Usually a report button in a game is an invaluable tool for reporting someone for abusive language or being a bot, or in MMOs those pesky gold sellers that shout from the rooftops in major towns. All that is perfectly within reason -- except in New World, now players are much more interested in using it as a form of personal revenge.
On Reddit, several players have complained about being banned for seemingly trivial reasons, such as the 'theft' of Gold Veins or even because they claimed victory in a War.
Naturally, some bans will be warranted, but when players are providing evidence of their innocence, the spate of mass bans is worrying. Even high-profile players such as Jack "CouRage" Dunlop have found themselves banned, as reported by Dexerto.
Take the example below, in which a Governor and one of their Consuls were improperly banned by 24 other players. After exchanging messages with moderators, victims have had their bans withdrawn, but the question remains: how are bans managed in New World?
In the Reddit post, the user had already submitted evidence that the ban system was not working as intended. The post was deleted by the Reddit moderation teams, but with a little perseverance they manage to uncover a key detail -- that bans are issued automatically.
This means players are being given 24-hour bans without any kind of human evaluation of any 'offences'.
This abuse of the report feature is rampant in New World. Harvesting a node or mining a vein should never be ban-worthy incidents, and those who are reporting players simply because they weren't quick enough to a node are just petty.
However, until Amazon do something about this toxic behaviour, innocent players are going to continue to be deprived of the game. The same goes for Wars too -- if you lose, you lose fair and square; reporting the victorious Governor because you're a sore loser is just no way to play.
Amazon are yet to comment on the issue, but with so many big names making their feelings known on social media, this mass-reporting cannot go on for much longer without resolution.
We've put together a guide to all you can expect to see in Amazon's new MMO, New World. From weapons to trade skills, builds to power leveling guides, this article will be your base for your entire adventure.
