No, no and no. I disagree.
This was discussed at length concerning the out-of-the-blue renaming of an avatar with a sleazy name: having the rule in there enables them to enforce it when needed. Sandbox - do whatever you want, we have guidelines - if you don't attract notice you can do whatever you wish. If caught and deemed against the terms of use, they can and will enforce...
Right.
"Murder is a crime - unless it was done by a policeman, or an aristocrat." (The Clash - Know your rights)
Such rules are usually not considered fair in the real live - forbidding something, but just punishing special people in special cases, when usually the offense is tolerated?
Since this opens the door wide to any sort of explicit suppression of "not-liked" individuals this usually is considered a characteristic of so called "rogue states", dictatorships and other malefactor communities.
"The law has to be obeyed by everyone, and in court everyone is equal" usually is seen as a foundation pillar of any civilized community. (Even if it's not always conducted this way ...)
What you describe is not what I'd want in an RCE-game that I'd invest my money in - I'd like clear, indisputable rules that would be enforced and sanctioned, for everybody!
I'd like to know what I can do safely, and what not. And I'd not like to suffer any drawbacks when obeying the law to the letter, because others will not be persecuted violating this law - as long as whoever at MA doesn't want to hurt them ...
Also: company avatar needed? Contact support, explain, get a yes or a no.
Where's the problem? Why shouldn't there be a possibility for everyone to have a second avatar for commercial purposes only? An Avatar that wouldn't be able to "wield and/ or use" any item, and that would only be able to "operate" auctioneer, TT, stores, banks, and such? And that would have an approbate name, like "Xandra's salesman" or "Anshe's banker".
I think it's a very good thing that the game isn't policed in that manner.
I think it's a very bad thing, because clear, understandable & enforced rules would help any honest & respectable participant, while shady & nebulous rules, enforced at free will, like you are supporting, will in fact only help the borderline evil-doers. And they will create a poison plume of suspecting, conspiracy theories, and unhappiness in the community all over. As we see here.
There should be clear and indisputable rules that have to be obeyed by everyone:
- A special kind of legal second avatars might be possible, but restricted to certain tasks, clearly named (maybe revealing the real name of the owner in a dummy-Soc?), and available to everyone that needs. Maybe even for a fee.
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- The use of illegal second avatars without malevolent purposes/ activities, like having a second avatar that is used to sweat when the hunting/ mining returns of the main ava are down the drain, should be punished with a short time ban of the main ava, and the deletion of the illegal second one (with all property held).
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- The use of illegal second avatars for malevolent purposes, like to escape a ban (it's what is topic here, right?), to double the time for activities (using both at the same time, for instance crafting with one, hunting with the other), to hide the true owner for scamming, or similar should never be allowed. And should be sanctioned with a perma-ban of both, with the deletion & penalty of losing any property of both avatars.
Such actions are hurting us all badly, and should never be tolerated.
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- This rule should have no exceptions. In #2 the length of the ban should reflect the severity of the crime - giving the returns from the illegal second to the main without compensation ("farming for the main"), for instance, would be more heavy sanctioned but a trade with correct daily MU's ("just playing with another ava").
IMHO.
Have fun!
