(just ressubed) Did they really delete a thread about Live Letter for being critical?

Yesterday I decided to re-sub because of the live letter.

I saw a quite critical thread about the live letter on this forum yesterday.
If you look back through my recent posts you'll see that I have been outright vitriolic at times about the state of the game/community-attitude in some of them, never a cool look but when you feel someone must, you find a spine and 'do' literally the barest Fng minimum which is to talk about it.
So I said to myself "If your going to be 'that' vocal about being negative, then you can no longer just stay quiet when you see something positive"
So I resolved that I would make sure to go back on and post my take on the positive to be found in the Live letter, for CB3 and the community, and maybe even start a whole new thread to give prominence to that positivity where it does exist. (Even though I still have significant reservations.)

But instead, I can't see the post anywhere, and there is another thread talking about censorship. Do I find they have now started to just delete expression when it does not align with doctrine?
(Might as well just use reddit at that point. Which I don't. Tabloid, tell other people why they think wrong, garbage.)

(incidentally, I had been planning on just enjoying the game this morning. I only logged in to see if my forum access was open. I was not expecting to see that thread gone, if it is. I now I find myself preferring to be here writing this crap, instead of logging in, because my interest in the game hasn't fundamentally changed, and its still hanging by a thread.)

• (Please, if you know the post I mean, and I've just missed it under another forum, please link it)

Ya, it's been completely removed. I wrote a couple of posts in that thread, and doesn't even show up when I look at my post history.

Rather weird, most of the time they lock the threads, but guess we're not allowed to talk in such a thread.

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Originally Posted by Gurgeh

Do I find they have now started to just delete expression when it does not align with doctrine?

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Yes, they have. A new low for the forums lmfao.

This is what happens in other games that were in decline and at risk of getting shut down. The first thing they do is start censoring criticism. They're panicking.

It is a recent trend. Was not the only critical thread that got silently nuked.

Its weird, while that particular OP came across as very Titanmen-y trolling due to choice of words and used hyperbole, the thread itself did have some very constructive and interesting discussion, and definitely was not full of doom&gloom. Sadly, without an official statement, we can only theorize what caused this.

ffffff...

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Originally Posted by Kisshu

Ya, it's been completely removed. I wrote a couple of posts in that thread, and doesn't even show up when I look at my post history.

Rather weird, most of the time they lock the threads, but guess we're not allowed to talk in such a thread.

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Originally Posted by Losado

Yes, they have. A new low for the forums lmfao...

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Well, that's truly sad.

Well I guess that means we are just going to have to work harder to get the negative side of the message through. (That ought to please the high end gamers at least, "Make the effort! Just get gud!")
If/when I come back to post about the live letter I'll be spending less time on the positive and more time underlining my reservations, to do my bit to ensure the general pool of opinion is accurately represented.

They’ve also deleted more than one thread about the stalking plugin and how NA has discussed about it’s squarely square’s fault for their blacklist implementation and they seem to harshly moderate it on the JP forums given there has been more than one JP person coming over here to ask in broken English what is going on with that plugin

They didn't delete it for being critical, nearly everything on this forum is critical. They almost certainly deleted because it was made by a notorious forum troll and was clearly a troll post. If someone were to recreate the thread with an actual good faith original post I'm sure it would be fine.

Yes they have.

There has also been a thread regarding the 'exploitation' of the Account ID that was deleted a few weeks back.

It's not really the best look ever, when threads are silenced like that. Especially when an overwhelming majority of the responses were actually reasonable.

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Originally Posted by CidHeiral

They didn't delete it for being critical, nearly everything on this forum is critical. They almost certainly deleted because it was made by a notorious forum troll and was clearly a troll post. If someone were to recreate the thread with an actual good faith original post I'm sure it would be fine.

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Honestly, doesn't matter if it was made by a 'notorious forum troll' - It was still a perfectly reasonable thread, IMO.

I don't think it was deleted for being critical really
It talked about the stalking tool which is why the other thread specifically about it got deleted

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Originally Posted by CVXIV

I don't think it was deleted for being critical really
It talked about the stalking tool which is why the other thread specifically about it got deleted

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If this is the case...

I think people should be free to discuss issues on the game, especially when the developers are also discussing said issues. Most especially when they aren't directly referencing the name of the tool (aka advertising for the tool in a roundabout way)... But then you also have the whole issue of,... Just look at the amount of past discussion going on around parsing etc., - For me personally with this in mind, it feels less about objective enforcement about the ToS, and more simply that they really dislike that people are discussing that topic specifically.

Edit: Like, people have gone out of their way to ensure they are discussing the issue within a reasonable boundary. It is what it is, and if that's their decision then fine, but it's one that I personally am just not a fan of.

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Originally Posted by Kaurhz

Honestly, doesn't matter if it was made by a 'notorious forum troll' - It was still a perfectly reasonable thread, IMO.

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Typically if there are troll posts in an otherwise reasonable thread they delete the posts. If the OP is a troll post they usually delete the thread regardless of how the rest of the thread is going. Obviously I'm not on the community team so this is all speculation on my part but it's how they've handled things in the past. If people were in there discussing that tool that's a hot issue at the moment that certainly could have been a factor as well.

That poster shouldn’t even still be here to post at all. He’s had like 100 accounts banned at this point. I wish they had a forum mod to just prevent him from using alts. If we can all immediately see it why can’t the mods. It’s almost as though this person laughs in the face of forum decorum the rest of us need to follow due to his bizarre alt account collection.

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Originally Posted by ZephyrMenodora

That poster shouldn’t even still be here to post at all. He’s had like 100 accounts banned at this point. I wish they had a forum mod to just prevent him from using alts. If we can all immediately see it why can’t the mods. It’s almost as though this person laughs in the face of forum decorum the rest of us need to follow due to his bizarre alt account collection.

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I would love to see some evidence of this instead of baseless rumours. If there is none, perhaps you should be the one seeing a ban hammer soon.

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Originally Posted by Sylpharia

I would love to see some evidence of this instead of baseless rumours. If there is none, perhaps you should be the one seeing a ban hammer soon.

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lol. We have common sense and he often gloats about flaunting the rule system.

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Originally Posted by ZephyrMenodora

That poster shouldn’t even still be here to post at all. He’s had like 100 accounts banned at this point. I wish they had a forum mod to just prevent him from using alts. If we can all immediately see it why can’t the mods. It’s almost as though this person laughs in the face of forum decorum the rest of us need to follow due to his bizarre alt account collection.

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What if they ARE the moderator of the General Discussions and bait people for their own entertainment?
Keeping the appearance of getting their accounts banned, while having the freedom to create infinite new ones.

/obvious shitpost

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Originally Posted by ZephyrMenodora

lol. We have common sense and he often gloats about flaunting the rule system.

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'Just trust me bro' is not evidence.

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Originally Posted by Sylpharia

'Just trust me bro' is not evidence.

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I mean you just posted your very own thread suggesting you are unaware these forums allow criticism as though you are unable to read just about every thread here. So that says enough to me about the utility of further responding to you.

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Originally Posted by Gurgeh

Yesterday I decided to re-sub because of the live letter.

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A month. You've been gone a month. There hasn't even been a major patch ever since January. And you "decided" to resub because of a vague announcement of content that won't go live for another 1.5 months? You literally came back to the same game that you were so fed up with. And the "story" you came up with to justify your return is really something ...

"Harassment"

If they really deleted that thread due to "trolling", I think it's even worse than censorship. It means the game is in such a bad state that there is almost no line to cross between trolling and reality. There were some hyperboles, but the post was realistic.

It reminds me of New World where the forum itself literally lasted a few weeks because there was too much criticism. I don't think this forum will be closed down, but perhaps more moderation will be applied to not denote attitudes contrary to the direction of the game.

Granted, there is not much point, the people active in the forum are always the same, either you delete it or you don't, no new people will be added to participate actively.

Generally, posts get removed if they are reported and are against the rules. If they wanted to stop criticism they'd literally just deleted the forums altogether because the entire forum contains just that.

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Originally Posted by AllenThyl

A month. You've been gone a month. There hasn't even been a major patch ever since January. And you "decided" to resub because of a vague announcement of content that won't go live for another 1.5 months? You literally came back to the same game that you were so fed up with. And the "story" you came up with to justify your return is really something ...

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It's just the 'hate of the week' and 'what you must stand for by unsubbing from this trash of a game' - Until the next content Patch/Expansion comes with their big trailer.
And then the wallets open on their own. Just look at Blizzard - They have had much trouble that it should've put them in dire straits, yet apparently have received roughly $15 Million revenue from their newest 90$ premium mount.

This is all just surface level passion and rage and many probably wouldn't commit to a true quit unless they really get burned out of their MMO.

The last thread I was a part of that I'm aware got deleted because a guy went off telling people exactly how and where to download mods and plugins. I figured it was because of that. It was an anti mod thread anyway, so maybe some kind of toxic stuff. But I remember seeing the guy explaining what MARE was, and it poofed.

My guess is at the end there was discussion on the plugin and someone reported that. Not that it was incredibly deep anyways, effectively said google the words you're interested in and you shall find it. Like woooo... Lol. If you use reddit or visit major publications you'll see the literal name of the tool (which I and others didnt use).

So I assume it's for that, and I don't really blame the GM if that's their directive but also it's like "don't look out the giant glass window kids" because that's how bad our third party scene is at now.

(Not that anyone asked but for context years upon years ago I was for official addons and said it would be better this way, but we went this route and now we have massively overpowered tools the likes that WoW's add-ons never had. It would have been less damaging to let players do their thing within a well designed box).

I've known square enix to be very bitter and passive aggressive about things that hurt their public image.

I think its very notable that despite being notoriously terrible at responding to and applying feedback for the game, to the point where they're ok letting content release dead, and then lying about its popularity in interviews

They saw how much the "SpEEEN Liisten to Mii!" shit was being absolutely clowned on and expedited a re-record for that, why can't we do that for more things?

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Originally Posted by Kaurhz

Honestly, doesn't matter if it was made by a 'notorious forum troll' - It was still a perfectly reasonable thread, IMO.

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Yeah... No, by this point even those are posted for disingenuous reasons.

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

Given their recent policy change on being able to squash any criticism they want (and punish the offender's account afterward), this doesn't surprise me at all, and you'll probably see more and more of it throughout Dawntrail.

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Then why are you still heeeeere? You are unsubbed, you literally purged your own posts in a paranoid fit of anticipatory obedience, and still you can't keep away from these forums. If you think these forums will devolve into some kind of tyrannical regime, why do you waste your limited life time writing here about it? I asked you last time, but will ask you again, do you not have a game to play that you actually enjoy?

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Originally Posted by AllenThyl

A month. You've been gone a month. There hasn't even been a major patch ever since January. And you "decided" to resub because of a vague announcement of content that won't go live for another 1.5 months? You literally came back to the same game that you were so fed up with. And the "story" you came up with to justify your return is really something ...

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Ok. I'll bite! Good to see you again too Allen! XD
Yeah! I cancelled my sub the minute I re-subbed last time, and when Chaotic turned into a whine-fest about "prog Liars! Prog Liars!" (instead of people just getting on and working with the party they have, it was only Day 3 FFS!), and all my friends who re subbed for it then promptly never logged on, yeah I let it run out.

When they made the announcement about the add on "at the beginning" of the Live letter, and also exceptionally in English, well.. it impressed me. It showed they were 'sitting upright' about as much as possible. They didn't hav to do it in English but was the best way to acknowledge everyone. I'm not sure what more they could have to please me, except announce emergency maintenance this week with exactly the fix I want. (A ridiculous expectation)
Truth is I really don't bare grudges. I forget about yesterday if today is better (although I might not always make the effort myself to try again today if yesterday was shit. Or maybe I'm just a really slow learner, it could be that.) The result is the same though.
I decided then that I 'will' be back to 'try' the Field Operations area, I decided to star making sure I was ready, so why wait.
Also, 'social' reasons (which are my business). Which above all else IS what an MMO is about. Anyone who says otherwise is just plain wrong.

It's not releasing for another 1.5 months! There is nothing to prepare for someone who can't even craft!

ahmahgawd, your whole narrative is cringier than the excuses of a teenager who has been caught smoking. And the fact that you think people should just put up with prog liars in high-end combat content ... I just can't.

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Originally Posted by AllenThyl

It's not releasing for another 1.5 months! There is nothing to prepare for someone who can't even craft!

ahmahgawd, your whole narrative is cringier than the excuses of a teenager who has been caught smoking. And the fact that you think people should just put up with prog liars in high-end combat content ... I just can't.

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If you can't Allen, "then just don't!"
Just don't.

(By prepare, I mean just do shit randomly, and be about in case someone who can be assed to prepare, starts talking about what needs to be done. This will be the first Field operation I've done while it's current, so I've got no freaking idea, and I'm not about to start researching shit, or looking anything up unless it's in game.)

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Originally Posted by Gurgeh

If you can't Allen, "then just don't!"
Just don't.

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You expect people to put up with prog liars! Being a prog liar is already awful and terribly anti-social behavior. Demanding others to actually condone it and put up with prog liars is 3 levels worse!

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Originally Posted by Gurgeh

(By prepare, I mean just do shit randomly, and be about in case someone who can be assed to prepare, starts talking about what needs to be done. This will be the first Field operation I've done while it's current, so I've got no freaking idea, and I'm not about to start researching shit, or looking anything up unless it's in game.)

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ahmahgahd

You "prepare" by "not preparing". That's why you resubbed for content that is not releasing for another 1.5 months, to prepare, by doing absolutely nothing that is in any way, shape or form related to the content about to be released. In other words, the withdrawal symptoms kicked in and now you delude yourself with this "narrative" you made up about how you wanted to show "appreciation" for an announcement that wasn't really a surprise since the fact that this content will get made was already revealed before Dawntrail launched.

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

Given their recent policy change on being able to squash any criticism they want (and punish the offender's account afterward), this doesn't surprise me at all, and you'll probably see more and more of it throughout Dawntrail.

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There was no policy change for this forum. That very policy has always been the case for this forum.

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Originally Posted by Losado

"Harassment"

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Yes Harassment. The mods agreed. Thank you mods.

Notice how the white knights mass report anyone who criticizes the game...? They barely even try to defend the game anymore these days. Just jump straight to "harassment". Really makes you think.

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Originally Posted by AnotherHighlander

Notice how the white knights mass report anyone who criticizes the game...? They barely even try to defend the game anymore these days. Just jump straight to "harassment". Really makes you think.

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I reported off-topic personal attacks that have nothing to do with the game. They violate the forums rules which you should know by now given how often you get banned.

Who was talking to you? Oh wait, are you admitting to abusing the report feature just because you don't like criticism?

"Not worth the effort"

Probably because even with infinite effort you can't actually produce any evidence there's a personal attack lmao?