Alright, I had a few questions on this subject. I've been looking around and all I've managed to find on the subject of stat-padding and boosting thus far is that, 2 or 3 years ago, some people were banned temporarily and stat-wiped. However, I have been entirely unable to find an official rules or set of terms that include anything mentioning that it's against the game rules to have someone assist you in completing directives on the opposite team. I wanted to ask about this as I had never read or heard anything against it (and I did read through the terms and conditions twice, though It's possible I missed something), and yet it sounds like people were banned. Although, this was all in the 'SOE and Higby' era of Planetside 2, and none of the posts I've found have been discussing it after it was changed to Daybreak. Essentially, nothing modern, everything was 2 or 3 years old. From what I assumed, since I could find no such rule(s), boosting was harshly punished in the 'Higby/SOE era' and was a listed rule, but was removed, moved, or changed for some reason when Daybreak came in. However, I have found no proof of there ever being such a rule even in the 'Higby/SOE era', all except general player reports that people were supposedly temp-banned and stat-wiped. Question 1: Is there a current rule enforced that explicitly says you are not permitted to directive boost? Question 2: If so, where is it, and what does it say? I'm asking this as I genuinely didn't think there was anything against it (as I couldn't find anything) and wanted help with a directive, which a friend helped me get progress towards. I never thought wrong of it until someone witnessed it and said they were going to report it. The in-game report menu does not feature a 'boosting' option, or any alternative, to the best of my knowledge. So, I've seriously looked up as much as I could and I'm worried about being stat-wiped and banned for an unspoken rule, unless I've seriously somehow managed to miss it entirely, if this person was serious about reporting me. After 720 hours and reaching 80 BR, a stat wipe is just about the most terrifying thing possible for a game I love as much as this. I never wanted to break a rule, I figured this was just something some general players hated but mods didn't care for. If it truly is against the rules I wish to cease it immediately, (and I have by now of course) but I'm fearing the potential of it being too late. Question 3: Assuming the worst in all cases, Is there any way to appeal offensive action, if punished? Especially since I haven't seen this rule before, assuming it does exist. The friend that assisted me has also reviewed the terms and rules and found nothing against it, and is worried of their own account being stat-wiped as well. Neither of us are or were aware of a rule preventing this behavior. (We were both unaware of the supposed bans 2 or 3 years ago in the 'Higby/SOE era', and this information is entirely new to us. We would've never attempted this had we known of this, whether or not a rule was present in the terms and conditions, and we most certainly would've never done it if we had seen such a rule.)
I wouldn't be worried. Your directive score isn't hurting anyone else and you're not costing Daybreak any money because you can't get any of the directive rewards by spending money (black camo being the exception, but you still need to get the kills to get it) Buuuuuuuuut I can't definitively say that no one's ever been banned for directive boosting.
You mean doing something like stat-padding? Low risk, but you may be banned. Don't know where it's written, but it would be against the rules.
Do you realise how inconsistent is your statement ? You are saying "I do not know the rules but I know it is against the rules." This is not a criticism to what you said, but to the absurdity of not having clear rules. It is similar situation of using macros/scripts. All half-decent gaming devices have a macro engine more or less sophisticated. And even without that, there is AutoHotKey with its own programming language that is pretty powerful (I was a software engineer in a former life). Yet there are no written rules. And you can spot an user using scripts (auto ADAD, spam crouch,...) from miles, without speaking of weapon "enhancements" more or less helpful. I believe those are tolerated and the lack of clear rules is on purpose. As someone pointed out a game software producer can't say intelligent gaming devices are not allowed. At least stat-padders do not hurt anybody.
https://www.planetside2.com/eula More specifically: 2.3 Responsibilities of End User You agree that you shall not, under any circumstances: ........(f) use, post, host or distribute macros, "bots" or other programs which would allow unattended game play or which otherwise impact game play, including without limitation any program which enables or facilitates character kills or level increases; The rule is clear, no macros, the 'unattended gameplay' bit is a dead giveaway. Detecting proving and banning individuals for doing such is, as i understand it, apparently quite difficult.
i'm not sure if they do ban stat padders (most companies do), but they certainly should... but by grinding out 5800 kills you're going to "earn" a mountain of certs and you can buy other things that are sold for DBC i've played for YEARS and i'm nowhere near unlocking things like the Kraken which few people have, do you really think its fair that some noob can sit in the corner of the map and grind his alt for a day and have such a prestigious reward? stat padding is cheating and should be treated as such.
Nope. It does not say "no macros", it says no macro to play unattended or facilitate character kills or level increases. That is the problem. If I have a macro to go ADS and switch on the overshield is it QoL or I can kill more with that?
No go back an re-read. It says: You agree that you shall not, under any circumstances;.....use, post, host or distribute macros.....which would allow unattended game play or..... What this means is you agree not to use macros to allow for unattended gameplay. If for example, you press 1 button, then for the next minute your character moves on its own (because of macro inputs) that is unattended gameplay. You dont have to pay attention to your characters movements for that 1 minute your macro is doing it. So if someone for example has a ADADADAD macro, all they must do for the length of their macro time is aim their gun, half of their gameplay is 'unattended'. In your example youve answered your own question, youve given yourself a QOL improvement over some1 who hasnt used a macro, youve gained an advantage. The other player has to pay attention to holding RMB and pressing F, youve just pressed 1 macro button. Sure the gain is minimal, but its still unattended gameplay, you dont have to pay attention to engaging your shield. If there were no benefit it couldnt possibly be called a QOL improvement. The OR is an 'or', not an 'and', any macro where 1 button press takes the place of multiple button presses automatically creates unattended gameplay. It doesnt have to boost your kills or even score. I dont think the EULA could be any clearer.
Thanks for the answer. I was interpreting "unattended gameplay" as a macro/script/something that performs actively on its own (an aimbot) that is quite different from a passive macro that sequences two or more atomic actions (or even a voice activated action): PS2 itself exhibits this behavior, e.g. de-cloaking automatically upon pressing the trigger, or switching to the main weapon after using a MedKit. And yes, the example I mentioned provides an advantage, albeit small. But that is a different topic, because then a better keyboard, a more precise mouse, a 7:1 sound system, a bigger monitor, higher resolution, more FPS (low FPS decreases RoF), a fast WAN connection, all those things produce advantages.
