In desperate need of help with error 816

[Searaphim]

Well that was completely out of nowhere. After 3 years of playing innocently today is the day my account gets locked with error 816. I did not receive any email but the email address I used when I created this account 3 years ago is Hotmail which is known to not work properly with pso2 japan for some reason.

So yeah.. even tho I've never done anything wrong here I am... :-( Im depressed as heck and the last thing I want is 3 years of hard labor going down the sink. From what I've read on other threads the only way to get rid of error 816 is to contact SEGA.

As contacting them in english is out of the question (perfect plan to not get a reply) I need help from people that are fluent in japanese or at least know a bit (or if you know someone that knows someone, that works too). I'd gladly take any kind of help I can find.

Please, if any kind soul could help me with that, I would be eternally grateful.

[Freshellent]

I had something similar happen to me a while back ago. I hadn't bothered to recover the account for some time, tried again recently and discovered it wouldn't really be possible.

This may not be the most encouraging thing to hear- but should you be unable to recover your stuff... I've found it's not terribly difficult to start over again. In fact, it's much easier. Basic knowledge of the game arms you with the ability to catch up reasonably easily with enough effort.

Maybe what I'm trying to say is, prepare yourself for this sort of thing to happen in games like this. At some point you'll lose your stuff anyway, it happened on the older PS titles... it will on this one too.

I was fortunate to have help and some patience to get me started again, but even so I've taken extra precautions to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. For this particular event though? There's not much one can do from the sound of it.

Best of luck, and if you start over again just try not to stress it. It can be done.

[wefwq]

I had something similar happen to me a while back ago. I hadn't bothered to recover the account for some time, tried again recently and discovered it wouldn't really be possible.

This may not be the most encouraging thing to hear- but should you be unable to recover your stuff... I've found it's not terribly difficult to start over again. In fact, it's much easier. Basic knowledge of the game arms you with the ability to catch up reasonably easily with enough effort.

Maybe what I'm trying to say is, prepare yourself for this sort of thing to happen in games like this. At some point you'll lose your stuff anyway, it happened on the older PS titles... it will on this one too.

I was fortunate to have help and some patience to get me started again, but even so I've taken extra precautions to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. For this particular event though? There's not much one can do from the sound of it.

Best of luck, and if you start over again just try not to stress it. It can be done.
Some people just wouldn't want to start over just like that though, some of us really put some effort to our character.
Going through all trouble just to catch up again will gain nothing but burnt yourself and probably losing interest for the game itself.
Maybe just imagine the said person account, was banned a week after they obtained/making their dream weapon, damn that was just a huge bummer.
If i were on his shoes, if no one bother to help me i'd probably just quit rather than start over, while losing all of those stuff.

[Freshellent]

Some people just wouldn't want to start over just like that though, some of us really put some effort to our character.
Going through all trouble just to catch up again will gain nothing but burnt yourself and probably losing interest for the game itself.
Maybe just imagine the said person account, was banned a week after they obtained/making their dream weapon, damn that was just a huge bummer.
If i were on his shoes, if no one bother to help me i'd probably just quit rather than start over, while losing all of those stuff.

And that's a perfectly reasonable reaction. I couldn't pretend to have put that much time into this game, but I have in previous PS titles, as I'm sure many others on this forum have and believe that it's possible to recover IF they wanted to. Only a few things I can think of you just flat out can't get, besides time and effort but that's a different discussion I think.

Hopefully someone can help find a solution for them so that won't be an issue at all.

[TaigaUC]

If you could find and post the message from SEGA, I might be able to formulate a generic response.
Although I'm sure there are lots of other people here who could also help with that.

[.Jack]

If you have a JP friend, I'd give them your info (player ID, char name, email, ect.) and have him contact support as if it was his account. Otherwise you're most likely to not get the ban lifted. This happened to a friend and he got his JP friend to do the communication and got his account back. Best of luck.

[NoiseHERO]

EMO SIG!! EMO SIG!!

[Z-0]

You are not getting unbanned. I've tried constantly over the past year to get my last account un-816'd by contacting SEGA (in Japanese, I have basic knowledge so it's not like they wouldn't understand my tickets), but I never got any response from them everytime I tried.

You might have a chance if someone natively from Japan helps you, but I could never get it done myself.

[Gwyndolin]

Glad you're gone tbh imo.

The shade is real with this one. Sorry you're going through this OP and wish you the best in getting it resolved.

[NoiseHERO]

Glad you're gone tbh imo.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOSER

Fight your own battles like a man and talk shit up e-front! Don't wait for SEGA to throw the first punch!

[Hitoshura]

This happened to a friend in my team about a month ago, and he's gotten absolutely no response or help from Sega whatsoever. It's not a "GAIJIN PIGGU GO HOME" thing either, Japanese players on 2ch have complained about Sega's poor customer support regarding 816 as well, so unfortunately you are most likely out of luck.

[blace]

...Sega's poor customer support regarding 816...

Sega's overall support in a nutshell. They're becoming Konami-esque in terms of service.

[Crystal_Shard]

At just around this same time last year, I too lost all my characters to error 816. I'm sorry to have to reiterate what Z-0 is saying, but you have to be prepared to lose that account permanently. While some people have been lucky enough to have their accounts unfrozen, I know of at least a couple others who have never received any reply from Sega, but who have rebuilt their accounts successfully from scratch. To date, Sega has not replied to me at all.

It isn't a lost cause though. All the new adjustments making it easier to level and unlock things means that reaching VH is a breeze, and SH/XH, is merely a matter of time and effort, especially with the lower VHAQ requirements. FYI, I lost nearly everything, except for a fraction of my stuff (I had equipment and costumes all the way back from the Open Beta), but I had enough left over from a spare account that I could rebuild my character to a minimum level. And one year on, my characters are all back to their previous levels, and are actually more powerful than before because I had the benefit of experience and all the online guides and tools that I didn't have when starting out.

Re-gearing and equipping was so much more efficient, and with just a few Magatsu runs and a month of premium, you should be able to get enough weapon and unit tickets to get decent previous gen equipment to get by. Even if you don't get premium, Crafted Red Weapons and mag speed leveling using mini food devices bought with Photon Spheres can easily put you back on par with the average decently geared player.

If you have a team able and willing to help you out with baseline equipment and help with the initial level cap and H/VH unlock COs, that will make things go much smoother as well, but it's not that critical. The hardest part of rebuilding is with regards to your character's look and collecting back LAs. There's a lot of tickets that are now very/too expensive to buy back or no longer even available (especially for LAs), so it will be necessary to prioritize only those tickets that you absolutely must have. Costumes are less of an issue, with most older outfits already at reasonable prices.

Finally, and this is important if you do choose to continue, take a look at the events just before you were 816'ed and try to figure out why the account was given the ban. In my case, I shared a WM ticket across several accounts without knowing that Sega had enacted a no mercy autoban policy against WM code sharing just sometime prior to that. Once you know what to avoid, then you should be able to rebuild your account without fearing another 816.

[sesiom000]

Anyone knows the reason of the bans??
Did you guys do something to get yourselfs banned?

[Vatallus]

I don't know what to tell you. I've never been hit with a 816 (yet) but when it comes to support I couldn't even get replies to basic questions.

[dekopong]

They say that, error 816 is an inquiry, checking if your account is hacked or abused.

If you didn't receive any mail, you can send an inquiry to SEGA:
https://ssl.pso2.jp/players/support/inquiry/ (the first box, "SEGA ID/ACに関するお問い合わせ" is the right form)

The form is like the one Arredoval posted.

SEGA says, they will respond in 3 business days plus alpha. So it might take some time before you get your verdict of not guilty.

EDIT: Just from curiosity( I don't know well about vpn stuff), when you use a vpn, is your IP address fixed? Even an access from Japan, when your IP address is not the one you used before, the system warns you and request confirmation through your registered mail address. Might be something related to this?

[Vatallus]

They say that, error 816 is an inquiry, checking if your account is hacked or abused.

If you didn't receive any mail, you can send an inquiry to SEGA:
https://ssl.pso2.jp/players/support/inquiry/ (the first box, "SEGA ID/ACに関するお問い合わせ" is the right form)

The form is like the one Arredoval posted.

SEGA says, they will respond in 3 business days plus alpha. So it might take some time before you get your verdict of not guilty.

EDIT: Just from curiosity( I don't know well about vpn stuff), when you use a vpn, is your IP address fixed? Even an access from Japan, when your IP address is not the one you used before, the system warns you and request confirmation through your registered mail address. Might be something related to this?

VPNs change your IP Address, but that isn't actually what makes the confirmation request come up. Each computer has a MAC address. (Media Access Control Address) and as long as that doesn't change it won't ask you for a confirmation. Some cheap VPNs change this. Something like using putty - Amazon EC - PSO2, won't change it and therefore it won't ask you for confirmation while the game still shows you used a new IP address if you check the logs.

It is better to check for MAC addresses in this case because then you actually know it was a different PC that logged in on a player... or that they used a cheap VPN a few too many times.

[dekopong]

VPNs change your IP Address, but that isn't actually what makes the confirmation request come up. Each computer has a MAC address. (Media Access Control Address) and as long as that doesn't change it won't ask you for a confirmation. Some cheap VPNs change this. Something like using putty - Amazon EC - PSO2, won't change it and therefore it won't ask you for confirmation while the game still shows you used a new IP address if you check the logs.

It is better to check for MAC addresses in this case because then you actually know it was a different PC that logged in on a player... or that they used a cheap VPN a few too many times.

Oh, I see. Thank you.

[Aeris]

W-wait, what? What all does this cover? Now I'm nervous. I've helped friends out with WM before and just let them use my WM account for it so they wouldn't have to deal with as many Japanese menus... I'm fine now, but does this mean I shouldn't be doing this anymore?

I remember someone else posted here and they shared WM codes across multiple accounts and their account and others got banned for doing so.

[Crystal_Shard]

W-wait, what? What all does this cover? Now I'm nervous. I've helped friends out with WM before and just let them use my WM account for it so they wouldn't have to deal with as many Japanese menus... I'm fine now, but does this mean I shouldn't be doing this anymore?

It had something to do with blocking RMT'ers, but basically it was banning players from buying a single large WM ticket (eg: 10000 WM) and splitting the code across multiple accounts (say, acc 1 gets 5000 WM, acc 2 gets 3000 WM, acc 3 gets 1000 WM x 2). This would autoban all 3 accounts. Buying and using individual tickets using the same WM account would still be ok I think.

[.Jack]

I remember someone else posted here and they shared WM codes across multiple accounts and their account and others got banned for doing so.

In game WM codes could be a flag so I'd suggest if you're gifting or just giving it to a friend to keep it off the game so use team forums,skype.email.ect.. It might be flagged just like things like monomates being bought for millions. I suggest at least putting up something with worth at least maybe a random junk high slot item for those ppl that have their daily 7x TA/XQ setups, I know there's people that do this to make a few mill daily just don't use dumb thing like buying monomates off player shops for millions as it could easyly get flagged as a multiple account. IIRC SEGA only allows one account per person so use random items instead.

[Asuka~]

I was just using WM codes on one WM account, then letting friends log into my WM account for charging AC. That... doesn't sound like it should be fine, if they've started banning for similar stuff.

Though I've always had monomates and the like up for various high prices <_< I don't usually need loans, but I have them up for when I need to borrow meseta from friends. :\ Wonder what to use instead that I don't particularly mind losing profit on... 'cause stuff like crafting materials going for hundreds per has gotta be just as sketchy.

Hmmm... I guess high slot weapons with stat III or something would be safer? Not sure tbh. .- .

[Z-0]

For sharing WM codes, just charge WM wallets with the code and purchase through that, rather than using the code directly. I've shared this way and had absolutely no issues.

[Shinamori]

I'd just buy them the code and walk them through the process. :V

[Searaphim]

Finally, and this is important if you do choose to continue, take a look at the events just before you were 816'ed and try to figure out why the account was given the ban.

Thats the issue, I haven't done anything worth noting in all my days of PSO2 except using a VPN during the whole DDOS fiasco. The last thing I did before the ban was to introduce the game to a friend of mine and I played a bit with him. It has to be a mistake.

Thank you all for your support.

[D-Inferno]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSO2/comments/3o70ai/816_ban/

Looks like this has happened to 2 others as well...

[Asuka~]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSO2/comments/3o70ai/816_ban/

Looks like this has happened to 2 others as well...

Scary stuff... Honestly. :x
I'm legit considering to not play for a few days until like... Servers are up after maint or something... I don't know.

[Severed001]

Scary stuff... Honestly. :x
I'm legit considering to not play for a few days until like... Servers are up after maint or something... I don't know.

I wouldn't get hung up on the possibility of a ban. The reason for the bans is not certain, so taking time off as a preemptive measure would only take time away from a game that I'm sure you find enjoyable. Don't let uncertainty worry you!

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” ~John Allen Paulos

[GHNeko]

rip in pepperoni.

My suggestion is to keep sending tickets if they dont respond within a reasonable amount of time.

[D-Inferno]

Out of curiosity, what ISP do you have?

[Asuka~]

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” ~John Allen Paulos


...Actually, here's a couple questions not asked yet:
Did anyone who recently get 816'd...
-Use any of HardLight's mods?
-Use the item translation patch?

Thanks Severed. Uncertainty is a bch.

And I just use the mod tool just to skip the intro sequence quickly for client farming and I haven't used the Item Translation in quite a while. :/

[Crystal_Shard]

IMO, for AC, I'd just invest in a cheap but decent android device and buy through es, but really, as long as you remember "one WM code to one account", anyone using WM should be fine.

In my experience, there has only been a few confirmed reasons for a ban, perma or otherwise:


sharing WM codes across accounts
rapid changing of IP location and MAC address (switching from VPN to no VPN too rapidly)
RMT activities
Cheating and exploiting (and being in the vicinity of a someone doing so long enough)

... so unless those redditors reveal more details of their situation, there's no need to be paranoid of a random ban. In any case, given the nature of Free to Play, you kinda have to go in with the knowledge that the game company doesn't value individual players at all, even whales, and be prepared to lose everything at a moment's notice. I doubt it's the mods personally, unless we start hearing about mass EN community bannings...

@Arredoval: I actually think that sounds fine. You aren't buying a single WM code and splitting the proceeds, just using one account to pay. But if you really don't feel comfortable doing that anymore, why not set them up with es and Google Play? On putting up expensive monomates on the MyShop, personally, I'd change that to cheap 7-9* weapons or stuff you get from the FUN scratch. Less conspicuous.

@Searaphim: That's what I thought too, until I found out too late that WM code sharing was forbidden. ^^; Seriously, trace back everything that might be an issue, even if you don't think that might be an issue. Maybe your friend was using some trainer that got flagged by GG - did he get banned as well? Did you guys exchange meseta rapidly via MyShop monomates? In the meantime, keep emailing Sega until you get some response and/or start rebuilding a new account in case you don't get the old one back.

[wefwq]

I don't know if buying overpriced monomates can trigger the ban, since like i done it in the past to transfer meseta from my old account to the new one, and haven't get into the trouble at all.
I think the most likely things that trigger the ban are that
>logged in with different IP/MAC multiple time in short period
>sharing codes (WebMoney codes for example)
>your account has received multiple report form for any reason (RMT/cheating, or even harassment)

Also you can get banned for using mod (nude, or other certain "patches") but it'll probably too hard to prove, so it's more less likely to happen.

[xBM]

rapid changing of IP location and MAC address (switching from VPN to no VPN too rapidly)


Hmm, so if you have 2 internet connections and switch to either one, you have a chance to get banned because of 2 different IP addresses?

Also, I found a site that has some useful tips and preventing code 816:
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2891050449&prev=search

It's in Chinese, so I had to put it Google Translate.

[Crystal_Shard]

Hmm, so if you have 2 internet connections and switch to either one, you have a chance to get banned because of 2 different IP addresses?

Also, I found a site that has some useful tips and preventing code 816:
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2891050449&prev=search

It's in Chinese, so I had to put it Google Translate.

Might be better to just copy pasta the translations and post here...

About multiple IP addresses, that alone shouldn't cause any issues, since dynamic IP ranges are to be expected. What's important is the location that the IP address has been assigned to. You get different IP address ranges if you're in Canada vs Japan, so the danger is when your address rapidly changes between the two or more.

For example, you've been able to connect to PSO2 without issue, but suddenly DDoS happens. You quickly switch to a VPN like Softether, but although it works, you have lag, latency, etc. You shop around different Softether locations or even other VPN services. In the meantime, your connection repairs itself, so you shut down the VPN and continue on as normal.

To Sega, your location rapidly changed from your home country's IP to maybe Korea, Taiwan, Japan and then back to your first IP address within the space of a a few hours. To an automated scan tool, that looks like a hacked account, and they quickly 816 your account as a result. After that, it's anyone's guess if Sega will reply to you, because, even if you weren't hacked, you clearly appeared to be using something like a VPN, which is technically illegal.

Sega won't care what your reasons are or how much you've spent since it's much cheaper to keep your money, ignore your issue, and hope that you just start a new account and continue spending money. And if you don't, well, they get new sign ups easily anyway, so no loss.

[blace]

Has Sega updated their ToS in the past year or so?

I haven't kept with it and I know I'm beating a dead horse in this regard, previously it was labeled in there that it was forbidden to play the game outside of Japan regardless or not you're a Japanese citizen.

Aside from that, it could be anything Crystal_Shard mentioned. I also recall hearing about cases in which having certain background programs running could raise flags on GG or Sega and have bans in place because of it.

[.Jack]

I don't know if buying overpriced monomates can trigger the ban, since like i done it in the past to transfer meseta from my old account to the new one, and haven't get into the trouble at all.


It might depend on the actual amount. Buying a monomate maybe 1-10m range might not get noticed. Buying a monomate in the 50m+ range could seem suspicious activity, that's why it's best to use random high slot weapon/armor. I've bought and sold many random fodders in the 30+ range for affixing so I'm confident those don't get attention so..

As far as other things as mentioned, it might be a random JP player reporting you for inappropriate behavior being just speaking english in public or spamming lewd SA things who knows. Your best chance on getting you ban lifted is having a JP friend to speak on your behave as if it's their account in question.