Disappointing GM policy re: support of human rights.

[Cpt_Jack_Irons]

The only relevant vigils here are the Stone, Steel, and Dusk variety.

God Dammit xd

[HisShadowX]

Hello.

I am making this thread to express my disappointment in the GM team for how they approached a community-run event I was part of.

We have been holding a vigil for abortion rights in Behemoth Ul'dah for the last few days. By "vigil", I mean just standing in a line with campfires. We were not fundraising, we were not mentioning any names (organizations, people, laws, countries or others), it was solely support for human rights. (Abortion is a human right. I am not here to debate this.) We were not harassing nor hurting anyone.

I was contacted by a GM earlier today informing me that a Party Finder listing I had made (to my recollection, a post like "Abortion rights are human rights, if you'd like to join our vigil, come to Behemoth Ul'dah!") had been found inappropriate because of "political activism". I was not provided with a quote of the exact statement I made that was found inappropriate, nor was I shown which section of the Terms of Service I had been found to be violating- despite asking for this information specifically. I was Cautioned, and told I'd face an account strike for repeated infractions. (Again, there was no fundraising or political organization involved in our event.) I would have escalated to a senior GM to get the details... if I knew they existed.

There's no definition anywhere of what is and is not considered "political (activism)". I was only told in GM jail that the matter is designed on a case-by-case basis by GMs, which is not informative when it comes to trying to understand why a message supporting human rights -and nothing more- is deemed too "political" by the GM team. We are just talking about human rights- why is that taboo?

Is something being controversial enough reason to deem it political and thus taboo? Would Square Enix ban people talking about Pride and LGBTQ+ rights if enough homophobes and transphobes were playing FFXIV? If not, how is this any different?

The GM is right and you were wrong and now you start a threat to shame a good member of the Square Enix staff?

[Kes13a]

The GM is right and you were wrong and now you start a threat to shame a good member of the Square Enix staff?

what is this world coming to?

you posted something I agree with.

[Raoabolic]

The GM is right and you were wrong and now you start a threat to shame a good member of the Square Enix staff?

Gotta browbeat the company into submission somehow! lol

[Velvet_Lunarfang]

Like standing in a game at a campfire or holding a PF for political activity which is against TOS is really going to change anything. How about keeping real world issues out of video games. We come here to PLAY a game for entertainment not see stupid world issues for something we came to be entertained

[Ranaku]

I can vouch for the impact our group has had- I've lost count of how many people came up to our vigil to thank us and cheer us on. At its largest, I counted sixty-five people in our group, expressing support for one another. Is this kind of community-building, this environment of mutual support, truly against the spirit of Final Fantasy XIV?

Yes, it is against the spirit of the game. Not everything has to be directly connected to the irl world. Especially cause this game doesn't just include US citizens. If you want to fight for what you believe in i suggest you going out on the streets and protest instead of standing around in a game and breaking the ToS.

SE wants obviously to keep the game a peaceful place where you don't just throw political topics at each other, we do that already in reallife. What if some anti abortion players would've seen your protest and started arguing with you, this would create a hostile toxic environment in the game not only for the two parties involved but also the surrounding which could include new players.

Not to mention that the game is enjoyed by many people from many countries which have all own beliefs and morals. And we need these rules so there aren't constant fights between people with different opinions. I for example am gay but i don't stand around protesting ingame cause some christians think i will burn in hell and i am sure some of them are also playing the game. But i accept this just as a fact of life and as long as they also stay neutral on this common ground we have no problem, you broke this neutrality with your protest and thus you get punished.

So yeah, what you see as human rights can be seen totally different in other countries. What you see as free speech is maybe illegal in other countries. And to think that only your morals are the supreme ones is kinda what you are against i guess. Maybe next time you try to go out and make a real impact in your country and not some random game that has nothing to do with your opinions.

[Wilford111]

i lover women

Dang... I can't argue with this one. You win, thread over.

[Twizzlers]

Dang... I can't argue with this one. You win, thread over.

They call me johnny dang

[Wanzzo]

It would have been better without the political mudslinging.

true, but... anyways...

[Aelsioln]

the event in question was on a US based realm

According to the OP this 'event' took place on Behemoth. Behemoth is a part of Primal, one of the North American data centers. So already you're wrong because North America includes more than just the United States. Canada and Mexico are also a part of NA.
Furthermore considering the fact that there is no South America data center we can assume that players from that region likely also play on NA data centers.
So calling any server "US based" is really ignorant.