Friend suspended for too many S rank attempts

[Athenaeum]

A friend and well-known hunt spawner on Primal/Dynamis with no prior infractions on their account was recently suspended for 10 days. In the email sent to them, it listed botting (and related activities) as the ToS that was broken. However, they play on a PS4 and have checked their logins to make sure that their only PC access to their account was for Mogstation.

The only thing that resembles botting on their account is killing too many mobs. This spawner enjoys doing kill counts for hunt mark S ranks, and more specifically, Sphatika. For those not in the know, spawning Sphatika requires you to kill 100 of three separate types of mobs, for a total of 300. Killing these 300 mobs does not guarantee a spawn; Sphatika can spawn anywhere in the 48-hour window that it’s open, and the only way to spawn it is to complete the 300-kill count whenever the invisible timer is ready.

This person waits for people that seem to be there for the daily hunt bills. They don’t sell the drops for the mobs on the Marketboard, and just keep materials stacking up in their retainer for laughs, or to give away a stack to people who need the items for crafting. There is ZERO bonus for being the one to spawn the S rank, monetary or otherwise. They just find it calming to do these kill counts and mindlessly grind.

I was originally going to wait and hope the GMs would listen to the appeal, but they upheld their decision, even though there’s miles of difference between how a bot moves and interacts. We think that they likely only looked at the amount of kills done and did no further research.

I’m just really frustrated that they decide to suspend an outlier that isn’t generating gold or negatively affecting others at all. This also worries a lot of us in the hunt community, because if they will suspend for just kill statistics, ignoring any chat logs or player actions or lack of use of the materials gained, we’re not sure where the line is drawn and how many attempts to spawn marks we can safely do without facing action on our accounts.

tl;dr: GMs suspended someone for killing too many mobs, when they:
• Are completing the requirements to spawn an in-game mob
• Play on a PS4
• Interact and chat with others while completing kill counts
• Stop and do other things while completing kill counts
• Do not sell or use materials gained from kill counts

[Pricia]

That is not ok. The player in question is very active in the hunt community, and definitely NOT a bot, which any GM could have figured out if they had taken the time to talk to them.

[Doozer]

Sounds kind of suss to me considering how actual botting rarely gets punished. I feel like there's something else we're not being told.

[Aygi]

Sounds kind of suss to me considering how actual botting rarely gets punished. I feel like there's something else we're not being told.

I get that it is natural to be skeptical, but as someone involved in the hunt community and familiar with the individual in question, I'll vouch that OP was pretty up front about all the information at play.
There are also chat logs / screenshots / clips to backup the fact this player is definitely actually playing the game and not botting, I just don't think Square cares about that sort of evidence.

Consider instead that the fact they would action an account so indiscriminately without proper investigation should be concerning to everyone.

[Doozer]

I get that it is natural to be skeptical, but as someone involved in the hunt community and familiar with the individual in question, I'll vouch that OP was pretty up front about all the information at play.
There are also chat logs / screenshots / clips to backup the fact this player is definitely actually playing the game and not botting, I just don't think Square cares about that sort of evidence.

Consider instead that the fact they would action an account so indiscriminately without proper investigation should be concerning to everyone.

I'm always skeptical of anyone claiming there's no way they did what they were penalized for because like I said, more often than not people aren't punished rather than punished incorrectly. I also found it really weird that OP had such a fixation on not selling mats from killing enemies as if that automatically makes it botting. Why not sell drops if you're killing enemies legitimately?

Either way, I don't think a forum thread will fix anything. The person in question should send in a support ticket if they truly weren't doing anything against ToS.

[Athenaeum]

I'm always skeptical of anyone claiming there's no way they did what they were penalized for because like I said, more often than not people aren't punished rather than punished incorrectly. I also found it really weird that OP had such a fixation on not selling mats from killing enemies as if that automatically makes it botting. Why not sell drops if you're killing enemies legitimately?

Either way, I don't think a forum thread will fix anything. The person in question should send in a support ticket if they truly weren't doing anything against ToS.

What fixation? There's no pleasing you is there?

An appeal has already been tried, as stated in the original post.

[Doozer]

What fixation? There's no pleasing you is there?

An appeal has already been tried, as stated in the original post.

It just seems like a weirdly unnecessary detail. If they weren't botting, what did it matter if they sold the mats or not? Especially since there are plenty of bots that don't farm enemy drops for sale.

If you're going to declare someone's innocence in a public forum, expect people to ask questions or have their doubts. Anyone trying to shut down suspicion or curiosity are not helping your friend in the long run.

[SephiraLyn]

i find it very hard to believe someone would get banned for that when there are so many bots still running around freely after being reported for much longer and more often, and more people running around after being reported for much worse things.

[TeaRenin]

I also found it really weird that OP had such a fixation on not selling mats from killing enemies as if that automatically makes it botting. Why not sell drops if you're killing enemies legitimately?

The only mats you get from spawn attempts on Sphatika are Amra from the Vajralangula mobs, as Asvattha and Pisaca drop none. I'm more impressed that person even kept them; they were downright worthless before the alchemist relic and I think most of us still can't be bothered to sell them.

[kono-]

Yeah tbh chump change. More value in making it a meme. But I'm pretty sure we've all gathered more in Diadem mats so like ???? why that would be a reason for suspension or suspicion is beyond me. No violation of ToS for hoarding mob/game/loot drops for personal enjoyment.