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Unfortunately, lichess moderation and policies for account bans or forced periods of inactivity are horrendous. I once got banned because my cell phone lost co

by mlthoughts2018 8y ago

Unfortunately, lichess moderation and policies for account bans or forced periods of inactivity are horrendous. I once got banned because my cell phone lost connectivity as I passed a subway tunnel and in the meantime the other user “reported” me for abandoning the game. This resulted in my account being frozen out from playing games for several hours. I wrote to the support email address and got no response. This then happened two or three more times in the same month. Furious with the ridiculous policy, I only will play in “anonymous” mode now, usually at chess.com with frequently changed accounts, sometimes still at lichess with no registration.

Karunamon 8y ago
Isn’t it possible to play in “email” mode (read: days long time control) or something else if you’re going to be in a situation with spotty coverage? As I understand it, live games mean just that. A few hours ban is a slap on the wrist from a moderation perspective, and it seems... odd... that they’d even hit you with that unless you regularly leave games.
- Jabbles 8y ago
  > This then happened two or three more times in the same month. Sounds like they do it pretty regularly :/
- mlthoughts2018 8y ago
  The bans are automated. It happens even if you disconnect irregularly and infrequently through no fault of your own.
SamReidHughes 8y ago
Only several hours? Sorry, but you're being a drama queen. If you're riding a train through a tunnel, you shouldn't be playing on lichess. Stop ruining other players' experiences.
- mlthoughts2018 8y ago
  Your reply is quite rude. It is deeply unreasonable to suggest someone can’t play chess e.g. on their morning commute because other people are too whiny to accept that disconnections and move delays are simply a built-in reality of internet chess, period. If your experience of internet chess can possibly be affected by intermittent disconnections or move delays by your opponent, then you are being the drama queen. That would be incredibly unreasonable.
- sayno3 8y ago
  What about all the people who play from a poor internet connection in a poor geographical area? Should they just not play so as not to ruin other people's experience?
gmiller123456 8y ago
Unfortunately legitimate connection problems resulting in abandoned games is the exception to the rule. But even a legitimate connection issue is still a major annoyance to your opponent. If this is happening to you on a regular basis that the bans are a problem for you, then the solution is to only play when you have a high degree of confidence that your connection won't drop.
- mlthoughts2018 8y ago
  I disagree. It’s internet chess and disconnections happen for all sorts of reasons. It’s totally backwards to have automated account bans for disconnections. If you agree to play a game against someone, you are implicitly accepting that one thing they may do is become disconnected / idle. That’s simply unavoidable. You’re always free to resign and leave the game if you don’t prefer to wait around, but locking the other player out when there’s no evidence they did something malicious is horrible.
  - gmiller123456 8y ago
    You're also agreeing to abide by the rules set forth of the organization you're playing under. I generally play 10-20 games a day, and a disconnect happens while I'm playing maybe once every couple of months. If you're disconnects are significantly higher than that, you're probably not the target market for on-line blitz chess.
    - mlthoughts2018 8y ago
      Yes, but the rules govern intentionally abandoning games, not disconnections you may not have control over. > “If you're disconnects are significantly higher than that, you're probably not the target market for on-line blitz chess.” It’s not very common and it’s not predictable or uniform (not even in subway tunnels). But if someone reports you for disconnecting, it autonatically locks you out from playing and emailing to the support email gets no response to unlock in false positive cases. Also, just in the basic rules of chess, your opponent can do whatever they want with their clock time. You’ve agreed to abide by that rule by agreeing to play. If they want to take 4:00 to think about their sixth move in a 5/0 game, they are perfectly allowed, and may even still win if you blunder. There’s no time limit per move beyond the first move and the overall clock time. Disconnections (when the player might return) are no different.
beyondCritics 8y ago
I have a little bit of experience with lichess and as far as i can tell, their treating of abusers is typically rather deliberate. Maybe you should start considering their usage policy.
- mlthoughts2018 8y ago
  This is just false. Lockouts from playing due to disconnections happen automatically, whether the disconnection happened through no fault of your own or not.

Karunamon 8y ago

Isn’t it possible to play in “email” mode (read: days long time control) or something else if you’re going to be in a situation with spotty coverage? As I understand it, live games mean just that. A few hours ban is a slap on the wrist from a moderation perspective, and it seems... odd... that they’d even hit you with that unless you regularly leave games.

Jabbles 8y ago
> This then happened two or three more times in the same month. Sounds like they do it pretty regularly :/
mlthoughts2018 8y ago
The bans are automated. It happens even if you disconnect irregularly and infrequently through no fault of your own.

SamReidHughes 8y ago

Only several hours? Sorry, but you're being a drama queen. If you're riding a train through a tunnel, you shouldn't be playing on lichess. Stop ruining other players' experiences.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago
Your reply is quite rude. It is deeply unreasonable to suggest someone can’t play chess e.g. on their morning commute because other people are too whiny to accept that disconnections and move delays are simply a built-in reality of internet chess, period. If your experience of internet chess can possibly be affected by intermittent disconnections or move delays by your opponent, then you are being the drama queen. That would be incredibly unreasonable.
sayno3 8y ago
What about all the people who play from a poor internet connection in a poor geographical area? Should they just not play so as not to ruin other people's experience?

gmiller123456 8y ago

Unfortunately legitimate connection problems resulting in abandoned games is the exception to the rule. But even a legitimate connection issue is still a major annoyance to your opponent. If this is happening to you on a regular basis that the bans are a problem for you, then the solution is to only play when you have a high degree of confidence that your connection won't drop.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago
I disagree. It’s internet chess and disconnections happen for all sorts of reasons. It’s totally backwards to have automated account bans for disconnections. If you agree to play a game against someone, you are implicitly accepting that one thing they may do is become disconnected / idle. That’s simply unavoidable. You’re always free to resign and leave the game if you don’t prefer to wait around, but locking the other player out when there’s no evidence they did something malicious is horrible.
- gmiller123456 8y ago
  You're also agreeing to abide by the rules set forth of the organization you're playing under. I generally play 10-20 games a day, and a disconnect happens while I'm playing maybe once every couple of months. If you're disconnects are significantly higher than that, you're probably not the target market for on-line blitz chess.
  - mlthoughts2018 8y ago
    Yes, but the rules govern intentionally abandoning games, not disconnections you may not have control over. > “If you're disconnects are significantly higher than that, you're probably not the target market for on-line blitz chess.” It’s not very common and it’s not predictable or uniform (not even in subway tunnels). But if someone reports you for disconnecting, it autonatically locks you out from playing and emailing to the support email gets no response to unlock in false positive cases. Also, just in the basic rules of chess, your opponent can do whatever they want with their clock time. You’ve agreed to abide by that rule by agreeing to play. If they want to take 4:00 to think about their sixth move in a 5/0 game, they are perfectly allowed, and may even still win if you blunder. There’s no time limit per move beyond the first move and the overall clock time. Disconnections (when the player might return) are no different.

beyondCritics 8y ago

I have a little bit of experience with lichess and as far as i can tell, their treating of abusers is typically rather deliberate. Maybe you should start considering their usage policy.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago
This is just false. Lockouts from playing due to disconnections happen automatically, whether the disconnection happened through no fault of your own or not.