I'd like to play...I didn't do anything wrong.

I have things people wanted me to make for them, I gave them days they could expect their items. Thankfully I know people i can have tell those people what happened.

I've emailed support on 4-28 at 10pm central time, I knew it was their off hours so I didn't expect anything that night. It's now about 2:30 am central on 4-30 and I haven't heard a yes or no about my account. I'd be happy with a note to say we're looking into it. Nada, nothing.

At this point I'm mad at my brother for getting himself banned, mad at the reporter just because it's my right to be, and on my way to getting mad at LL for banning an IP used by other people and not responding to an email from a customer that has managed to get at least 3 other people signed up and has one looking into broadband so she can play.

I've been in the customer service business for many years, I feel that a 'we got your email' auto message isn't enough for a customer with a legitimate concern. I'm just feeling bitter and ignored at the moment so maybe I'm just being unreasonable.

Sorry to hear that Kenny.

Kenny,

sorry to hear about that also. but, at least the auto-reply let's you know they got it and that it will be tended to.

unfortunately, from what i can tell, LL has been swamped lately. between being a (comparitively) small company, the loads of emails to deal with, switching everything over to Havoc 2, dealing with bugs, dealing with real-time in-world issues, and so on.. i'm sure they're stretched *just a tad* thin.

keep your chin up, i'm sure they'll get around to it. when they do, see if there's a way for them to allow your username only to access from that IP.

hope we get to see you in-world soon..

HAVOK!

Good luck on your quest to get access to the system.

However, try to take a look at this from Linden's side. Here they are faced with a (apparently) TOS violater, of which they've had to resort to an IP ban to keep out. If you and your brother used the same IP, how are they supposed to know which one is which at logon time. Is it you, or is it your brother that's trying to log in? What if it's your account, but your brother using it to sneak in under your access? (What if there's no brother, and it's all the voices in one's head?)

There plenty of reason for the Lindens to feel that they may not want to run that risk. If that means the only relatively-reliable way to keep your brother off is by IP, then you may be out of luck. If they do manage to allow you in by account, then I applaud them for their kindness - many other MMORPG's wouldn't have even bothered.

Besides.....there's no point blaming the Lindens. If your brother got himself (justly) banned, then he's the one that caused your getting kicked out. The Lindens didn't force him to say or do anything he may have done to warrant the ban, he did those all on his own.



- Newfie Pendragon

Sorry Kenny.. LL use to always get back to people within 24 hours.. thats obvoiusly not the case anymore. I hope they let you back in you've been nothing but a positive influence in SL. Hang in there

They will get back to you, I just get the feeling that they're a little backed up right now. If the forums are anything to go by, there were a lot of suspensions the past few days.

Cry Havok! And loose the wombats of war!

Yeah, I didn't know about the SA goon situation until I started reading the forum. I see now they're totally swamped. It has been 2 days now though. I'd imagine it'd be possible to get through at least the first day's emails by now.

I have about 13 pcs (5 SL capable) in the house, we've had up to four in SL at the same time from this particular IP. It's quite apparent that Kenny Zapata is not Kano Kahn. We don't hang out in the same areas, talk to many of the same people, and I don't have a single neg rating.

I'm not blaming the Lindens for banning him, I wouldn't blame them if they decided to keep this IP banned. I'm just annoyed at not getting any type of response.

If they do decide to keep it banned then it was nice to meet those of you I did and i regret not meeting the rest of you.

i would really like to see an amicable resolution to this..

there must be something that can be figured out for you. and yeah, they are pretty swamped. if you read through the transcript from yesterdays Town Hall, it's addressed there. something about 20% customer service to SLer email.. not sure how it was put, but they admit they're swamped and are actively looking to hire more people to help.

so hang in there, they'll get to you.. i just hope they can help you.

otherwise, would a different modem work? say, one modem for all the other comps and one for the comp that only you would use to access SL?

hope we see you soon

My Internet Provider (Comcast)
Has Changed My Ip 3 times this month.
Most Cable modem Ip addresses are dynamic.

All you need do is call the internet provider and ask them to change it .

Banning by IP is simply a waste of time. What about the poor person that gets a banned IP and cant log on through no fault of their own?

In short what I found out about Sl an Banning is that its not logical most of the time. People are still Here that shouldn't be and others are banned for almost nothing.

Well back to the radio station

I have DSL and my IP is static for a reason, I pay extra a month for it. Otherwise I could just cycle the DSU to refresh the IP. It took a month to get my static IP from my ISP, and that was their offseason. Now it would take 2 months to get my IP changed.

I'd cost me another 40 a month for a second IP, I can't afford 10 extra a month for a better membership...i forgot how broke college students are until I became one again

I could put an old 56K into my pc but then SL would lag baaaaaaaaad and I don't want to insult poor Eternity that way

I agree, the banning really doesn't work most of the time since most IPs are dynamic. Unless it hits a case like mine. And even then it's flawed since more than one uses that IP. Imagine a college dorm, most of the time the whole dorm would use two or three static IPs.

My brother says his ban is two weeks long. So in that time I guess I could get Fueltanker to log in for me at least once a week so I could get that little stipend

Hehehe, my friend Scarecrow Hamilton is organizing a free Kenny Zapata rally. Anyone want to particpate IM him

[/B]

Kenny,
Some people (I wont name names, I Never do )
Shouldn't have access to a light switch much less a computer,
I guess the designers of Sl didnt THINK that some addresses are dynamic. I quit playing last November for several reasons which i wont rehash here, I do go into world once in a blue moon and look around, but not often.

Uhhh... well, can you think of ANOTHER way to ban their computer?

I'll save you time and tell you the answer is no, there is no other way to ban a computer besides through IP. They always say that he who calls his superiors stupid often makes himself look stupider.

I can think of a way, a really good way. You build into the program a sort of CDkey like other games have. Store this key encrypted and hidden in the registry and make sure it stays there even if the program is uninstalled and reinstalled. You ban that key, it would ban a single computer and operating system. The only way the user could get around it is to locate that hidden key and delete it in the registry. A normal user wouldn't know anything about editing the registry.

This would eliminate broad IP bans, but would open yourself up to people with multiple computers such as myself being able to get around that. Also, a format or full reinstall of the OS would also get around the ban. But combined with a username ban it could be quite effective.

The only problem would be if multiple SL users used the same computer, but that basically creates my situation which is apparently acceptible.

I would suggest Linden Labs look into a system such as this because IP bans are just plain useless in today's dynamic environment.

Actually, since SL is not an "offline" game, but "online", there are many more ways to do this using the client...

1. Scan the system's MAC address, send it to the LL database. Block the MAC address, which never changes (yes, you can change it sometimes)
2. Scan the system's Hard Drive Serial Number, sent it to the LL database.
3. Use a combination like "fingerprinting", similar to the way Microsoft does for their Product Activation. Using MAC address, Hard Drive Serial, Processor Serial, etc. will almost guarantee a 100% accurate "fingerprint" of the system to be banned.

All of this information can be communicated from the Server to the Client very easily, and can be done in a manner that doesn't violate the end-user's privacy.

I submit for your consideration that the fact you're banned by IP - and it is successfully keeping both yourself and your brother out - as proof positive that it apparently can work and aren't "just plain useless".

Banning by IP does have its side-effects, as you're finding out the hard way. But in the case of SL, which is a broadband service, they have a larger number of static (or quasi-static) users than one would find on basic dialup. Compared to the alternative methods of identifying a user on the internet, IP seems to be about as reliable as any - and less prone to evasion.


- Newfie Pendragon

It's useful if the user has a static such as I do. Most broadband addresses are dynamic for end user security's sake. IP is the easiest to get around, easier than getting around a registry or hardware profile ID. I'm not saying it's useless to keep that IP out, I'm saying since most IPs are dynamic an IP ban is useless.

IP banning is a quick and dirty way of getting rid of problems. The larger a game grows the less useful it is. Right now not many SL users are going to be using the same ISP but as it grows more users are going to be in the same IP pool. What if someone gets IP banned and they recycle their IP into the pool, another SL user picks up that IP and they are banned accidently while the offender is free to reenter the world with another account?

I haven't been able to check yet but I received an email stating that I should be able to get back in. I'll do that later after I get home from class. Thanks to all those that gave me their support

Yay I can play again

I'd email the Linden's back to say thanks but they get so much as it is. I'll just say it here, thank you very much for getting me back in SL

Now if you can just keep your brother off your system/IP address.

welcome back! glad it all worked out in the end!

perhaps i'll run into you in-world sometime ad can wave /hello.

** deleted **

I don't think anyone mentioned this. I bet LL knows alot better than to do anything more than a host ban otherwise they could catch more than one household.

I hope I catch you in world as well Cybin, I owe you a pos rating for being so nice here