*sam* Posted Dec 12, 2015, 6:56 pm	Overall rules ------------------------ Game accounts are for use by individual players, and are not allowed to be controlled by other players, for short or long periods of time. An individual may only have one account, i.e. one normal gang and one Scavenger gang.  It is ok to occasionally control a vehicle or a few characters from a friend's gang, but that gang itself must be clearly controlled by an active player the rest of the time. Specifically, it is not ok to use inactive gang's characters in camp nor as part of any of your squads. There will be an automated system for removing characters/vehicles of an inactive gang, on request, from a camp. Punishments ------------------ Since multi-accounting can be used for serious in-game benefit, we have to be strong with punishments if it occurs. The game has to remain fair for other players. Punishments can include confiscation of characters, vehicles, camps, money. Punishments can be applied to the alt gang itself and also to the 'primary' gang which has been benefiting from it. Punishments will of course be proportional to the level of transgression: having a few characters in your camp while their owner suddenly disappears for a few weeks is understandable (and doesn't need to be punished), but maintaining an inactive gang full of mechanics who all work in your camps is very much not. Amnesty ------------ Since these rules have not been explicit in the past, and since it appears that several incidents of multi-accounting have been going on for some time, an amnesty period of 2 weeks will be allowed (i.e. until 26th December). That means: tell me in confidence if you have been using any Alt gangs, and I will disband those gangs in confidence, without any additional sanctions on your 'real' gang. After this period is up, the above rules/punishments will apply in full. Clarification regarding Active/Inactive gangs ------------------------------------------------------- This is a slightly grey area and although I have tried to make everything totally clear, the fact remains that things do boil down to a gang being "genuine and within the spirit of the law" versus a gang being a "cheat Alt gang". It is important that genuine players who are simply absent at the moment are not unduly punished. Therefore, these have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, including all available evidence e.g. does the player come back some of the time, were they in the past an active player in the forums/leagues/etc. I will update/clarify this policy as required, if questions come up.
*sam* Posted Jan 2, 2016, 7:47 pm	FYI, I have now written the code to transport a gang's characters and equipment from camp to the nearest town, if they are declared as an alt gang. I received a few 'confessional' messages about gangs over the last few weeks, and have done these transfers where necessary. If anyone wants to let me know of any more, now is a good time. Feel free to PM me the name of any gangs who you believe are being run as alts, and I'll investigate and make a decision.
*sam* Posted Jan 2, 2016, 8:31 pm	Accusations by PM, please.