplainable. For some players to be able to win their accounts back while others are left victimized and snubbed is, simply put, demoralizing. This inexplicable discrimination as well as the extremes in attitudes from the representatives is completely unacceptable. It seems quite obvious to us that our attempts, in the face of the only people who can possibly help us, are in vain.
Solutions: Rightful Demands for Relief
Though the situation has recently worsened and an increasing number of players are losing their accounts, we feel that there is still a chance to salvage those stolen ones through proper reparations. Additionally, we believe that there are quite reasonable solutions in being able to provide better protection over our accounts.
1. First, we respectfully, but rightfully, demand the fair return of the stolen accounts. The victims have unfairly lost their accounts due to circumstances in which they had no tenable link to. These victims should be able to provide some form of past records in order to prove their legitimate claim and ownership.
2. Second, we respectfully, but rightfully, demand extra methods of protection in overseeing our accounts. As it is now, any unauthorized access to our accounts can permanently abolish any chance of retrieval ever again, because of Playonline’s emphasis on current credit card information. We would like to see changes that allow us to provide prior addresses, credit card information, or some other type of proof over the phone. Having a valid way of identification that is inaccessible by anyone other than ourselves is surely a way to establish more than adequate protection. Not only would the extra authentication allow us to be more secure, but it would highly discourage Real Money Traders from trying to steal and sell accounts as the original owner could take back the stolen account at any time. Extra protection would essentially dissolve any incentives in the buying and selling of accounts.
3. Third, we respectfully, but rightfully, demand efforts from Playonline to ensure that these situations do not occur in the future. Square-Enix has committed itself in trying to eliminate the practices of Real Money Trader activities and has largely been successful. Commitment by Playonline should be parallel as well, as creating methods of obstructing account theft would further deter RMT activities as well as undermine their business.
Implications and Final Thoughts
We, as the players, are not interested in a radical change in Playonline policies. Rather, we are simply looking for a commitment in protecting our accounts, or rather, identities. While on the surface Final Fantasy XI is just a game, to us it is considerably more than that. For many of us FFXI has been a place to meet new people, build communities, and develop lasting friendships. For us, FFXI is a world in which we’re allowed to develop, maintain, and devote ourselves our own individual identities. However, by not giving us a chance to re-establish our rightful characters, and by not providing us with a decent means of protection, we are at the mercy of devious behavior. Moreover, by not allowing us these reparations, Playonline policies only serve further the cause of Real Money Traders, and only encourage them to continue stealing. These policies provide them with an internet marketplace in knowing that once they’ve stolen an account, it will be theirs forever, to use or sell as they wish. By not giving us the necessary change which we are pleading for, we as the players are being deprived of our hard work, characters, and identities.
Kisada of Quetzalcoatl
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