HGG Community Forums

It came to my attention recently that a group of members where using Facebook to circumvent a forum ban and allow an underage member to interact on the forum. This user was banned because they where not legally old enough to use the forum. Because our game is located in the United States it is subject to a federal law called COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule). https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions.

These adults where contacting this underage child on Facebook and playing the game with her. She was banned from the forum so she would not be interacting with adults. Violating a federal law is a big deal and if I knowingly allow it to happen it can get the game shut down and worse. While these are some long standing members that I hate to ban they have shown they can't respect game rules and have put the game in jeopardy for everyone. I have no choice but to permanently ban them from the game.

It may take me several days to sort through all the back long of who is involved. Some people may be unbanned and others added to the ban list. There is a lot to go through. EDIT: At this point all members that will be banned have been banned.

My apologies for having to post unfortunate news/drama, but if I don't post what's gong on in cases like this nasty rumors have a tendency to spread and cause more unnecessary drama. Please, if a member is banned from the forum or game they are banned for a good reason. I hope this is the last we see of this sort of thing.