Months of harassment

[AstraBraifort]

Was it the same messages?
If so that says our little troll here is queuing a world transfer and slapping that macro button when the transfer dings to evade the kick and run amok across all worlds.

Yeah, that's what he's been doing since day 1 of spamming. Unfortunately old news.

Honestly at this point it needs to be seen. This is so problematic on so many levels, and like usual, nothing has been done. Where are the moderators and the devs on this?? Surely if the moderators can't understand what to do, there has to be someone who speaks English fluently, and works for the FFXIV team.

I remember during a live stream, they instantly banned people from saying "la-hee", because it was spamming up everything. It's kinda funny that they can instantly take care of something so nonsensical as that, but do nothing in the actual game about any of our problems involving player conduct.

We've been posting censored screenshots in this post and it still gets the point across just fine. I just didn't want that guy to get banned as a result of posting them.
It's absolutely horrendous what's being said, I agree. No one should have to see this on a near-daily basis for as long as it's been going on. The GMs are only taking action against the actual accounts that are spamming since the person behind it all isn't using his main account and instead is using a side account with burnable alts. This forum post is months old and it's awful that nothing has happened to address it for real.

[MilkieTea]

Yeah, that's what he's been doing since day 1 of spamming. Unfortunately old news.



We've been posting censored screenshots in this post and it still gets the point across just fine. I just didn't want that guy to get banned as a result of posting them.
It's absolutely horrendous what's being said, I agree. No one should have to see this on a near-daily basis for as long as it's been going on. The GMs are only taking action against the actual accounts that are spamming since the person behind it all isn't using his main account and instead is using a side account with burnable alts. This forum post is months old and it's awful that nothing has happened to address it for real.

considering the amount of dedication this guy has, its likely that hes also got mentor alts as well on burner accounts, as well as a way to reset his IP so that he cant be tracked and IP banned. I mentioned this earlier but, I personally think his payment information needs to be banned. I also dont think targetting the people who invite him in would work because it could simply be a case of them shouting in limsa “Can someone please invite me to novice network?” majority of the time.

[AstraBraifort]

considering the amount of dedication this guy has, its likely that hes also got mentor alts as well on burner accounts, as well as a way to reset his IP so that he cant be tracked and IP banned. I mentioned this earlier but, I personally think his payment information needs to be banned. I also dont think targetting the people who invite him in would work because it could simply be a case of them shouting in limsa “Can someone please invite me to novice network?” majority of the time.

He absolutely has a mentor main that's doing the inviting. We used to know the character name, but he's not using that account anymore. Plus with the spamming not being directly tied to the main, there's not much to be done about it with the way the GMs are handling it currently. They can only really go after the alts with the spam. And I believe SE doesn't IP ban for fear of accidentally IP banning a big public place (like a university for example). Unsure if a payment ban would work - I don't know if he could just get a new card number and skirt it that way if he did get payment info banned. I can also confirm he's not shouting in Limsa asking for an invite, at least not on Adamantoise or a few of the other servers I've talked to mentors on. We're all certain he has a mentor main doing the inviting.

[MilkieTea]

He absolutely has a mentor main that's doing the inviting. We used to know the character name, but he's not using that account anymore. Plus with the spamming not being directly tied to the main, there's not much to be done about it with the way the GMs are handling it currently. They can only really go after the alts with the spam. And I believe SE doesn't IP ban for fear of accidentally IP banning a big public place (like a university for example). Unsure if a payment ban would work - I don't know if he could just get a new card number and skirt it that way if he did get payment info banned. I can also confirm he's not shouting in Limsa asking for an invite, at least not on Adamantoise or a few of the other servers I've talked to mentors on. We're all certain he has a mentor main doing the inviting.

I forget how NN’s user list works, but is there a way to narrow it down with the list of mentors online and in NN and go from there? Im pretty certain if you figure out who the mentor is there’ll be some indication within the spam. Or can mentors not in NN invite?

I know it seems like Im probably pulling stuff outta my a** desperately, and I partially am, but I also have a tiny bit of an idea forming in regards to this that I hope *may* work for at least a little bit longer than the reprieves of only several weeks that you guys have already been getting.

[AstraBraifort]

I forget how NN’s user list works, but is there a way to narrow it down with the list of mentors online and in NN and go from there? Im pretty certain if you figure out who the mentor is there’ll be some indication within the spam. Or can mentors not in NN invite?

I know it seems like Im probably pulling stuff outta my a** desperately, and I partially am, but I also have a tiny bit of an idea forming in regards to this that I hope *may* work for at least a little bit longer than the reprieves of only several weeks that you guys have already been getting.

IIRC you can invite sprouts to NN without physically being in NN at the moment. Even then, for example, he can invite the sprout alt on Sargatanas, and then the alt can travel to Cactuar to spam there. We only knew his main account because that's how this issue started in the first place. Back around August, his mentor main was spamming spoilers in Adamantoise's NN and got temp banned as a result. Then he came back with a vengeance.

A lot of us mentors are desperate, especially those of us who've been witnessing this behavior from the start. We have such a good idea of how the guy is getting away with it, but nothing can really be done about it. That's why this forum post was made - so that maybe someone higher up on the chain would see it and be able to address it in a more effective manner. We're all sick and tired of seeing the walls and walls of spam and slurs. I'm pretty much desensitized to it at this point, but I feel terrible for the other mentors and sprouts that see it for the first time. I don't want them to think this is how the community is, because it isn't.

[MilkieTea]

IIRC you can invite sprouts to NN without physically being in NN at the moment. Even then, for example, he can invite the sprout alt on Sargatanas, and then the alt can travel to Cactuar to spam there. We only knew his main account because that's how this issue started in the first place. Back around August, his mentor main was spamming spoilers in Adamantoise's NN and got temp banned as a result. Then he came back with a vengeance.

A lot of us mentors are desperate, especially those of us who've been witnessing this behavior from the start. We have such a good idea of how the guy is getting away with it, but nothing can really be done about it. That's why this forum post was made - so that maybe someone higher up on the chain would see it and be able to address it in a more effective manner. We're all sick and tired of seeing the walls and walls of spam and slurs. I'm pretty much desensitized to it at this point, but I feel terrible for the other mentors and sprouts that see it for the first time. I don't want them to think this is how the community is, because it isn't.

Valid. Ive been following this on and off since practically day 1, and while Im not in NN in Aether, Id hate to think that *this* is the experience that new players are getting, and thinking this game is *this* toxic, when its just one dude with a vendetta and a creepy amount of spare time.

Has anyone put the FF_XIV_EN twitter account on blast for this? It’s stupid, but normally when companies are called out on a public forum where they can be seen by more than just their core consumers, they tend to be a bit more proactive. If not, perhaps have one person make a tweet and attempt to get others to like, retweet, comment on it. If they dont respond to just the one tweet, make multiple tweets, begin tagging SE’s main twitter account, and ensure that each of these tweets get similar traction (perhaps by sharing amongst a specific, large group of people?)

[AstraBraifort]

Has anyone put the FF_XIV_EN twitter account on blast for this? It’s stupid, but normally when companies are called out on a public forum where they can be seen by more than just their core consumers, they tend to be a bit more proactive. If not, perhaps have one person make a tweet and attempt to get others to like, retweet, comment on it. If they dont respond to just the one tweet, make multiple tweets, begin tagging SE’s main twitter account, and ensure that each of these tweets get similar traction (perhaps by sharing amongst a specific, large group of people?)

A few of us have tried tweeting about this and sharing it around, but unfortunately none of us had a large enough following on the platform to get it rolling. We even directly replied to a few FF_XIV_EN tweets, but even then only a couple of other players would reply either dismissing the situation completely or offering unhelpful advice (like "Just block him?" as if that would actually work in this situation because of new alts being used every time). We're all just feeling a little defeated because if this situation were happening on a JP data center, it absolutely would've been addressed by now. But because it's on an NA data center, it's no real issue to SE it seems... Especially since it's only really affecting a small subset of players too (those in Aether's NNs).

[MiniTofu]

considering the amount of dedication this guy has, its likely that hes also got mentor alts as well on burner accounts, as well as a way to reset his IP so that he cant be tracked and IP banned. I mentioned this earlier but, I personally think his payment information needs to be banned. I also dont think targetting the people who invite him in would work because it could simply be a case of them shouting in limsa “Can someone please invite me to novice network?” majority of the time.

That guy is lifeless, he has nothing to do but harassing the public? w...t...f.. ? Is he mental?

[Vahlnir]

Is he mental?

By the sound of things? Yes. No question about that.