Suspended for Otter Nonsense

[Joven]

I didn't get suspended but my account basically got a strike against it for creating a thread to brag about our children and the cute and smart things they do. It was created in general discussion which I assumed meant we could talk about anything in general as long as it wasn't inappropriate. I received an e-mail detailing what action was taken against my account. I was told it was against the TOS. How could an innocent thread bragging about the things our children do be against the TOS? How asinine is that? They even removed my thread. I was baffled.

Your thread fell into the category:
*Posting content that deviates from topics concerning FINAL FANTASY XIV.

[Joven]

I guess our otter revolution would have fallen into these categories:

*Posting content that deviates from topics concerning FINAL FANTASY XIV.
*Posting a number of posts with the same content.
*Posting content that does not follow the theme of the category or thread.

Looking at it that way we kinda did violated a few of the ToS, but at the same time I believe it could have been curtailed early with either a warning or by locking the thread. Not trying to justify violating the ToS, just pointing out alternate solutions.

[Halivel]

I didn't get suspended but my account basically got a strike against it for creating a thread to brag about our children and the cute and smart things they do. It was created in general discussion which I assumed meant we could talk about anything in general as long as it wasn't inappropriate. I received an e-mail detailing what action was taken against my account. I was told it was against the TOS. How could an innocent thread bragging about the things our children do be against the TOS? How asinine is that? They even removed my thread. I was baffled.

General Discussion is, pretty much, an "off-topic" type section, but it's an "off-topic related to FFXIV". That be said, we should not really discuss new movies or our dogs here. We could if it's connected with thread that is, in its turn, connected to the game, but creating threads that are completely unrelated to the game is a "No".

[SaitoHikari]

Anything started on the forums should be settled on the forums. We're discussing forum moderation and transparency not personal grudges. Even if we were discussing personal grudges nobody should be taking that outside of the forums. Even remotely suggesting that people should find other's information so they can 'solve it IRL' is wrong in every way.

Pretty much. Speaking as a former forum moderator of a different MMO, this was one of the worst things you could possibly do. To suggest this as an option indicates that one isn't particularly aware of how things can turn nasty with real life consequences the moment you take disputes out of the internet. People in MMOs tend to be petty as hell, to the point where exchanging information over a dispute could lead to crap happening even years later.

I recall one particular case where one dispute basically led to someone losing their guild leader position because all of their officers rebelled against him (he was known as a pretty major douchebag). But he knew one of the officers IRL because they had dated prior. Three years later, after said person had quit the game, we had to deal with a particularly nasty stalking case. He apparently decided he wasn't over what happened, and apparently wanted to get back at everyone by posing as his ex-girlfriend on Craigslist, complete with address and all, which I'm sure you all can guess what that entails.

[SenorPatty]

I guess our otter revolution would have fallen into these categories:

*Posting content that deviates from topics concerning FINAL FANTASY XIV.
*Posting a number of posts with the same content.
*Posting content that does not follow the theme of the category or thread.

Looking at it that way we kinda did violated a few of the ToS, but at the same time I believe it could have been curtailed early with either a warning or by locking the thread. Not trying to justify violating the ToS, just pointing out alternate solutions.

This is what I usually see in other forum mmos. Mod steps in, clearly describe what's the issue, warns of potential lock if it goes on and that's the end of it. Insta-bans are usually handed out when it comes to the more egregious violations like derogatory attacks, racial/ethnic slurs, etc.

For example, something like the otter spam would've been typically met with a roadblock in the form of a mod pretty much mentioning you can't post non-ff14 images or derail the thread with it. As for the latter in question, it would've been locked up long time.

[SturmChurro]

I just got off another 10 day ban on these forums for "otter" nonsense as well. I am pretty much done posting here. Literally anything can be interpreted as "Breaking the ToS", doesn't matter what. People can abuse the report system and get pretty much anyone banned for anything, in my opinion.

Make sure to include "in my opinion" after everything otherwise it could be confused as "slander", in my opinion. I am serious in my opinion.

[PondHollow]

You guys should watch Sarazanmai.

[Enla]

This is what I usually see in other forum mmos. Mod steps in, clearly describe what's the issue, warns of potential lock if it goes on and that's the end of it. Insta-bans are usually handed out when it comes to the more egregious violations like derogatory attacks, racial/ethnic slurs, etc.

For example, something like the otter spam would've been typically met with a roadblock in the form of a mod pretty much mentioning you can't post non-ff14 images or derail the thread with it. As for the latter in question, it would've been locked up long time.

Pretty much my experience as well, both on the user side and as someone who has moderator experience under my belt. You don't necessarily have to be overtly present in the day to day going's on of the forums or even interact with it's users on a casual level, but you do need to come down from on high when there's work to be done and make sure things stay on track. It helps keep things consistent and warns people who might not know they're doing anything wrong to fix their behavior.

I'll be honest these forums are the only ones I've been in where the mods are so faceless and unreachable that it negatively impacts the userbase's perception of the actual rules that need to be followed. For all we know they are following an internal guide book on how to handle all these issues, but because we have no basis to even speculate what their criteria for bans are in many cases it just leads to constant re-offenses.

[SturmChurro]

Pretty much my experience as well, both on the user side and as someone who has moderator experience under my belt. You don't necessarily have to be overtly present in the day to day going's on of the forums or even interact with it's users on a casual level, but you do need to come down from on high when there's work to be done and make sure things stay on track. It helps keep things consistent and warns people who might not know they're doing anything wrong to fix their behavior.

I'll be honest these forums are the only ones I've been in where the mods are so faceless and unreachable that it negatively impacts the userbase's perception of the actual rules that need to be followed. For all we know they are following an internal guide book on how to handle all these issues, but because we have no basis to even speculate what their criteria for bans are in many cases it just leads to constant re-offenses.

They don't give out warnings, they give out full on bans. For what would never be considered an offense, or even a minor offense (IF EVEN) anywhere else. In my opinion, users know this and report for anything that hurts their "feelings", straight up melodrama. I never seriously report anyone, I get over it. The trend seems to be to silence for anything and everything, as long as it is reported, in my opinion.

The ToS is literally so broadly handled there is no basis to go on at all. You have to assume that pretty much anything not positive can be considered "breaking the ToS". I thought it was bad when an implication of a swear, or an actual swear was enough to get a ban, but at least there is a line where you know, "Okay it is not okay to use any kind of swear". There is no such thing for regular speech. I won't make a "my freedom of speech" argument, because I know it doesn't apply here, but the level the ToS is enforced here is absolutely ridiculous. It has me literally nervous to post on these forums at all, who knows what could get me banned!

[Iscah]

Is it possible that the lack of moderator communication some kind of cultural difference?

Perhaps this is normal procedure for a Japanese forum, and Japanese managers are setting the rules for how all moderators must behave and handle incidents? There could be stricter social codes that they stick to anyway, and are less likely to overstep the boundaries in the first place.

Is anyone here at all familiar with Japanese forum etiquette?