Promotional Activities - What's allowed?

[wei_t_a_minute]

I couldn't find a section to ask a GM to clarify a portion of the Prohibited Activities list, so I am wondering if I can ask for GM assistance on interpreting the "Political / Religious / Commercial / Promotional Activities" portion. I have submitted a support ticket, but the response I received was only a link to the exact Rules & Policies page I found the Prohibited Activities list whose portion I am looking to clarify.

My fc wants to host events in game which help raise awareness towards charitable causes, but we are concerned that may be a violation of the Political / Religious / Commercial / Promotional Activities portion of the Prohibited Activities list. We will never receive any real money donations, but would rather advocate that attendees donate directly to a charity.

We were wondering which of the following scenarios are acceptable:

1. We advertise for the event or venue via an outside source (e.g., twitch, twitter), stating the purpose of the venue. For instance, making a tweet that says "Meet us on Sunday at our FC house! We're raising awareness for cancer research and encourage all attendees to donate to a charitable cancer research cause." Then, in game, we make no mention of donations or charity. All discussions regarding charity and donations will be done outside of the game such as on twitter.
   
2. We advertise in game that our event or venue is intended to raise awareness towards charitable causes, but only in our FC house and nowhere else to keep discussion in a closed environment. We would be using say/yell/shout within our FC house only. An example would be saying "Today we're hosting this venue to raise awareness for those affected by the war in Ukraine! Please consider donating to a charity."

In addition, in either of those cases, would we be allowed to name a specific non-religious, non-political charity to donate to? For instance, saying "We recommend donating to Red Cross, but any charity of your choice is fine" or "The focus of the event today is promoting donations to Doctors without Borders." If not, can we state that we encourage attendees donate to a charitable organization of their choice without naming a specific charity?

Thank you.

Edit1:

To respond to everyone concerns, I understand that activism for real life causes can be done outside of the game and I did not say that individual members have or have not done so already. I would like to reiterate that I am merely relaying the requests and concerns because I am one of the planners and have the obligation to so, so please keep things civil

Many of our members were inspired by many popular FF14 streamers and influencers hosting charity events and asked if we would also be able to do so. I said I would consult GMs to ask for clarification so that's where I'm at right now.

[Kranel_San]

That billboard was truly just the beginning....

[Larirawiel]

That billboard was truly just the beginning....

The next step will be TV commercials for FFXIV nightclubs.

Cheers

[Deveryn]

"Political/Religious/Commercial/Promotional Activities" refer to the act of engaging in activities and promotions that involve real-life political groups, religious organizations, or business entities that have no connections to Final Fantasy XIV. Even if the activity is for charity, it is prohibited as the activity is not relevant to the game.

That section is pretty clear. The answer is no. The community tends to echo this sentiment by default. FFXIV is an escape from the real world. Kindly leave all that other stuff out there. If you want to affect change in the real world, you do it out there.

[CaptainDillweed]

Will you also change your profile pictures to feature a flag overlay? Where can I donate my thoughts and prayers? As has been said by multiple people every time one of these threads pop up, don't do it. If you have good intentions, that's great. If you want to actually do something to help any effort in fixing the issues you care about, even better, and more power to you. Putting a line in your PF and patting yourselves on the back is useless slacktivism, and this isn't the platform for it anyway. It's a video game.

[Syln]

The next step will be TV commercials for FFXIV nightclubs.

Cheers

Would be the worst idea ever, i mean who is actively playing FF14 and still watch TV ? Maybe a handfull of people but i don't think it would be worth the money at all.

[Vahlnir]

Would be the worst idea ever, i mean who is actively playing FF14 and still watch TV ? Maybe a handfull of people but i don't think it would be worth the money at all.

I've all but abandoned cable TV for streaming services, where I can watch all of my shows without the commercials.

[Avatre]

I've all but abandoned cable TV for streaming services, where I can watch all of my shows without the commercials.

Precisely this. Not to mention, there is almost never anything decent to watch on TV anyways that doesn't end up on a streaming service within a year or two.

[wei_t_a_minute]

Prior to the billboard event, which is not related to charities fyi, there have been many player hosted in game events that focus on raising awareness to particular issues or charities, with many famous players and influencers advertising for said charities on their personal social media accounts and twitch. It's not an uncommon focus for venues and events in game, but regarding whether this is against or in line with ToS is not stated clearly so I am asking GMs to clarify.

That section is pretty clear. The answer is no. The community tends to echo this sentiment by default. FFXIV is an escape from the real world. Kindly leave all that other stuff out there. If you want to affect change in the real world, you do it out there.

The statement says that we cannot promote real-life political groups, religious organizations, or business entities that have no connections to Final Fantasy XIV, but does not state whether ambiguous statements that do not advocate for a particular group or ideology is acceptable (e.g., saying "It's sarcoma and bone cancer awareness month. We are raising awareness of those affected by this condition" does not advertise for a particular real-life political group, religious organization, or business entity). In addition, that portion of the Prohibited Activities also states that conversation on such topics in closed environments is not considered a violation depending on the circumstances, so I am asking GMs to clarify what the circumstances are.

I understand that the game is an escape from the real world for many, which is why we are considering discussing the topic in closed environments and/or outside of the game to respect the wishes of those wanting to play the game as such.

[SturmChurro]

I've all but abandoned cable TV for streaming services, where I can watch all of my shows without the commercials.

I barely even watch those even then. YouTube and the occasional Twitch stream VOD is what I watch nowadays. Apparently TikTok is how the gen z's spend there time. Imagine anyone under 50 watching TV still though.