It has been ZERO DAYS since a moderator actually did something in General Discussion

[Theodric]

I think the word 'toxicity' really undersells the issue because it's more than simply 'being negative'. On the most basic level it accounts for things like abusive language that are already directly covered under the 'Prohibited Activities' section of the ToS and apply when you're playing in-game regardless. On the more insidious side it includes various forms of online harassment including brigading behaviours, which while also covered under the 'Prohibited Activities' section, can be a more complex issue to define.

As an example, if someone like yourself were to post links to people's personal twitter accounts on this forum with the intention of inciting others to harass them online for their personal views, many people, some previous members of your own brigade included, would probably take issue with that sort of behavior. But it's not as obvious as hurling profanities at them.

And the frightening thing about this type of conduct is that if even the dev team members can be the subject of such targeted attacks, then it doesn't create a safe online posting environment for any of us. Which is why we need the dev team to have an open conversation about it.

I was unaware that I supposedly have some sort of 'army' at my beck and call! I can assure you that simply isn't true, though linking a comment made on a public platform such as Twitter is by no means equal to 'brigading'. I appreciate you helping to spread awareness that players who live outside of the Twitter sphere are not particularly well represented by some of the Western facing portions of the company itself, though! I daresay comments such as this are far better examples of harassment:

It's always interesting seeing the forums' take on characters.

Amaurotians: 'You sacrificed 75% of our population to a supreme deity, and now you want to sacrifice the rest of life on the planet to it? My life is a chip in your pile, ante up!'
Forums: 'Aww. Can we not save them, though?'

Emet: 'Let's trigger extinction level events in each of the star's reflections to free a supreme deity that we can sacrifice the remainder of these inferior beings to!'
Forums: 'Aww. Did he really have to die, though?'

Venat: 'I'll hold off this idiotic creation for a few millennia to buy time for the buns to invent space travel and for you to stop the Final Days (or run away and start a new life on another Aether dense planet, if you so choose). Good luck!'
Forums:
'Mary Sue!'
'Villain!'
'Why do you believe some random person who claims to be from the future anyways?'
'Why didn't you tell those geniuses on the Convocation the information you got from said random person who claims to be from the future?'
'Why did you have to be mean to Zodiark? Couldn't he save us from bird girl after he was fed the souls of all life on the planet?'
'Why did you have to take away everyone's god powers?'

Honestly, if I'd encountered opinions like that I would have sundered everything as well. Half of an INT score of zero is still zero, so they're honestly not losing out on that much.

Particularly that last line - fantasising about murdering people and flinging insults all over differences in opinion towards a fictional story? I'd say that's a more obvious, glaring problem than someone linking public statements.