Wow Astro. I haven't heard of the ban rumor for sending multiple help reports. Is that from the 'ban forum'?
I've heard the 'auto-ban' rumor. I believe it is very possible. Why? I think VFK doesn't have near enough staff to handle the help reports that are sent everyday. Seriously. Imagine (especially in the summer) all those bored kids home and wanting to know when 'X' feature is going to be released, why wasn't 'X' feature released, they have an idea for 'X' feature that VFK may want to use, where is Host Legend/Fin/Harmony/Nitro/etc., etc. The vast amount of help reports that VFK MUST receive everyday leads me to believe that automation is the only avenue left for them. They were accused of doing nothing in the garden for months...which appeared to be very true. I seriously think they don't have anywhere NEAR enough staff to handle the current volume of help reports sent in...let alone send a response to each one. I also think they may have lost some workers within the past couple/few months. Some well-known staff have gone missing from game (harmony, fin, legend, nitro, etc.). As much as people want us to believe that those people are now 'working behind the scenes', that's a great answer for a bunch of kids that will buy it...but I ain't. There's no reason for a staff member to go completely invisible and never reappear...without the capability to show up for 15 minutes at closing every once in a while...because they are now 'working behind the scenes'. Aren't ALL staff really 'working behind the scenes' when they aren't visible to players in game? I mean, really.
Going back to automation, I think it's boils down to 2 choices for VFK for them to quell the outrage from the masses over the crap that's been going on in game: hire more people (I seriously wonder how they pay their bills with their current workforce/bills), or automate. I see no other avenue for them with their current status other than to automate. Yes, it stinks (to say the least). But I don't believe they have the money to hire the proper amount of people to get the work done. Disney chose the auto-ban system...and they had WAY more money to spend on hiring more people (if anyplace knows how to bleed a dollar, it's Disney). I think it really boils down to $$$.
None of the above should be construed as Flame making excuses for VFK. I'm not. They brought alot of this stuff on themselves. Because they wouldn't listen to advice. Because they wouldn't listen to players. Because they didn't have a concrete plan/system. The worst part is that they still continue to (seemingly) fly by the seat of their pants. One step ahead of critical mass. Not to sound like a person running around crying 'the sky is falling! the sky is falling!'...but VFK has changed some for the better...but not nearly enough. It's still the same old VFK.
I do also believe that sometimes there is another reason why they don't answer help reports: the truth is too embarrassing. LOL. Think about it. I sent a bazillion help reports (along with many others) during the races because of the ongoing bug where most of your laps didn't count. Did anyone ever receive a response? Of course not! (Actually, I think one person got a response saying that 'VFK couldn't replicate the problem'
) There is probably a couple reasons for this silence:
1) they couldn't fix the bug
2) they couldn't find the bug (sortof related to #1 above)
3) the people who COULD fix the bug were on vacation
4) the people who could fix it were ordered to work on something else instead...maybe something they needed for the next Sunday quest
As you can see, a response...especially truthful...using ANY of those excuses would not look good to the recipient. LOL. Just hypothesizing here.
There could also be yet another reason why it seems like people aren't getting in trouble. Maybe the reports pile up? Some people here know about the 'ban forum'...where everybody posts on there about being 'banned for nothing'. Maybe they WEREN'T banned for nothing...maybe it's just that VFK has finally caught up to the report on them doing something wrong awhile back! That would make alot of sense...and explain why it appears that so many 'angels' (ROFL) are being 'banned for nothing'.
All the above aside, I still see the issue as us needing to do
our part, regardless of whether VFK is listening or not. If it means only sending one help report to avoid a possible ban, then so be it (less work for me. lol). VFK cannot ignore multiple people reporting the same person. There is strength in numbers, and it will add up and eventually the person will be toast. If not, then VFK gets an earfull from Flame on the phone.
This has all been my personal perspective on things. I could be totally wrong. But it's hard to ignore things that are so obvious. This has become a numbers game. Players (and clones) outnumber staff by a HUGE margin. There is no possible way I can see that they can handle all the reports with their current amount of staff.
I know we all don't agree on this, and that's ok. We're all still friends as far as I'm concerned. I believe a healthy debate is a good thing
Normally I'd type alot more, but I'm trying to get my body to accept decaf coffee now...so...in the absence of caffeine...I'm spent, and will end the post here-------------->.