Punishments for using an exploit

We reserve the right to review cases involving exploits on an individual basis and take action as we deem necessary. For minor offenses, a formal warning may be issued. A second warning or a more serious offense may result in the suspension of the players’ account. Very serious violations or repeated offenses will lead to a permanent ban.

We reserve the right in all cases to determine the seriousness of the offense. We also reserve the right to delete characters and/or items that were gained through the use of exploits. Note that any attempts at hacking the game or the game servers will be dealt with severely, up to – and including – legal action.

Game exploits

The common definition of an exploit is “to use the game mechanics in such a way as they were not intended for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage over other players.” Due to the ever-changing dynamics involved with maintaining a virtual, persistent world, it can sometimes be difficult or confusing to determine what might be considered an exploit.

Though every effort is made to avoid glitches that enable exploits to be used, they are occasionally discovered. Players have the responsibility of understanding how the game works and keeping themselves informed about changes to the game in order to comprehend what is deemed as an exploit. Those who are charged with employing the use of exploits will be reprimanded, which may include temporary suspension or a permanent ban of the account. Professing ignorance that you didn’t know you were using an exploit will not prevent the enforcement of this rule.

Exploits are investigated on a prioritized, case-by-case basis. As received, information pertaining to exploits is entered into a queue. Programmers then ascertain the level of urgency in addressing them and fix them accordingly.

Realizing what’s legal or illegal

Using the game mechanics in any way to achieve an unintended game behavior is exploiting. Read the forums to stay up to date with known issues and changes to the game. Employing the use of an unauthorized third party program is always illegal. Those who create, distribute, advocate or use unauthorized third party programs will be permanently banned from EVE.

Do you consider it cheating if someone uses a known bug? Yes. The circumstances are irrelevant. All cases where a player manipulates the system or the game world, knowingly or otherwise, will be treated as exploiting and dealt with harshly.

Reporting exploits

Reports regarding exploiting may be sent via an in-game petition or by writing to Customer Support. Please include the exact spelling of the character’s name you are filing the report about, the date and time it happened, including time zone, the location where the incident occurred and a brief but thorough explanation of the problem.

Scam

A scam is the act of obtaining goods from other players through misinformation, confusion, pressure or by taking advantage of basic trust. Players enter into business dealings with others at their own risk and are strongly urged to exercise good judgment and common sense when trading. Scams that relate to issues such as password scams or account theft scams are more serious and will result in an immediate ban.

Game masters may intercede if a player illegally obtained items from another through use of an exploit. However, if a scam is reported and investigation shows that exploiting was not involved, depending on the circumstances and the severity of the scam, we may choose not to intervene.

Spotting scams

While we make every effort to create a fun and safe environment for our players, there will be times when someone devises a way to take advantage of his fellow gamers. Knowledge and caution are necessary to avoid falling victim to a scammer.

We will make every effort to educate our community on ways to spot common scams and avoid them. However, the ultimate responsibility for being a smart player lies with the individual. Those conducting scams will be warned, suspended or permanently banned, depending on the severity of the scam as determined by our investigation.

If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. “Buyer beware” should be the credo of all players doing business with casual acquaintances or complete strangers in the game.

How CCP deals with scammers

One method that we have found quite effective in the handling of repeat offender scammers is to reimburse their victims from their own ill-gotten gains, particularly when a cheat was used to dupe their victim. Other options include the suspension or permanent banning of his account.

Reporting scammers

Reports regarding scams or scammers can be sent via an in-game petition or by writing to Customer Support. Please include the exact spelling of the character’s name you are reporting about, the date and time the offense occurred, the location of the incident and a brief but thorough explanation of the scam.

Grief play

A grief player, or “griefer,” is a player who devotes much of his time to making others’ lives miserable, in a large part deriving his enjoyment of the game from these activities. Grief tactics are the mechanics a griefer will utilize to antagonize or fight other players.

This should not be confused with standard conflict that might arise between two players. At our discretion, players who are found to be consistently maliciously interfering with the game experience for others may receive a warning, temporary suspension or permanent banning of his account.

Harassments

Harassment is the blatant abuse heaped upon one player by another above and beyond valid game play interaction. This offense often includes the use of derogatory, hateful, slanderous or sexual comments as well as insults that pertain to religion, gender, nationality or ethnicity. CCP has a zero tolerance for such behavior, as stated in our Terms of Service and violators may be immediately banned.

Players should note that EVE emphasizes player interaction, including non-consensual combat between players. Being attacked by another player, within the parameters of normal gameplay, is not harassment.

Policy regarding harassment

Simply put, you may not harass other players. This includes, but is not limited to, hateful, racist, sexually explicit, threatening, or harmful comments either through the in-game chat channels, in-game mail or on our message boards. Partial masking and alternative typing of such comments will be punishable by the same standards as the comments themselves.

Penalties for harassment

Players, who have been found guilty of harassing another may be formally warned, temporarily suspended or, in the case of severe or recurring complaints, face permanent expulsion from the game.

How to deal with harassments and griefplay

In most cases, victims of harassment or grief play can avoid or escape the situation by closing chat channels, employing the use of the “Block” feature or by leaving the area where the instigator is causing problems. Reacting to this type of behavior often feeds the situation and escalates it. Players are cautioned that returning one misdeed for another can result in them facing repercussions, no matter how justified they feel in their actions. As the old saying goes, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

If you are unable to make the perpetrator stop by these methods, please feel free to file a complaint. When the option to report harassment is chosen from the in-game petition menu, an excerpt from your chat logs is automatically included with the report.

How to report griefplay or harassment?

The preferred method of reporting these incidents is to use the in-game petition message so that chat log excerpts can be captured by our system and included with the complaint. If you have received in-game e-mails that are threatening or meet the harassment criteria; do not delete them. We must be able to verify the contents and trace the sender by seeing them in your Inbox.

Screenshots, logs, or text files submitted by players are not considered adequate proof for investigation of any complaints, be it exploiting, scams, grief play or harassment. Screenshots can sometimes be helpful, though their authenticity is always questionable. Text files are easily altered and are therefore inadmissible as evidence.

It is our policy not to discuss actions taken against a player with others. If you file a report about someone you feel was exploiting, scamming, or harassing, we will not be able to inform you about the outcome, publicly or privately. Please respect our decision to respect our players’ privacy and do not request a follow-up report concerning issues of this nature.