EA now issuing permanent Origin bans through content filter

[MaximumTacos]

I used to own a copy of Battlefield 3, then I took an EA to the knee.

Angad: Please note that your account [[email protected]] has been permanently terminated from the Electronic Arts Online service for violating the terms of services. The account will no longer be accessible in any way, and all property, items, and characters associated currently are or will soon be deleted.
Angad: Is there anything else I can do for you?

I posted the rest here as I don't want to be spamming the forums with it.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.323783-Questions-Still-Swirl-Around-EAs-Origin-Bans?page=4#13389462

What do you guys think about this?

The violation in question was someone making a post, cursing at me, with my username at the end of their rant. That's right. You just have to swear at someone now and EA's automatic filter does the rest.

EDIT TO UPDATE:

Get auto-suspended from BF3 forums based on their content filter? Had that suspension result in your account deleted and characters terminated (according to Abdul in support)?

BONUS! The ban also will wipe out your access to Bad Company 2, even if you bought it through Steam like I did!

http://i41.tinypic.com/x5t8c6.jpg logging in..

http://i39.tinypic.com/2i1jt5k.jpg logging in.............

http://i40.tinypic.com/2aeuq7l.jpg OH HELL NO.

If you guys want to help with spreading this, I put link to this thread on Reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield3/comments/my2c5/suspension_from_battlelog_forums_origin_ban/

EDIT AGAIN:

Here's the best reddit thread, big thanks to the poster: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/myzmr/guy_got_banned_from_ea_forums_for_an_offending/?sort=new

Second best reddit thread, equally big thanks: http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/mxw29/the_best_part_is_that_the_offending_post_wasnt/?sort=new

Here's my phonecall with support if any of you were wondering if maybe I got banned for "hacking" instead: http://soundcloud.com/maximum-tacos/ea-games-support-call-about-ban
Bonus beatbox action halfway through.

EDIT 2: EDIT HARDER

http://www.destructoid.com/ea-will-ban-you-from-games-if-someone-else-swears-at-you-217219.phtml?s=150#comments

Jim Sterling knows about this. It was inevitable..

Not to be left out, theexaminer got in on this:

http://www.examiner.com/video-game-industry-in-national/origin-user-on-receiving-end-of-harassment-banned

And a newsfilter section of IGN picked it up:

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/63174/EA-Bans-Forum-Member-From-All-Of-His-Games-For-Something-Somebody-Else-Said

EDIT 3: EDIT HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (and while drinking)

I have another handle of delicious Kraken rum, and, with that as fuel, will be launching EAstolemyBF3.com to give a voice to the other victims of this who haven't been as fortunate with publicity as I have.


http://i41.tinypic.com/29vckft.jpg


EDIT 4: EDIT AS HARD AS WE CAN:

Apparently EA is giving out information on my case to random strangers who call up, contrary to their privacy policy. Also, a zynga employee is stalking me, digging up information on me and posting it, and claiming that his connections in the industry will make sure my ban stays in place.

 

[HassEsser]

First, I love your name; second, so, the OTHER guy swore, and since your name was in his post, YOU got the ban? That's what I'm getting out of this, and if that's the case. . . then I don't even know what to say.

 

[FlorianLang]

I second the awesomeness of your name.

Seriously, though, this is a total dick move on EA's part. You shouldn't be banned for something another person does. I'm surprised that even EA's customer service hasn't done anything for you after you contacted them.

 

[kaizen2468]

People really ought to either just stay away from origin and EA, or just stay off their dumbass forums

 

[Sight Unseen]

wow...

couple things wrong here:
1) why are they banning you for something someone else said?
2) why are they giving a permanent ban for what looks like 2 swear words??
3) why are they permanently removing all access to games that you paid for because of said forum ban...

That's fucked up.



Never using origin.

 

[Kopikatsu]

People really ought to either just stay away from origin and EA, or just stay off their dumbass forums

If you really like a game/company/system, don't go on their forums. It's like...a law.

 

[MaximumTacos]

Phone support guy thought that it could be because of a prior suspension. News to me, since if you check my stats on battlelog, you'll see that I've been putting in a few hours every night since launch. No suspension time, forum or game.

Also, Amir or Abtar or whoever didn't know anything about anything prior.

 

[Signa]

I think it would be hilarious to abuse this policy, especially if I don't actually own any EA games.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Holy fuck...

And to think, I was thinking of getting my hands on a copy of BF3 for the PC now that I had a high end computer.

Well, there goes my business.

 

[octafish]

People really ought to either just stay away from origin and EA, or just stay off their dumbass forums

Why does anyone post on an EA forum? I avoid them like the plague syphilis. I don't mind Origin but EA has some dodgy practices that make interacting with them, except when unavoidable, a bad idea.

 

[cryogeist]

and this is why im a console gamer...
OT:honestly that's total bullshit...but hey...it's EA they only want your money

 

[cryogeist]

damn..sorry about the double post

 

[superpirson]

Conspiracy time!
A permaban is really a business opportunity for EA. if you really care about playing the game, then you will buy all your games again under a different account. If not, then good riddance.
when you do the research, evil is really a solid business model.

in all seriousness, this just sounds like a mistake, or a bug in their filtering system. you can probably figure this out by getting in touch with someone higher up on the chain.

 

[Sixcess]

Wow.

I've backed out of arguments on the forums of MMOs I play when I felt they might turn ugly and spill over into the game or affect my account, but this is way beyond anything I've seen. Perma-banning someone and taking away all their games? Fuck, is that even legal?

What is wrong with EA? Just... what is wrong with them?

 

[MaximumTacos]

The fact that EA customer service's head claimed that their suspensions would never affect games, OR singleplayer (not sure which backpedal to believe) meant nothing to the curry-soaked conversation script drone.

(cite: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/11/ea-retracts-game-ban-for-forum-violation/ )

Apparently, Boyd Beasley is "truth challenged." I might call him a liar, but that would be "insulting" and EA might try dispatch a SWAT team to try to ban me from breathing air or something.

The phone support guy told me that "the developers" are in charge of bans and suspensions.

 

[Awexsome]

Forgive me for being a tad unconvinced but the "random person who was permanently banned from the forums" side of the story is pretty useless at face value. One swear gets you a permanent ban on the forums? No prior history? Nothing else but a simple swear? You claim that it wasn't even you who did it in the first place?

I hope you complained up a storm to them first and get it resolved... otherwise I'm inclined to believe that your story is pretty much lying and trying to turn popular opinion against EA and Origin (not a hard feat either) since you're upset you broke the rules and got punished.

 

[Bravo 21]

Although illegal, and immoral, i really want to say that you should pirate the shit out of their games, however, taht would be wrong, so call up EA's customer support and see what they can do, maybe they can help

 

[MaximumTacos]

Forgive me for being a tad unconvinced but the "random person who was permanently banned from the forums" side of the story is pretty useless at face value. One swear gets you a permanent ban on the forums? No prior history? Nothing else but a simple swear? You claim that it wasn't even you who did it in the first place?

I hope you complained up a storm to them first and get it resolved... otherwise I'm inclined to believe that your story is pretty much lying and trying to turn popular opinion against EA and Origin (not a hard feat either) since you're upset you broke the rules and got punished.

I absolutely don't blame you, and would be happy to add you to the list of people I skype conference into my next call into support, where they can look up my account and tell me any infractions.

However, looking at the quote in my post that I link to should give you a bit of an insight into what I'm dealing with here: a mangled quote tree, profanity that I never used, and my username at the end of it.

 

[Fusioncode9]

Like I needed another reason to hate EA. I can't believe that they took away all your games, are you going to get a refund or something?