My time in game development started as a Player Experience Program Manager where I led customer support and moderation efforts for New World and contributed to the launch of Lost Ark. This page is to showcase some of my content design for Trust & Safety, an area I am still deeply passionate about.
I rewrote and updated the Amazon Games Code of Conduct in partnership with legal and stakeholders. Players see a truncated version as they enter our games for the first time and agree to uphold the code of conduct.
AGS Code of Conduct Kotaku ArticleAt Amazon Games we ask all players to follow some simple guidelines to promote a fun, inclusive, and safe place for everyone in the community to play.
In addition to our Terms of Use and Naming Policy, this Code of Conduct applies to all our games and services.
1. Treat others the way they wanted to be treated
Do: be kind, build fellowship with other players, and be your best, unique self.
Do not: engage in behavior that diminish, threaten, bully, insult, abuse, or harass others. This includes any behavior that:
Do not assume a chat filter in place is a license to say anything you want.
In extraordinary circumstances, we may also take action against players for hateful conduct or harassment targeted at members of our community that occurs outside our games and services.
2. Play to enjoy the game
Do: value other players for their in-game contributions and activities, and respect their style of play. While we encourage competitive play where appropriate (e.g., player versus player modes), keep it friendly and respectful.
Do not: engage in behaviors that reduce or disrupt the enjoyment of the game for others. This includes spamming chat, griefing, throwing matches, boosting, win-trading, trolling, or spoiling the game by sharing unreleased or confidential materials.
3. Play fair
Do: play within the rules of the game.
Do not: exploit bugs or other unintended uses of game features.
Do not cheat, bot, hack, or use other software or services that give you an unfair advantage through, for example, unattended gameplay or game modifications.
Do not engage in real-money trading of in-game items and in-game currencies.
We reserve the right to determine what constitutes unfair play and to take corrective action we deem appropriate.
4. Focus on the game
Do: keep your content and contributions helpful and appropriate to others in the community.
Do not: post or share content that encourages, solicits, or supports behavior that is illegal, obscene, lewd, promotional, or is otherwise disruptive or harmful. This includes content that promotes terrorist or extremist propaganda, spreads misinformation, defrauds, scams or harms others, is sexually explicit, or contains commercial solicitations or advertising. Child exploitation will be reported to law enforcement via the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Do not attempt to impersonate another individual or organization (such as an Amazon Games employee or representative).
5. Safeguard accounts and protect personal information
Do: protect your and others’ private personal information.
Do not: share passwords in forums or elsewhere. Amazon employees will never ask you for your password. If anyone asks you for your password, DO NOT GIVE IT TO THEM. Never post or share content that may reveal private personal information about others.
Do not sell, trade, or share accounts.
Online multiplayer games are public; you should expect others to see what you do and say, including our own moderators.
***
Consequences and Enforcement
You are responsible for all actions that occur under your account. In the event you receive a warning, penalty, suspension, or other disciplinary action, please know that we do not make these decisions lightly. We take these actions because we want to ensure the community stays welcoming for everyone.
Do not try to evade any disciplinary action by, for example, creating new accounts or asking others to act on your behalf. Any attempt to circumvent a penalty will also result in additional enforcement against your account, up to a permanent ban.
Disciplinary actions may include: a warning, a strike on your account, restricting your account, suspending your account, or permanently banning your account (resulting in forfeiture of in-game items and in-game currency balances associated with the account).
If you believe your account was penalized in error, you may choose to appeal it by contacting us through the applicable game’s support page.
***
While we have included a few representative examples above, this is not an exhaustive list of things you should and shouldn’t do. Accordingly, to protect the integrity of our community and foster a fun and safe space in which to play, we reserve the right to penalize any account or take other disciplinary actions at any time for any conduct that we determine to violate the spirit of this Code of Conduct or otherwise find to be inappropriate or harmful to the community. If you are unsure if your behavior will violate the Code of Conduct, it probably does.
We may update this Code of Conduct as our games and community evolve.
Thank you for being a part of our community and helping us maintain a fun, inclusive, and safe gaming experience for everyone.
The Amazon Games Team
I updated the text for in-game bans shortly post-launch.
We found players were having trouble finding our appeals page and more information about the penalties through feedback on forums, Discord, and reddit.
I added additional information about their ban type and direct links to appeals and the code of conduct.
Customer support contacts specifically about how to appeal reduced significantly and players had additional clarity into why they were penalized.
Players had the opportunity to appeal penalties and bans for New World and our other games. I wrote the articles on understanding penalties and how to appeal a penalty, as well as reviewing appeals on a regular basis and moderator decisions to reduce defects and ensure we were upholding our code of conduct.
Penalties in New World
We ask that all penalized players review our Code of Conduct. Each penalty can only be appealed once, so please provide as much information as you can within your appeal.
Keep in mind that there is never a valid reason to violate the Code of Conduct. Penalty appeal requests that attempt to justify actions that violate the Code of Conduct will be denied.
Remember excuses like these are not justification to overturn the penalty:
If after reviewing the Code of Conduct and Penalty Categories article you still believe that your penalty was not warranted, you can appeal your penalty here. After signing in to your Steam account, you can view your penalties and appeal the penalty.
Note: Each penalty can only be appealed once, so please provide as much information as you can within your appeal.
Appeal: You may appeal this penalty.
Pending: Your appeal is currently in the queue for a moderator to review.
In Review: A moderator is reviewing your appeal.
Approved: Your appeal has been reviewed and your penalty has been removed.
Expired: The appeal has expired due to the penalty expiring.
Closed: The appeal was closed due to the penalty being closed.
Denied: A moderator has reviewed your penalty and the original decision is being upheld.
We take violations against our Code of Conduct seriously. When warranted, we will take action against your account.
Penalties against your account due to violations of the Code of Conduct can include the following:
Note: Depending on the severity of the infraction, we may issue a permanent ban without previously issuing a warning or suspension. We want our games to be safe and inviting places for everyone and we take that responsibility seriously.
Warnings are provided for minor infractions against the Code of Conduct. With a warning you receive a notification of an infraction when you sign into the game, but you don’t receive any type of in-game suspension. A warning is an opportunity for you to check your behavior and align with the standards you agreed to adhere to when playing our games. If you’ve received a warning, we encourage you to refresh yourself on the guidelines in our Code of Conduct.
A temporary suspension can result when you commit an infraction against the Code of Conduct. The infraction was deemed severe enough to temporarily suspend you from playing the game. The behavior leading to temporary suspension can include repeated minor infractions, or more severe violations of the Code of Conduct. A temporary suspension ranges from 24-168 hours, but can be longer depending on the severity of the infraction and past behavior.
While we do not wish to remove players from the game, we’re dedicated to maintaining a safe, fun, and fair environment within our games. If you’ve recently received a temporary suspension, we recommend reviewing the Code of Conduct to ensure that you don’t commit additional infractions that could result in a permanent ban from the game.
A permanent ban from the game is the result of severe or repeated infractions against the Code of Conduct. The infractions can include:
Tip: If you believe that have you incorrectly received a penalty, you can appeal by following the steps here. There are no other channels for appealing your penalty. Filing multiple appeal tickets won’t expedite the appeal process, and we won’t review an appeal request more than once.
After a violation of the Code of Conduct results in a penalty, in-game messaging advises the player as to the category of the penalty.
Disclaimer: While representative, this isn’t an exhaustive list of offenses that can result in a penalty. To protect the integrity of our community and foster a fun and safe space in which to play, we reserve the right to penalize any account or take other disciplinary actions at any time for any conduct that we determine to violate the spirit of the Code of Conduct or otherwise find to be inappropriate or harmful to the community.
If your account received a Commerce Issue penalty, this means that activity on your account has triggered the automated penalty due to issues with payment-related matters. We suggest reaching out to the official platform where you made your purchase (for example, Steam) or your bank to understand why there were issues with payment. This falls under one of the three following categories:
Note: If you remove a game key or items, you can reinstate your account by re-adding or re-purchasing them. Reach out to the official platform where you made your purchase for more assistance.
Section 3 within the Code of Conduct outlines the guideline: “play fair.” A Cheating penalty means that the player violated that guideline.
Violations include, but aren’t limited to:
Sections 1 and 2 within the Code of Conduct outline the following guidelines: “Treating others the way they want to be treated” and “Playing to enjoy the game.” A Disruptive Behavior penalty means the player engaged in disruptive behaviors that violate those guidelines.
Violations include, but are not limited to:
Section 1 within the Code of Conduct outlines the guideline: “Treating others the way they want to be treated.” An Abusive Language penalty means the player engaged in behavior that violates that guideline.
Violations include, but aren’t limited to:
The Amazon Games Naming Policy prohibits offensive names. A Naming Policy Violation penalty means that the player used an in-game player, guild, company, or group name that violates this guideline.
Violations include, but are not limited to:
Note: Temporary Lockouts indicate a temporary lock on your account while a GM investigates a bug you reported or due to account compromise. If the temporary lockout isn’t resolved, please contact customer support for investigation.
If you have reviewed the Code of Conduct and believe that you received your penalty in error, you can appeal your penalty here.