Chargeback Discussions

[NoeJeko]

Recently we've had some concern regarding discussion of chargebacks within our threads. We've come to a consensus among staff about how to properly handle this while ensuring we don't impose excessive censorship upon the community.

Effective immediately, discussions surrounding chargebacks for retribution (to get back at) against anyone or any company in public MMOG forums are prohibited. These chargebacks are fraudulent and illegal under U.S. law. If convicted of fraud, you (or your parents if under 18) could face up to $5,000 in fines and/or one year in prison. Also keep in mind that anything you post here or any other public site could be used as evidence against you in a legal investigation. Discussion of illegal activities directly violates the MMOG registration agreement:

Originally Posted by Thing you agree to when you register

By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.

That said, we will not censor discussion around chargebacks for legitimate reasons. A chargeback is a tool that you have, if used properly, to protect yourself as a consumer. It is not our place to tell you what is a right and wrong reason for issuing a chargeback (except in the case of retribution). If you discuss a chargeback for a reason that you feel is legitimate then that's between you, your bank or credit card issuer, and your merchant. Our policy only affects blatantly fraudulent chargebacks or chargebacks for the purpose of retribution.

If you are unsure what qualifies as a legal versus an illegal chargeback, the full text of Title IX of Consumer Protections as published by the FDIC is here:

Electronic Fund Transfers

As we did with our policy on private server discussion, we will give 7 days for users to remove or alter posts that may be in violation of this policy. After 7 days (June 23rd), the staff will remove any post deemed in violation. Our normal forum infraction system will be used at our discretion after the "self-removal" date. Again, this policy is effective immediately.

We don't like censorship as much as you don't like censorship but we have to make decisions with the best interest of the community in mind. We've done our best to ensure our community is protected while also protecting your right to free speech.

[Dib]

Hmmm, i was wondering when you would speak up about this. Oh well, i guess it's for the best. Now that i think about it, we don't want ntreev to be putting the blame on MMOG for telling it's members to do these acts.

[Crypt]

ntreev ones are common

[NoeJeko]

Originally Posted by Dib

Hmmm, i was wondering when you would speak up about this. Oh well, i guess it's for the best. Now that i think about it, we don't want ntreev to be putting the blame on MMOG for telling it's members to do these acts.

We wanted to take the time to collaborate on this and determine the best way to move forward before taking a stance. Naturally, our stance will always be against illegal activity but the issue in question was only illegal if executed for a particular reason. If a legitimate reason exists it's not illegal. We try to keep discussion as open as we can here but we want to ensure that our community is protected.

@Crypt: An ugly fact of this industry - it isn't just with Ntreev. I have contact with many publishers and chargebacks are extremely common for any and all reasons within the microtransaction MMO industry - very few of them legitimate. Even here on MMOG we've had issues of stolen credit cards and members charging back to "get us back" for infractions. Because it would cost us far more to investigate and press charges against the latter than the $5 we lose in the chargeback, we choose to simply block the offender and press forward.

[Ken]

thses kind of things happens too often..

[Levin]

It happens in just about every MMO sadly, at least I've always seen them happen.

[Globalastro]

It's sad that this even has to be discussed. What ever happened to common sense. Common sense things such as... Breaking the law=wrong

Also, I thought that at least MOST mmog members were above petty and utterly stupid things such as chargebacks for revenge.

Now that it's been said and done, I'm glad that you are making a point to address this issue