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Recently we've been seeing a lot of concerns raised by users when staff take official actions with users, and of course with some recent bans the worries have resurfaced and have reached us. First and foremost I would like to stress that we only ever take steps such as these when there is ample onsite evidence that actions that breech our Terms of Service have occurred.
In this instance it has regarded the "USD Sales of Designs By Artists" section of the ToS, which reads as follows:
"This section governs the sale of derivative works (artworks incorporating official Aywas pet bases, SCC pets that have been submitted already, and HA avatar artwork). Players may only accept USD for their derivative artworks through the Commissions Platform or through the use of Artist Paintbrushes. Players are forbidden from negotiating or selling derivative artworks through any other means, or in any other location. This means that players may only receive USD direct to their PayPal account when in connection with a Commissions Platform official request, or when an administrator redeems a Paintbrush for them."
This was written into the ToS in June of last year when the feature was released, and a news post was made to make everyone aware. There is also a knowledgebase article which was linked in the news post and is linked on the Commissions Panel page, to ensure that the knowledge of this was clearly and easily accessible.
Previous to this all USD sales of derivative works were disallowed by the ToS, except through Paintbrushes when they were initialised. As such any purposeful circumvention is a permanently bannable offence.
The fee that the commissions platform takes is not to punish the artist, but a licence for them to profit from the use of our copyrighted materials. These fees also allow us to continue building and repairing the site, as well as support the many artists that work as contractors for us in the breeding and custom ticket systems.
No one on staff takes banning a user lightly, and none of us take any joy from it - it is simply a necessary part of the work we do to continue maintaining the website. As always, as long as you have read and abide by the ToS then you are not in any danger - and if you are ever in doubt about something you want to do, or something someone has asked you to do for them, then please contact a member of staff. We are here to help you and always happy to do so =)
Posted by Eve
(#2775) on Mon Apr 4, 2016 4:49pm
- zeph & co
(#6312)
-
Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:06pm
Also, since skype screen shots are viable now, I have evidence that the user in question is VERY confused as to how he did not comply. -Zeph
- Riri
(#48591)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:06pm
Stuff like this is hard because if the staff discuss specifics of why someone was banned, they're then pinged as being unprofessional about privacy. If they don't discuss it, people accuse them of not -having- any evidence. It just sucks to be put in a position where you really can't defend yourself/your actions either way, especially knowing that users tend to have a bias against staff/authority (on any site, not just aywas).
- Kyu & Mauri
(#1010)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:07pm
Arceus&Woobat (#4917) - In the case of permanent bans we typically do not PM the user first. It tends to cause the user to dump items and pets off their account and creates an immensely larger mess. For lesser infractions resulting in reminders, warnings, or small bans, we will contact the user first. As always, can be appealed by the banned user via the support email. I've answered your second question regarding the cooperation in my previous comment.
4 Huge Nerds (#6312) - This situation was reported to us and prompted an on-site investigation which uncovered a lot of on-site evidence. Skype logs never have been, and never will be, used as solid proof for or against users.
- Narwhal
(#18635)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:08pm
This doesn't make me feel any better. Actually it makes me feel worse about everything.
- Narwhal
(#18635)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:11pm
Sorry about the double post. I hit the refresh button trying to hit something else and it reposted it. But I second the ambiguity. To me that doesn't read as "Everything has to go through the comms panel if you get USD in your pay pal account" It reads as if it uses official site art (like what is listed) then it has to.
- 2 sleepy sleepers
(#109)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:12pm
I'm curious how https://god4.tumblr.com/post/142258840674/zephkin-aywas-skype-cannot-be-used-as-a-means falls in with the chat logs have never been and will never will be used against users?
- Kyu & Mauri
(#1010)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:12pm
4 Huge Nerds (#6312) - I understand but as Kayla-la said, we have kept with our policy of not discussing the specifics of user issues to protect the users involved. If one of the users appeals their ban and provides enough evidence to get their ban appealed, we don't want the entire userbase knowing every single little bitty detail (and some things are quite personal). That would not be fair to them.
- Kwani & Kamorth
(#2868)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:13pm
Kayla-La (#48591) Perfectly on the button
- Synthaphone
(#15786)
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Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:14pm
So officially, basing a sketch pet has to be done through the commissions panel, but designing an entirely new original silver or crumb pet is fine to go through paypal without involving the commissions panel? I just want to make sure I have everything straight, so that I don't accidentally mess up.
Also: when you say that you can be appealed by support e-mail, does that mean that the user can potentially resolve the issue and become unbanned, or is their account just lost? I know a lot of people invest a lot of emotional energy, time, money, and effort into their Aywas accounts, and I know I'd be absolutely devastated if I were to lose all of that due to an accident of some kind
Posted on: Mon Apr 4, 2016 5:05pm
Maybe the text in the commission base article should be adapted/changed some. Right now, it says "(such as unfounded SCC designs and normal commissions for normal artwork) and item artwork are not covered under these rules. "
Now, ofc we could argue about this, but shouldn't sketch babies count as unfounded SCCs? Or.. do I have a knot in my brain?