terms-of-service
Can a moderation team in a game extend a ban that you have just because they want to
<p>I have been playing a game called VRChat for quite a while now. There is a lot of toxicity and corruption by the staff in this game and I have previous use and bans because of using a modified client (cheats). However, I have not done really anything to harm people, crash their game in a long long time like the stuff used to be like a couple of years ago and now just like to chill and have fun with friends. I got banned a little over a week ago for again using a modified client, I had not been on for weeks prior to 2 days I went on being June 27-18 and being only with friends who I trust. I was banned for only 7 days which is reasonable enough, not that long. I asked them first of all for the 7 days ban to why and all they answered with was because of the modified client and that it was not my first offense. In my defense, I said I had not done anything in a lot of time and I gave them my theory of maintenance that happened the day I got banned, that maybe it was false, and gave them my output log but got nothing in return. I gave up and waiting it out. I counted down the days and then the hours and then right as I was about to get unbanned they extended it to 2 months for no reason. It was not a new ban as I checked and the start date is the same as the 7 days, and I could not have broken anything else since I did not even have a chance to get on. I have also never gotten a 2-month ban before, it is really weird and I've never seen really anyone get it. I wrote to them again saying with but I have gotten no response, no real reason or evidence as to why they banned me and then decided to randomly extend it at literally the last second. It makes no sense and I feel attacked by this corrupt team. I do not exactly know if it against the rules for them just to extend a ban willy nilly when they want and if I can actually build a case against this. I am thinking about getting an arbitrator involved as shown in Section 24 of the TOS but do not know exactly how I can do this or build a case against them.</p>
<p>I do feel personally attacked by the VRC moderation team and they shouldn't be able to just extend bans for 2 whole months on the game I love and keep me away from the people I love all willy nilly cause they feel like it. VRC has been even banning avatar creators, the backbone to their game, like crazy for NSFW avatars when they are not even NSFW, just show some skin. The game is really falling apart.
If anyone knows anything about this, that would be great. Thanks</p>
<p>Here is their TOS
<a href="https://www.vrchat.com/legal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.vrchat.com/legal</a></p>

<blockquote>
<p>Can a moderation team in a game extend a ban that you have just because they want to</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>TL;DR</strong></p>
<p>Yes and no.</p>
<p>It's their platform and you broke the rules that you agreed to. Therefore, you forfeited your right to use the service for as long as they deem appropriate up to and including forever.</p>
<p>In exercising this power they must act reasonably which, in the absence of anything in the contract (and I can't see anything) means that their response must be proportionate and offer you procedural fairness. It's possible that they haven't done this - it may even be likely. However, in order to have this overturned, clause 24 of the EULA requires you to take the dispute to arbitration. Clause 24.4 sets out how to initiate this.</p>

<p>Yes. They can do anything they want and you have no recourse. You will lose any appeal you make under the TOS because it says:</p>
<p>&quot;VRChat may in its sole discretion terminate your user account on the Service or suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time for any reason or no reason, with or without notice.&quot;</p>
<p>This is not an unreasonable or unconscionable term. It is the norm for businesses to retain the right to refuse to serve customers they don't want to serve. This is especially true given that users interact with each other, so this is a tool that doesn't just control who can use their product, it's how they control what their product <em>is</em>.</p>
