Appeal
If you break a rule, you will be given a mute or ban. An Appeal is a chance to get that penalty overturned. The appeal system is designed to allow remove offences against their account or letting them reflect on the reasons they were given the penalty.
Players have a limited number of appeals. You receive access to the first appeal once the Player Support team have put an offence on your account. A second appeal becomes available 21 days later, only if the first one fails and you have been a long-term member of the RuneScape community.
Writing a good appeal
Here are some tips on making the most out of an appeal. The evidence stored on Jagex's servers will ultimately determine the outcome.
- Be honest. Customer support staff have heard every excuse. They rely almost entirely on evidence stored on their servers, and can tell whether or not you are telling the truth.
- State your sources. An appeal saying "It says on the forums" is a lot weaker than "It says on the forums (quick find code 00-00-000-00000000)". If customer support is unable to find a source, they can't revert your account status to its pre-offence state. With a quick find code, this problem is removed.
- Use correct English. Not only does it make the appeal look more professional, but it also means that customer support does not have to spend time deciphering it. Write it like a letter, not an e-mail.
- Keep it short. Jagex staff are very busy, and may miss an important detail when reading your appeal if it is too long. Appeals are designed to help Customer Support staff identify their error, get to the point.
- Avoid personal details. For security and safety reasons, it is recommended that you don't include any personal information such as your name, phone number, location, etc. Staff members are unable to use any of those details in the appeal process, so it's best to leave them out entirely.
- Recognised fansites are OK. A post by Mod Hohbein once stated that if you were discussing a recognised fansite, you will not be penalised. If you were discussing a recognised fansite, which are listed in the "Fansite Support Information" thread at quick find code 103-104-6-60844459, then you will have a very strong appeal. Simply mention that the site has been recognised by community management and provide the quick find code.
- Mentioning suicide or homicide will not aid you in your attempt to appeal your account.
Criticism and misconceptions
Some players feel the appeal system has problems, although the reasons vary. A common belief is that the system is somehow automated. For example, the "copy-paste" responses make some players believe that their appeals are reviewed by a computer. Jagex has stated that appeals are at least skimmed by a live staff member. In order to save time, they use semi-automated responses so that they can quickly move on to the next appeal. Another thing that concerns players is the acceptance of irrelevant appeals. Jagex relies almost entirely on evidence they have collected when reviewing an appeal. The text that a player submits only helps them identify any mistakes they made when applying the offence. When an appeal is accepted, it's because the reviewing Jmod didn't feel that the punishment matched the available evidence. Mod Chrisso confirmed that "appealing won't do anything" if the evidence matches the offence.