About Sharing Account Terms update

[Esgalhathi]

Some people noticed that NC changed their AS terms, and some points of the text includes "hints" about IP changes.. what usually occurs when you share your account, but also when you use a Ping Reductor, or simply use a Notebook connection on different networks.

I've made this post to turn public the question because this kind interest tons of players.

Since May early, we have been banned due the ping reduction program usage. I'm guess everyone understand this is necessary and some bans are for real to prevent people of boting, hacking, gold selling and whatever. But all this stuff tell us that since now, this rules gonna be implemented drastically, and we gonna start to have more incoming account bans.

@Cyan can you please give us a follow up about this???

This KINDA sounds like NC telling everyone outside of USA (or far away from servers) that we can't play this game anymore.

[Pesadao-DN]

@Cyan

@Hime

we want answers

[Kubei-DN]

I know some ping reducers do change your IP to decrease the latency, but at this point I'm waiting to get banned for just any reason. Basically NCWest doesn't even want South American players to play.

Seems NA Aion is heading towards that Bless Online direction, but at this point Bless will have more players lol.

[Aly-DN]

1 hour ago, Bjorn-DN said:

Some people noticed that NC changed their AS terms, and some points of the text includes "hints" about IP changes..

*snip*

Can you post these changes and hints?

[DruidSkullWolf-KT]

3 minutes ago, Aly-DN said:

Can you post these changes and hints?

Here you got it, was posted on Aionops twitter

https://support.aiononline.com/hc/en-us/articles/205041095

[Aly-DN]

Okay. I read it. TY.

Now. Where are the hints about IP changes and ping reducers?

What I read is that they don't allow account sharing, but your account won't be banned just because you shared it. The reason they are even bringing this up is that if you shared your account (and they go out of their way to say that they will take no reason for sharing your account as legit.. other than with minor children) with anyone, they will not help you recover the account or any items on it. For example, if you break up with your e-gf/bf and they rubbish your account, you can no longer go to Support who would then restore your items. Which has happened many times. 

[Kubei-DN]

4 minutes ago, Aly-DN said:

Now. Where are the hints about IP changes and ping reducers?

A change in IP could imply account sharing.

[Aly-DN]

10 minutes ago, Kubei-DN said:

A change in IP could imply account sharing.

"Could imply". Alright. Fine. But you did note where they said that account sharing on it's own will not get you banned. Right? As in.. they aren't running around looking for those filthy account sharers! BUT.. if you account is suspended or banned for something else and you say, "Officer! It wasn't me! It was my.. umm.. brother! He has my account details and logged my account in and.. um.. it wasn't me! Please give me my account back!" Support is going to tell you to go pound sand and then show you that page.

[Kubei-DN]

6 minutes ago, Aly-DN said:

"Could imply". Alright. Fine. But you did note where they said that account sharing on it's own will not get you banned. Right? As in.. they aren't running around looking for those filthy account sharers! BUT.. if you account is suspended or banned for something else and you say, "Officer! It wasn't me! It was my.. umm.. brother! He has my account details and logged my account in and.. um.. it wasn't me! Please give me my account back!" Support is going to tell you to go pound sand and then show you that page.

I've shared an account with my friend when I was out of town and she'd do some event runs for me back in 5.x. I returned the favor when she was away with her account. Since we're like BFFs, we trusted each other and nothing went missing (in fact, she upgraded my gears and stigmas lol). Of course the example you gave happens all the time, but some things seem to be too coincidental, if you know what I mean. 

[Esgalhathi]

I understand your point @Aly-DN and this can only be a different point of view of us. This can only be a simple warning about "share your account at your own risks". But its aways good to have an official and well done explanation of the staff about such delicate topic.

As said before, any IP change could imply as an account sharing, depending of HOW they gonna verify that. I don't want to get my account blocked on the weekend and wait for a unblock only at Monday cause my internet provider changes his IP every week.

 

[Aly-DN]

I think you're safe, @Bjorn-DN, because it doesn't mention IPs at all. Even if they are out checking IPs to check for account sharing, it specifically says that just because an account is shared doesn't mean that it will be blocked. The passage sited really does seem to have to do with account theft and that it seems that the most popular reason given for a theft is that the account was shared at some point.

I see nothing in there at all to indicate that ping reducers (not mentioned at all) and playing from a foreign country (again not mentioned at all) are discouraged.

[Ksara-DN]

I think this case is very serious and I hope I can talk about it without suffering a punishment for exposing my opinion.

Lets go...

In my house, we always play with two or three people. We are a family and each has its own PC, but our Internet is unique. It does not make sense for each family member to have a unique IP or a unique internet account. This is not possible and our router has 4 ports (LAN) where we can connect up to 4 computers. That's how it works.

Now. We know about this.. 

We did tests and realized that if more than one person entered the AION (using proxy) at the same time all the account are immediately banned. The following day we received the following message:

Due to suspicious activity. This account has been locked. Please contact Support at appela@ncsoft.com

After that the procedure is to open a ticket and the NCS will study the case. They ask for our data and we have to wait for 4 to 5 days until they release the access again.

We asked for an explanation and nothing was good. The result is simply this. If we enter AION with more than one account, all accounts are subject to a ban.

I explained that this family has played that way for over 10 years and my comment did not make any difference. They do not care about the time you were faithful to this game. We feel that any customer today is disposable.

Sad... but the most serious of all is...

With the countless problems in AION like... decharacterization, bugs, manastones, enchantment, unbalance, injustices, changes in the economy, BUG in map, problems with GP and AP, reset of the ranking, transformations that no one asked for and etc. The NCS has decided to focus and ban many of players for futile reasons.

All this is very strange and when I think about it I can not understand.

I have the impression that the customer has become the enemy. 

My feeling is that we are no longer welcome ...

I do not want to make a judgment precipitate, but I wish to express my opinion and I think that perhaps there is in fact a hidden intention to reducing the base of players. There may be a desire to keep AION only for players in states near Texas.

We do not know what is real and what is not. We can only speculate on this, but we feel that everything is changing and converging to the  something different. Maybe in the future there is only one server. A limited and reduced server. Incidentally, we have the strong impression that the focus of the NCS is now the Mobile games.

If all I think is true then the strategy is working. I've seen hundreds of my friends saying good bye. Every day I get a farewell EMAIL and both my GUILDA and my friends list has never been so empty.

Here at home, we are already studying an alternative. We want to play AION, but in a cooperative way. If only one person can enter the server at a time, then the AION is not more to us.

Unfortunately there is nothing we can do except look the future, knowing that nothing lasts forever.
 

[Cheesecake-DN]

I sincerely doubt that NCsoft would axe where a good part of their market comes from across their titles. The proxy ban was because those IPs that were unfortunately used by the proxy service were also common to the bots/goldsellers, and they did a blanket ban of all accounts on those IPs without checking for if legit players or not.

[Aly-DN]

43 minutes ago, Ksara-DN said:

*story*
 

Your story has nothing to do with account sharing or account theft and doesn't fit into the changes to the account sharing policy.

You've told us this story before around the time that the proxy bans happened. It's a sad story and frustrating, but you weren't banned for account sharing. Perhaps try contacting @Cyan about your issues.

[Nyali-DN]

Uhmm what about couples who do not live in the same country but share accounts? This is a big thing which worries me. ;/

[Aly-DN]

9 minutes ago, Nyali-DN said:

Uhmm what about couples who do not live in the same country but share accounts? This is a big thing which worries me. ;/

Read it again. It says that your account will not be banned just for account sharing. 

All this panic is unnecessary. 

The point of this change is to remove the excuse it seems people are using to demand items/accounts be returned to them after someone who had their account details logged in and destroyed them. No longer can we write to Support and claim that our account was "hacked" by our ex-e-gf/bf who got mad at us and logged in and deleted all our PvP gear. We gave them the details, so what they did to our account was our own fault.

[Ksara-DN]

On 05/06/2019 at 6:14 PM, Aly-DN said:

Your story has nothing to do with account sharing or account theft and doesn't fit into the changes to the account sharing policy.

You've told us this story before around the time that the proxy bans happened. It's a sad story and frustrating, but you weren't banned for account sharing. Perhaps try contacting @Cyan about your issues.

No...

Aly please... Do not try to create a new version around the story of others. Talk about your problems and your impressions about the game and not about case of people you do not know.

 

My case is recent. We stayed from May 27 until the 31st trying to understand and solve this problem. On May 31 we had a definitive answer and to this day, we do not connect more in co-op to play.

We have more than 9 tickets answered about the problem. We exchanged various information with the technical support and we looked for a solution. We suggest that NCS have a proxy service or indicate some reliable service. We were very sincere in everything and received emails from Robin, Son, ChyLee, Mako and Glenn.

Of all the attendants, Glenn gave us the final answer in a clear and objective manner. I'll put his email here in full.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glenn (Aion)

May 31, 16:01 PDT

Hello there,

I can confirm that a VPN program is a useful service but it is absolutely not supported in any way by NCSOFT, so the assurance you seek, I cannot give.

We are aware that many of our players that connect from outside North America use ping-lowering proxy services to reduce their latency. While NCSOFT does not expressly prohibit the use of these services, we advise our customers to use them at their own risk.

Because of the security concerns these services pose we may not accept proxy IP’s as authorized IP’s when connecting to NCSOFT account management. Please be aware that if you access the account from or attempt to add these proxies to your authorized IP list, the account may be blocked and subject to review especially if the proxy you use has a history of suspicious activity.

If you require additional assistance, please let us know.

Regards,
 

Glenn
NCSOFT Support Team

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The reading is very clear. Proxy usage may block our account and is subject to review, but until it is released again we will lose an average of 5 days.

The use of proxy does not always lead to account blocking, but it is clear to us that when two players connect, the game does not have enough intelligence to understand that two players are on different computers accessing the same IP within the same proxy . It's automatic banishment and that's new. This change came along with the ranking changes, AP bug and GP and there is nothing we can do.

Today, we are without alternatives. Even if one player uses proxy and the other does not. As the two will use the same IP, someone will have kick. Therefore, two =  ban. Maybe this is how the BOTS work. This I do not know, but I know that none of what they did has change the BOTS problem that continues to spread throughout Lakrum. Also I do not think BOTS is the real problem in AION. The BOTS is bad in game? Yes, but do they harm a player? I dont know and I dont care. Actually I like them because if I see a BOT I can ignore them and kill them and then I go my way. They do not bother me, but not being with two accounts bothers and much.

[Neleth-KT]

1 hour ago, Ksara-DN said:

No...

Aly please... Do not try to create a new version around the story of others. Talk about your problems and your impressions about the game and not about case of people you do not know.

 

My case is recent. We stayed from May 27 until the 31st trying to understand and solve this problem. On May 31 we had a definitive answer and to this day, we do not connect more in co-op to play.

We have more than 9 tickets answered about the problem. We exchanged various information with the technical support and we looked for a solution. We suggest that NCS have a proxy service or indicate some reliable service. We were very sincere in everything and received emails from Robin, Son, ChyLee, Mako and Glenn.

Of all the attendants, Glenn gave us the final answer in a clear and objective manner. I'll put his email here in full.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glenn (Aion)

May 31, 16:01 PDT

Hello there,

I can confirm that a VPN program is a useful service but it is absolutely not supported in any way by NCSOFT, so the assurance you seek, I cannot give.

We are aware that many of our players that connect from outside North America use ping-lowering proxy services to reduce their latency. While NCSOFT does not expressly prohibit the use of these services, we advise our customers to use them at their own risk.

Because of the security concerns these services pose we may not accept proxy IP’s as authorized IP’s when connecting to NCSOFT account management. Please be aware that if you access the account from or attempt to add these proxies to your authorized IP list, the account may be blocked and subject to review especially if the proxy you use has a history of suspicious activity.

If you require additional assistance, please let us know.

Regards,
 

Glenn
NCSOFT Support Team

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The reading is very clear. Proxy usage may block our account and is subject to review, but until it is released again we will lose an average of 5 days.

The use of proxy does not always lead to account blocking, but it is clear to us that when two players connect, the game does not have enough intelligence to understand that two players are on different computers accessing the same IP within the same proxy . It's automatic banishment and that's new. This change came along with the ranking changes, AP bug and GP and there is nothing we can do.

Today, we are without alternatives. Even if one player uses proxy and the other does not. As the two will use the same IP, someone will have kick. Therefore, two =  ban. Maybe this is how the BOTS work. This I do not know, but I know that none of what they did has change the BOTS problem that continues to spread throughout Lakrum. Also I do not think BOTS is the real problem in AION. The BOTS is bad in game? Yes, but do they harm a player? I dont know and I dont care. Actually I like them because if I see a BOT I can ignore them and kill them and then I go my way. They do not bother me, but not being with two accounts bothers and much.

I almost agree with you with everything until the bots part.

Bots ruined the game they never benefit anyone excepted themselves.I saw bots destroyed a game I loved.I hate bots and will report every single bot I see until they've gone.

[Ksara-DN]

28 minutes ago, Neleth-KT said:

I almost agree with you with everything until the bots part.

Bots ruined the game they never benefit anyone excepted themselves.I saw bots destroyed a game I loved.I hate bots and will report every single bot I see until they've gone.

I do not love the bots, I just do not care for them. I do not think it's wrong for NCS to remove them (do it), but I think they are not AION's biggest problem in this time.

[Nyali-DN]

17 hours ago, Aly-DN said:

Read it again. It says that your account will not be banned just for account sharing. 

All this panic is unnecessary. 

The point of this change is to remove the excuse it seems people are using to demand items/accounts be returned to them after someone who had their account details logged in and destroyed them. No longer can we write to Support and claim that our account was "hacked" by our ex-e-gf/bf who got mad at us and logged in and deleted all our PvP gear. We gave them the details, so what they did to our account was our own fault.

Got it, thankies for clarifying this since I've read conflicted things about it.

[Aly-DN]

9 hours ago, Ksara-DN said:

No...

Aly please... Do not try to create a new version around the story of others. Talk about your problems and your impressions about the game and not about case of people you do not know.

 

*snip for length*

I get what you are saying. I got it when you spoke about it before.

But again.. your issues have nothing to do with ACCOUNT SHARING, which is what this thread is about. Your issue is with using a VPN and it seems that support has been very clear. If you use a VPN, you are subject to being temp banned and then being reviewed. Support isn't banning you because you are sharing accounts. 

[Ksara-DN]

8 hours ago, Aly-DN said:

I get what you are saying. I got it when you spoke about it before.

But again.. your issues have nothing to do with ACCOUNT SHARING, which is what this thread is about. Your issue is with using a VPN and it seems that support has been very clear. If you use a VPN, you are subject to being temp banned and then being reviewed. Support isn't banning you because you are sharing accounts. 

 

I know, but I shared the case because this is part of several changes that are happening with the game and as a result the AION is getting empty. It is likely that someone at NCS will tell shareholders that AION is empty due to changes in the gaming market, but that's not it. This is not true.

 

The AION is getting empty because the decisions made by Korea and NCS go in the opposite direction of what the community wants.

 

Let me give you examples:

 

Everyone said, asked, suggested, insisted, shouted, cried, begged, and even humiliated themselves for the NCS to provide an alternative to the transformations and to reduce the price of SHARD, but all were emphatically ignored.

 

Most customers do not want these transformations. The transformations definitely disfigure the AION. They have destroyed the cosmetic system and visual connection with the game, with everything that makes you unique.

 

We all want to be unique, we all want to be recognized, different ... So most do not want transformations, but if transformations are inevitable because of Korea, make it optional. Offer the <Transparent Transformation Scroll> free or with many hours of CD.

 

Understand this now.

What the customer wants is what matters.

What the customer wants is what needs to be done.

 

Everyone agrees that AION was by abandoning the original theme in version 6. The AION today is like the BATWOMAN video. A real disaster. Why?

 

When you go to the movies to see a Ninja movie, martial arts, you expect to see the Ninja in martial arts fights and not a movie about ballroom dancing.

 

You will not go into a comedy movie to see a drama movie.

 

You do not go to a barbecue or a club in a suit and do not go to a swimsuit graduation.

 

Is this so difficult to understand?

 

We are not PETS, we are DAEVAS. Angels of Wings.

 

If you de-characterize a work. If you destroy customer expectation.

If you divide your audience, the chance of your business becoming a failure is enormous.

 

People have been asking for a lot of things for a long time and the worst has happened. With each new update we have a bad, negative surprise in the game. You do not believe? Let's remember ...

 

First came the 6th version with several horrible changes. End of the Broker, transformations, spells that do not work, imbalance and etc.

 

The game had already been decharacterized with the change from the adult theme to a children's theme. We had the inclusion of different classes like Gunner and Aether, then came the animations and bizarre skills that distort the game. They implemented the arenas, pets, minios, transformations, ridiculous mounts and unbalance of the classes. Difficulty leveling (level 75), item destruction while enchanting, and so on.

 

Worse .... End of the SIEGES free, organized. Weakening of the cooperative game, of the legions ... No more leaders or organization.

 

As if the content errors created by Korea were not enough NCS needed to collaborate negatively. There were several bugs that started with first merge and followed up on each new update, but I'll shorten the story.

 

When the AION 6.0 came to NCS gave a set (Ultimate) to several people creating an even greater distance between players. Some became OVP and they were without objetive in the game whereas the majority of the players needed to look for this new set that was almost impossible to obtain because of the incantations. In fact, they keep trying until today.

 

If the discourse of version 6 was the return to the origins and the balance. What happened was the opposite. The AION had the biggest imbalance in its entire history. AION is no longer a question of skill but of GEAR.

 

NCS should not have given anything away. There was already an equipment difference in version 5.8.

I know that many do not agree with me, especially those who have received the (ultimate) equipment for free, but when you run a business you need to look at the whole and not at the individualities.

 

If any decision in a business is.. divides the community between liked and disliked, if there is such a break near 50% or most are next to those who do not like then your business is on the wrong way.

 

My God, this is so obvious. Either you do something that pleases the absolute majority or you are on the wrong way. It's simple.

 

Another problem.

 

Every new update on AION is a problem. Because?

Because we know that something bad will happen. Nowadays we are absolutely sure that the next UPDATE will make AION worse. It is for this reason that many defend the return of version 4.x.

 

Unfortunately instead of NCS focusing on the problems of the game and the players' request what did the NCS do? Let's pull in memory ...

 

It unnecessarily opened another server, increased the difficulties in the instances, nerfou some classes, created a GP and AP BUG, reset the ranking, decreased the development and support team, became more rigid and harsh, banned players using Proxy and etc.

 

I ask you ... It is good to this moment in game?

 

The game is falling, people are leaving, so what is the meaning of these actions? Why are they banning people using Proxy now? You see, I've been here for 10 years, I've always used a proxy and I've never been banned in my entire life. Why now?

 

Well, If you like this game... We need to be realistic, we need to speak the truth.

 

FACT: The changes made by Korea and the NCS decisions (in the USA) are together destroying the AION community.

 

People are abandoning the game and if we do not talk about it at some point it will be too late.

 

I saw that last quarter revenue remained at 12.xxx, but maybe the next quarter is even worse. The change in NCOINS purchases for up to 12 hours is absurd. If game management continues in that same line of decisions soon AION will no longer be financially sustainable and then it will be END GAME for everyone. I believe that by the end of 2019 there will be a merge between KT and DN. Whoever stays will see ...

[Aly-DN]

I can see you are passionate. I am glad that you see that your issues have nothing to do with the changes to Account Sharing, which is what this thread is about. People were seriously worried and it's best not to muddy the water with things that have nothing to do with what they are worried about right now.

As for the rest of your post, I am afraid I didn't read it. It's just way too long.