A Statement on Our Ban Policies (including Puffin)

[Viking Adam]

Hey YoFans,

We’ve noticed over the past week there have been some growing concerns over our ban process. More specifically, concerns regarding our banning of players who happen to be using the Puffin platform. While typically we don’t provide any detail or insight into our ban procedure, we thought now might be a good time to discuss bans in YoWorld -- especially considering the amount of misinformation that’s been generated by banned players over the past week or so.

To make this information a little easier to digest, I’ve broken it down into some of the most common concerns I’ve seen on our forums as well as in our support tickets:

Why do you ban players from YoWorld?

If you’ve received a ban from YoWorld, it’s likely because either you’ve committed a violation of our Terms of Service, or one of our automated services has caught you in the act of committing a violation of our Terms of Service. This can range from (but certainly is not limited to):

~Selling currency via third party tools
~Intense harassment or abuse of other players or staff
~Fraud or maintaining an alternate account (a violation of Facebook’s ToS)
~Redirecting other players to third party sites
~Purchasing currency from sources outside of YoWorld using third party tools (such as Paypal, Venmo, etc)

When a player is found guilty of any of these kinds of intentional violations, we judge the severity of each act on a case by case basis. To be banned from YoWorld without an explicit reason is extremely rare (and these cases are something I’ll cover further below). So in short: if you, or someone you know is banned from the game it’s because we have explicit proof of their wrongdoing.

Why was I banned for using Puffin?

It was recently decided that after seeing some intensively excessive wrongdoing associated with several IP addresses, that we would make the tough decision of blocking those specific IPs. We did so knowing that some innocent players would be caught in the crossfire, and if you happen to be one of the unlucky few who had their account banned as a result, we sincerely apologize. Activity on these IP addresses was overwhelmingly harmful to YoWorld, and we ultimately made this choice with consideration to the majority of our playerbase.

Unfortunately, the behavior on this IP makes it impossible for us to determine what accounts are or are not innocent. Puffin was not a target for this particular action -- but it certainly does seem that one of the IPs being abused was associated with Puffin.

If your account was banned due to accessing a Puffin IP address then we welcome you to submit an appeal. Your account will be reviewed as soon as possible.

That said, we also recommend that players no longer use static IP platforms such as Puffin to avoid having their accounts associated with players who knowingly try to compromise YoWorld’s safety and integrity.

Why is the reason behind my banning so generic?

We’ve seen a few banned players complain about this particular notification in a public fashion, and we just wanted to set the record straight:

To commit a “Terms of Service violation” you must knowingly go above and beyond normal means to violate our ToS. There’s no such thing as ‘accidentally’ committing fraud, or ‘mistakenly’ creating an event doxxing another player. When we believe there’s room for doubt (such as cases involving chat or in-game harassment), we’ll provide you with a reason so that you may properly appeal.

Otherwise, if you were banned for exploiting a system in game or threatening the safety of our community, there’s very little that needs to be explained. You know what you did. We don’t want you here.

Why am I receiving a generic response when I email directly?

Direct emailing the Player Support team is useful and handy in a lot of circumstances -- but when you directly email us we cannot provide you with any information regarding the account you’re writing in about.

Even banned accounts deserve to have their privacy and personal information protected. Because anyone can potentially write in claiming to be a specific identity, and we have no means of verifying the account holder’s information, you will typically never receive more than a generic reply from writing a direct email to us.

The only exception to this would be cases where we’ve explicitly requested you to do so, and directions will be given so that we can follow up with some kind of confirmation as to your identity.

Why am I receiving a generic response when emailing on behalf of a friend?

Just like how we can’t provide any details to someone providing us a direct email address, we cannot discuss any other player’s account status with you. This isn’t because we don’t find your testimony useful, but more that in saying anything we could potentially give away details regarding another player’s account.

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion that’s been circulating regarding our bans. If you do feel that you’ve been wrongfully banned we still welcome you to submit an appeal. Our team extensively reviews every single appeal we receive, so while you may wait a bit for a response please know it’s because we thoroughly check every account that appeals to us.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns -- particularly regarding IP related inquiries. I’ll be happy to answer to be the best of my abilities!

Stay safe!

- Viking Adam

[Will Hung (126579776)]

Good to have it in writing. They won't read it, but I'll send them here.

You guys do good work in maintaining the safety and integrity of the game. Your efforts make Zynga look like chumps for what they allowed in our game.

[SL iAdoreMe (181744605)]

This is not fair to those of us who use puffin... I paid for puffin on desktop to specifically use for yo because i can not play using any other broswer due to lag. I can not and will not use any other browser. I am sure i am not the only one. This seriously needs to be rethought.

[Doodler (10729465)]

I play on Puffin on my tablet and phone. Is there any other browser I can use? (Android)

[Adeline (113719515)]

Any problems with Photon? I used that when I was NOT in quarantine and was riding the bus.

[ijOjO uK (109723058)]

Noted.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It is reassuring to read that proactive steps are being taken to ensure the safety and integrity of the game.

[Starrei (185735150)]

This is not fair to those of us who use puffin... I paid for puffin on desktop to specifically use for yo because i can not play using any other broswer due to lag. I can not and will not use any other browser. I am sure i am not the only one. This seriously needs to be rethought.

I have to agree with the statement above . I had to purchase Puffin so I could play without lag, years ago. I play for me, I don't bother anyone and have only a handful of frends who play. I am in VIP monthly and never break rules. If I get banned, just beause you're banning many who have Puffin. Not ok. I can't use another browser, and neve had trouble. Please don't ban innocent and loyal players.

[ijOjO uK (109723058)]

This is not fair to those of us who use puffin... I paid for puffin on desktop to specifically use for yo because i can not play using any other broswer due to lag. I can not and will not use any other browser. I am sure i am not the only one. This seriously needs to be rethought.

Re the Puffin issue ( and I have no experience aside from the free browser that was available until last year) does all connections use the same IP address?

[Sunshine (187760907)]

is puffin a third party browser or something? I've only used the normal google chrome so not sure and want to make sure am not using something I shouldn't be? Is it not official BVG and unsupported?

[Viking Adam]

This is not fair to those of us who use puffin... I paid for puffin on desktop to specifically use for yo because i can not play using any other broswer due to lag. I can not and will not use any other browser. I am sure i am not the only one. This seriously needs to be rethought.

I have to agree with the statement above . I had to purchase Puffin so I could play without lag, years ago. I play for me, I don't bother anyone and have only a handful of frends who play. I am in VIP monthly and never break rules. If I get banned, just beause you're banning many who have Puffin. Not ok. I can't use another browser, and neve had trouble. Please don't ban innocent and loyal players.

To address both of your concerns:

This decision to restrict certain IPs was made independent of considering browsers like Puffin. As far as we're aware, Puffin uses several IP addresses from a variety of their servers. Some players may log in via Puffin and not experience trouble -- others may be banned. It's a risk that can come when using any third party platform to access a site or service.

We can't really base our plans on Puffin's networking, when those networks are actively being used to compromise the integrity of YoWorld. It's nothing against Puffin in particular. This is a case where a terrible few have unfortunately ruined something good for others.

I don't believe the restrictions we have in place should affect any other platforms (like Photon), but if you do encounter a security restriction please submit an appeal so we can review your account as soon as possible.

[Denna (10205906)]

I play on Puffin on my tablet and phone. Is there any other browser I can use? (Android)

I would like to know this too, because I use Puffin on my tablet while I am on vacation.

Tia for an answer.

[Doodler (10729465)]

I play on Puffin on my tablet and phone. Is there any other browser I can use? (Android)

I would like to know this too, because I use Puffin on my tablet while I am on vacation.

Tia for an answer.

Denna, you look lovely!

[Sandy (132621098)]

I'm confused! I believe I had to use puffin for my ipad but haven't played yw on it for a long time. So if I were to use my ipad to play I will get banned? I played the mobile app (in hopes of getting the sunflower patch ) and I had to log into fb to connect the mobile game. I'm going to assume I used puffin when I logged in, should I stop playing? I hope I'm making sense!

[Slime SB (187247375)]

Hello, I had a question. One of my friends has been banned since January. He has tried countless times to reach out to BVG so he can prove his innocence yet he has never been responded to but other people have. His player id is 167319884. Username: Bradley SB. I understand there is a procedure that is why we aren't exactly asking for an unban just for a response explaining the ban and responding to his appeal. He has never had his account restricted whether that be permanently or temporarily before either. It'd be nice if you can check out his case as its about to be 4 months of him waiting for a response. Please and thank you! Thank you for reading, I would really appreciate if you could check out his case and get back to him. Thank you !

[Pinkylola (235554)]

WOW last January paid for the year subscription... now it looks like I can't use it anymore because I won't risk my almost 12 years old account

[Pinkylola (235554)]

I'm confused! I believe I had to use puffin for my ipad but haven't played yw on it for a long time. So if I were to use my ipad to play I will get banned? I played the mobile app (in hopes of getting the sunflower patch ) and I had to log into fb to connect the mobile game. I'm going to assume I used puffin when I logged in, should I stop playing? I hope I'm making sense!

I stop last week when I heard innocent people got a ban...

[SL iAdoreMe (181744605)]

I have multiple friends that have used puffin and are banned ...they have appealed weeks ago and they havent heard anything back. But i guess it dont matter? If we use puffin we can be wrongfully banned for no reason?? Thought you go by player ID?? What about people from the same household that play, are you telling us your going by their IP and not the players ID?? This is very concerning, you just admitted innocent players are being banned cause they used puffin. Way to chase us off of here.

[TexanSourNSweet (103681266)]

Problem with not usin puffin is us players who use our phone or tablet can't play
So if y'all are bannin innocent players for simply usin puffin I reckon my playin days are over

[Sandy (132621098)]

I'm confused! I believe I had to use puffin for my ipad but haven't played yw on it for a long time. So if I were to use my ipad to play I will get banned? I played the mobile app (in hopes of getting the sunflower patch ) and I had to log into fb to connect the mobile game. I'm going to assume I used puffin when I logged in, should I stop playing? I hope I'm making sense!

I stop last week when I heard innocent people got a ban...

[trOllOp (182933373)]

I mainly play on my phone via the Puffin app since no other browser supports flash! I have played for yearssss and purchase yo cash. If we do get banned for using Puffin is there a way to look into individual accounts not abusing the system?

I really think it is insane to ban loyal players because of a few bad players.