FFXIV's weird prostitution hangup

[Theodric]

I took my leave of Balmung for a number of reasons. The excess presence of illegal role-play, predatory behaviour and alarming lack of punishment for players openly advertising and engaging in it being most prominent.

It's not the only MMO that has a seedy and questionable underbelly, though I do find myself raising an eyebrow that someone can swear in passing in the chat and risk being banned but someone can actively make explicit comments about underage characters such as Alphinaud and Ryne but receive no punishment even when reported.

I'm no prude, though I also don't believe in randomly approaching strangers online and trying to involve them in explicit activities.

There's also an alarming trend where, despite being against the rules, many FFXIV players will bend over backwards to defend ERP and similar activities.

[TroySoFab]

It happens because there is barely any repercussions or actions taken against people who are partaking in actions that are illegal around the world. People are so brazen about it because no one ever reports. Ultimately its up to those who engage in regular RP to report them, since they are the ones who are most likely to be approached.

Put a "no ERP" disclaimer in your search comment when you're looking for RP. People still won't respect it, but at least then you'll know which ones are actually dangerous and which ones are just creepy.

Absolutely not. No one should have to specify that they do not do things this game prohibits.

[Theodric]

It happens because there is barely any repercussions or actions taken against people who are partaking in actions that are illegal around the world. People are so brazen about it because no one ever reports. Ultimately its up to those who engage in regular RP to report them, since they are the ones who are most likely to be approached.

It's not that nobody reports so much as there's an active effort to gaslight those who stumble across it and express concerns through denial and downplaying the problem. A lot of legitimate role-players - myself included - were insulted and driven away by other role-players simply for refusing to partake, or for daring to rock the boat by criticising prominent and popular role-players for exploiting their position as guild leaders and event leaders to go after vulnerable and naïve new players who are pressured into taking part.

[Krotoan]

though I do find myself raising an eyebrow that someone can swear in passing in the chat and risk being banned

I still have my doubts that this is actually a thing . I see handwringing about it but have yet to experience this or hear first hand accounts of it.

[Theodric]

I still have my doubts that this is actually a thing . I see handwringing about it but have yet to experience this or hear first hand accounts of it.

It's difficult to provide evidence of it given the naming and shaming rules in place, though there's definitely players who weaponise the terms of service in an effort to get people who voice dissenting opinions to their own banned both in-game and outside of it. Indeed, there's even an infamous Twitter page that periodically quotes people from this very forum - often out of context - and all but outright encourages people to get outraged by the quotes, seek out the thread in question where it's from and sift through the poster's history to find some comment or other to cry foul over.

As for me? I've had death threats sent my way over lore discussions. I'm glad you haven't experienced the worst that the FFXIV community has to offer, though there are a lot of very shady players to be found unfortunately.

But, yeah, take it with a pinch of salt. Maybe others can weigh in with their experiences.

[Krotoan]

It's difficult to provide evidence of it given the naming and shaming rules in place, though there's definitely players who weaponise the terms of service in an effort to get people who voice dissenting opinions to their own banned both in-game and outside of it. Indeed, there's even an infamous Twitter page that periodically quotes people from this very forum - often out of context - and all but outright encourages people to get outraged by the quotes, seek out the thread in question where it's from and sift through the poster's history to find some comment or other to cry foul over.

As for me? I've had death threats sent my way over lore discussions. I'm glad you haven't experienced the worst that the FFXIV community has to offer, though there are a lot of very shady players to be found unfortunately.

But, yeah, take it with a pinch of salt. Maybe others can weigh in with their experiences.

Let me clarify.

I have my doubts that swearing in "public" once or twice and then banning is happening.

Almost every time I've seen these claims made, the person who says they never did anything else is combative, unrepentant for the coarse language and tries to defend its use in all cases, and has huge holes in the story or obvious fabrications of facts (GMs getting into detail about the punishment being the common one).

As to the rest, I am well aware of what people online are capable of and doubt none of what you say and have experienced some of it myself. I have said time and time again the FFXIV community is no utopia and in general only differs from other communities in the games structure, rules, and enforcement.


So I hope that clears up what I find iffy.


TL; DR: Online people are sometimes crappy, yes. SE doesn't visibly persecute random coarse language though.

[kaynide]

I mean to be fair, legit real world bars can be just as creepy, though it is usual,y dirty old men and not someone trying to sell you (though that does happen here in Japan…)

And just like real world bars, most girls just want to go out for a drink and to socialize, or people watch.


My suggestion, put that in your search information. Like a clear statement “I want to RP/people watch; eRP no thanks!”

[Asari5]

you were asked something... so you can decline. not like they forced you. dont see a problem with that. you can stay IC, decline and leave, or decline and hang around... and just dont go there anymore the next time.
i dont do RP, but seems like the most obvious way to handle these things.

[AngelCheese77]

I should point out that not ALL of Crystal is like that.

Nor is everyone on Balmung.

[TeraRamis]

This person was just in the Viera thread calling all the male Viera stupid looking. And mocking the people who were enjoying them.

A position I stand by one hundred percent. Heaven forbid that anyone look at a male race with exposed midriff armor and start gagging.

You know that when I go on mental health websites, I constantly see people not getting any support and ending their lives or feeling terrible with no one to help? You could have actually made a difference and acted like a “warrior of light” you like to dress up as and helped someone but you chose to waste your time on virtual prostitution houses, and then come here and discuss jt.

You seem to be injecting a really strange - and completely unrelated - agenda into this conversation. I am not the "warrior of light" - I am not pretending to be. I frankly find the entire WoL storyline to be hackneyed silliness, and I steer my character as far as possible away from it. Additionally, the game forcing me to participate in that plot in order to level and access dungeons has... well... pretty much zero bearing on what I should or should not do IRL. I certainly am not some angel of mercy, and I refuse to bow to your intended guilt trip regarding visiting mental health websites (as if that's going to actually help anyone anywhere).

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As I said in the OP, I don't have any problem with people ERPing - it's frankly a part of the fabric of these servers, and it would be impossible to stamp out. What I have a problem with is taking my character into a bar that's being advertised as just a bar, having my character approached by the resident pimp or madam, and her being solicited to join their sex troupe. It shouldn't be the rote assumption of these people that 'desire to visit bar setting and RP' actually means 'desire to join fictional hooking ring.' As far as I am concerned, that's massive freaking leap (I also, frankly, find it pretty rich in irony that the same people who would absolutely be shrieking bloody murder about prostitution being 'human trafficking' IRL are lining up to defend it here. Yes, it's ridiculous [there are no unwilling participants in FFXIV], but you're still glorifying a thing you find repulsive anywhere away from your keyboard).

Additionally (and this is really the root of it for me), it really puts the clamps on my RP. Once my character refuses the offer, all the air comes out of the exchange - the person no longer sees my character as a potential mark, and in their eyes, I've (no matter how politely I refuse) just - in some way - dumped on their business, home, circle of friends, free company, etc.

"Hey, do you want to become a whore?"

"No, I'm very sorry. I do not want to become a whore."



Again, I do not care what they do... I just find it immensely frustrating to spend an afternoon or evening roleplaying and meeting people, just to have that entire experience cut down at the knees because I didn't want to take it twenty steps further over a red line.