Update: Daybreak Games to Unban Accounts That Purchased Third-Party Keys

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Commentary, EQ2

prisoners-release

Thousands of EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Planetside 2 players have purchased content packs and expansions from discount websites such as Steam, PlayerAuctions, and G2A over the last five months. This was all fine and dandy until it turned out that all of these purchases originated with large fraudulent purchases from Steam. The platform’s publisher Valve Inc sent an eyewatering bill to Daybreak Games for thousands of dollars. Valve’s failure to recognize and address this issue until the problem had snowballed to this point is a topic for another article, but what is more near and dear to Daybreak Customers is what will happen with these numerous banned accounts.

I’m sure the peanut gallery will be quick to dismiss affected players as cheaters and cheapskates. However what they’d fail to realize is that many of these expansions and content packs were gifted to other players by friends, family, and guildmates months ago and now these bans are striking accounts which have been active for upwards of 17 years.

After 24 hours of forum debate (especially on the EverQuest forums which were the harder hit community), it seems that cooler heads have prevailed and the bans will be lifted. Instead, the illegitimate content packs and expansions will be stripped from players’ accounts, allowing them to buy them from trusted sources. Now would be a great time for a proper sale, perhaps $25 for the EverQuest II expansion (since the new one is just four-and-a-half months away) or $120 for six keys.

Here’s the e-mail that affected players received:

botting_ban_reason2

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Comments (11)

  • Praezeptor

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    Hi Feldon, from where did you get this info?

    Instead, the illegitimate content packs and expansions will be stripped from players’ accounts, allowing them to buy them from trusted sources.

    Is that official or an assumption?

    Reply

    • Feldon

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      It’s my current understanding. Subject to change.

      Reply

      • Praezeptor

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        Ok, thank you for your reply. My Account was reopened today and until now the ToT-Expansion is still listed when i use the command “/show_account_features” in-game. But i let me surprise whats happens the next days. Thank you for the informations over the day! Greetings from Thurgadin

        Reply

        • Feldon

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          So…

          Reply

          • Praezeptor

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            You’ve understood correctly, and I bow my head :mrgreen:
            Much worse it has hit the EQ players. In EQ II although the addon has been removed, but items, recipes, and other things have been preserved.
            There is a lesson to me to be to buy from third partys. But a new purchase i prefer not to recital. Whether I’m going to buy the new addon in November … we will see. Fewer and fewer content for more and more money. Perhaps it is also time to say goodbye. The only thing that has reached me the whole action, my accounts are now running only as F2P. I paid for 2 accounts over 12 years + Addons (1 time always the Collector edition). Clearly it is not the fault of DGC, if the key was illegal. But I think it would have given to the customer to take determined better opportunities.

            Greetings from Thurgadin

            Praezeptor

            Reply

  • Necromancer

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    All things considered I think that’s the fairest outcome for all parties.

    Reply

  • Archangel

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    Very surprising, relatively quick reaction.

    Thumbs up Daybreak.

    I do pity the fools who ripped off Daybreak customers, and Daybreak.

    Norex Petroleum Ltd v. Leonard Blavatnik,
    New York State Court of Appeals, No. 121

    themoscowtimes.com/business/article/u-s-court-charges-renova-group-billionaire-duo-for-armed-takeover-in-russia/502610.html
    “New York’s top state court on Thursday reinstated Canadian oil company Norex Petroleum’s $1 billion lawsuit claiming that two billionaires used armed soldiers and corrupted Russian court proceedings to gain control of a Siberian oilfield.

    In a unanimous decision that reversed two lower courts, the Court of Appeals in Albany rejected claims by the billionaires, Renova Group-founders Leonard Blavatnik and Viktor Vekselberg, and companies they control”

    Viktor Vekselberg –> Renova Group –> Columbus Nova –> Daybreak

    /*

    “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
    Yogi Berra

    Reply

    • GriffonLady

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      Did we really think SONY would leave us in good hands when they sold SOE? :\

      Reply

  • Nom

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    >> All things considered I think that’s the fairest <<
    Oh really? I bought my expansion via Steam at full price. How is this fair?

    Reply

  • Alphonsus

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    Still Banned, Still no reply from DBG support, Ticket over a week old, and last but not least. Can not log into any Daybreak forums or help websites from Home, Work, or Cell unless I change my IP address. WTG DBG.

    Reply

  • Capras

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    Why doesnt get all of the affected persons/accounts an email? Im banned/suspended too but didnt get any email for this. So I made a new account and a ticket and got the information that Im banned too because of the use of third-party keys but the nice thing is: I never used such third-party keys, the only keys I ever redeemed were the keys I got from SOE in the time I was a guide… So its a nice thing that there owne keys make a warning suchs as third-party keys, so WTF Daybreak? 😕

    Reply

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