Disappointment about customer service and Helpshift

[graceful bloom]

Hello everyone reading this,

I think you can guess what it is about. I and my friends were banned (from ban wave or not). I am a Flyff Universe player from Thailand. I had been peacefully and legally playing this game for 1 year. 3 Days ago, I and my 4 friends were banned from the game. The reasons the Helpshift team gave us was the same which was

Your account has been permanently banned due to violating our Terms of Service. This may be due to one or more of the following reasons:

• Failure to comply with our Code of Conduct
• Use our Services for fraudulent or abusive purposes

I already knew about limitation information the team can provide us to avoid more abusive actions in the future and there must be an investigation before banning. But don't you think this is too vague to accept? I had read all the Code of Conduct, but it didn't help because it was just broad info. No legit reasons have been given to us which left us wondering "why were we banned?". It makes the investigation method so questionable. Do we have no right to explain anything before? We were loyal customers, and we spent lots of money into this game. Why would I risk my money for abusive actions? Even in real life, we do know why we are arrested if we do something wrong. We would like to know why, not how. This is as if you give us no information to prevent us from providing proper appeals, not just preventing more new abusive actions.

More in comments

I have tried to give as many informations as I could to defend myself, but it seemed the team didn't care. They just did a copy and paste thing as usual. Was it really thorough investigations being done? On our side, the method is questionable, as I said, and unreliable.

We are not the only case that had happened. I believe that there were many players who were falsely banned because of the one-sided evidences and they have been confused like me since. What if I had involved in abusive actions without knowing? Do I have a chance to prove myself even if it is less reliable than evidence you have gathered (of course they're just words from nobody).

This game lacks of ways to contact between team and players at the first place. Only way we can seek help is by sending Helpshift ticket? No live chat or phone call like others? You run this game worldwide, but the way we can communicate is so limited. Via email, we have to wait for the answer with anxiety and worrying. Moreover, if we ask back, they reply with the magic sentence "we will reject any further responses" and refuse to reply since then.

This game should have proper improvement of how to treat customers. I think you had lost many players by how you treated them, and it will continually happen. This is not worth it to waste your hard-earned money into the game that you have to be anxiously playing and will not know when will you be banned without doing anything.

Sorry for really long topic but I'm so repressed. $3000+ had gone. Good thing is, I will can now save up for my new phone. I'm just consoling myself though. If we do not get justice in the end, me and my friends say goodbye to this game forever. We're not gonna "create a new account and participate in the game".

Thank you and goodbye

[edgy mica]

they are too aggressive about rmt bans. maybe you and your friends had a trade pattern they don't like. I don't know.

[magic glen]

Imagine being who was under arrest and the officer just says "Sir, you're arrested for something illegal but we won't tell you what's wrong with you. Here you are, the criminal code. Please read completely and think by yourself. What you've done." So, unfair. 🙄

[frail bone]

The team must take more care and attention to the players !!
Add convenient, fast and easily accessible contact channels and do not reject the opinions of players even if they may not make sense because this is probably the best way players can explain it in English.
You should pay attention to the substance that the player wants to present. And stop telling me this is the final decision.

The year is 2023 and you are open to players on many continents !!
Staff on other games do a better job of taking care of their players (much better than this game's staff does). They explain a lot of things in great detail and depth. Do not make the players suspect the bias of the team.

Please reconsider
...to improve the player care. Bot players should be banned better than other players whom do not know when they will be involved with abusive action from others.
And please stop looking for ways to take money from players with the same old things, like releasing battle passes repeatedly without caring about the feelings of the players.
And take old fashions and repeat them, make them new in exchange for adding money to the game.

[graceful bloom]

Even if I explained my transaction timeline I thought it looked suspicious to them, they still didn't care at all and sent yet another copy and paste pattern back to me.

That was so terrible. I even have to investigate "my case" by myself that what was going on.

I had tried to explain every information I had and could think about.

[junior cape]

I keep wondering if some banned EU-citizen could GDPR the ban-reason out of them 🤔. I think i read that suggestion from someone before, but has that ever been tried?

[edgy mica]

no, of course we can't. and I'm form the EU.

[green fossil]

My account has been banned 1 month. Today is kind of "Anniversary". I still send them email every day. I already tried thousand time to kindly communicate with helpshift but like a stone throw into the sea. I never get a real communication.
And I wanna say that punishment should be gradual but now is too harsh. I sincerely hope that I haven't violated any rules and I don't know which actions might lead my account banned. I have invested a significant amount of time and money into this game and final we get nothing? Accourding to the 'reason' they give to me is also " use our service for fraudulent or abuse purposes". Honestly I never did refund! Then who did refund????? Maybe someone did refund of his transaction and sold his items to me? I can't understand this and can't accept that. Are we really the criminals????

[edgy mica]

the only chance I see for you is if a gm helps you via discord or the community helps you by sending tickets in your behalf

[graceful bloom]

Modmail can't help. I tried. All they can do is just telling us to patiently wait for the CS responses, even though it is GM answering you. They have different work scopes. But you can try. Better than nothing.

[green fossil]

And one more important thing. That my friends has been suffered by 'ban wave' last time June this year. At first, Helpshift said that they were permanently banned, but eventually, they all got unbanned. So you see helpshift is doing double standards on this topic. That's ridiculous.

[fleet ivy]

they must see whatever it is and think "ok thats a reason to ban you" but WHY companies CANNOT TELL THIS EXACT THING??
its not a flyff-only problem, almost all companies do it like this, i dont get it. they ban you and either do not give the reason at all or it is so vague that they might as well let it be at all

[graceful bloom]

If I really did something abusive, I would have known from the beginning without being told the reasons. But in this case, I have no idea at all what I had done. That's why I am still asking for the reasons of the ban. That's why I have been trying to appeal with everything I can imagine that it was suspicious. I wouldn't have tried to appeal at all if I knew the reasons.

Moreover, the current reply from Helpshift took 2 days, and I have been waiting for another reply after me replying for appeal for almost a day already.

[amber pulsar]

fix this question

[olive trout]

I am not being banned. But daily, im playing with fear. Maybe one day, i sold my item to a bot, or triggered ban without reason. Everybody in my Guild, and my country has already aware of this. Most of them already trying yo get their money back and quit (you know what I mean). Meanwhile, we suggest everyone in the guild and my country chat group to stop spending Real Money in this game. Me, personally has dumped around USD10k, in regretting that many players being treated that way. Lastly, I say good luck. #WeMadeEveryoneBanned #WeMadeMonehhhhh

[graceful bloom]

This game has really good potential, but without good customer care, good potential means nothing. I love this game a lot. I played this game 10+ years ago since there were Flyff PC servers around the world. I met my friends in this game. I never regretted playing this game until this incident happened to me. By how you treat your customer, you're killing this game slowly until in the end, no more customers for you to treat anymore. I am so sad to see my childhood game is dying slowly again and again.

[open geyser]

I only have a few friends left to play with
Nothing is going to get better

[rugged nacelle]

莫名的封號
不該由玩家們承擔
官方該自己檢視自己的管理問題

[graceful bloom]

I had a group of friends who daily run dungeons. But after this happened, I have to say sorry that I have to quit to them and make the party smaller, or even disband the party. They said back to me "This is so sad. The only reason why I still play this game is friends, if you quit and everyone do too in the future, I will quit as well."

[gritty garden]

the thing is they didn’t realize the user base of this game is so small. We can call Flyff as a minority game. Most of the players are 90s, we play this game just for chill and memories. company always want their gamers growth, but for this game I suggest they need to put keeping original players as their priority.

[devout zodiac]

[junior cape]

nah man, you can‘t tell me they want to attract new players if the first thing you generally see is millions of bots and an amount of overprized battlepasses that soon needs a scrollable window to display. That‘s not how you attract&bind new players nor does it create a welcoming experience.

They know their playerbase is people whose view is so tainted in nostalgia, they are blind to its obvious flaws.

[fleet ivy]

also funny is, that GALA does ~80% of their transaction volume with flyff products. especially flyff universe gave them a big push, kinda like a rebirth lol.
still they DO NOT CARE about anything. image all your company relies on 1 product and u trample it underfoot. normally everything should be done so that it does not sink, but they do the opposite.
crazy, really unbelieveable, but thats the GALA we know for about 19 years and it will never change.

[graceful bloom]

I wish I lived in Korea so I could head to GALA/WCN headquarter to talk in real person. Funny story, I once paid for international phone call and tried to talk to GALA call center. Sadly, they only speak Korean but I don't. This topic is super serious. I wish managers/executives would take action seriously, or they lose player base continually.

[olive trout]

From my view, they dont learn. They literally don't learn. What I can do is wish them best of luck. I would stop spending money until i see they handle this issue seriously.

[graceful bloom]

Speaking of top-up. I spent $200+ on fCoin (on another account I use) one day before my account was banned (10 hours to be exact). I woke up in the morning and found horrible news. It hurt so badly. I feel like I was betrayed.

One more thing, I estimate tickets Helpshift have gotten in a day. It's around 100. Is this why they refuse our request to appeal?

[gritty garden]

UI and gaming experience is just personal preference.. but lacking customer care is another story. We all know and suffer from the things u mentioned but these things doesn’t really hurt and let existing players quit. They need to choose whether attracting new players coming or really cherishing us

[graceful bloom]

Happy? Quitting this game is definitely happier in the long run .

[dim gorge]

I honestly do understand your point. One simply want to know the exact reasons. But in the end of the day, the logs don't lie, and every ban-appeal is checked by helpshift. No sufficient evidence = ban is getting lifted. I don't know your case, but if they insist on keeping you and your friends banned, they have plausible reasons for that.
Just try to image, how many people try to appeal their bans, what stories they tell to justify their actions, or claim being completely innocent. Again: the logs always tell the truth. Showing the evidence to people might help you personally to understand, what caused the ban. But in the end, your account still remains banned.
I personally would at least give hints, or tell the exact reasons, but without showing evidence. If helpshift will ever agree on this, I can't tell. But they surely have valid reasons, not to tell you in detail 😉

[frail bone]

If you or the Helpshift team are confident and rely on the sold evidence & log you have, and you have decided to reach the conclusion as fas as you do without any deep explanations to the players in order to uncover the ban's true motivation.

Also delighted for you. Because you and Helpshift team are gradually reducing the fun of the game and you are causing current players to gradually stop playing as well.

[fleet ivy]

not only is there no communication at all with the ban stuff, there is no communication at all with this company in any aspect that affects the game. it is ridiculous

[dim gorge]

depends on the case actually. Dunno what explanations you want to provide for botting or RMT, but again: I understand the claim, and that it's super annoying getting no real answer. But they got reasons for that, and I honestly don't know, if they are ready to discuss this matter

[dim gorge]

Not a fan of communication department myself, but they give their best, and we just got a new FAQ today, after requesting it.

[green fossil]

I have doubts about their banning rules. It seems that if player A buys an item from player B who then requests a refund for their transactions, player A may also get banned. However, I don't have any evidence to support this. We can never ask questions about their ban rules because, as they claim, they can't provide further explanations. This leads to them having powerful control, and we won't have a chance to appeal or ask questions about the rules.And the only punishment is a permanent ban. I believe there are many ways to solve this problem. Helpshift should provide us with more options. A permanent ban is a very severe consequence for us.

[fleet ivy]

yes they do their best, after they have not kept the first date they were not even able to change the text in the login screen to the new date, which suddenly ingame was set to the 13th. but well, it is really very difficult, almost an atom science, to change a date in the login screen. So I forgive them their sins.

and now after absolute confusion they have 2 dates not complied and we can be so grateful that then comes a FAQ, as thanks we could throw more $ in their throat.

Yes, you're right, they do their very best.... come on don't kid yourself.
And keep in mind: GALA lives almost exclusively because of Flyff. Anyone would do anything to make this product do well. usually.

[gritty garden]

Can u explain why a RM account which only play secret room got banned?🤣 no transaction no anything. I really curious bout the banning process and their “we will look into the case again” .. Even all of my accounts are fine for now, such thing still like a time-bomb, maybe someday I got banned too and I don’t have any clue. No one I can speak to, other than auto-reply email bots. Imagine how you gonna feel… Everyone now just wish their accounts still there, is this a healthy game experience? Tbh, this is a joke.

[graceful bloom]

Sure, the logs don't lie, but just don't tell everything. How can you completely trust in only letters and numbers? Anything can happen even though it is a rare chance. Stable amount of money being traded constantly doesn't mean it's surely RMT. For other companies, appeal is really an appeal, they give a chance to explain the situation, and if it makes sense, we can compromise.

On my side, I don't know if you are really "investigate" because I don't see you doing your job. Same as your side, you don't know what I was doing then those strange logs occurred. How can you trust it completely? I don't trust Helpshift's progress completely either.

[dim gorge]

Again, I am not involved in helpshifts decisions or proceedings. But I know plenty cases, where bans got appealed and lifted. I'm just repeating it again: false bans can happen, but if they investigate on an appeal and still refrain from lifting it, there are reasons for it. Be it clear evidence by video, logs or whatever.

I don't know anything about OP's case, but I simply don't believe, that these are random bans on an arbitary basis. Can I know it for sure? No. Do I have to trust in their actings? Yes. Do I want to believe that every appeal is right and people always completely innocent? Yes. There is still a company behind this game and the last thing they'd wanted was to ban their customers without any reasons. And I'm pretty sure, none of them is sadistic enough to feel pure enjoyment, sentencing bans.

Even if I personally understand the frustration by not getting told the exact reasons - which is btw very questionable from a pedagogical point of view - there are valid reasons for not doing so. All you can do is leaving your feedback in here for now, and maybe some procedures can be changed in the future. But that's completely in wemade/galas decision.

[gritty garden]

Yeah I know. But still we need to speak out, maybe someday Gala/Wemade will raise their awareness about how important a good customer service is. Cherishing original player base particularly this game is all I ask

[graceful bloom]

I hope my feedback will reach GALA/WCN as GM Piccolo mentioned in the pinned topic. Communication problem here is chronic and severe. We need more ways to contact CS/helpshift such as live chat or call center. And please reconsider about gradual punishment. Your game is worldwide open but really lacks of player support. I'm quitting for now. It's not worth losing my sanity to this game. I'm depressed enough.

[magic glen]

Deep down I still hope GALA Lab/ Wemade Connect would consider the future adjudication which does not harm player trust. I wish their cases would be the last case that are vague, suspicious and unable to demand justice in any way. 😔

[green fossil]

This is my friend's response from Helpshift in June of this year. In the end, he got unbanned after this response. How is it possible if the evidence is clear? Even though they said they had checked his account several times. As far as I know, the ban wave from June resulted in most of them getting unbanned, but the August ban wave did not.

[open geyser]

• Five stars on customer service and communication
• Five star on customer satisfaction

[graceful bloom]

I still hope they are just busy about FWC closure so they have no time to re-investigate since the August ban wave. Or maybe, after the migration, WCN take it too seriously about punishment? Hope we still have a chance though.

[olive trout]

Again, we accept bans, but with valid reason. We, as a human, deserved the rights to know what is our wrong-doing and make sure do not repeat it again. What is it hard to tell the exact mistakes we did despite the ban? I drove 140miles/hour, I got a summons. At least they tell, oh on which day, i drove above the limits. When I go to jail, the court will telling what is your fault, and how many years I will be jailed. Imagine, your mom calls you to come over, and gave you a slap, then without tell you what is your mistake. Can you even accept that? Accept the fact, the company is not even doing details checking, they just ban innocents. Trust me, we are on the way to how Gpotato killing FlyFF. Soon...

[subtle citrus]

Same thing happened to me , being busy at work for the past month only to come back and see my RM is banned.
They failed to tell me why and that the decision is only final 🙄

[olive trout]

thats #WEMADEYOUBANNED 🙂

[subtle citrus]

Bunch of clowns

[livid lagoon]

https://tenor.com/view/cat-sad-gif-26415220

[graceful bloom]

Still no signs of "re-evaluation" on banned accounts from August and September ban waves. Is this system really reliable?

[green fossil]

https://tenor.com/view/dramatic-cry-will-ferrell-gif-19823586

[rugged elbow]

dont worry if you guys really spent much money you will get unbanned sooner or later

[graceful bloom]

I, in fact, spent $700 on my banned account, but mostly I spent on another account. Total is almost $4000. If it doesn't help my account, then that's a big L.

[rugged elbow]

pls explain further i dont understand