1) Are alts actually allowed, even if you do not violate these two rules below?

From Wiki (Rules):
a) "You shall not operate more than one WarLight account in a way that gives you an advantage in a game, tournament or ladder."
b) "You may never operate or access more than one account with a coin balance or that plays coin games, and that account may never be used by another person."


This seems to state we cannot have alts at all...

From TOS (13A):
"You agree to use the Website and the Services provided through this Website only for lawful purposes and to behave in a fair manner. Unacceptable uses and behavior that is deemed unacceptable include, without limitation: (i)...(ix) opening and/or using multiple Accounts;"






2) Are we not allowed to have anyone 'babysit' an account temporarily? Even if you do not use it for an advantage or coins, there is still the issue with only operating a single account as stated in TOS 13A. Additionally...

From TOS (5B):
"Your Account is not transferable. Under no circumstances shall You allow or permit any other person or third party, including without limitation any person under the legal age to participate in a game in Your applicable Jurisdiction, and in no event any person under the age of thirteen (13) years, to use or re-use Your Account or Your Identifiers in such a way that may breach the standards or laws in any Jurisdiction where You are located and/or are a resident, or where such other person is located and/or is a resident. Any person found to have violated this section may be reported to the relevant authorities."



I would really like some clarification on these as there are a ton of alts out there. I personally have one that I am careful not to violate rules with. But, it would be good to know if alts and/or babysitting is not allowed AT ALL.

Edited 8/19/2015 18:58:31

Not WL Staff, but I'm presuming that those TOS (like most TOS's) are overly broad just to give WL Staff the flexibility to do what's necessary if they can't pin you on a more specific charge.

So technically, under these, alts don't seem to be allowed. But Fizzer's stated that, in practice, he's only enforcing this rule when alts are used to game the game.

^ Correct.


So technically:

https://www.warlight.net/LadderTeam?LadderTeamID=4773 Against the rules.

https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=9306961 Not against the rules.

The ToS needs a full rewrite. They're broken multiple times a day by many people and no one seems to care which seems to mean that Fizzer doesn't believe in the rules. (Or at least in my experience)

I was fighting for either the rules to be enforced or changed but I gave up on that.

Maybe someone should bring it up in the next AMA/QnA/Fizzer answers crap session.

Meh.

Well, while the rules about ALt's are stricter then "needed" it is easiest that way. For instance, if someone gets a ban/suspension on their main account they can't just make a new one, because ALT's are not allowed. (Or in practise, not allowed to use, in order to bypass suspension)

I suppose it doesn't really matter very much. Fizzer hasn't taken any action, or at least very little, on this area of the rules.

Edited 8/19/2015 20:34:01

^^ TBest's point is also worth considering. Some laws/rules exist mainly as catch-alls.

Well, I agree the TOS is probably meant to cover more than it needs to. At the same time we've actually had some crack downs lately (suspensions, deleting posts, etc.) for things gone unchecked in the past.

While I applaud those efforts, I just want to make sure those who are doing things that were 'OK' in the past (against the TOS probably, but Fizzer has said are fine), do not suddenly get punished. Nobody likes a bad surprise.

^ Yeah. I hope Fizzer gives us a warning before he starts cracking down on all alts. I'm willing to give up meta knyte and the others if Fizzer deems alts to be a problem. But given that other individuals play WL using the same router as me, I hope he sets up a system where that doesn't become an issue should he decide to take out all alts.

unfortunately, the set of issues:
same family / same house / same apartment / same IP address / same school / same work

are, in my personal experience as an ordinary gamer, the major impediment to stopping most cheating in most games.

either game's operators ban a lot of people who learned of the game
thru word-of-mouth, (free advertising), or alts run rampant. :(

Sadly, there are a lot of games where a better method could literally save the game.

in the first AMA he said that having alts was a grey zone at the moment, and unless you would use them to get an unfair advantage (playing in ffa or joining the other team) he wouldn't prosecute you for it

He can't prosecute for violating TOS. He can ban, nothing more. A license violation deems the license null. It's not punishable by jailtime or fines.

@Purple, Unless Fizzer is a representative of the state, I don't think he can personally prosecute anyone.

I'm not saying im over or under 18 but when i joined, it never asked for age or told me not to play coin games if i was under 18, also it gave me free coins

Example 1:
Fizzer is aware of my alt and I even asked him explicitely to remove the (free) coins from it. The coins were indeed removed and the alt was allowed to stay.

According to the ToS to the letter, this is not allowed. On the other hand, I clearly operate it both (it's announced on its profile) and I use both accounts either on the same team only 1 per tournament/ladder (unless in the same team). Since I have a membership for both and I'm not doing anything wrong with it, it's in his best interest to allow it and there is no reason why anyone would be bothered by it.


Example 2:
Someone recently played coin tournaments with 2 accounts. It is unclear whether this person was aware of it, but he was banned as soon as this was brought to Fizzer's attention. (Those who follow the forum know who I'm talking about.)

According to the ToS, this is explicitely not allowed and although technically Fizzer could get advantage from it (if both accounts actually bought the coins and they play a lot giving him the 10%), this situation is clearly abuse of the system and it's in Fizzer's best interest to at least temporarily suspend them and take away (some of) the coins.


What does this teach us:
If you use your alt wisely and fairly, Fizzer won't suspend you. Worst case scenario that I can currently imagine would be that alts would be asked to quit following a future change to the site that would require the rules to be followed even stricter. However, if you try to game the system in any way, you may be suspended. If coins are involved and you are gaming the system, you will get suspended as soon as anyone finds out and informs Fizzer.

What is the point of alts anyway?

What is the point of alts anyway?

Cheating
posting with it (to stay anonymious)
Getting extra coins (as mentioned above)
Spying on other clans
Playing with it (for exampe a lv 1 player beats a lv 50. Then its pretty sure an alt)
etc, etc...

I'm not saying im over or under 18 but when i joined, it never asked for age or told me not to play coin games if i was under 18, also it gave me free coins.

Coin games aren't gambling since they are purely skill-based.
It's basically an online arcade.

Still not sure if someone is allowed to operate two accounts on the ladder at the same time as long as they never play against each other.

Need Fizzer to chime in.

don't think that 2 accounts at once on the same ladder (excluding 2v2) is allowed chris, as you can't choose your opponents so there is always a chance that they will meet. I recall fizzer saying something like that during the first AMA, not completely sure