Reconstructing Justice: A Call for Fairness in Conan Exiles' Building Policies

[cisar]

Hello Conan Exiles Community and Developers,

I am writing to share my recent experience on server 3515 PVE-C, where I have been an active and dedicated player for over two years. My journey in Conan Exiles has been one of passion and commitment, not only to the game itself but to enhancing the player experience through thoughtful and beautiful constructions that, in my belief, have only added to the richness of our shared world.

Recently, my account was suspended for 15 days under the accusation of “blocking access to resources”, a claim that led to the deletion of my structures without prior notice or a clear avenue for defense. This action was taken despite my efforts to abide by the game’s guidelines for building, particularly in designing large-scale constructions like temples that the game mechanics encourage, yet inherently require significant space.

This incident brings to light a broader issue with the current policy enforcement and management practices. The ambiguity in rules and the lack of clear, software-enforced boundaries have paved the way for decisions that seem disconnected from the community’s values and the players who contribute to the game’s vibrancy and success.

I understand the importance of maintaining a balanced and accessible environment for all players. However, the method of addressing alleged infractions seems disproportionate and neglects the principle of fair treatment. Actions such as immediate structure removal and account suspension, especially based on potentially exaggerated or unfounded reports, highlight a concerning trend towards punitive measures without adequate consideration of individual circumstances or contributions.

The essence of my feedback is not to dispute the necessity of rules or oversight but to call for a reevaluation of how these policies are implemented and communicated. We, as a community and as individual contributors to the game’s ecosystem, deserve a process that is transparent, fair, and considerate of the time, effort, and resources we invest.

In conclusion, I urge the development team and the community moderators to consider the implications of current management practices on player engagement and loyalty. A more nuanced approach to building policies and conflict resolution, one that balances the needs of the community with the creative freedoms of individual players, would undoubtedly strengthen our collective experience.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this feedback. I look forward to a dialogue that can lead to positive changes for all involved.

[HEREX]

Excellent post. I am currently teying to appeal my perma ban for a second time because of this issue.
My clan was built on southern aquaduct where theres no resources. We were fighting 2 clans consisting of 20 people. Of course, on pvp you have to build in specific ways to not get immedeiately run through but we adhered to the ToS guidelines and had a very fair base with no excessive landclaim all the way down the bridge which is common practice for a pvp s aqua base build.
Our build pieces were under 7k which is NOTHING. The report also said ww were blocking resources, of which there are 0 on s aquaduct.
We beat the 20 enemies, wiped their bases and their SKY BASES so they were salty and reported us to get us banned, which worked. The cheaters were the ones that Funcom supported.
Now my account is perma banned. Every time ive been banned its because of Funcoms subjective opinion of what is an acceptable build. Ive never been banned for cheating, never built a skybase or undermeshed yet im treated worse than the scum that cheat.
For chapter 4 they should have spent their time focusing on ways to address these issues but instead were getting fatalaties which the novelty will wear off within 5 minutes and will most likely have a few bugs associated with them.
Perma bans should be limited to cheaters and exploiters only, dev wiping a clans base and all their loot is punishment enough for a base that is deemed unacceptable.
Being perma banned means theres literally ZERO reason to pay for anything from the bazar or BP if youre someonw who plays exclusively online.
Seems counterintuitive to good business practice but what i know.

[DeaconElie]

@cisar

but to enhancing the player experience through thoughtful and beautiful constructions that, in my belief, have only added to the richness of our shared world.

Oh lord no

@cisar

a claim that led to the deletion of my structures without prior notice

Agree players need to get a notice with explanation. Not so sure about arguing back.

@cisar

This action was taken despite my efforts to abide by the game’s guidelines for building, particularly in designing large-scale constructions like temples that the game mechanics encourage, yet inherently require significant space.

No they really don’t. Either, encourage it on the public servers or take up a lot of space. They also don’t count as land claim abuse unless you think each deity needs a plaza and gardens.

@cisar

The ambiguity in rules and the lack of clear, software-enforced boundaries have paved the way for decisions that seem disconnected from the community’s values and the players who contribute to the game’s vibrancy and success.

I’ve pushed for this but the push back is hard. My idea was a land claim flag that set/showed your boundaries.

@cisar

Actions such as immediate structure removal and account suspension, especially based on potentially exaggerated or unfounded reports,

I’m assuming you’re on PVE, the most over built, ToC violating city states on the public servers? Those reports are investigated by funcom admin so the violation is verified.

@cisar

The essence of my feedback is not to dispute the necessity of rules or oversight but to call for a reevaluation of how these policies are implemented and communicated.

Hello, welcome to the forum the line for “do something about administration of rules” ends over there, get in line.

[Kikigirl]

I appreciate the vigor and words. Keep in mind that while the employees do read our posts and comments, this particular pain point receives less than stellar company contributions if at all.

The reason I mention above is that this will more than likely only be a discussion amongst the players; albeit with varying opinions - take each with a grain of salt and consideration.

As mentioned by @DeaconElie, getting in line is certainly the proverbial visual. This has been a long drawn out discussion that has netted hundreds of comments on the forums, social media, videos and live streams over years.

The nature of this being a sandbox survival game, with some unique systems, has created a perfect storm. The ToC was not always as realized or enforced. Over time it became apparent that more oversight was required. But just as described, not all was taken into consideration, especially communication or a warning system.

Since the advent of true enforcement in 2021, there has been quite a bit of fair negative feedback and to this day. Yourself, @HEREX, me and so many others have been negatively affected by a system that to put bluntly is a tragedy.

From gaming Zendesk via report meta, using AI to submit those reports, misunderstanding of the ToC by the majority of Official server players, bait and switch actions of one thing once being an offence and then changing their minds and not telling us, making huge mistakes in unfairly banning players or suspensions for the wrong clans, et al.

I could go on and on about this.

But when we get into the specifics of what is required to properly enforce it becomes glaringly obvious that it is going to cost. A lot. The staff that are required for manually addressing reports and real oversight, warnings, etc.,… Or as suggested previously, reworking the system to implement modern AI techniques.

It has been suggested to set aside a portion of paid Official servers requiring a monthly fee as many other online games require to offset the cost. I support this and have suggested it many times. But that could be still quite cost prohibitive and perhaps not all players would enjoy a shift in something that is assumed is afforded to them from the beginning.

I haven’t been suspended going on 2 years and there’s many reasons for that of which have absolutely nothing to do with my interpretation of the ToC. I’ve watched too much of this tragedy to know what the signs are.

[Dzonatas]

@Kikigirl

Or as suggested previously, reworking the system to implement modern AI techniques.

I thought about the news that surrounds the main issue. of A.I. Without lots and lots of memory, the cubicles of the A.I. mainframe are a dying breed.

What is A.I. good for here? Facial recognition.