I'm very sorry to hear what happened, Bubbles. Hope you're eventually able to get the ban cleared. It does sound like they can't make up their mind what you're being banned for.
When all is said and done, I think there are too many fine lines when it comes to interpreting VMK's house rules. There's something seriously wrong when even long-time players who share a wide base of knowledge can't understand what VMK really means.
As you know, many people have purchased the 'Pirate' pinsets for friends and reimbursed them. It is the same as selling an item.
Technically, this is not the same. The reason that buying the pin sets does not violate the TOS is that you are really buying
pins, not game items; the cards they are on just happen to have "free" codes on them. Reselling them wouldn't be any problem, that I can see.
Did you know that VMK does consider VMKPal to be a scripting program? It is not a part of Disney's software, it is user created and not approved for use with VMK. Just an fyi.
Here is a quote from VMK's April 2006 newsletter:
Q: Can I use a program to help me enter my Codes faster?
A: Scripting, which includes any programs or utilities that use scripting capabilities to perform rote tasks (ie: entering codes), is a violation of the VMK Values. Any player caught using ANY scripting program may be banned. We allow exceptions for Players using a scripting program to repeat helpful texts used to run a game or assist players, provided the tool is not over-used to the point that it floods the chat window and makes it hard for others to chat.
This does not appear to automatically make the use of VMKPal's scripting function a violation. But who knows; somebody else could have ruled differently since then.
For the record, VMK CANNOT TELL if codes have been "generated" or not. There is simply NO WAY for them to determine the difference, since, the codes are NOT generated, but rather "Harvested" - the term "Generator" is somewhat misleading, since all the programs I have seen or heard about were simple harvesting programs.
I heard differently. Last year, players were being banned for entering codes that had originated from generators, "harvesters", whatever you want to call them. Didn't matter if the codes had been innocently obtained in trades; apparently VMK came up with a way to determine their origin when players entered them in the game, and acted accordingly. This got to be such a problem that some forums ended up prohibiting further code-trading for the items.
But back to Bubbles' situation. It just floors me that VMK would pounce on her for volunteering information about buying codes on Ebay, even if they arguably have the right to.
I've never gotten the impression that VMK has tried to track down which players were selling these codes or items in the first place, which would seem to be necessary if they were serious about stopping the Ebay sales. But they've never managed to put teeth to that part of the TOS. (And I think the Ebay "Dreams" promotion just made the whole issue more confusing to players.) To take advantage of one person who obviously didn't think what they were doing was wrong, when they've let slide so many who put codes and items up for auction, just seems out of whack.
to you all.
