The 3-Strikes Policy - Is it really a good thing?

[Shofie]

Question from a non-swearer:

I feel like swearing would be a spontaneous thing. Wouldn't it make sense to just swear in person and not type it out in game? I guess some people do type fast, but it shouldn't be too hard not to swear in game (assuming it is a reportable offense) given the spontaneous nature of the exclamation.

It 100% is against the ToS:

3.3 Profanity and Offensive Language. You may not use profanity or any language that a reasonable person would find offensive. The Game is for players aged 13 and older. You agree to behave accordingly.

The only wiggle room here is the phrasing "what a reasonable person would find offense", and no, that doesn't mean swearing at someone, it literally ends up translating to: "A person in your presence when you swore found it offensive enough to report it and now a GM has to come and talk to you and probably action your account".

The only reason people swear and "nothing happened" is because no one reported it. Swearing absolutely can and will get your account actioned, regardless of how mild or whether it's "at someone" or not. The deciding factor is "did someone report it".

[linayar]

It 100% is against the ToS

Ok, good to know.

[Lium]

Yes. The only reason you haven't gotten a warning is because literally no one has reported you before. The split second you drop an f-bomb and someone decides to report you, you absolutely will get a warning for it (or worse, depending on where you are on the penalty pyramid).

I guess that's sort of my point. In all the time I've been playing, I've never been reported. And if you knew me you would not consider me a lucky person at all. (I mean, I do consider myself lucky to have a job and good health throughout this pandemic, so in that regard, yes. I'm very fortunate and thankful).

I am not at all discounting those who have been reported. That sucks. What I am saying is that this problem does not seem to be as widespread as the forums and Reddit make it out to be. As evidenced by the numerous people in this thread alone who have likewise said they've never had a problem. Even going back over a decade of playing this game.

I do believe most people you group with are not going to care what you say as long as it's not racist/sexist/homophobic or abusive to someone, and even then they are likely not going to report you. People just want to get in and get out. A good majority of my runs are absolutely silent. And before you say, "That's because of the 3-Strike rule!", it is like that in every MMO I play. Even the ones that have little to no moderation at all. Hell, that's PC gaming in a nutshell. You can hear a pin drop. Consoles is where people tend to be a bit more chatty in my experience, and perhaps that's where the problem is.

Are there exceptions to this? Yes. Just like there are exceptions to every rule. But the exception is not the norm.

[SturmChurro]

It's better safe than sorry, even if someone has gotten away with it for a time. All it takes is one person reporting it, and there's an account strike. It's just not worth it.

[MrPresident]

The big issue for me is the vagueness of the rules. I have one strike from about 5 years ago on my account was given a suspension without ever getting a warning (which seemed harsh) but I have no idea what I did. I was just told “rule 3.3 profanity” but what did I say? In what instance? To whom? Their privacy policy just amps up the anxiety because you don’t know who, what or where you’re going wrong sometimes.

Bizarrely the forums even have a better policy. I received a warning once and was told what I said and in which thread. Even though I disagreed with it being warning worthy, at least it made it very clear what I’m not allowed to say.

[technole]

Yes. The only reason you haven't gotten a warning is because literally no one has reported you before. The split second you drop an f-bomb and someone decides to report you, you absolutely will get a warning for it (or worse, depending on where you are on the penalty pyramid).

yep, that's usually it. People seem to forget GMs read your chat logs and doesn't know what the context could be where one could be directing their profanity to alliance chat versus making a general statement. A person could report it like you were directing to them, that could happen where someone dies to low HP, they curse in a general statement and the healer might feel it was directed at them.

In general it's just not a good idea to say profanity in any segment of the game where you don't know everyone. Like I said earlier, it's people's already brazen behavior they brought into the game is the issue. Not the strike policy, you are playing in a house of millions of people you don't know who could offended by your language.

[Kaurhz]

The big issue for me is the vagueness of the rules. I have one strike from about 5 years ago on my account was given a suspension without ever getting a warning (which seemed harsh) but I have no idea what I did. I was just told “rule 3.3 profanity” but what did I say? In what instance? To whom? Their privacy policy just amps up the anxiety because you don’t know who, what or where you’re going wrong sometimes.

Bizarrely the forums even have a better policy. I received a warning once and was told what I said and in which thread. Even though I disagreed with it being warning worthy, at least it made it very clear what I’m not allowed to say.

Their privacy policy actually gives you an email where you should be able to basically request logs supplementing your warning/ban.
"Your Rights Over Your Personal Data" - https://companion-app.finalfantasyxi...rivacy-policy/

[TaleraRistain]

I think part of the problem is they don't really have a sort of tier system. They seem to have a flat "these things are always a warning" setup. And those could run the gamut from minor to severe. So if they want to keep a system where a warning never falls off, they need to work on their system so some of the severe things are instant warnings but the minor things have to add up to that negative mark.

If they want to keep the "all this counts equally", then they need either some sort of decay system or the trigger for a permanent ban needs to be X amount of warnings in Y time. That still takes care of the problem repeat offenders without punishing players. Especially because they are not the best about being consistent on what is and isn't against ToS and they are pretty crap at communicating things.

[TaleraRistain]

Question from a non-swearer:

I feel like swearing would be a spontaneous thing. Wouldn't it make sense to just swear in person and not type it out in game? I guess some people do type fast, but it shouldn't be too hard not to swear in game (assuming it is a reportable offense) given the spontaneous nature of the exclamation.

Not really if you're used to using it casually. You type the way you speak in those situations. I don't swear in shout but I do in my FC (which I own) and linkshells with my friends. Just like I don't swear at work in a meeting but I use it casually when out with my friends.

[Jijifli]

The big issue for me is the vagueness of the rules. I have one strike from about 5 years ago on my account was given a suspension without ever getting a warning (which seemed harsh) but I have no idea what I did. I was just told “rule 3.3 profanity” but what did I say? In what instance? To whom? Their privacy policy just amps up the anxiety because you don’t know who, what or where you’re going wrong sometimes.

Bizarrely the forums even have a better policy. I received a warning once and was told what I said and in which thread. Even though I disagreed with it being warning worthy, at least it made it very clear what I’m not allowed to say.

Funny enough, I got a 10 day with no prior warnings for swearing on here (Well more specifically, my quote had a swear). Forum mods are W E I R D.

Their privacy policy actually gives you an email where you should be able to basically request logs supplementing your warning/ban.
"Your Rights Over Your Personal Data" - https://companion-app.finalfantasyxi...rivacy-policy/

Unless the email got stuck in being sent, which happened to mine.

And is actually terrifyingly common for Square.