Issues with Trial Account Trolls

Just wanted to see if anybody else is having an issue with people who keep making troll characters to harass other players, on trial accounts, and suffer no consequence when, if any, action is taken by them from a GM?

Backstory (and why it's a big deal to us): For us it all started when one of our FC members said in Discord they were uncomfortable with jokes about autism, because they recently lost someone very close who was autistic. Some people thought this trampled on their freedom of speech (I'm not going to get into that here), but long story short, now we have someone who keeps making new characters with one of our FC members name and different variations of the word "Autist", that circumvent naming restrictions in their name. And standing them next to our FC members. (The character name alone is a violation of TOS) But, it really sucks for us, because what the troll is doing, specifically targeted against us, evokes so many emotions on so many levels. And it's not like we can just /blacklist them since it's their name that's the problem.

GMs removed the first two, but now it seems like our tickets don't have a resolution, and the troll is here to stay.

Has anybody dealt with anything like this before? If so, how did you resolve it? To me, it seems like this is an issue with no solution. Since people can keep making new trial accounts with no actual consequences, and getting a trial account banned seems so trivial to a person whose only intent with it is to harass others.

Really appreciate any feedback and thoughts here :)

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Originally Posted by Someusername

Just wanted to see if anybody else is having an issue with people who keep making troll characters to harass other players, on trial accounts, and suffer no consequence when, if any, action is taken by them from a GM?

Backstory (and why it's a big deal to us): For us it all started when one of our FC members said in Discord they were uncomfortable with jokes about autism, because they recently lost someone very close who was autistic. Some people thought this trampled on their freedom of speech (I'm not going to get into that here), but long story short, now we have someone who keeps making new characters with one of our FC members name and different variations of the word "Autist", that circumvent naming restrictions in their name. And standing them next to our FC members. (The character name alone is a violation of TOS) But, it really sucks for us, because what the troll is doing, specifically targeted against us, evokes so many emotions on so many levels. And it's not like we can just /blacklist them since it's their name that's the problem.

GMs removed the first two, but now it seems like our tickets don't have a resolution, and the troll is here to stay.

Has anybody dealt with anything like this before? If so, how did you resolve it? To me, it seems like this is an issue with no solution. Since people can keep making new trial accounts with no actual consequences, and getting a trial account banned seems so trivial to a person whose only intent with it is to harass others.

Really appreciate any feedback and thoughts here :)

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As much as it sucks, Square's customer support is one of the worst I have ever seen in regards to harassement, dont count on them to do anything.

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Originally Posted by Stormpeaks

As much as it sucks, Square's customer support is one of the worst I have ever seen in regards to harassement, dont count on them to do anything.

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Part of it is because Harassment isn't a crime in Japan, they don't have much of a concept of it, there has to be violence involved to cross the line.

I think the best you can do is report them and hope that helps. With it being trial accounts I don't think there is a permanent solution. You can blacklist them on sight and from that point just don't pay them any mind. They get satisfaction from your reactions. If you show none...it should stop altogether shortly.

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Originally Posted by Renalt

I think the best you can do is report them and hope that helps. With it being trial accounts I don't think there is a permanent solution. You can blacklist them on sight and from that point just don't pay them any mind. They get satisfaction from your reactions. If you show none...it should stop altogether shortly.

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Sadly, they have started to use subbed accounts. :(

That's when the reports stopped working. The famous, "We shall investigate and deal with it as we see fit" Only to see them still standing there a day later. So clearly SE seems to have not cared once they got their money.

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Originally Posted by Someusername

Sadly, they have started to use subbed accounts. :(

That's when the reports stopped working. The famous, "We shall investigate and deal with it as we see fit" Only to see them still standing there a day later. So clearly SE seems to have not cared once they got their money.

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Oh no if anything...they gave you the ammo to actually have a permanent solution. If they do it again....take screenshots and time stamp them. It will be done with but it takes a bit of time. Just you and your friends just keep doing what you are doing and it'll get resolved...albeit eventually. Banning one person is a better financial move than doing nothing and losing like 6 people. Especially over harassment.

As much as it sucks, and as hard as it will be, it looks gotten to the point that the troll needs to be ignored until they get bored. (something I've had to do a few times since 2006).

No reaction. This is quite hard in an FC sense, as everyone needs to do it, as long as the troll get any reaction they will keep going.

If you've ever seen the tos-breaking extension voidlist (not suggesting that it's used of course) what it does, is the level of ignoring you will need to implement. If you've not seen it, the reaction is completely as if the troll is not there, to the point you walk through them without seeing them.

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Originally Posted by Shibi

As much as it sucks, and as hard as it will be, it looks gotten to the point that the troll needs to be ignored until they get bored. (something I've had to do a few times since 2006).

No reaction. This is quite hard in an FC sense, as everyone needs to do it, as long as the troll get any reaction they will keep going.

If you've ever seen the tos-breaking extension voidlist (not suggesting that it's used of course) what it does, is the level of ignoring you will need to implement. If you've not seen it, the reaction is completely as if the troll is not there, to the point you walk through them without seeing them.

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I didn't even know that was a thing but it does sounds like the answer...

even though we can't say to use it...or if anyone does. It's all hush hush.

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Originally Posted by Stormpeaks

As much as it sucks, Square's customer support is one of the worst I have ever seen in regards to harassement, dont count on them to do anything.

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Wait, What?

I thought this was the game where if I told the Tank:
"hey, please turn on your tank stance, the healer is getting beat up."

They could claim I was insulting their chosen playstyle and have me banned for a week.





I'm kidding ... kinda...

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Originally Posted by ICountFrom0

Part of it is because Harassment isn't a crime in Japan, they don't have much of a concept of it, there has to be violence involved to cross the line.

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Unfortunately thats true and there are quite a few documentaries online about that. Actually it’s similar everywhere in the world, even with threats you’re not taken seriously unless something is done to you, but hey give the gov half of your hard work right? Anyways Im drifting off.

I don’t think they will do much unless he starts messaging insults directly to people then yes maybe he’ll get a proper ban, but I doubt they will ban him because of an offensive name. They could block his IP sure but he can bypass that easily.

Unfortunately those kind of people are sad as hell and the only way they can lift their miserable self esteem is by harming others for a bit of power. How do you deal with those people? You cut off their power. That means do not react at all, don’t blacklist so that you can report their messages but don’t message back, depends how sad this lowlife is he might either stop after a while or go as crazy as he can (let’s face it, you’re not healthy if you go out of your way to make accounts for these kind of purposes). Thats why, block him anywhere else except in game, if you have shared servers message the admins and explain the situation so they can kick him. Protect yourselves as much as possible, keep your distance with an eye open.

I can't say that I've ever had this issue, but it sounds like quite a loophole for someone to exploit. They should probably look into that.

A couple of things you mentioned that I want to ask about:

Are they still using a name that is inappropriate under the ToS? If so, has it been reported as a name violation or are you trying to roll it into the harassment? You might get farther if you just report it as a name violation.

You mention that it is emotionally painful to have to see them just standing "there". Where is there? Is it a place your and your FC members congregate at on a regular basis? If so, try choosing another location to meet (especially one in a higher level zone a new character can't get to). If it's your FC house, go inside and lock the door. If a FC member has a friend coming to visit, the door can always be quickly unlocked then locked again so they can get in.

I'm sorry this is going on but some of the other posters do have a point - the more you react to this individual, the more you are giving them exactly what they want. The best thing to do is just ignore their presence. If they don't get a visible reaction out of you, they will get bored and move on.

You can use "the thing" to hide the player's existence. But it involves going behind TOS-sama's back.

Probably not the solution you're looking for, but if seeing the name is the issue: You can use the normal ingame settings (under the character-menu) to hide names. For once you even have the options for group members, alliance raid members, friends and everyone else - and if you want the full name shown, only initials or nothing at all. Unless you're a names-enthusiast, I'd recommend with going no names at all for anyone who isnt on your friendslist regardless of the harrassment-issue - makes for a much nicer looking, less cluttered game (specially in areas that are very full).

Just... Ignore him/it :D

It's a character with a stupid name, for gods sake.

Relax :x

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Originally Posted by JRat

Wait, What?

I thought this was the game where if I told the Tank:
"hey, please turn on your tank stance, the healer is getting beat up."

They could claim I was insulting their chosen playstyle and have me banned for a week.





I'm kidding ... kinda...

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When it comes to actual harassment, they drop the ball hard. Speaking as someone who's had to deal with GMs for harassment and it took like half a week to get a resolution to the problem.

When it comes to people cursing or invading someone else's playstyle, they for some reason take that more seriously. Had an ex tell someone to fuck off in a dungeon and was in gaol an hour later. Might even still be recorded on their twitch.

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Originally Posted by Vidu

Probably not the solution you're looking for, but if seeing the name is the issue: You can use the normal ingame settings (under the character-menu) to hide names. For once you even have the options for group members, alliance raid members, friends and everyone else - and if you want the full name shown, only initials or nothing at all. Unless you're a names-enthusiast, I'd recommend with going no names at all for anyone who isnt on your friendslist regardless of the harrassment-issue - makes for a much nicer looking, less cluttered game (specially in areas that are very full).

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+1 to this. Just turn names off except your friends, makes the game way more immersive and helps to avoid seeing people yoy don't want to see.