Roleplay/Partyfinder Discrepancies & Policy Enforcement by GM's

[JanVanding]

People were likely reporting it for awhile, and there are some nights the darn list is so long and people mislabeling duty content in PF as ERP and that's a no-no. Saying the word brothel also doesn't help.

But also a long while back YoshiP made that statement about some things people were doing in the ERP arena that could make rating boards want to label the game beyond the Teen rating, and that they should stop. It's likely a collection of all these things instead of a rogue decision.

Where is it in the terms of service that advertising a venue or event is against it?

I believe you are referring to third party mods which is what YoshiP specifically talked about and said they should stop, there's an entire section in the TOS that specifically talks about 3rd party modifications and the usage of SE intellectual property to profit from such modifications is a straight bannable offence.

So yes, it was a single GM putting their own interpretation which they are not allowed to do.

Senior GMs have warned against using the word Brothel or ERP on PF but stopped short of telling people not to use PF for venues/event advertising and there's plentiful evidence of that from Octobers sting operation as some of those venues were also doing illicit RMT.

So if someone is using those words, that's a fair judgement by the GM but this is absolutely not the case from the screenshot evidence.

This kind of stuff can land legal in hot water, that's why they don't do that.

[WkdPaul]

Oh, please. People have been throwing insults around this entire thread, including calling me a sock puppet among other things. Stop trying to virtue signal and address the actual argument.

Then report and move on, piling on and insulting others doesn't make you right either, instead of replying to Aurou and their views on what a party could be and how it's used in the game, you went to insults, but somehow I'm the one not addressing the argument ??

I don't think people should be engaging in ERP with strangers in a space that minors can easily access. It's explicitly against the Terms of Service of the game, and I feel that it should be enforced as such.

The reason I don't support ERP in this game, as I have brought up previously on this board, is because I was groomed when I was a minor on a similar (albeit older) game. It was a very negative experience in my life, and I don't think people should be subjected to the same. I've had to leave FCs and end friendships in this game over people knowingly covering and protecting RPers who intentionally engage in "relationships" with minors. Many adult RP circles on FF have known minors that are just allowed to coexist in a space they absolutely should not be in. None of this is a rare occurrence on this game; Very few RP venues genuinely take any of this seriously.

That should be addressed, yes, but Taytay has a point ; online interactions aren't rated, and it's the parent's job to parent their kids and look at what they have access to, in games, videos, online or not. But yes, adults engaging with minors isn't something that should happen, but then that's not what the issue is here, it's about banning RP (not even ERP) from the PF...

Normal RP is fine, I used to be super into it and I'm glad people can enjoy it. I hope they add a section for it to the PF, but I'd like to see continued strictness towards venues that explicitly violate the terms of service.

OTHERS in PF is fair game IMO, but yes, simply adding a section would fix that train wreck.

[callmenat]

[E]RP venues are in my grey area but regular RP venues should not be targeted whatsoever by this, to be honest. We have the /roleplaying tag for a reason, and if roleplaying is how people want to use their sub time then I don't see an issue with it. Shout chat would be very clogged very quick with venue advertisements (and aren't advertisements against ToS anyways in chat?) I just feel like some sort of balance can be struck to get the "selling feet pics" and the RMT off of PF without getting rid of the primary way RP venues say they're open. This is also ONE GMs action and I am curious to see if other's have had this occur with other GMs, because one is an off situation, but a few is a pattern.

Roleplaying is content to people in this game and saying that it isn't is just closed minded towards what other people enjoy.

[CodMizuki]

if we're supposed to use fellowship finder for the rp stuff and the PF is for the raids, duty roulette, guildheists, trials, high end duties, pvp, quest battles, fates, treasure hunts, the hunt, gathering forays, deep dungeons and adventuring forays then what is the point of the other section? The Other Section May Aswell Not Exist.

[Infindox]

At this point we just need a post from someone in the team saying what is and isn't okay here and discuss stuff. I still think this GM is out of line, while at the same time I wish they would crack down on multiple ads and the rmt.

[ZackZero]

if we're supposed to use fellowship finder for the rp stuff and the PF is for the raids, duty roulette, guildheists, trials, high end duties, pvp, quest battles, fates, treasure hunts, the hunt, gathering forays, deep dungeons and adventuring forays then what is the point of the other section? The Other Section May Aswell Not Exist.

Not only that, but the Fellowship Finder has, as a solution, been brought up as inadequate due to the state of the tool, and the limited number of fellowships one must join - as well as the fact that it requires invitation just like linkshells.

[Taytay]

They weren't MY venues

So which is it?

Either you were a manager and had some decision making power as you emphasized in multiple posts in this thread and are now asking current venue owners to perform a function you couldn't be bothered with....

Or you weren't a manager and the multiple times you claimed as such, you were fibbing.

Which is it?

[Glaschuu]

Sorry you've hit that wall with the RP discords. If you're still having issues finding the sort of RP stuff you're looking for, please feel free to hit me up in game. I'm on most nights and we can see if we can find somewhere doing stuff that you're looking for.

I appreciate the effort, but I think it's best for me to stay away for the time being. Too many unpleasant interactions with the RP community last year. I have other creative outlets that the moment (drawing and fanfic writing), so I'm good.

[Divinemights]

I agree with this completely, but the problem is that many reports were for advertisements in PF that had no hints of "ERP" or "Adult Content", while also there's RMT ads and Run-Sellers using PF with GM batting an eye.
What are we supposed to do in that case?

Report to GM and in this you case you can see GM does respond to the correct concern.
When you are file a report to GM, you need to present your case to GM logically, not just a simple phase such as "this character is doing RMT"
Also, GM is not police, if they cant see in their hidden log there is a clear evidence showing there is real money involves (in which they never do because there is discord), they cant do anything.

[Sparky_Mage]

I am fairly convinced that someone said this already, but i still think that, while definitely overstepping the boundaries from side of GM's. Think about it this way.
Who floods the party finder?
Of what there are almost 3 full pages in party finder during popular hours?
Of ex trials? Not really. Of reclears and practice for savages? Yeah, there are plenty.
And then there is the nuke of 2.5 pages worth of trading, rp venues, and pure nonsense, like selling levekits by assigning them some imaginary tagline that will not matter in the end, and bumping the price on them for the brand, because they think it's cute.
I have nothing against the venues themselves, but jesus christ people on aether need to chill with them.
And yes, the spambots and sellers are also there, but they usually do not take as much space as "other" tab does. They usually just comfortably sitting at like, top 6-9(nice) placements in the pf and dont usually go over these numbers.
And while yes, there is not really a better alternative, and fellowships being a rather sloppy solution, just for the sake of a clean party finder, i agree with that GM.

But a clean party-finder for what? Fate parties? They have their own tab. BLU parties? BLU content parties go in their respective content tabs. Unsync parties? They go in the tab for their respective tier of content. Even for the rare content that does go into the Other tab like maybe BLU-leveling parties when they release a new patch, it is not hard to glance through and find what you are looking for. I am on Crystal, arguably the RP hub of all the data-centers and even at peak it takes a grand total of 15 seconds to look through the list and find a party I am looking for. If your argument is they clog up sorting by all then that is also silly, because Other-tab parties are listed near the very bottom of the list behind every other party, only private parties are listed lower.