GM Responses, Roleplay Advertising, and Party Finder - Megathread

[Awha]

I have only done a handful of rp in this game and most of it was with fc members, people I know very well. However I do know people who rp a lot and while they have some interesting stories about creeps, my impression is they're the exception not the norm. It seems for the most part the rpers they interact with are just lore junkies using the game as a creative outlet. I did a lot of rp in WoW and again while I have some interesting stories, for the most part people just wanted to create stories. The majority of my bad rp experiences have been due to people who were just bad at rp, not those who wanted to erp. EU servers in both cases. I have no clue how different or similar rp is in NA in both games.

And I'm disinclined to blindly believe that NA is just full of degenerates because many of those who criticise rp in the forums put rp and erp in the same basket. Similar to how many casual players put vocal elitist raiders and raiders who mind their own business in the same basket. Many players cannot and even refuse to see the difference.

At this point I am getting curious enough that I may make a NA alt to have a look for myself. I don't think it's as bad as many say it is, but like I said before I have no experience rping in a NA community. Maybe it is very different.

It is not bad as bad but negative but negative experiences stand out that is all. Also people often mistake trolls as genuine role players.

Do not get me wrong sure you get the random tell about erp on some servers, but it is as bad as people make it out though. Unless you have a zero tolerance policy then nothing anyone says can change their position causs erp does happen, and some times minors do get caught up in it.

[Kyuuen]

I’m well aware of it, used to play on moonguard. Not sure you understood the point I was getting across. Both games are T for teen, it is not a viewed “issue” there, but it is in this community, and it’s garnering account actions.

Ah, apologies then, I did take it the wrong way. ^^;

[Darkpaw]

-snip-

I am a parent, and i do monitor my child’s activity online, always. I understand non parents having difficulty understanding but, the pandemic and having to watch children 24/7 is not an excuse.

This is where parental responsibility comes in. You have a child; you and you alone are responsible for their safety. Yes we all did stupid things when we were younger which is why we should know what to look out for. You wouldn’t trust a bunch of random strangers with your child’s safety and security, so why ask random strangers to respect your boundaries and wishes for your child? It’s not their responsibility it’s yours.

But you make another good point. Yes personal responsibility has to take place as well. I am not against erp or adult themed rp of a non sexual nature (ex: violence, crime, fighting, or other mature themed content) i do agree it should be conducted safely in areas catered to it and not be placed in the publicly viewable chats. (Shout, yell, say) but rp venue advertising has been okay’d by the GMs. Therefore the responsibility shifts to venue owners/employees, and parents. To ensure minors do not interact with such themes. As much as they possibly can.

But banning rp, or having gray areas in enforcement of ToS and UA’s are bad for the long term health of the game. You can’t take a nuanced argument and simplify it. This is a complex issue and asking for clarity should be celebrated and not meme’d on or mocked. Hence why I said people should support the RP’ers looking to the moderation team for clarity yes some bad apples will skirt their definitions but those can always be amended and added onto as necessary. A mass majority will adhere to new guidelines and rules.

So yes, I can expect parents to do their due diligence, I won’t excuse them. Nor will I excuse the RP’ers who don’t do theirs in knowing who they are rp’ing with. Parent and player responsibility are huge and should be considered not just one or the other but both.

[HyperiusUltima]

I’ll be updating the OP when I get home from work. There are apparently a few things that need to be ironed out as well as the “T for Teen” and “13+/Pegi 16” arguments I’ve seen tossed around.

[HyperiusUltima]

By the way, about Fellowships: implementation is about as bland as implementing an in-game forum you talk in akin to here about certain topics. I don’t mind it’s functionalities, but it really is not as useful as using the PF to advertise. For one, PF shows EVERYTHING and as someone pointed out before you can filter what you’re looking for.

[Cyreil]

Use Fellowshipfinder, it is quite usefull and also to be able to shape a community better, for those engaged in it, also it is way more usefull for RP content than what spamming/flooding with an ad in Partyfinder, even though fellowship does not seem to have much of an interface then it DO have massive posible corners to play around with.

Why don't you use it then?

[LianaThorne]

snip

I'm not on the side of people wanting to ban all RP, just making that clear. I'm on the side of: "Know who you're talking to and be responsible with what you do in a game that involves minors." Outside of that, I don't care whatsoever what people do with their days/nights/etc.

And yes, I'm not at all saying that it's a "good excuse" (hence why I literally said I don't agree with that mindset), I'm just saying that is a mindset that parents I have spoken to have and I'm sure that they're not the only ones out there that share that mindset. I already said I don't agree with it though and agree that parents should be mindful of what their children do. The sad reality though, is that not all parents will or want to monitor their kids or be involved in that way and we hear cases about how parents sometimes do not treat/parent their children the way they should. That's all I'm saying about that.

So yes, in a nutshell, it SHOULD be on both parents and those who are in charge of the venues in game to monitor what's going on. I agree with you there and should be a viewpoint EVERYONE agrees with, in my opinion.

[Theodric]

I’m well aware of it, used to play on moonguard. Not sure you understood the point I was getting across. Both games are T for teen, it is not a viewed “issue” there, but it is in this community, and it’s garnering account actions.

Players can and do get banned in both games if they're caught doing anything naughty or inappropriate in public chat channels. In some cases, they can even be banned if they're doing it in private but one of those responsible for the act decides to raise awareness of that fact. Maybe due to a falling out or a grudge and they decide to report a former friend knowing what goes on behind closed doors.

Just speculation, but I've heard stories in passing of that happening.

[Darkpaw]

I'm not on the side of people wanting to ban all RP, just making that clear. I'm on the side of: "Know who you're talking to and be responsible with what you do in a game that involves minors." Outside of that, I don't care whatsoever what people do with their days/nights/etc.

And yes, I'm not at all saying that it's a "good excuse" (hence why I literally said I don't agree with that mindset), I'm just saying that is a mindset that parents I have spoken to have and I'm sure that they're not the only ones out there that share that mindset. I already said I don't agree with it though and agree that parents should be mindful of what their children do. The sad reality though, is that not all parents will or want to monitor their kids or be involved in that way and we hear cases about how parents sometimes do not treat/parent their children the way they should. That's all I'm saying about that.

So yes, in a nutshell, it SHOULD be on both parents and those who are in charge of the venues in game to monitor what's going on. I agree with you there and should be a viewpoint EVERYONE agrees with, in my opinion.

What you say is sadly true. And thats been my point as well. So I do think the OP should get some support and the moderation team should absolutely clarify and update ToS and PF usage guidelines, so we can avoid uneven enforcement.

[EtherRose]

It ain't even dense, you literally said "No RP in a RPG."

I mean, sure they could have attacked the """common sense""" argument of "RP is a gateway to ERP!" with your barely anecdotal evidence of "It pretty much happened to me! So clearly it's true!!" When it's hard to judge a whole community based on your highly limited experience.

Or maybe the clear """Think of the children!!""" stance in this completely made up and pretty unlikely scenario of "your son/daughter being sexually harassed by a ERP'er in whispers or normal chat!" when the actual likely outcome of that is a report, and a strike/ban against the person stupid enough to whisper some weird stuff to people.

Moderation is suppose to fill that gap between "Rated T for Teen" and "Online interactions not rated by the ESRB". And they do that with reports, so if you see someone ERP in a public chat? Report them, it's easy to give a zone, time and date for the GM's to check the logs of. Get a gross whisper? Again, time, zone and date.

The truly ironic part is that you call for RP to not be allowed at all but then say because it's a teen game it should be heavily moderated.
Which is it then? Cause one is moderation the other is extremism.

Yes, it is dense. You know exactly what i mean. If we go by your logic I guess I would sit here and play FF7 but talk to myself in an RP way because FF7 is considered an "RPG". Are you going to RP as a dancer in the Honey Bee Inn by yourself? No, you won't but you'll sit here and say you will just to back up what you have to say and merely state "Well FFXIV is an "MMO"-RPG.

I find it funny how you state my anecdotal evidence when you are clearly stating your own anecdotal evidence and rebuttal of "I never saw or heard anything like what you stated so it can't be true". It can go both ways.

I used the son/daughter as a plausible scenario. You seem to wrap your head around the fact that nothing like this would ever happen at all. And just because you don't hear about it on a daily basis and such doesn't mean that it's not in the realm of possibilities. Back when ARR first released borderline RP/ERP wasn't much of a problem because no one really cared. But fast forward to todays society where "I'm offended by everything, etc" It's not really welcome as much today.

And lastly, you have no clue what you are talking about? Extremism? Really? What's next, I'm going to be labeled an RP Racist and Extremist because i think RP/ERP really shouldn't be allowed? Of course a video game where the age is 13+ needs to be heavily moderated. Is this not common sense? Only a person like you would say something like that because it endangers your "RP". Not everyone is a goody two shoes when it comes to RP. You seem to think this.