[Kimojuno]

- Updates -

Known Issues

Unable to view evidence? - We are aware that there is an issue with evidence not showing up. We're working on it now, but this may take around 24hrs to fix.

With such enormous changes, there are always going to be the odd issues. We're on it though, so worry not.

Unable to log in even though you are now in the green zone? - It has come to light that several players are being affected by this issue. If you do have this issue, you can help by posting the following information:

Account Name:
Message you receive when attempting a log in:

As part of our focus on the RuneScape community, we've transformed our offence system; we've also made some changes to the Rules of RuneScape. Most importantly, many offences will now expire after 12 months.

The main reason we've done this is because we accept that many people learn from their previous mistakes, especially small offences committed long ago. This means that if you have an account that had offences on it, it's entirely possible that they've been removed!

To support this, we no longer issue black marks, we simply record the offences themselves. If you log into the Offence Appeals page, you'll see two pillars: one records offences that can result in being banned, the other records offences that can result in being muted. It should now be much simpler to see your account's status and where you stand.

If you have an account that is still banned or muted after today, we're allowing you another chance to submit an appeal. Our Player Support team will then reassess your offences and decide whether to remove some or all of them.

Furthermore, we have changed the system to allow players who have had their accounts stolen a chance to appeal offences that occurred while it was hijacked. Typically, this happened because the hacker unsuccessfully appealed, leaving the real owner with no chance to appeal for themselves. If you have ever had membership on the account and have built up a significant amount of game time, you'll have another chance to appeal after 21 days.

The Rules of RuneScape

We've updated the way the rules are organised to make it simpler for you to report abuse and to keep yourself free of offences. The rules are now organised under three general headings (click here to read about the rules in full):

• Honour
  Offences related to cheating (like scamming, macroing, real-world trading, etc.)
• Respect
  Offences related to inappropriate behaviour (like obscene language, discrimination, bullying, etc.)
• Security
  Offences related to real-world safety and security threats (like asking for real-life contact details, website advertising, etc.)

To help out with this, we'll also be updating the in-game report abuse feature. You'll then see two screens – one for entering the player's name, and another for selecting the rule they've broken.

Due to the size of this project, we've launched all of the website features today, while the in-game interface will be released with this week's server reboot.

Final Note

If you receive a ban or mute in-game, this will also prevent you from using the forums. Equally, if you receive a forum ban, you'll be muted in-game. This is because we believe that players should be treated equally whether they're playing the game or posting on the forums.

Please note that because of the changes to how different offences are treated, it's possible that any ban or mute you are currently affected by may have changed. For example, if you had three days left of a five-day mute yesterday, today you could have five days left of a ten-day mute, or one day left of a three-day mute.

Hi there,

We understand that the New Offence System might be a little confusing at first, so we've composed a few of the questions we think you might have. If you have any other questions, you can either post on this thread, or you can catch one of us in Lumbridge today (check the second post for more information), we'll see if we can clear everything up for you.




Index

1. FunOrb and the Forums.
2. Why have these changes been made?
3. New rule format.
4. How the system is designed.
5. Changes to rules.
6. Abuse reports.
7. Reporting screen.
8. What is the aim of the new offence system?
9. Changes to offence status.
10. Permanently banned/muted accounts.
11. Offence Appeals.
12. Are Jagex going easy on rulebreakers?
13. Will old offences be transferred?
14. Offences that have been changed since the introduction of this system.
15. How to find more information.

1.Do these new rules apply in FunOrb?
is the New Offence System going to be used in the forums too?

The new offence system will be applied to all current products and forums, including FunOrb and its forums.

This does mean that if you commit an offence on the forums, it will affect your in-game account as well.

Back to index.


2.What influenced Jagex to make changes to the rules system?
Why have you made these changes?
What are the changes supposed to help?

We recently studied the reports we were receiving and it became clear to us that many players were confused about our rules. We found that 6 out of 10 reports were inaccurate and there was no need for a report to have been submitted.

We decided to promote a better understanding of our rules and improve the accuracy of the reports that we receive from our players. We also wanted to promote use of the 'Ignore List', a great in-game feature that enables you to hide the chat from troublesome players. The new rules system will enable us to deal with the serious issues quickly, helping to create a safer and more enjoyable community in which to play.
Back to index.


3.What is the new format for the rules?

To simplify the rules we have divided all the current rules into three core areas. These are Honour, Respect and Security

Honour is where we have placed all the cheating rules such as Macroing, bug abuse, scamming etc.

Respect encapsulates all the offences that we give, when a player has shown a complete lack of respect and caused serious offence to both the reporting player and us (we have to read these reports after all!!!)

Security is to there to cover web site advertising and any other rules that may affect the security of a players account or their own personal security.

There will be no numbered rules anymore, so no more of that quoting rule ten game!!

So, as you can see, we have essentially re-arranged all the rules to make them simpler and easier to understand.
Back to index.

4.Why have the rules been separated three sections?
How is the new system designed?

The New Offence System is designed to make it easier for all our players to remember the rules during their everyday game-play. The three categories mean that it will be easier to follow the rules and clearer to all players exactly when a report should be submitted. The reports we receive will also let us deal quickly with the issues that concern you. Our aim is to make our game safer and more enjoyable, ensuring that players understand why we have our rules and how they can be a positive part of the RuneScape community.
Back to index.

5.Are the rules changing?
What has happened to the old rules?
Will there be any new rules?

There will be some small changes to the rules and how they are grouped. We've also included 'Breaking Real World Laws' into the New Offence System. The main difference is that the rules are now arranged into easy-to-remember concepts. It's certainly worth checking out the Game Guide and the news post for more information.
Back to index.

6.Does this affect how I send an abuse report?
How do I send you an abuse report?
What do I need to do to report someone?

The method of sending a report is similar to how it was before. You should click the 'Report Abuse' function and then enter the name of the player you wish to report. This will bring up a second screen which you can use to select the reason for the report. This report screen has been changed to show the offences that you may spot during your time in game, allowing more detail to be entered where appropriate.
Back to index.

7.Why are some of the rules in the New Offence System not included in the reporting screen?
Why are there several options to report under for the same rule?

The new report screen is designed for reporting the rule-breaks that you may see in game. It is constructed to help you to report accurately whilst being easy to use. It will provide us with more detailed information about the situation that you are reporting. The reports that you do make will be more accurate and therefore will help us to react swiftly to the issues reported.

There are some offences in the New Offence System for which there is no need to report from within the game, for example Advert Blocking. This is because for some rules it is not possible for players to see whether an offence has taken place. Don't worry though; we have a variety of systems in place to check whether these rules have been broken. Removing these rules from the reporting screen makes the offences that you may spot in game much easier to report.

The New Offence System has been broken into categories to allow you to give us more detail about why you are reporting, for example when reporting an item scammer you would click the 'Item Scamming' option under the Honesty category.
Back to index.

8.Why have you made changes to the offence system?
What is aim of the new offence system?

The change of approach to our offence system has been introduced after listening to feedback from our players to update the current system in line with the developing community. We've carefully reviewed our entire system for this update, and it's not just about giving players a ban or a mute. We wanted to give players the chance to learn from their mistakes, therefore we've changed our system to one that encourages players to learn the rules and explains why these rules exist. With this knowledge the accuracy of the reports that we receive will be improved.
Back to index.

9.How does this change affect players?
How will this affect my offence status?
What is changing in the new offence system?

We have introduced a system in which all offences and black marks (unless the account is permanently muted or banned) will drop off 12 months after the offence; this includes legacy offences. This process will happen automatically with no need to appeal. This means that any offences you had on your account which were committed over 12 months ago will have already dropped off and any offences on your account from 6 months ago will disappear in a further 6 months.
Back to index.

10.What about permanently muted or banned players?
My account has been permanently muted/banned; I want a second chance too.
Can you review my account which was permanently muted/banned?

As a part of this process we have decided to review all permanently muted or banned accounts. If the offences are older than 12 months, they'll disappear automatically. If they're more serious offences, or they're not older than 12 months, then you'll be able to submit an appeal for that offence, even if you've already appealed them before.

As some accounts may not have logged in for some time it is possible that the password has been forgotten or that the account has been locked as a security procedure. In these instances players will need to submit an Account Appeal from the Account Recovery system to access their account. For more information on submitting an Account Appeal please look in our Game Guide.
Back to index.

11.Where can I submit an Offence Appeal?
What options are there when I submit an Offence Appeal?
How can I let Jagex know that I am sorry?

You will be able to appeal offences which result in black marks from the 'Account Management' section of our website.

How will my account offence status be displayed?
How will offences affect my account overall?
What can I see in the 'Account Management' section of the website?

When checking your account status, you will be able to view your offence level (graphically) on two pillars (one for mutes and one for bans), as well as an overall summary of your account. Here you will be able to see which area of the rules you may have misunderstood, providing you with a great opportunity to improve your effect on the community!

Remember that your offence level may be different in each pillar. Should an account commit offences leading to 10 Black Marks overall the account may be permanently muted or banned.
Back to index.

12.Does this change mean that Jagex will be going easy on the people who break the rules?
How will this encourage players to learn the rules?

We believe that players deserve a chance to learn from their previous mistakes. The rules have been arranged to represent guidelines to follow when playing. In the event that a rule is broken, the consequence will make it clearer to the player how to avoid making the same mistake in future. Should a player continue to break the same rule the resulting offence will be more severe. Certain behaviour that may represent a serious threat to the community could result in a stronger action being taken immediately.
Back to index.

13.Will my old offences now be transferred to the new system?
What do I need to do to appeal my old offences?
What about legacy offences?

Old offences will automatically update to this new system, meaning that some accounts that have previously been banned will once again able to play. All accounts will move to the new system and any existing offences will be recalculated. You will not have to contact us to ensure that your account is moved to the new system.

Offences and black marks (including legacy offences) older than 12 months will drop off most accounts, with the exception of permanently banned or muted accounts. These accounts, depending on the offence and how long ago it was committed, will get a chance to appeal all their offences again. To appeal your offences you should log in to the 'Account Management' section of our site.
Back to index.

14.I got banned for actions that would be treated differently now – can you unban my account?
The offence system has changed since I got banned, can I have a second chance?
My main account is permanently muted, what can I do about it?

With the introduction of black marks which drop off after 12 months, you may find that you can once again play this account. If this is not the case you will be able to appeal all your offences. Remember to let any friends know about this change so that they can take this second chance to play by the rules on their original accounts.

What should I do to get my permanently banned/muted account back in game?
How can I check if I can appeal an offence?

Players can view their account status by logging in to the 'Account Management' area of our website. Once here you will find links to submit Offence Appeals.
Back to index.

15.Where can I find more information about the New Offence System?
How can I be sure that I know everything to do with the New Offence System?
Is there a guide to the New Offence System that I can refer to in future?

If you want more information regarding this update you should head in the direction of the Game Guide, which has been updated to include all the information you need to know about the New Offence System and the appeal system.
Back to index.

http://www.runescape...?article_id=728

[Kimojuno]

If an offence has expired it means it doesn't count towards any current
black marks. Essentially it's a harmless reminder of previous mistakes,
but it won't negatively affect you in any way.

= Raven =

"Well, I met you in-game earlier Mod Raven and asked you a question regarding to the Strike System of the forums and you just left me with more questions. You said that if you get them, it serves no more purpose? Of course, there is a purpose for it. It will add up until you get 3 and then forum banned. My question is if there will ever be an option to appeal strikes? Even if it is refutable? It's a yes or no question. "

Forum strikes will not affect your account any further. From now on, all offences on the forums will be in-game offences.

Essentially, if you had less than 3 strikes, you need not worry as they will have no affect on your forum account at all.

If you have 3 strikes, you may post on the Account Review Thread, but be warned that the offences will carry over to your in-game account.

So, in short. Ignore any previous strikes on your account, they should no longer affect you, unless you had three, in which case you can post on the Account Review Thread.

= Raven = =

Hi guys,

We are aware that there is an issue with evidence not showing. We're working on that as we speak, so we should hopefully have it sorted soon.

= Raven =

"Mr Raven

Does that mean I now have no strikes and if i continue to break forum rules I'll get an in game ban instead?

I currently have/had 2 forum strikes you see. "

Yup. Your previous strikes currently aren't being used. Any new offences will result in an equivalent in-game offence.

= Raven =

"I'm wondering @ how does the appeal system actually work?

Do you have a team of people who actually READ the appeals, or is some of it just done by bots..If the latter, can this be inaccurate? "

We have a team of real people, that look at all the evidence on the account as well as who was in control at the time.

Don't worry, we don't do bots here.

= Raven =

"Could you please post in more detail about what happens to accounts that are currently permanently banned? I still don't understand what it means :s And I can't get into world 1 because it's packed..."

If an account is permanently banned, under the new system, then it has proved to be a danger to the game and the community.

As such any permanently banned accounts will not be returned to game.

= Raven =

"You said you were changing the update interface?

Why hasn't anything changed :S "

The update interface change should be going live tomorrow. Fear not.

= Raven =

"Mod Raven i asked Mod Sallyd this same question in game but she is very busy my question is , If you had a black mark before and now it is removed will you have the same chance as a player mod as those who never had an offense? "

Player Mods aren't chosen solely on their account status. We look at a much wider range of criteria (which is not a topic for this thread), but, in terms of black marks, yes you will have the same chance as someone with no black marks.

= Raven =

"Firstly, I had 2 forum strikes a while ago, and you are saying that 3 should lead to a permanent mute or ban on an account? Do you really think that this is fair? Many accounts are given strikes on the forum for stupid things such as spamming, or posting threads in the wrong section - this happened to me 2 years ago.. Yet ingame you can get 3 offences for spamming/language type incidents and no action will be taken about your account."

Ah, you misunderstand.

Strikes are no longer going to have any affect on your account. Where we would have had strikes, we will now have the equivalent in-game offence.

Spam on the forums, you'll get the same offence as if you had spammed in-game.

It should be easier to understand how offences work that way.

"Secondly, this is kind of off topic, but when you said that you do not have bots when you read appeals, this is either not true or you just do not read some of them.. one of my friends sent in a stupid appeal and it got accepted.."

Nope, they were read by real people, but, believe it or not, quite a few people send "stupid appeals", because they believe they're funny. We still take the time to review each offence fully and if we feel it doesn't deserve the punishment, then we'll accept the appeal.

= Raven =

[Kimojuno]

""Degrading black mark system"
Seriously it aint degrading, the offence only disappear after 12 months... That means a perm banned account wont be back in game for 1 year!
My friend lvl 136 who have played over 5 years used a macroing script for 1 simple day. He got perm banned for it. Appeal was denied 2 times.
I think all players should deserve a second chance.
Do he have to wait one year to play runescape again? Thats stupid do you really think he is going to do it again?
He regret it very much and aint gonna do it again...

Why can`t all players get one second chanche!?"

If they were permanently banned and still are, then they won't be returning in 12 months time. To get your account permanently banned requires severe rulebreaking and we can't allow that back into the game.

However, the Account Review Thread is now open, so feel free to post on that thread and we'll see if that offence still deserves a permanent ban.

= Raven =

A legacy punishment is one from the old system, many moons ago, before the systems changed.

If an offence has been crossed out, it will remain crossed out. This is so that you can keep track of your account history. Don't worry, if it's crossed out it will have no negative impact on you whatsoever.

= Raven =

"After appealing more than 2 infractions on your account you receive this message:

"Sorry, you have tried to make too many appeals recently - your IP has been temporarily blocked from making appeals. Please try again later."

Is this a bug or is this just Jagex's way of saying you can do something and then not really letting you do it?

Also, my reason for appeal on some of my infractions was due to the fact that now when you select "show me the evidence" there is nothing there. It only states that it was an offence report but you no longer get the clip of what you supposedly said that was reported. I appealed these infractions because if you can't show me evidence then you must not have any therefore there is no proof that I actually did something wrong, hence, my account should reflect such. "

I don't believe it's a bug, it's a security feature, but I shall pass it on for investigation.

We are aware that there is an issue with evidence not showing up on the player's screen. We still have a copy of the evidence, so we do have reasons for why offences were given. We're working on making the evidence visible to the players again.

Sorry for the confusion.

= Raven =

"Mod Raven,
I am all for allowing second chances etc, but do you really think it is appropriate for accounts with 10.0 black marks and last chance just to go straight down to the green zone like nothing has happened?

Do you not think it should ATLEAST keep that player in the warning section, if not danger. "

Honestly, if that player has learned from their mistakes and has not committed them again, then no, I see no harm in giving them a clean slate.

We all grow up and learn from our mistakes. I used to scratch cars with rocks when I was 3 (no honestly, my parents hated me), I don't really think I should be tarnished forever more because of my ignorance at that tender age.

I don't think in-game offences should be any different.

If it was a severe offence that was committed, then I think it's best to keep them removed from the game (much as you would remove a murderer for as long as possible), but anything less than that and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

= Raven =

"yeah 12 months is a very long time to go without an account, i think its a fair time for for minor offences but i dont think jagex seem to realise that 2 or 3 years is more than enough for serious offences"

I disagree. The really serious offences, those that warrant a permanent ban, severely damage the community and the game. There's no excuse for this level of bad behaviour and I don't think it's fair to give them another chance.

= Raven =

Hi 103discs,

You can still appeal offences as it is still possible that a mistake could have been made or it wasn't your fault. If an appeal is successful then the offence will be instantly removed. If it is denied then it will be applied to your account as always but will degrade eventually over time.

Although offences will degrade they can still build up if a player continues to break rules and will eventually lead to possible bans or mutes.

- Mod Crow -

Hi Smash Bulten,

The apologise function wasn't really a useful feature. It did not alter the fact that a rule had been broken and we also found that a lot of people simply selected it out of habit, even if they were not responsible for the offence.

With the new system you can appeal the offence if it wasn't your fault or leave it be if you know it was. You do not need to use an appeal trying to apologise for it.

- Mod Crow -

Hi guys,

I'm off now, but don't worry, the thread will be being covered.

To clarify, even though accepted appeals stay on your account (crossed out), they're merely records of offences that have been on your account. Accepted appeals won't count towards the accrued offences on your account. You won't be muted/banned as a result of an accepted appeal.

I hope this helps.

= Raven =

Hi 103discs,

I think we're getting our lines crossed here. If an appeal is accepted then that means it was successful. As a result the offence is instantly removed from the account. A denied appeal isn't successful and so the offences will remain on the account until they expire.

Rare Master

Banned accounts will be given a second chance. Older banned accounts may have already been returned to play or now be eligible to appeal again. The only accounts which will not be affected are the ones which committed really serious offences.

Djpailo

All offences are actioned and the appropriate punishments given. If a user continues to break the rules then the punishment will keep building. This new system allows for people top learn from their mistakes but does not allow them to get away with rule breaking.

"In The United States, in some states, it is a capital punishment to commit murder, but it is NOT a capital punishment to commit a ****. I think the analogy used here is poor. To generalize all serious rule breakers as murderers is purely absurd and quite frankly hurtful. Everyone makes mistakes, and believe me, when we make mistakes with loved ones they feel twice as bad. It doesn't matter what we did, most people feel guilty. Again it feels as if there is no compassion for players that have changed."

The new system is designed to help those who have changed, as the punishments will reduce over time. The only offences which are not affected are the ones where an individual has done something truly severe.

Goth Girl185

With the new system all offences will be properly dealt with. As mentioned above, the system allows for people to learn from their mistakes but is not a 'get out of jail free' system where people can just continue offending.

- Mod Crow -

Hey Guys,

Mod Kris J here! I'm the Project manager of the new offence system so I thought I would step in to answer a couple of you questions and clear up any issues. I really don't want to get into a debate into comparing real world offences to in game offences, as I don't really think you can compare the two, but I want you all to get a sense of what we have tried to achieve here.

Degrading offences - we felt that people who had committed minor offences over a year ago deserved to have those offences removed. Now yes, what you define as minor and what we define as minor, may well be down too subjective opinion, but we have created a system that we think is balanced and fair.

Importantly, any player who has committed what we deem to be a serious offence will remain banned and never be allowed back into game. There are no exceptions to this.

I have read that there are perhaps problem with you seeing evidence in the account management page. This is obviously not supposed to happen and we are working on this and aim to have it fixed soon.

Thanks,

Mod Kris j

[Kimojuno]

"But I am baffled why all offences, (even the serious ones) are re-appealable. Surely then it means that any appeal that is submitted (from a player with a serious offence) will be rejected. Why raise false hope?"

There is always the possibility that a mistake was made or that the offence was not as serious as was first thought. Giving another chance to appeal could allow some to see those offences removed. It's not false hope as there is always a chance that the offence could be removed.

- Mod Crow -

Hi there,

No AFK training is still against the rules.

With the new rules we tried to steer clear of explicitly stating every possible way to break the rules.

This caused people to follow the "letter of the law" rather than the "spirit of the law" which ultimately had a negative impact on the community.

Rather than having 16 separate rules, we now have 3 easy to understand concepts.

Honour, respect and security.

Meaning all a player really needs to remember is:-

"Am I playing Honourably?"

If something gives you an unfair advantage (like AFK training) then no, you're not playing honourably.

"Am I playing respectfully?"

Disruptive behaviour, offensive language, these are disrespectful to your fellow players (and yourself).

"Am I playing securely?"

If you're giving out personal details left right and centre, then you risk not only your account but your own real world safety.

We could go back to the old system and give a list of every possible offence and every sub-offence within that. But we think that the community will benefit from the three concepts, rather than lots of numbered rules.

= Raven =

Hi guys,

Multi-logging is still against the rules. We haven't explicitly stated it, but we do reference it in the rules.

"I have two accounts. Can my friend play one so my two characters can trade with each other?

Trading between two characters owned by one player is not permitted.

Can I give items to another player from one of my accounts, so that they can then give the items to another character that I play?

You may not transfer items between your accounts in any way."

The reason we haven't explicitly stated it, is that we're aiming to move away from the numbered rules format. Or rather, we want to avoid players following the "letter of the law" rather than the "spirit of the law".

The rules are currently split into 3 concepts, honour, respect and security. The idea being that it should be easy to remember those three concepts.

Are you playing honourably?
Are you being respectful?
Are you keeping yourself and your account secure?

That's all you really need to remember.

If you're doing something that is giving you an unfair advantage (such as multi-logging) then you're not playing honourably.

So, in short, yes it is still against the rules.

= Raven =

Hi guys,

We are aware that there are a few issues following on from the New Offence System update.

Accounts unable to log in

Anyone who is currently not in the red zone (and has yet to acquire a recent mute/ban) should be able to log into the game without any trouble. However, some people are currently unable to log into the game.

We are aware of this issue and we are working on a fix which should go live within the next 24 hours.

Evidence

We are aware that some players are trying to appeal offences, only to find that the evidence screen is currently blank.

We are currently working on this issue and a fix should be going live in the next 24 hours.

If you are encountering any other problems, leaving your account permanently banned/muted please post on the Account Review Thread and we will investigate further.

We apologise any inconvenience caused.

= Raven =

Hey Pure_M0ker,

I've just answered this question on I Need A Mod - here's what I posted:


Here's an excerpt from the KB which should answer your question:

Under most circumstances, you will be allowed to appeal each offence only once. If you are a long-term member of the RuneScape player community, however, and your first appeal is unsuccessful, we may give you a second appeal. This second appeal will become available 21 days after your first appeal is rejected. If your second appeal is unsuccessful, the relevant offence will remain on your account, together with any related penalty. You will not be given a third appeal.

Thanks,
Mod Hohbein ,


Hope that helps, thanks.

Mod Hohbein