Hello, in the following paragraphs, I will clearly explain the error in a moderation bot with published accessories.
On 9/15/2024, I had began uploading a UGC accessory to the marketplace. The accessory was a pair of headphones with a variety of simple recolors. Upon uploading the 4th iteration of the hat, I was promptly kicked from the experience I was in and given a 1 - day ban notice under the grounds of “Cheating and Exploiting.”
The offending asset was a pink recolor of my headphones.
After receiving the notice, I quickly sent 2 appeals to support. The first was an appeal for the assets restoration and the second was to remove the moderation note from my record. As I am a developer who uses Developer Exchange, I am distraught at the idea of false bans potentially stalling or rejecting my future Developer Exchanges. I have a clean record and find it understandably unfair if it is ruined by an error in the system.
The first error with the moderation bot was it assuming you can use 3rd party software with a published UGC accessory/asset. As many who have used or tested the permissions know, you cannot introduce any alternative asset, script or program into an accessory. There is a system in place that checks and rejects any alterations outside of the parameters set. I was banned for a reason that should not be feasibly possible. Earlier, I mentioned this was the fourth hat of its respective series to be uploaded. It used the same mesh, thumbnail and transformations (scale, rotation, position). I am puzzled at the blatant randomness of this action.
Within 20 minutes of my first appeal, I was told the consequence taken against my account would be reversed and my asset was restored.
I wasn’t sure if this meant the action on my record was removed. I have friends who have been falsely moderated through bugs in the system and they received emails specifically telling them the moderation action was removed from their record. Since I was not entirely sure this was the case, I was hoping my second appeal would give me the clarity I needed.
It did not…
The following day at 7 AM Central Time, I was told that I was “correctly banned for using unapproved 3rd party software. The penalty for this offense will not be changed.” So on one hand, I am clear and the moderation action is removed, but on the other, I was correctly banned and this moderation will stay. I am being fed 2 contrary forms of information from the same department. I am assuming the email is automated by a bot of some kind, but if so, it sent false information out nearly 12 - hours after action done in the first appeal.
As someone who sticks mostly to their craft, I do not know the inner workings regarding moderation and what tools they use to aid them with the platform. However, I do know transparency is key to help users feel safe and secure to participate in the websites market. I am hoping this can be reviewed by an administrator who can inform the responsible department that the moderation bots need to be better improved. I do not want anyone else to be falsely moderated because of an error in the system which is why I request the bots be reviewed for why this happened. If this has already been brought up before, I apologize for the redundancy. I sincerely hope that my efforts explaining this lead to the improvement of moderation now and ongoing.
Expected behavior
If everything was working as intended, I would not have been banned at all. If regarding the second error, the return email would have confirmed the moderation action was falsely conducted and it would clarify the action was removed from my record.