On May 12, 2020, Ubisoft once again published a new version of the terms of use for all Ubi games, thereby putting some very exciting bans into effect. The new rules prohibit many scams, especially in competitive online games.
This should change a lot, especially in Rainbow Six: Siege. Because new bans for things like smurf accounts and stream sniping officially apply to all games from Ubisoft, but problems like these rarely occur in titles like Assassin's Creed or Anno 1800.
In Rainbow Six, on the other hand, countless smurfs (experienced players who create a new account and are therefore easier to compete against beginners) annoy unsuspecting newbies on every free weekend. In addition, Rainbow, as a prominent and much streamed e-sports title, naturally has more fraud problems than most other Ubisoft games.
What exactly does the Ubisoft rules change?
Compared to the old version of the Ubisoft Terms of Use, there are now more clearly defined bans in the rule book. This applies above all to the new point 5 of the Terms of Use on the topic »Code of Conduct to maintain a friendly, safe and fair gaming environment and community«. There is a new list of "prohibited rules of conduct" and these include the following prohibitions:
- Abuse, harassment, bullying of users: This explicitly includes trolling, flaming, spamming, as well as racist and sexist language use (the latter two points were both previously expressly prohibited).
- Stream sniping: »The exploitation of a live stream from another streamer with the aim of gaining an unfair advantage or bothering a streamer in the game« is prohibited.
- Disrupt the general flow of the game: “Farming, spamming, team killing and rage quitting” is expressly forbidden
- Exploiting glitches and bugs: Anyone who gains an unfair advantage over other users is breaking the rules.
- Smurf accounts: Even if the term "smurf" is not explicitly mentioned, a fraudster is whoever creates an "alternative user account to work with new players or less experienced users to help them unfairly increase their level / statistics "Or whoever increases their level and statistics" in areas of a game that are normally reserved for new players. "
What are the penalties for violating the rules? Ubisoft has also redefined the sanctions. The penalties for offenses and breaches of the rules now range from a simple warning, to the blocking of certain functions of a game (such as chat) to the closure of a full user account.
These are just a few of the new rules and prohibitions from the revised usage rules and it remains to be seen how strictly Ubisoft will proceed from now on.
But basically the publisher has created new opportunities to do so much harder and clearer against fraudsters to play in games like Rainbow Six: Siege. And this is particularly necessary because the tactical shooter is also heavily accused as an e-sport. Speaking of which, Rainbow Six's GSA League is currently running:
Rainbow Six Siege: This is how you see the German League
All information, announcements and streaming plans for the large German-speaking GSA league
To overview
The Rainbow community is also busy discussing the new rules on Reddit. There the point is particularly criticized that false reports from fraudsters are also punishable. So whoever blames someone innocent at Ubisoft is acting against the rules. But how exactly is judged and controlled in such cases, who is right now and who is not, the new rules do not clarify.
