Disappointing GM policy re: support of human rights.

[Cidel]

These forums let low/no post new accounts troll them with bait topics every. single. time.

[Sebazy]

These forums let low/no post new accounts troll them with bait topics every. single. time.

I'd like to think that our regular trolls would be classy enough to drop a RicRoll in the chat log link

[Iscah]

I think the simple issue is that if they allow one side of a contentious issue to make statements in-game, they'll have the other side demanding to voice their opinion too. Then both sides on other issues do the same thing, and the game turns into a political billboard – and then Square Enix either has to allow it to rage on, or take a side on the issue, or pull the plug and say nobody is allowed to discuss any aspect of it (which saves them from having to judge what is and isn't allowed).

So I don't think banning activism by players is any reflection on their attitude towards human rights. It's just one aspect of a blanket ban that also silences people with the opposite opinion. There are other, better venues for activism if you have the passion for it.

[Kolsykol]

i dont care what is happening in the usa right now, i dont care about americans, you americans NEED to stop thinking that you are the center of the world, i have my own issues in my own country

this is a GAME, games are created to escape reality, its in human nature to run away from things and go to find comfort somewhere else

Inb4 OperaMorgana gets banned for '' hate speech '' against Americans, I am not joking.

I think the simple issue is that if they allow one side of a contentious issue to make statements in-game, they'll have the other side demanding to voice their opinion too.

You're right, one thing that bothers me a little and makes this stuff feel like a broken record and just blatant circlejerking is that one side ( the left-leaning ) is the only one that gets treated as okay to voice and everything that doesn't meet the purity test gets treated as horrible.
People often even love to throw out words like '' fascist '' if you have even slightly conservative or right-leaning views on anything.

Personally I think that things like abortion still being an issue is ridiculous, I am all in favor of it and I think it's just supposed to be a done issue and basic human right.
However not everyone that leans more right in this regard is some hysterical religious fundamentalist.
There are genuine and very real differences in views on what life is and when it starts, there is a lot of nuance here if there wasn't then people would be in favor of abortion all the way up until before the baby is born and I doubt many are in favor of that.
It's not an easy yes and no answer, but it's treated as such.

It gets really annoying how the online conversation in particular gets completely hijacked by the most furthest extreme towards the left and then everyone else is treated as verboten and hateful.
People don't actually want real debate they just want to get up on their soapbox and preach to the choir and then treat everyone not in the choir as just objectively wrong and hateful.

Even when it comes to LGBTQ issues there is still a lot of disagreements within the community and there is still a lot of nuance to things like trans women in sports for example or where exactly the line is drawn for what a trans person is.
Not everyone who is gay or trans is like the most hyperbolic internet keyboard warrior imaginable who have the most extreme progressive views imaginable.

Quite frankly, in a video game I'd rather just not hear any side.
I am not playing FFXIV to hear people screech about abortion or LGBTQ issues.
That's not saying people can't have LGBTQ events and such tho, I am specifically talking about political '' debates '' and all that.

[george357]

this game is a place to have fun and intertain your friends i remember when sports was intertaing a fun place to go to get away from the world then a bunch of losers decided to mess it up with their polical views please keep your views out of the games.

[ElHeggunte]

I strongly support your main point and I agree that this isn't really a political issue, rather it's an issue that people have made political but if you want support you can't go around picking fights and calling names.

It is a political issue though, none of us "made" it that way. No matter how you slice it, workers' rights, human rights, have been intrinsically linked with politics for centuries, you can't divorce them. The moment mankind decided to establish the rule of law to guide society, human rights became a political subject. Many of the rights we have (or don't) are the result of laws that limit, grant, or protect them, which makes them a political issue. By talking about those rights, you're having a political discussion. By holding a "vigil" in response to one of those rights being stripped away, you're making a political statement.

I support the subject of the OP's cause. I'm sure most of the people in this thread do too, even the ones with the snarkier responses (and you guys should care, by the way, even if you don't live in the US). But it's wildly disingenuous to claim that their actions aren't political even without the advertisement (which is the only bit the GM even had a problem with, so I'm not even sure why this thread was necessary) and I don't think it has any place in the game. OP is free to keep participating in the vigil or whatever, but they should probably do it in a way and in a place that actually matters instead of engaging in useless slacktivisim in XIV and getting upset when the GMs enforce the rules by telling them they can't advertise.

[Kolsykol]

After reading the OP's chat log.
The GM is implying that the OP wasn't being very nice in their PF description or whatever they were doing, and quite frankly PF isn't for advertising irl political views either...
No one wants PF to fill up with people preaching politics on election day and leading up to it which is exactly what will happen if you allow that it just doesn't belong there and isn't an ingame activity...
If they allowed this then the PF would just become one big political advertisement campaign...

But the GM said, '' To avoid any penalties in the future, I ask you to please always remain polite and courteous when writing a comment. As long as you remain respectful of other players and you don't breach the Terms of Service, there is no reason for you to end up in jail again. ''...
So.... What did you say exactly OP?
Because it sounds to me like you were perhaps not being so nice to people with different views than you.

[Theox]

Americans saying we need to care about their issues need to stfu for once

[Lauront]

The game isn't a platform for players to drag real world issues into. To say nothing of the simple fact that not everyone playing is even from America in the first place.

This. There is little good that will come of it.

You have absolutely no idea what any given player is going through on any given day. Stop trying to guilt trip people, please.

Exactly what it is.

[Liam_Harper]

While I respect the OP for their vigil, I agree with the GM decision. It's not that they're against supporting human rights, it's the fact the game can't be used as a media to do so. It's far too difficult to know where to draw the line on controversial topics and dangerous for a company to openly pick sides. It's also part of their ToS and their job to uphold it. If they ignored some things that are vague on whether it's political or not, people are going to ask why they can't bring up slightly less vague topics and then stronger topics and so on. It's sadly a slippery slope.

However... some of the responses from the community here are absolutely shocking. It doesn't even matter if you live in the US, it's a very real and serious issue that is affecting the lives of millions of women and may have the potential to influence other parts of the world. It's a big step backwards and will have some awful long term consequences.
I'd actually respect people who were straight up anti-abortion and just had their own view more than the dismissive, scathing "lol who cares, get that out my game" remarks, lacking any sort of empathy. I don't see an MMO entirely as an escape from reality because we share them with millions of other real people. A little empathy is a good thing to have. It just goes to show how much some of the community really does live in a bubble.

I don't really care if I get hate for that. Like I said I agree with the GM and the game isn't a place to debate it, but at the same time my heart goes out to the women and lives affected. That's just my thoughts.