Having spoken to the men in green I discovered that I knew very little about the ban process! I suspect this means that many of you also know very little about the process, unless you have ever been banned before! So here is some information about what happens and what you can do/need to do in order to aid this process.
When you wake up in the morning and put in your password, if you have been banned, you will receive a very neat and well presented screen which states quite clearly "You have been banned!" It gives you some details as to who has banned you, the reason behind the ban and details about the time you are banned for, in case it is just a temporary ban!
If you are entitled to an appeal, which not all bans are, it then provides you with a box in order to defend yourself and provide as much evidence as possible in order to explain why that rule was broken, or why it looks like a specific rule was broken when it wasn't. Not all bans are overturned but many are. Seeing this screen doesn't automatically mean you have lost everything!
A small number of people will ignore this message and then create a new account under a new email. If you do this any chances of appeal are lost, as it clearly states on the ban screen. These appeals can be lengthy. But usually you will know quite quickly if an appeal is being considered or not. But you always have only three days within which to lodge your appeal. After that time it is too late!
If you tell your friends off site, it is generally pointless for them to contact a moderator to discuss details as they are not allowed to discuss any details with any other member of the game. By all means have them help gather evidence if they can but remember that messaging the green men directly takes up their valuable time and will usually prove ineffective!
Until today I had thought that a swiss bank account will always still exist for your new account after the ban is final. However, Aldarion expanded upon this subject explaining: "Swiss bank accounts are sometimes blocked, it depends on the violation and the nature of the Swiss bank account (it is more complicated for shared account)." So it seems that if you are determined to break the rules there is very little you can do to save resources. However, if accidents happen then you won't necesarily lose everything!
The best advice which we at the Buzz can give you is to read the Terms of Service very carefully and thoroughly. They actually contain a lot more rules and bannable offences then most people realise. Ignorance is not an excuse so please be careful with the way that you play to avoid these issues!
But most importantly of all is to be patient. Be calm and respectful to the moderators who have made this decision. They only have statistics and rules to go from. It may be that what looks like a bannable offence really isn't! If you are angry or insulting it is less likely that you will be listened to. That's just basic human nature! As always, good luck and happy ranking!
