Roleplay Party Finder Account Suspensions

[Theodric]

Essentially. Just getting a slap across the face without an explanation does nothing. Yes yes, they pointed out a particular part of the ToS--okay but how is it a violation? What part of the statement? The GM overseeing these need to be able to answer these questions, otherwise you're not closing the loop and only inviting more trouble by not providing the explanation and reasoning, which leads to more threads like this.

Otherwise it is, again, an abuse of station and power.

It's the same method employed for any rule violation in order to make it less likely for someone to identify and go after the individual or individuals responsible for filing a report.

Furthermore attempting to bypass the rules through workarounds often still counts as a breach of the terms of service. If someone creates a character name that reads as a slur with has a few letters adjusted to technically not be on, it can still be considered inappropriate and forcibly changed.

So, too, would it be viable in the eyes of many for someone to be punished if they're advertising their venue as suitable only for players aged eighteen and up when a little bit of light digging reveals that escort services are on offer in exchange for gil.

A lot of people seem to be under the impression that such is allowed so long as they aren't caught doing it - but if they're not keeping it entirely private, then the risk of exposure is naturally higher.

I'd also note that GM's are capable of examining chat logs at length and it's perfectly possible that they identified something worthy of punishment.

[kejakalope]

Thank you for replying to this melafyre, I was hoping you would as well.

Well, that's definitely for the PF listing, then. No ambiguity there.

It looks like you're advertising 18+ stuff at your own risk now, even if the advertisement itself is not the least bit risque. Yikes. I do not like that. My sympathies.

[milkhorn]

this reminds of this one https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...cement-by-GM-s

Precisely why I put it in my original post, there are similarities.

[milkhorn]

So she should appeal the moderation action. She should ask for clarification of what the problem was.

Part of the reason they posted an updated prohibited activities notice was to offer clarification to players attempting to abide by the ToS. That need for clarity should extend to what GMs reveal to players who have had action taken against their account.

If GMs are still resorting to vague references, the clarification the update was intended to provide is not happening.

Also, an 18+ restriction doesn't make a venue a "safe place" so there's no reason to advertise it as such.

A safe place can differ for those that use and make it, but that's besides the point. Vague references are unhelpful, we're talking in circles here. No clarification is given, and people who have received the same punishment all have different kinds of venues they are posting for. At this point it just seems like a target on people who own venues and post them in party finder.

[freyjabun]

I do have to say, though, I am disappointed with the number of responses in the thread yet the overarching idea that the primary problem faced in the situation is now being nitpicked and broken down into completely unrelated sub-topics like third party website creation and content, advertisement density, venue name? silly, and content of consenting individuals in private spaces. Even if I were to address the 18+ tag used as a content warning to deter minors and non-consenting parties from getting involved with potential mature themes, there's still an overarching point to this whole thread.

The fact of the matter is, a number of individuals without any form of first offenses have been reprimanded regardless of content of what they were advertising. Party finder density, 18+ content or NOT, people have been unjustly affected. What should we say about those venues who did not advertise nor sell/offer mature services? If we are to encourage the idea that party finder may not be allowed to have an 18+ tag (which mind you, most of these offenses have been reported under profanity as opposed to any other suitable offense) but still maintain the idea that party finder is, in fact, suitable to advertise player events and venues, we are thusly also encouraging the idea of obscuring potential content warnings for unwilling parties and parties not-of-age to stumble upon content (which, as another reminder, most said content IS in fact behind closed doors, private quarters, and with consenting parties and are thus not open for public audience FOR said exposure, but I digress) which could be disturbing or uncomfortable.

For now, in the meantime, staff and runners of venues would be safer to advertise in private servers or discord and remain in communication and support with one another to their discretion, as opposed to attempting to adhere to community guidelines and their inconsistencies when under the thumb of a GM who has already made a number of venue and rp-related offenses and received reprimand.

[Metamorph]

Oh, I know exactly what this thread is about.
I apologize if my statement seems "out of topic", but I feel that it does still tie in with the wrongly pressed accusations towards the suspended individuals I am well associated with. I have known them for almost a year and can confirm (if not vouch) that the suspension is indeed unjustified. Not just towards them, but all those who have been suspended alongside them. Aside from the (18+), there was no "profanity" displayed on any PFs held last night. However, I simply wanted to get my 2 cents across the situation before bowing out as well. I hope this is all taken care of and made known.

[Axxion]

Precisely why I put it in my original post, there are similarities.

per the community rep Zhexos

Greetings, everyone.

Thank you for your patience while we reviewed the situation. In short, there was an internal miscommunication which led to account actions being issued incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for the concern that this has caused the community. There has not been any change to our existing policy, and we want to assure players that our focus is on taking action against inappropriate advertisements/listings.

We will work to ensure proper communication is being done within the GM team and strive to ensure quality service and operations.

I guess it wasnt communicated properly

[freyjabun]

A disappointing answer, though thank you for sharing.

An internal miscommunication regardless, for the same GM making a similar set of heavy-handed decisions again involving the use of party finder and venue advertisement a number of times is certainly one KIND of miscommunication I suppose.

[Katie_Kitty]

This is pretty ridiculous tbh. Square needs to take care to ensure their ToS is not being abused by haters who just want to run RP out of the game.

[Katie_Kitty]

Your venue has erp services in the list...


They probably did some research lol

2 seconds of Google found this with just the venue name.

ERP is explicitly allowed by the ToS so long as all involved parties consent. So what point exactly do you think you're making?