Abuse of the TOS. Loophole regarding griefing/trolling. Needs a solution.

[Mahoukenshi]

It's. a. game.

You can even show empathy in a game. Try at least to acquire some basic empathy and apply it on a case-by-case basis. It won't affect you negatively in-game or IRL nor will it harm you.

[Granyala]

I'm sorry, I just find this to be absolutely ridiculous to actually equate this with real life stalking, and label this person as a "predator". You realize how serious those crimes actually are in real life?

Newsflash: there are other people behind the computer screen. Multiplayer games are essentially real life in the regards of being able to hurt s/o's feelings.
Sure, you can't do physical harm but you can give s/o a really bad time and imho such behavior should be taken action against.

I know this is the Internet. I know that normal person + anonymity + audience = asshat. Doesn't mean there aren't lines that should not be crossed.

[RoyalBeef]

Maybe people ought to stop being sick creepers. Stop acting out their molestatious urges in game and seek help themselves. Cause if they're willing to do that to a complete stranger, who knows what they're going to do to an innocent person close to them.

And if you're one of those people. Seriously get help. Because you don't want someone like me on your jury when you get caught hurting someone in real life.

You know there will always be people like that. Just as there will always be murderers.You can teach people it's wrong, you can punish them for doing it, but there will always people doing it no matter what. Should they stop? Sure, it would make the world a much better place. Will they stop? Nope. So the only factor you can influence in that equation is doing everything you can to prevent it happening to you. You can rant all day about how people should stop breaking into houses which will change nothing , or you can just lock your door and put your energy into something else

[Saidosha]

Friend of mine more or less got chased out of FFXI because there was a guy who wanted her to be his girlfriend but she turned him down. He'd tell spam, make alts to get around it, tell lies to friends to get them to harass her, would follow her around to different zones and try to ruin EXP parties she was in, and basically do anything and everything he could to be a jerk. Contacting a GM just defaulted to them saying to blacklist him, ignorant of the extremes he continuously went to to make her game life hell.

Observing this experience pretty much solidified that behaviors in games are never policed to the extent they truly should be. The whole, "It's just a game!" line is certainly easy to hide behind, but as others have touched on, the elements of cyberbullying and cyberstalking are real. Said guy above also took to bombarding her livejournal when that was more of a thing, which obviously didn't help her overall disposition. To say no harm can ever comes to the person on the other end of the screen is incredibly bereft of empathy and quite laden with ignorance.

That said, it's not exactly a secret that RPers have and continue to be a marginalized lot within the MMO community. Some of it is because some people just don't get it. Some think it's a waste of time because it doesn't translate to statistical improvements to their character. Combat systems very rarely favor the concept of flavoring encounters in such a way, either. Finally, you'll get that group that thinks it's just fun to crash the party and be a nuisance, which isn't terribly far removed from people who think highbies ganking lowbies in PvP is A-OK. Just because a game technically allows something doesn't make it just. The relative lack of teeth to the blacklist option across so many MMOs also tends to send the message that the hosts care more about the money the offending party brings than meting out the proper restrictions or paying GMs to adequately investigate. It's also pretty telling seeing other players push that solution is to more or less just run and hide. Go to another zone. Take it to tells or party chat. Basically, do everything but be visible when they're doing nothing wrong. It feels pretty analogous to the whole "Did you see that dress she was wearing?" sort of victim blaming when time and time again it's the jerks and trolls not getting put in their place, and oftentimes (indirectly) encouraged.

I further imagine the above is quick to trigger those who love to play the snowflake card or eagerly go into some slippery slope strawman about how everyone can find everything offensive so may as well just ban everybody. Deep down, we know that's not what this about. We know people crap on RP. We know people turn a blind eye because they don't personally care. Still doesn't mean ruining a form of well-meaning entertainment is acceptable. I could say "you" could blacklist people who make giant text dumps in say. I could say "you" could filter out emotes so you don't see them in your log. I could say "you" could turn off certain sounds if you find them annoying. But that would certainly be inconvenient, wouldn't it? Hmm...

[Gula]

I further imagine the above is quick to trigger those who love to play the snowflake card or eagerly go into some slippery slope strawman about how everyone can find everything offensive so may as well just ban everybody. Deep down, we know that's not what this about. We know people crap on RP. We know people turn a blind eye because they don't personally care. Still doesn't mean ruining a form of well-meaning entertainment is acceptable. I could say "you" could blacklist people who make giant text dumps in say. I could say "you" could filter out emotes so you don't see them in your log. I could say "you" could turn off certain sounds if you find them annoying. But that would certainly be inconvenient, wouldn't it? Hmm...

Apparently role players in a role playing game aren't real people.

[HumanNinjaToo]

I think if you want to make a difference, when it comes to cyberbullying within a game, then you have to put your money where your mouth is.

Saying mean things to people is not a crime, or at least it shouldn't be. I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and I count myself blessed to live in a country that protects free speech. I think people who harass others and call others names are certainly teetering on the edge of emotional terrorism, and while this may be considered morally wrong, it is (and should be) legally protected.

That being said, the private space owned SE (in this case FF14 game) has no obligation to protect free speech. They have rules to protect people from cyberbullying and all that goes along with that.

If you guys (general you) don't feel as if they are holding people to the ToS standards they have put in place, then it's time to stand up and let your actions speak for you. You want to make SE really hear what you are saying? Then hit their wallet hard. See about getting all RP'rs, or really anyone that is willing to get behind the cause, sign a petition and cancel their subscription. I guarantee that if SE loses a few ten-thousand subs they will pay more attention to what you guys are saying. The only way to make a big company really listen to you, is to mess with their money.

[Nomuno]

Either the TOS needs to be revised, or a feature where causing a player's character to vanish locally on your end--once you blacklist them--needs to be implemented.


But another user should not be able to lessen the enjoyment of said game for another user out of spite.

no no just no. I will not be subject to someone else's feeling of their Roleplaying emosion being interrupted. You are picking to Roleplay in the Gameworld and thus are subject to the people, players and npc's therein. Too much abuse would come of the change and IMO not worth the hassle of it all.

To the bolded, this goes both ways

[Krotoan]

no no just no. I will not be subject to someone else's feeling of their Roleplaying emosion being interrupted. You are picking to Roleplay in the Gameworld and thus are subject to the people, players and npc's therein. Too much abuse would come of the change and IMO not worth the hassle of it all.

How would you know if someone did this though?

[Saidosha]

If you guys (general you) don't feel as if they are holding people to the ToS standards they have put in place, then it's time to stand up and let your actions speak for you. You want to make SE really hear what you are saying? Then hit their wallet hard. See about getting all RP'rs, or really anyone that is willing to get behind the cause, sign a petition and cancel their subscription. I guarantee that if SE loses a few ten-thousand subs they will pay more attention to what you guys are saying. The only way to make a big company really listen to you, is to mess with their money.

Protests sound nice in theory, but I can't ever really think of a time they've actually succeeded.

Saying I don't understand RP is funny because I've been a P&P Roleplayer for almost 20 years.

Then I would hope you understand the concept of consent is a valid part of the process and is a factor of RPing even outside of MMOs. People tend to have a general expectation of what they want out of an encounter when engaging. Sometimes things deviate from that mid-play, sure, but there's also a distinct difference between that and random outsiders just barging in and thinking they're helping.

[HumanNinjaToo]

Protests sound nice in theory, but I can't ever really think of a time they've actually succeeded.

Boston tea party 1773, MLKJ 1963, Women's rights 1913, Monday demonstrations 1982-1989, Gandhi salt march 1930, LGBT rights 1993, protestant reformation 1517-1685, triangle shirtwaist fire protest 1911, abolishment of slavery in the US 1830-1865, anti war movement in US 1967-1972, the storming of bastille 1789

EDIT:

Also, even if I don't agree with the protest itself, if you want some examples against large companies: Ford/Toyata, 7-11, chick-fil-a, Hobby Lobby, Bank of Omaha, Apple, Dominos pizza, NCAA, Ben&Jerry ice cream, CVS all took big hits due to protests that hit their wallets and backed away from what they publicly supported. So yeah, while the effects may not be as immediate as what we want to see, protesting definitely works.