Project Reality Forums

A few days ago, it was brought to our attention that the =]H[= HARDCORE server had been allegedly requesting payments in order for players to be unbanned. Since then, we have investigated the allegation, been in communication with the =]H[= server admins, and discussed it extensively within the team. This is our response.

The facts:

• The allegation is true, and is not a single incident. This has been found to have happened on many occasions, involving several admins and several players.
• The server admins do not deny this as having occurred.
• The server admins do not feel this is inappropriate in any way. This is judged by our correspondence with them.
• The process of receiving payments is not part of the standard ban appeal process, rather chosen at the discretion of the server admin attending to the appeal.
• On occasion, but not always, the following options are offered as alternatives to payments:-
  
  
  • an essay on any random topic with a random target word count and random deadline, chosen at the discretion of the server admin attending to the appeal; or
  • the option of waiting out the ban length, which can sometimes be permanent and obviously not even an option.
• The amount of money requested is not a set amount, but rather randomly chosen at the discretion of the server admin attending to the appeal. The amount requested has also been seen to change to be lower or higher depending on the response of the banned player.
• On many occasions, no reason has been provided as to why the payment is required, other than it is a "server donation".

During our own investigation, the following events occurred and helped to formulate our ultimate decision:-

• The head server administrator took the server down and launched his own "investigation".
• We were told that after the investigation we would receive the results of their investigation - PR Management views this as a great start in order to solve the problem quickly and simply.
• When we received the results of their investigation, we discovered that the person who started the payment-for-ban-reversal process had just been promoted as the new head server administrator, and that the server was back up and running. The results also did not seem to deal with the issue at all, rather the =]H[= server admins were trying to justify their actions as being legitimate - PR Management views this as completely inappropriate.

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We further note that requesting payment to be unbanned with the implied threat that if they don't do this, they will stay banned (possibly permanently), is by definition extortion. In the United States where the server is situated, this is a federal crime.

The Project Reality: BF2 Server License agreement, that the =]H[= server admins have agreed to, states the following:

"8. RESPONSIBILITY. You assume full liability and responsibility for any actions taken by the LICENSOR against you or unauthorized users deemed to be in violation of this LICENSE."

"10. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This LICENSE constitutes the entire agreement between you and the LICENSOR" ... "The LICENSOR reserves the right to discontinue the availability of the SOFTWARE, or modify the SOFTWARE or this LICENSE, at any time, without obligation to anyone."

We as PR Management therefore believe that the only remedy available to us is to terminate the server license, and blacklist the server - effective immediately. As the license agreement states, we are well within our rights to do this. We do not wish the actions of a single server to damage the good reputation and goodwill amongst the overall gaming community.

To the community who play on this server regularly, we offer our most sincere apologies for removing your place to play. We understand that you had no part in this, and that you are the people who will suffer most. We offer the suggestion of looking for different servers to play on, or combine your resources to create a new gaming community, with a new server and a new server license.

To the =]H[= server administrators, you are within your rights to appeal our decision by contacting myself, [R-DEV]Gaz or [R-DEV]epoch directly via private message.

- Project Reality Management

In order to further provide the reasons behind this to the PR community in terms of openness I have answered some of the most common comments being made towards the team recently, in public and via private message.

sabwarfare wrote:I do not know where the AncientMan got his information that contributed to his server ban statement and I challenge him to even note where he got his information from. Of course he will never specify his sources credibly, because it would be impossible due to the fact that some of what he put in his server ban statement is falsified information, hearsay, and personal extrapolation on some of the facts.

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/8268/22295255.jpg

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4189/88031353.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/450/77840752.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4565/81758699aul.jpg

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/364/38218927.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9629/93844275.jpg

ApolloHawks, CubCadet, g-club, and whattheh3ll (now CL) all seperately asking for money to lift bans. Including one asking for $50, not $5. Therefore not one isolated incident by a rogue admin as was previously claimed in official communication with the team, and was the reason given to the community by yourselves in a previous thread.

sabwarfare wrote:This whole process of asking us for an investigation and an apology letter was just a ruse and from the jump the plan was to revoke our server license. You could liken this to NATO asking Saddam Hussein for total disclosure of his WMD endeavors. Well, OBVIOUSLY he did not have any and it was just a big smoke screen for cause to invade Iraq. This same charade has played out right here before your very eyes and has led to the revocation of our server license.

It was me who asked for COEMAN to investigate within your clan. I was told it was 1 admin, and 1 incident. This "rogue admin" was not named to us. COEMAN also stepped aside and informed me that whattheh3ll would take over. To me, that was entirely reasonable at that stage to be honest. After this fact, I received the evidence above (screenshots, confirmed as genuine by me by following the links to ensure they were legitimate), including asking for $50 to lift a ban.

We provide software, which is our intellectual property as a team and as individuals, that by default enables online play, or private online play via passworded servers. It is in no way provided to allow private individuals or social groups to make monetary requests of up to $50 to enable play, and not enhance play on a specific server, and could have led to possible dubious licensee placed bans.

There seems to be confusion from some that the team take an active interest in how the server is adminned, and community concerns on team stacking etc. We have not factored this into the decision, as servers can operate how they like online within the PR Server License Agreement. The vast majority of community feedback regarding these issues were of no concern to us or this decision.

sabwarfare wrote:We were investigated because we asked for money for unban. We then stated it was not a policy and was an isolated incident. After the investigation into what we had admitted, and the devs already knew, we were banned for doing it. Obviously, the investigation was a sham and smoke screen to give the illusion of due process.

Personal vendettas have hurt the PR community not just the Hardcore clan

Clan members and the community should be made aware, that while this investigation was ongoing by us (myself) and yourselves for at least 4 days now, it was only around 36 hours ago that the new screenshots were sent to me. At that stage, I initiated a developer-wide discussion, where this decision was the conclusion. The right to appeal this decision is there, and would be best actioned by your clan leader in writing.