Roleplay/Partyfinder Discrepancies & Policy Enforcement by GM's

[van_arn]

[QUOTE=Aslae;5511023]

I don’t have any particular morals. I only realized how useless the erp ads were making pf back when I was watching it for hours for blu content. I’ve certainly had a giggle over some of the more “wtf” posts, though.

How exactly do the erp add's make pf useless? Unless I severely understand how pf works, putting up an add for something doesn't inhibit something else from showing up? How does an ERP add prevent a blu mage pf from showing up?

Erp ads are spam, and enough of that spam gets posted that blist isn’t a solution.

I merely kept tabbing between sections to see what was up. That “other” section is a bad look for the game, especially considering its rating.

As an aside, I noticed how even with a blist full of erpers the high-end and dungeon tabs *never* showed a miscount of recruiting parties.

[Aslae]

[QUOTE=van_arn;5511029]

Erp ads are spam, and enough of that spam gets posted that blist isn’t a solution.

I merely kept tabbing between sections to see what was up. That “other” section is a bad look for the game, especially considering its rating.

As an aside, I noticed how even with a blist full of erpers the high-end and dungeon tabs *never* showed a miscount of recruiting parties.

You didn't even come close to answering my question.

[linayar]

There's a clear difference between selling content, and selling consumables, gear, etc, etc. Is that selling content not only undermines those that have cleared it and their sense of achievement, but also those that bought the content then have a serious false sense of achievement.

That's like saying it's ok to help out someone by crafting and giving them gears for free, but it's not ok to sell those gears to them. If it's ok to help people run content for free, it's also ok to help them run content for a fee. Or are you saying it's not ok to help someone clear content at all?

Whilst I am inclined to agree on this point, I will mention that going by this selfsame reasoning, then purchasing and selling housing was always completely legitimate and therefore any reworks were not even necessary.

I would agree to that as well. With that said, housing is its own issue due to real scarcity that is caused by the devs' mismanagement. Sometimes, certain special rules are needed to address special issues.

At any case, that is beyond the topic of PF and what it is intended for and the implication that I was pointing out from the GM's wording.

[van_arn]

[QUOTE=Aslae;5511030]

You didn't even come close to answering my question.

I’m under no obligation to answer anything to your satisfaction.

I merely enjoy watching the dumpsterfire tab on pf get cleaned up so I can consider cleaning my blist.

[Naixatloz]

What all this bickering about ERP is glossing over is the fact that all-ages venues are also being affected. It would be no skin off my back if ads for ERP were taken down; heck. I'd lowkey be happy about it. But as an RPer, I rely on PF to find new venues and figure out who all is open. There's few viable alternatives, and none at all if you're a newcomer to the scene without prior connections.

[Aslae]

[QUOTE=van_arn;5511035]

I’m under no obligation to answer anything to your satisfaction.

I merely enjoy watching the dumpsterfire tab on pf get cleaned up so I can consider cleaning my blist.

That's fair. I'll just go back to ignoring you then.

[Borril]

Yeah, and then you get reported for "spam" by the people who really utterly hate roleplay and loathe seeing even a single shout interrupting their precious Limsa memeposting.

Honestly my biggest problem with this entire farce is the fact that there's no consistency in the enforcement of this "new" rule. It seems to be one individual GM (which is already suspicious enough, frankly, when out of a team there's only one individual ever going out of their way to pick out specific community members for punishment) who has either misinterpreted something or has a genuine bone to pick with a specific section of the community. Now, if this same individual had approached any of the ridiculous AFK club PFs, or any of the raid sellers who willingly misuse PF and advertise in the wrong sections intentionally, I'd be far more forgiving. (I also don't really deny that public adverts for 18+ venues can't really be tolerated in a game whose legal rating is lower than that and I could understand it to a smaller degree if it was only 18+ venues being targeted.)

But... they don't. They haven't. Arguably worse abuse of the PF, where people are clearly falsely advertising things in the wrong sections for the explicit purpose of pushing down legitimate PF requests, are just left alone to sit there. Yet apparently it is the roleplayers who are wrong.

That's what's making me curious, I was doing some minor investigating into this because...tired and its too early to do much. None of the players posted as being reported are of the sane FC so a big mass of PF adds all advertising the same group is unlikely. The connecting factor is one GM.

The odd discrepancy is somebody being suspended though which, what made their case different.

We really need clarity from SQEnix on this, hopefully the reports to CS will prompt a response, it just seems odd that this shot up all of a sudden eith no updates to the TOS. Is a FC on Aether just getting a bug up their butt abd mass reporting? Is a GM misinterpreting or overr reacting?

Will keep my eye on this when free and try to help best I can.

[Senariul]

I’m under no obligation to answer anything to your satisfaction.

I merely enjoy watching the dumpsterfire tab on pf get cleaned up so I can consider cleaning my blist.

Why's anyone even responding to this guy? He's clearly just trolling at this point.

[Kaurhz]

That's like saying it's ok to help out someone by crafting and giving them gears for free, but it's not ok to sell those gears to them. If it's ok to help people run content for free, it's also ok to help them run content for a fee. Or are you saying it's not ok to help someone clear content at all?

I would agree to that as well. With that said, housing is its own issue due to real scarcity that is caused by the devs' mismanagement. Sometimes, certain special rules are needed to address special issues.

At any case, that is beyond the topic of PF and what it is intended for and the implication that I was pointing out from the GM's wording.

I'm not entirely sure where this first sentence came from, didn't even imply that, so don't try and misrepresent the argument. Helping someone clear content, and piloting them through content, or putting them in a position where they are not required to learn/execute any mechanics or put any effort in at all are 2 entirely different things. I'm saying it's not ok to sell content.

[MagicAura]

Yeah, and then you get reported for "spam" by the people who really utterly hate roleplay and loathe seeing even a single shout interrupting their precious Limsa memeposting.

Honestly my biggest problem with this entire farce is the fact that there's no consistency in the enforcement of this "new" rule. It seems to be one individual GM (which is already suspicious enough, frankly, when out of a team there's only one individual ever going out of their way to pick out specific community members for punishment) who has either misinterpreted something or has a genuine bone to pick with a specific section of the community. Now, if this same individual had approached any of the ridiculous AFK club PFs, or any of the raid sellers who willingly misuse PF and advertise in the wrong sections intentionally, I'd be far more forgiving. (I also don't really deny that public adverts for 18+ venues can't really be tolerated in a game whose legal rating is lower than that and I could understand it to a smaller degree if it was only 18+ venues being targeted.)

But... they don't. They haven't. Arguably worse abuse of the PF, where people are clearly falsely advertising things in the wrong sections for the explicit purpose of pushing down legitimate PF requests, are just left alone to sit there. Yet apparently it is the roleplayers who are wrong.

There are two things that strike me as weird in this case: (1) it's always the same GM, (2) One person was banned straight away even though they stated it was their first infraction, while the rest were given a warning.

This indicates that perhaps the person reporting and the GM are cooperating for unknown reasons. I say unknown but I suspect it has to do with taking down 18+ PF listings and covering it with taking down all RP ads regardless of being 18+ or not (or perhaps everything in their tiny little minds is 18+ when it comes to RP). If that's the case then the GM is guilty of corruption and gaming the system and should face the consequences.

Just to clarify, I am not a RPer but accept that the RP community needs to be given the tools tools and circumstances to thrive, I have no opinion on ERP if it's between consenting adults and in private, and I absolutely loathe all the RMT/clears/whatever sells that are always at the top of the PF lists.

What I have a problem with is the double standards of this specific GM (as well as the person who reports all these) and the absence of clear rules from SE's part. If 18+ is against the ToS then take them down but make it clear that they are and don't leave it to personal interpretation. As things stand it's a mess and the only thing it achieves is alienate people from the game and give SE a bad name.