Regarding the Strike System/Account Penalty Policy

[Rnahla]

So its been circulating around my group of friends that the Account Penalty Policy's rule-set doesn't make complete sense to us. While we understand the general rules of "Don't be rude or do Illegal things in terms of the TOS". It doesn't make sense for some of the actions taken into consideration.

With our understanding we see that no matter what penalty you do cross, your account will receive a strike, whether it be for a Caution or a Temporary Service Account Suspension. What my friends and I don't understand is how you can possibly get 3 strikes without even knowing it, as seen below.

Square Enix says this in the policy:
"Caution" is the least severe penalty and is applied when a relatively minor violation is confirmed. Depending on the nature of the violation, Square Enix will provide an “instruction for improvement” providing the player with guidance on how to improve their behaviour to prevent further violations of this type in the future. . Please follow any such instructions.


Assuming the "instruction of improvement" is likely either a email, or a message from a GM, why is this message not just a standard 100% for this? What nature is considered that a notification is "Not needed" to discipline the player or point out a mistake they've made.

The other major problem I have with this, is that even if you have a strike or two from these Cautions. Assuming it isn't for the same problem and both qualify as a "Caution" you might not receive a message saying "This is your 1st/2nd strike, so be careful.". This means that Square hasn't talked to the player about the issue they caused. The player will then most likely think "What I did wasn't wrong" and continue to do this act, or other acts that fall in the "Caution" line. This'd probably lead up to the "Your account has been terminated" email, but the player would be none the wiser of knowing what exactly they did wrong.

Am I the only one that thinks they should do away with the whole "nature of the violation"? I'd honestly just rather receive a notification of whether I had done something wrong or not, and this honestly makes me question if I have gotten any strikes, but the only way to know is to call support.

[DrWho2010]

don't do anything to warrant a strike in the first place?

[KageTokage]

don't do anything to warrant a strike in the first place?

The ToS is vague enough that it's hard to even know what is/isn't strike-worthy.

The infamous lawn incident is enough to convince me anything can be strike-worthy if it upsets someone enough for them to report you.

[Reinfeld]

It could be that "depending on the nature of the violation" is meant to say 'different advice will be given to you based on the nature of the infraction', rather than 'only some infractions will get a notice'

But then again, this exists
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l-reason-given