RP shout ads are obstructive to chat and gameplay

[Gordita]

If we're really going to go down this rabbit hole:

1. Prostitution is legal in several countries and also in the state of Nevada (just heavily regulated).
2. If you think it's bad then fair enough but it's considered a job and many many many people make money off selling their bodies (*looks at OnlyFans and the pron industry).
3. This is the environment the game has and Square does not care enough to change it. The RP community and venue crowd carry this game during the content droughts and Yoshi knows it. If this whole situation truly happened, it's on you to parent your teenager to not speak to random people online without your permission/knowing them from irl (school, hobbies, etc.)

It isn't the internet's job to babysit your teen, it's on you to teach them proper internet safety and what to avoid and what to do in situations that may or may not occur like this.

It's ok to violate tos because half of Nevada allows prostitution? And you want to try to bring parenting into this? Go read the tos

[Tsurayu]

It's ok to violate tos because half of Nevada allows prostitution? And you want to try to bring parenting into this? Go read the tos

There is nothing in the terms of service that prohibits players for roleplaying, even in adult/sexual situations as long as it is done in private channels, and that would include a private venue that you have to elect to go visit and therefore resigning yourself to experience anything that may be going on there.

[Gordita]

There is nothing in the terms of service that prohibits players for roleplaying, even in adult/sexual situations as long as it is done in private channels, and that would include a private venue that you have to elect to go visit and therefore resigning yourself to experience anything that may be going on there.

Literally nobody said ERP or RP is against the tos

[Tsurayu]

Literally nobody said ERP or RP is against the tos

Oh you were referring to the advertisements specifically? My apologies.

[CVXIV]

There is a lot I could say as someone who formerly worked in these sorts of venues as a bartender and bouncer, but it's hard to formulate my thoughts on this exact situation in a concise manner, especially given how late it is.

I do think that the shouts can be a bit much, and openly advertising NSFW services in a game rated T for teens probably shouldn't be allowed, though I know online interactions are not rated by the ESRB, as will no doubt be pointed out, if not already.

More people in the game, especially those in that scene, should be aware that this game is targeted toward teenagers and that there are minors in the game. It isn't just an issue with shout chat but with party finders and fellowships too.

Some might argue that the game references that sort of thing, and to give them credit, it does. Satasha, the first dungeon in the game, has a room called "The Hole," where many women are being held captive, and it is very clear what is going on. There also exists the Beehive in Eulmore and the various other interactions NPCs have with one another that could be pointed toward.

In the end, the only change that will come from this is what you enact yourself.
I am sorry that your child was targeted like that and that you were put in such a position to begin with. It should not have happened.

[Jeeqbit]

the endless walls of text in shout chat 24/7 for these venues is getting way out of hand.

I don't see them much if I don't hang out at city states, and if I do hang out there then it doesn't really bother me because I'm AFK along with everyone else there.

I just had my 14 year old daughter come ask me

To be completely honest with you, everyone I knew when I was 14 seemed to know about these subjects.

This person also told her that they could get her a job

Most people assume it's adults playing and, to be honest, most people are because of the subscription fee. However, there has been an opportunity for a big shift because anyone level 70 and below can be a free trial player and that allows younger people to play. Roleplayers may not be used to that because the free trial didn't used to be this generous. It used to only go to level 35 so it was virtually just adults playing.

Nor does it sit well with me seeing these ads constantly when people are supposed to behave in a way that is appropriate for people 13 years old and older.

They are supposed to keep it appropriate for ages that low, yes. They've been reported before (but the GMs got a lot of complaints over the suspensions and warnings they gave for it).

[Yuella]

Minors should play in JP server so they don't get bombarded with 18+ RP chat

[Larirawiel]

There is a blacklist. Just use it.


Cheers

[Avoidy]

I've basically blocked shout/yell chat because of this sort of thing. It sucks. There're people advertising their crappy twitch streams too. Pretty much anything you could imagine.

Honestly in regards to all the concerns about children being exposed to 18+ RP, this game should just get an M rating and call it a day imo. All online games should. But even without that rating, people have got to understand before they let their kids play these games (I've seen many others who do this for some reason) that there're some nasty MFers running around online and unless you're willing to physically be there with them the entire time to make sure none of these nasty dudes rolls up to try and apply some eRizz on your kid, you might want to limit them to single player games instead. It won't really matter what mmo you pick; they're all full of weird people who you probably don't want interacting with your kid. Sucks to say, but that's just the type of community this game fosters. If you want your kid to be away from it, you'll have to basically police who's on her friends list (and unadding them won't remove her from THEIR friends list, so if she's already added a predator it might be too late), police who she talks to, police where she goes, and police everything she does while trusting her to have the sense to not run around telling people that she's an underage girl irl because that'll get the creeps going too. It sucks because the game's got a neat little story and some fun gameplay, but if I had a kid I'd be terrified of letting them play with the absolute weirdos in this messed up community. Like, have you seen some of the stalking threads? Holy crap. And your kid's already been approached with courtesan offers, like no offense but maybe just pull the plug on the subscription already, from one concerned human to another. You shouldn't have to, and in a perfect world this wouldn't happen, but this game gets weird af during content droughts and SE won't do a damn thing.

[Gordita]

There is a blacklist. Just use it.


Cheers

This would be great advice if there were only enough room in the blacklist to accomodate a couple thousand shout runners. The topic isn't getting enough support in the forum for square to do anything, maybe people could head that way and show some support to make it a better and more enjoyable place for everone.