Offence Appeals



Introduction

Players who knowingly break any of the Rules of RuneScape will be given an appropriate penalty, usually in the form of a temporary ban or mute. Players who commit minor, isolated offences will be given bans or mutes of short duration, but players who continuously break the rules will be given increasingly lengthy bans or mutes, and may ultimately find themselves being permanently banned or muted. The purpose of the Offence Appeal system is to give players an opportunity to appeal any offences they believe themselves to be innocent of. It also gives players the chance to review and reflect on any offences they have committed, so they do not make similar mistakes again. Finally, the Offence Appeal system gives us at Jagex the opportunity to ensure that penalties are not inadvertently given to innocent players.

Accessing the Offence Appeal System

The offence history screen
You can access the Offence Appeal system by going to the account management page and clicking on the appeal offence button about halfway down the page. Once you have logged in, you will see a page like the one on the right. From here you can view your account status and offence history, and appeal any offences you are deemed to have committed.

The status of your account is represented by two pillars, one relating to bans and one to mutes. If you are given a temporary ban, a coloured bar will appear in the ban pillar, and any subsequent bans you are given will cause the bar to rise. Similarly, if you are given a temporary mute, a coloured bar will appear in the mute pillar, and any subsequent mutes you are given will cause that bar to rise. If either bar reaches the top of its respective pillar, you will be given either a permanent ban or a permanent mute, depending on which pillar has been filled.

To give you a clearer idea of the status of your account, each pillar is divided into three zones, each of which reflects an increasing degree of danger. These three zones are explained below.



Safe: you have committed only a small number of offences that were probably minor in nature, and have been given only short-term bans or mutes. Under most circumstances, you will be allowed to appeal these offences.

Warning: you have committed a number of offences of varying degrees of significance, but you are not yet in danger of being given a permanent ban or mute. You should be careful not to commit any further offences, as this could place your account in the red zone. Under most circumstances, you will be allowed to appeal any offences you have not already appealed.

Danger: you have committed a significant number of offences, and are in danger of being given a permanent ban or mute should you commit any further offences. Under most circumstances, you will be allowed to appeal any offences you have not already appealed.


Beneath the pillars will be a list of the offences you have committed over the past twelve months. Details of each offence will be given, including the evidence for the offence, if available. Keep in mind that each offence will remain on your account for twelve months, after which it will be automatically removed (though, if you received a permanent ban or mute, that, of course, will not be removed).

Appealing Offences

To appeal an offence, simply go to the offence list towards the bottom of the offence history page and click on the appeal button next to the offence you wish to appeal. You will then be able to offer an explanation or apology for the offence, which will be reviewed by the Player Support team. If your appeal is successful, the offence will be removed from your account, as well as any penalty that was given for the offence.

Under most circumstances, you will be allowed to appeal each offence only once. If you are a long-term member of the RuneScape player community, however, and your first appeal is unsuccessful, we may give you a second appeal. This second appeal will become available 21 days after your first appeal is rejected. If your second appeal is unsuccessful, the relevant offence will remain on your account, together with any related penalty. You will not be given a third appeal.

We realise that players occasionally commit offences without realising it, perhaps because they are not sufficiently familiar with the Rules of RuneScape. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you take the time to review the evidence given for each offence, so that you do not waste your time appealing an offence of which you are, in fact, guilty.