Roleplay/Partyfinder Discrepancies & Policy Enforcement by GM's

[VeradBV]

But back to the topic of why this thread was made, clearly this whole situation shows that the ui is missing something. The activities of players can show where something is lacking if they use something that may not be for its intended purpose. SE need to put a rp tab in PF or create an alternative and equally accessible way for rpers to advertise without having to resort to spamming in public chat channels to reach as many potentially interested players as possible. I think this is the only solution that would put this whole situation to rest.

Far be it from me to deny more opportunities to make people suffer my roleplay but any such service will immediately come under the same scrutiny of advertisements in the PF. Nothing really stops that from being a place to advertise 18+/Actual ERP locales and the same reporting, as well as abuse of that reporting, will keep on keeping on. If it's just a categorization issue then sure, that resolves that part. Not all the players who are experiencing squeams at the possibility of 18+ advertisements.

[VeradBV]

I mean... every single post of his is from this thread. He tread the line just enough between hateful zealot and utter ridiculous for me to assume he wasn't actually serious. I just find it even funnier he's from Balmung. That's just straight up RP meme these days.

We have to crawl out from under the rock every so often, release spores to infect others, then retreat before daylight hits us. Don't worry, you're witnessing something natural here.

[LisSquid]

Not to entertain this too much, but it's obvious who has and hasn't interacted with kids online. It's really not hard to pick out the child. Especially if they do try to sneak into adult spaces.

[Penthea]

We have to crawl out from under the rock every so often, release spores to infect others, then retreat before daylight hits us. Don't worry, you're witnessing something natural here.

Very amusing coming from a duskwight elezen. Well done, you gave me a good chuckle

[Ashemmi]

It still isn't what the thread is about. But a mod getting a ton of erp reports and reaching for anything to try to do something about them with no actual evidence to actually hit them with the erp ban would make more logical sense than some GM literally thinking non-content can't be posted in PF. So... enlightening possibility.

I don't think the problem is as black and white as what the original post was about. Yes, the GM used specific words, no the OP didn't mention ERP. There *has* to be something more. A one-man crusade against all things non-PVE, or an attempt to quell a perceived overrun of ERP without actual evidence. I'm a big fan of Occam's Razor. I'd say the rest that has come in is very enlightening.

[Eoko]

But again, as a role-player, I have mixed feelings about them being publicly advertised. Especially since the only articles people write about it were about Hyperion's brothels. As a role-player, I've had to defend other role-players who just like living a virtual life or playing an adventurer from people who think literally every role-player is about weird sex stuff. And I'm not even against ERP as a whole... But I'm not sure I like the idea of that sort of thing being the face of the RP community as a whole.

I get being defensive about a facet of the game, or just a hobby, that is important to you. However, with every single subculture, it is going to be the outliers, or the "oddities" that people talk about. It happens with everything. Especially when media gets a hold of it. Everything devolves into "weird sex stuff" if it's an article, a news reels, or a TV show (thank you crime dramas, not). If people don't get the difference between RP and ERP, I don't think any level of defense will change their mind. So often people will just dig their heels in. If they can't accept "that's a part of the RP community, but I don't engage in that aspect of it" right off the get go, they likely aren't going to ever really change their initial thoughts on it.

Like I said in my initial post in here, I'm a long time RPer who doesn't RP on FFXIV 95% of the time. I think even if they demand blatant erp adverts to be removed, other methods, or other language will take its place. And maybe that would be better. The community that wants those things will know the codes, those that don't won't get to participate. ERP speakeasy sorta thing. It's a logical progression. Door greeters will greet you, you'll have to respond in /tell with the right phrase for the night. If you don't, the event staff will be notified via Discord/LS that X person is not to be engaged with in any way. Would be a bit more work but not all that much really. And it could put a more innocent, albeit false face forward.

[Iscah]

Except that Final Fantasy XIV has actual role-playing options in game. You're often given dialogue choices meant to give your personal warrior of light a personality you want. It's not as deep as let's say... Fallout: New Vegas or Planescape: Torment... But it's there. Not to mention that the developers mention creating various options for role-players. Specifically. It's absolutely allowed and encouraged.

I'm not saying RP isn't valid in this game, or that it shouldn't be here, just that "the game is about [player-driven] RP because it's an RPG" is not accurate, regardless.

And no, picking your character dialogue within the story (and promptly getting railroaded to the next plot point regardless) is also a separate thing to player-driven RP.

The game has both but they're not the same thing.

[hydralus]

Yes, I saw that as well. However, if that is indeed the person that reported everyone and thus caused all the mess, then that makes even less sense to why erp is being discussed. That person is literally reporting mostly for what they claim are erp advertisements. If that was the report that lead to GM Wyndallus contacting all the people that created the PFs, and he didn't mention the erp factor to any of them, then it leads even more credence to this not being an erp matter and wholly an advertising in PF matter.

They're not talking to Wyndallus. Wyndallus' name wouldn't fit the name in the censored image where the reports were made. For example, take the 'Greetings' and in the OP's image and it can comfortably fit over Wyndallus' name with some extra. In the censored image, that Greetings doesn't fit. You can also tell the last letter of the GM's name isn't an S. So perhaps it started with ERP bans and some other unrelated mod went ban-happy. Or maybe the censored image is all made up.

[JanVanding]

Honestly with everything that has occurred and come out of this, the answer to it is quite simple.

The RP community needs to start better policing itself so there's no further GM intervention that ends up with collateral damage.

Still advertise your venues and events in the PF, we have confirmation now from that email that it is indeed fine to use the other tab to do that.

However, adult spaces? Drop the 18+ and anything alluding to Brothels or ERP, ensure you have an age verification system in place for anyone that "enquires" about Adult oriented RP content, but dont disclude people from your venue if they choose not to verify, you just dont let them participate in any adult activities.

It cleans up the language in the PF

It ensures minors are not wandering in to something they shouldn't be

It protects adults that wish to partake in more adult themed activities (drinking, gambling, etc) from potentially bad situations

And most of all, it should avoid another situation like this happening again.

[Saefinn]

I don't think the problem is as black and white as what the original post was about. Yes, the GM used specific words, no the OP didn't mention ERP. There *has* to be something more. A one-man crusade against all things non-PVE, or an attempt to quell a perceived overrun of ERP without actual evidence. I'm a big fan of Occam's Razor. I'd say the rest that has come in is very enlightening.

Agreed about Occam's Razor, as I too am a fan of using it.

Occam's Razor tells me that it's one GM who's got it wrong.
- GM went after RP and ERP advertisers
- Their reasoning didn't mention ERP
- Their reasoning was that PF is not for social events
- They said it's fine to use Fellowship Finder or even /sh
- This is the first in years this has been an issue
- Evidence is showing it's only 1 GM
- Evidence shows other GM's saying it's fine to use the PF this way just make sure it abides by ToS
- Evidence from another GM suggests its okay to use PF for ERP but keep the ERP private

The leap to "ERP" seems to come from people's imaginations or from that Reddit post showing somebody reporting ERP advertisements to a GM. None of the GM's actions suggest anything to do with ERP.

Cutting all the assumptions down to one:
The GM is taking action against players using the PF in this way in error.

What that error could be could range from misunderstanding their ruling on PF to a vendetta against RPer's but neither is known.