Maybe a bunch of people will think I'm an asshole who deserves this, but I thought you guys should know something that I discovered today when I got banned from the CIG forums. My story is as follows:

I've never posted on the CIG forums before, but on the 12th of Dec I read a heart breaking thread by a guy who had fallen on hard times and felt the game hadn't delivered. He was refused a refund and was really down in the dumps about it. I didn't want to cause drama but I sent him a PM telling him that EU consumer law and bank charge back policies may mean that he may be able to get his money back. Maybe you hate me for suggesting this to him, but I honestly felt sorry for him.

2 and a half months go past and all is well. I've still not made any posts on the forums, until yesterday when I made a few posts criticising CIG's marketing and one post about Sandi being thoughtless on the livestream with regard to Ben and some doughnuts.

A few hours later I am banned, the reason reads:

Perma'd per report that user sent PM's encouraging backers to commit bank fraud. Investigation confirms.

Now whether or not sending a PM about EU consumer law and bank refunds is "bank fraud" is an interesting question, but my first thought was "what the hell, I sent that PM months ago and he only just reported me?"

So I check the guy's account. He's not logged in since Jan 6th. So I send the guy an email apologising if I have offended him and asking if he reported my PM. He says he didn't report it and he's shocked that I am banned. He says he received 10+ similar PMs and is worried that all of those people are now also banned.

Now, say what you will about whether or not what I said was ban worthy. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

One thing is clear though. If you criticise CIG on the forums forums in a way that is totally within the rules, they will go through your PMs to find any excuse to ban you. No doubt about it.

Hopefully this information will help others avoid getting banned as I have been. Apparently CIG will try to ban critics in any way they can.