Missing Badges Mystery?

[WillMoon]

I read that some have had a badge taken away about a wonderland glitch or something...
Has anyone lost ALL of their badges?
It has happened to more than one, I wondered how many more this has happened to?

[Homer]

Was it one badge or all badges? I haven't heard about anyone losing badges.

[Bree]

I have not lost my Wonderland badge it is still in my badge album as are all the rest of the badges I have won. :)

[kgansor]

they just lost their wonderland memories badges because of the "glitch" no other badges, i know someone it happened to.

[WillMoon]

This is ALL badges, ALL ranks, everything.
And it really happened, its not something made up.

[justahumping]

I have a couple of questions.  Was this person reported?  Did they win a jackpot and try to get the money? 

[Bree]

This is ALL badges, ALL ranks, everything.
And it really happened, its not something made up.

I did not want you to think I thought you made it up and I am sure some people have lost everything like you said they did.  All I was saying is that all my badges and my Wonderland badge is still in my badge album.  Sorry if you took it wrong!!

[WillMoon]

Here is the complete help response and complaint that generated it... Pogo is now taking away ALL badges now for those who are found to be using autos and glitches. I included the full text of the support response, the last paragraph is what is relevant... We all know the TOS.

ive lost all my badges in all games and i dont know why can you help me pleas...

  Discussion Thread
Customer 02/09/2006 03:11 PM 
yes i noticed yesterday  that all badges and ranks are
gone on my name .. i got a response back saying i was
tossed for a program ... i am telling you that i do
not have nor have i ever cheated  on pogo ...  i like
to play the games my self .. and work on my badges ..
i have never had any problem with pogo in the past ..
but im telling you i did not do this ... why would i
pay for a site  then use a program to play it for me ?
would defeat the purpose  dont you think ?  well i
would like my account back in good standing with pogo
... rank and badges back as they were please ... i
have a new pc .. hardly nothing on it .. and i do not
have no such programs .. never will ... i have had aol
for almost 9 years with the same screen name .. i
dont cause trouble  !  but i can not pay the 23rd of
this month  for pogo   and  exspect to have to start
over for something  you say i have done !   to bad you
cant run a program  .. that would detect such programs
.. for you would see i do not nor ever had such a
thing on my pc !  i dont give out my password either
... so i dont understand this at all ? but im very
upset about this .. i have been a pogo player for
years ... never had no such problems in the past ...
is there a way for ea to check ?  this has to be a
mistake !!!!   i will be waiting  for a responce ..
but if not i will be forced to cancel my account ..
but i think this is so unfair .. for i have done
nothing wrong .. nothing against tos  !   it took my months and months to finish  the garden game ...  and world class sol ...  i had just reached rank 50 in pinochle .. for i play them   no program ...   i am very upset ... and i feel that  i can not prove myself .. but yet this is so unfair !  is there anything i can do ?   i feel like i have been the one cheated !  anything you can do would be great .   ty
                     
 
Customer 02/09/2006 01:35 PM 
i have never EVER ran anything ..  or a program ... i have never  did anything against tos  ... there for  i do not know what u are talking abbout ... ??????  i do not own such a program ... never have  never will ... i have never been warned by pogo ... i have did nothing to  cause this ... if pogo does not reinstate my rankings and badges there fore i will have to cancel my account !  this is so unfair .. for i have not did such a thing  !  is there anything i can do ?
 
Response (Pogo Patrick) 02/09/2006 12:29 PM 
Hi there,

Thanks for contacting us about this.

In case you did not receive it, I am going to begin by re-sending you a message we recently sent to the email address registered on your account.

Sincerely,

Pogo Patrick
Customer Service Representative
Club Pogo
_____________________________________________________________
Need help with Club Pogo? Click the 'help' button on any Club Pogo page

Copy of the original email sent to you:

It has come to our attention that your account has been found to be in violation of the EA Terms of Service by using prohibited methods to advance your progress. The Terms of Service to which you agreed when you created your account states:

“You will violate the Terms of Service if you (or others using your Account) do any of the following:

o       Use or distribute “auto” software programs, “macro” software programs or other “cheat utility” software program or applications.

o       You may not modify any part of the Service or any Service Web Site that EA does not specifically authorize you to modify.

o       You will not attempt to interfere with, hack into or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running the Service.

o       You will not exploit any bug in the Service or in any EA product to gain unfair advantage in the game and you will not communicate the existence of any such bug (either directly or through the public posting) to any other user of the Service.”

As a result of this violation and to highlight the seriousness of the offense, we have removed all badges from the accounts found to be violating the Terms of Service in this manner.  All incidents of this nature go through an internal review before any action is taken against an account; therefore, there is no appeal for this action.

Ordinarily, this would result in immediate account closure. However, we are, at this time, allowing you to keep your account active. Please be aware that any further Terms of Service violations *will* result in a permanent account closure, regardless of their severity. In addition, because of the nature of this Terms of Service violation, you are no longer eligible to claim any cash or merchandise prizes available at Pogo.com. The following information is from the Pogo Prize Eligibility rules, which you can review at http://www.pogoprizerules.com.

[Ethan_Hawley]

woah...wonder what this means for the rest of us cheats?!?!?!    :-X

[Homer]

When you first posted your original message I was guessing it had to do with hacking. If pogo is going to start yanking badges for auto use they will suffer more than they could ever imagine. Hacking is a different story though.

To ban people just for auto use will cost pogo millions of dollars in future revenue. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

[WillMoon]

I know this woman well, she did not hack anything...
She would not know how.
This is very weird, Im not sure what to make of this.

[apple]

is this to do with autos how do they know u are using them etc and what will happen to us all  i got most of my badges b4 i got the autos  i dont want to lose everything

[Bree]

When you first posted your original message I was guessing it had to do with hacking. If pogo is going to start yanking badges for auto use they will suffer more than they could ever imagine. Hacking is a different story though.

To ban people just for auto use will cost pogo millions of dollars in future revenue. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

I agree with Homer if the ban all the people who use autos they will lose millions of dollars and I do not think Pogo would want to lose that amount of money.  Also Pogo will lose more than half or more of there paying customers and I doubt they would want to lose that many people.

[Homer]

I know this woman well, she did not hack anything...
She would not know how.
This is very weird, Im not sure what to make of this.

I'm not saying she did. It was my first reaction as to what might be happening. I've been waiting to see if pogo was going to do something about the java hacking. Like I said if they yank badges just for using autos they may as well shut their site down because they will lose in the long run. People simply won't renew their club memberships. They will have essentially cut off their nose to spite their face.

[WillMoon]

I didnt take it wrong  :) No apology needed  :)
If someone had told me what I said, I would have considered the same thing....
In fact, I did until I saw it in writing.  Its like urban legend syndrome sometimes,
sometimes people exaggerate.. Especially about an evil corporation like Pogo  ;D
I reposted all of the text of the support response in a new thread.
Thanks for your input, everyone  :)

[Bree]

Very well said Homer!!!  :D

[WillMoon]

I know this woman well, she did not hack anything...
She would not know how.
This is very weird, Im not sure what to make of this.

I'm not saying she did. It was my first reaction as to what might be happening. I've been waiting to see if pogo was going to do something about the java hacking. Like I said if they yank badges just for using autos they may as well shut their site down because they will lose in the long run. People simply won't renew their club memberships. They will have essentially cut off their nose to spite their face.

I know you werent saying she did... you were thinking what I did too... That some aggregious violation occurred for such drastic consequences.  She played religiously, and NEVER missed a badge... This was quite devestating. Im really shocked about this.

[apple]

how can they prove people are using autos anyhow and how can they do this  especially when she doesnt use autos

[Homer]

It should be interesting. So far I'm not seeing any reaction or comments in any of the pogo rooms I've just been in. Rather quiet in fact. Unless of course I'm in the wrong room. :o

[WillMoon]

I've been waiting to see if pogo was going to do something about the java hacking. Like I said if they yank badges just for using autos they may as well shut their site down because they will lose in the long run. People simply won't renew their club memberships. They will have essentially cut off their nose to spite their face.

It appears that Pogo is willing to lose a lot of money over this...