Dear Lumia Island survivors,
As Season 7 draws to a close, Eternal Return is facing several issues. Season 7 presented challenges from the beginning, and our team is trying our hardest to address these problems in Season 8. However, the season extension has caused the frustrating period to persist longer.
Amidst this, an incident occurred yesterday where a suspension was misclassified by the Disciplinary Team, which is responsible for handling player suspensions. We have since reviewed the situation and are working on appropriate corrective actions.
1. Suspension Classification Error
Yesterday, during a Cobalt Protocol match, one side was inactive during the entire duration of the match. They were suspended after their actions were categorized as “teaming” with a 7-day suspension. At first, the initial reviewer classified the case as "teaming" based on the team members' mutual agreement to stay inactive against the enemy. The category of "teaming" carries a more severe penalty than other general punishments regarding “disruptive behavior.” However, the action did not meet the criteria for teaming and was incorrectly punished.
In the appeal process, if clarifications are needed, a secondary reviewer is brought in. However, the original reviewer mistakenly assessed that there was no issue with the original suspension.
2. Future Improvements
Firstly, we sincerely apologize for the issue during the appeal process. We will revise our internal procedures to ensure thorough cross-checking for all suspensions, especially for appeals.
The error stemmed from our recent efforts to strengthen our response to abnormal gameplay by expanding internal capabilities. With new staff involved, there was insufficient training on how to distinguish teaming and on how to handle appeals. Moving forward, we will refine our training processes to ensure more consistent and accurate enforcement.
Additionally, the cause of the team’s lack of motivation to play the Cobalt Protocol match was due to repeatedly being queued against the same opponents. Our system was to blame for this. Today (June 19th), we will deploy a hotfix to make Cobalt’s matchmaking more detailed to prevent the recurrence of similar situations. In the long term, we will also improve the matchmaking system to avoid matching players with the same opponents consecutively.
We have personally apologized through customer support and reclassified the suspension with an adjusted penalty duration.
3. For a Better Eternal Return
We sincerely apologize once again regarding the mishandling of the appeal process; we are aware that many players are disappointed with our handling of player suspensions. The frustration over unclear responses to reports and questions about our criteria for suspensions is criticism we take seriously.
We also want to take this opportunity to clarify a common misunderstanding: the Disciplinary Team does not provide any preferential treatment to specific individuals. The Disciplinary Team operates independently from all other departments, and according to our “Policy Regarding Conflict of Interest”, any contact with external players by the Disciplinary Team is strictly prohibited. If a team member is found giving preferential treatment, the action would be considered a serious violation, subject to not only termination but legal action as well. We have and will continue to strictly uphold this policy.
We understand that even a single misjudgment in player suspensions can deeply damage the trust of players. To regain this trust, we must and will show consistent improvement over time. While sudden changes are hard to achieve, we will continue working on improving. In the upcoming “Dev Stream” scheduled for next Wednesday, we will further discuss issues regarding abnormal gameplay and suspensions. We will also share more details about improvements made this season and plans to improve in the upcoming seasons as well.
Lastly, as a token of our sincere apology and appreciation for your continued support despite our shortcomings, we are gifting 300 NP to our players.
- Coupon Code: BETTER0620
- Valid thru: June 24th 14:59 (UTC)
Thank you for always sticking with us.
