I just got an account warning for "grief tactics" and I literally have no idea why

[Mawlzy]

PvP enthusiasts are thick skinned, but they can also be amazingly petty, I think my least favorite type of PvP players are the ones who explain to the other team that they are losing because "someone else is throwing, please report them" (Like how pathetic do you have to be), so a random retaliatory report is possible.

Yeah, that's probably fair. A wide range of people play it for different reasons. Some completionists, for example, can get very prickly in chat because they don't really like Frontline but need some daft coat.

In fact, I was once told by a light party they were all going to report me because they were pretty sure it was me who initiated a vote kick of one of them. (It was me, the person had been parked on the edge of the map for 2 minutes.) I have no doubt they did all report me and I never heard from a GM.

The central problem IMO is that... here are those terms again... casual and hardcore Frontline players are compelled to play on the same battlefield. And when some of the players who don't want to be there start yapping in chat about how shit FL is, those who take it seriously get steamed. It's easy enough for those "just there for the XP" to button it rather than tell everyone what a stupid mode this is.

[zarahleo]

Nah, don't believe it. People chat in frontline sometimes. To get in trouble with the GMs you must have done a little more than some harmless banter.

No, you just need to be reported by the cotton wool warriors.

[tsuchii]

I'm trying to figure out what I did here and I really don't know. The day it happened, I only did two things that were with other players: a single roulette raid and Frontlines. I said a few snarky things in chat, I'll admit, so I could understand if I had gotten a warning for language or something of that nature, but I have no idea what I could have done to get this.

Here's the TOS I supposedly violated.

3.2 Disruption. You may not in any way disrupt or interfere with the Game experience of other players, including the disruption of Square Enix's computers and servers.

This has me scared to continue playing the game. I don't want to pour time and money into an account just to have it banned for literally no reason.

I once got the same warning for yelling "You don't pay my sub" on a hunt mark.
Just be careful and be mindful of what you say. It happens when you get reported. Just don't get reported and only say safe stuff. You can say the other stuff with your friends.

[AmiableApkallu]

The central problem IMO is that... here are those terms again... casual and hardcore Frontline players are compelled to play on the same battlefield.

Nah. It's actually a three-way split: There are hardcore players; there are casual players; and then there are people who wouldn't be there if SE nuked the non-PvP rewards/bonuses from the daily roulette, and maybe also the glam pieces from the achievements.

Whenever these discussions come up, it's that last category that's the point of contention. No one seems to complain players who do want to win, will try to follow call outs, etc. but don't play the mode enough to ever quite "git gud," i.e., "casual players."

[Mawlzy]

Nah. It's actually a three-way split: There are hardcore players; there are casual players; and then there are people who wouldn't be there if SE nuked the non-PvP rewards/bonuses from the daily roulette, and maybe also the glam pieces from the achievements.

Whenever these discussions come up, it's that last category that's the point of contention. No one seems to complain players who do want to win, will try to follow call outs, etc. but don't play the mode enough to ever quite "git gud," i.e., "casual players."

Okay, I agree with that. The important divide is between people who want to be there because they like PvP, and those who don't and are frequently disruptive.

[Exmo]

I steer clear of this too. The most offensive things I've ever said in Frontlines are "Who's ready to pretend to like PvP for 20 minutes" and "hey, if we pick one side to feed, we can end it faster". I can count on one hand the number of times I've even sworn, and I didn't today.

Another thing: the match finished less than 15 minutes before the GM pulled me in, so it had to have been something in chat, otherwise there was no way they could have caught it that fast. I'm starting to think they just didn't check at all, which is honestly just frightening.

If this is what you said, the report was justified.

Judging from your posts in this thread, you seem unaware that you convey a negative attitude, you're overly sensitive and you're quick to respond to other people with hostility. I imagine you behave similarly in-game, so I'm not surprised you got a slap on the wrist.

[YovelaLindswood]

Its not about whether or not I can, its about whether or not I want to continue walking on eggshells and paying for the priviledge of doing so.

You are a perfect example of this. Deliberately misinterpreting what I'm saying in the way that puts me in the most negative light possible. I don't know whether you're just a negative person and doing such a thing is automatic for you or if you're actually putting effort into it, and frankly I don't care. You're the sort of person I prefer to avoid, and if someone like you has the power to wield TOS as a weapon to get my account banned, I will not be wasting more time or money here.

Join us in wow. We joke all the time. This games got a reputation for being the softest MMO playerbase out there. I can barely get away with turning pve into pvevp. Its not my fault the contents more fun when we're killing each other slogging through an nraid. Also don't feel the need to respond to Mawlzy. It ain't worth your time.

[YovelaLindswood]

I'd suggest PvP enthusiasts tend to be thicker skinned than average.

IDK homie i've read through 10 pages of comments that would suggest otherwise.

[Chasingstars]

I steer clear of this too. The most offensive things I've ever said in Frontlines are "hey, if we pick one side to feed, we can end it faster"

This or something of similar nature is probably what got you reported. Its very defeatist sounding and may appear to others as encouraging people to grief.

I freely admit to being a frontlines junkie and playing extra matches after my first game of the day, and I seen comments like the example one you gave before, although they weren't made in a joking manner, more a "We are third place and are going to lose, so lets go feed".

I also personally have watched random players from the enemy team actively feed into us as they would be off on their own, usually they are paladin or dark knight, and are just there to waste peoples time as they are going to limit break. Similarly seen samurais try to do it, although usually they are trying to get cheeky kills with their LB. Although its not just limited to those three even seen monks and dancers do that.

[NaoSen]

I guess this ain't the place for me then. Glad I only spent $60 before figuring that out.

To the OP:
In my experience, a lot of the FFXIV community struggles with basic social nuance - sarcasm, dry humor, or anything that doesn’t come with an emoji or trigger warning tends to go over their heads or get taken personally. It feels like many players communicate in a hyper-sanitized, overly sensitive way where the slightest joke is treated like a personal attack. It's less about being respectful and more about walking on eggshells to avoid hurting fragile egos.

The TOS generally works like a bubble, protecting "The Experience" of the player, for example were you to leave a dungeon without reason its actually reportable as you are interfering with the 3 others experience (Yes its an example in the TOS).

It's literally the worst community in any MMORPG I have played, that includes Eve Online and WoW.

Edit: I say worst because just because the chat itself is positive or no conflict its because TOS dictates that, it resorts in not being able to tell how anyone truly feels and your result is a bunch of rumourmongering backstabbers which are the minority in any video game but I'd say FF14 has more than most.