A little Help

[Fallen_Infernum]

So for about a month now a dude has been harassing various members of my FC with threats of violence, hacking and slander; and despite repeated reports about this behavior to GMs by myself and several other members, nothing has been done about this. SO, What the next step?

Who's tree needs to be shaken to get something to happen about this? Why is it ok for this guy to continue on like this? Does this need to be escalated outside the game? Some help yeah?

P.S. Before you say Just black list him. Blacklisting people doesn't stop em from talking. This stuff continues whether the harassed blacklist him or not and blacklisting doesn't stop him from finding them on the server and chasing them around and harassing the people around them. Thats been the GMs grand solution so far, Blacklist him, my FC to blacklist him. It doesn't work and never has worked.

[Seoulstar]

I am quite sure the police can get involved if they have made threats of violence to you..

[Gamer3427]

Definitely sounds like an issue that they need to take more seriously. A bit odd that they haven't done more to help deal with this situation. With any luck, making a forum thread here will get enough attention that something can be done about it. Otherwise, I'd say just have every member of your FC that has been, and continues to be harassed by this player file a complaint with the GMs. Even if it's not working currently, they can't realistically ignore continued reports of such indefinitely, coming from multiple people, particularly if you all have the person blacklisted and are still filing reports. I don't really know of any other suggestions for you that are within reason.....

[dlgc]

Harassment/bullying in any shape or form has to be dealt with swiftly and severely.

Gather as much information on this "person" as you can, and keep a record of what he said/done/etc. in game towards your FC.

Have players who have been affected by his actions to write to SE support, and request your case to be escalated if needed be.

As a last resort, you can contact your local authorities in regards to this matter, and of course I am sure SE will do whatever they can before it comes to this.

Cheers,
D.

[Fallen_Infernum]

Thanks for the replies. Sadly the GMs in game seem to just want to sit on this. At least one of the affected members is currently seeking police action, As they seem to be the one he's focusing against the most, having received the hacking threats.

Harassment/bullying in any shape or form has to be dealt with swiftly and severely.

Gather as much information on this "person" as you can, and keep a record of what he said/done/etc. in game towards your FC.

Have players who have been affected by his actions to write to SE support, and request your case to be escalated if needed be.

As a last resort, you can contact your local authorities in regards to this matter, and of course I am sure SE will do whatever they can before it comes to this.

Cheers,
D.

I'm unsure how one would ask the to escalate the case dlgc, Having never needed to bother with this level of nonsense in the game before. Just have them directly Contact Square Enix support and ask them to?

[KisaiTenshi]

So for about a month now a dude has been harassing various members of my FC with threats of violence, hacking and slander; and despite repeated reports about this behavior to GMs by myself and several other members, nothing has been done about this. SO, What the next step?

Who's tree needs to be shaken to get something to happen about this? Why is it ok for this guy to continue on like this? Does this need to be escalated outside the game? Some help yeah?

P.S. Before you say Just black list him. Blacklisting people doesn't stop em from talking. This stuff continues whether the harassed blacklist him or not and blacklisting doesn't stop him from finding them on the server and chasing them around and harassing the people around them. Thats been the GMs grand solution so far, Blacklist him, my FC to blacklist him. It doesn't work and never has worked.

Serious.

1. Video and Screenshots of everything, including the time and day.

2. If the person is threatening hacking, chances are they're a 4chan level hacker (aka script kiddie,) not a Russian blackhat. Are they threatening violence against you in real life, or just constant harassment online?

3. There are ways of acquiring the IP address of the person to actually quantify your safety. Obviously the GM's can do this, but you can also do this yourself by sending them to a honeypot, or just get them to read a post on the forums where you've put a honeypotted image in the post. For obvious reasons I will not tell you how to do this.

4. If their IP address suggests that they are indeed potentially dangerous (eg someone in your city or state,) notify law enforcement. Also you can contact the abuse department of the ISP they are using and that will probably just enrage them. If they use a VPN, that just makes them even more suspicious.

But most of the conflict resolution here involves contacting a GM. Report it, every single time. If the GM's will not take action, send a report via fax/snail-mail to Square-Enix's legal department. Keep in mind that you are risking losing YOUR account in doing so if you've done anything to instigate the conflict.

Generally what happens in call centers/support centers is that everything is taken mildly seriously unless a threat of violence or self-harm is stated (eg "I will do X to Y/myself/school/work on Z") in which case law enforcement may be contacted for threat assessment or simply to check on the safety of other people at the address. Not everything will be considered a serious threat, but faxes and snail mail are taken seriously unless the contact has an established pattern of self-victimization (believe me, they do exist and waste weeks of employees time every time they are triggered by benign comments of their supposed enemy.) Also threats against customers, staff and company infrastructure is more common than any company will let on because it scares share holders.

[Gumbercules]

I am quite sure the police can get involved if they have made threats of violence to you..

if the threats are about physical violence and "hacking" (a punishable offense) and wide ranging enough to encompass not just you but your "circle" of friends ( ie tagged as potential hate crime) contacting the authorities could actually be a "solution", if you feel the need to do so. To be clear though, I do suggest you only do this if you sincerely feel it to be necessary, this move will put you and your group, as well as the "perpetrator" in considerable scrutiny. (pretty much using a grenade to open a locked door ) Still if you feel concerned enough about your "safety" you should go this route, and do not "belittle" the ramifications that "hacking" can have on your, or your friends, lives if you fel him capable of such.

[Dustytome]

Has this user been making these threats in game? Just clarifying as I know they don't take out-of-game proof. Seems a bit odd that they wouldn't put this user in check if you reported it under harassment.

[dlgc]

To op, write down all the ticket numbers that you and your FC members have on this issue, and include them in one message.

Contact SE via chat/phone/email, and tell them since the person has not ceased his actions, you kindly request them to look into this matter further, and if they lack the authority to intervene, then ask them to escalate your case to someone with higher authority. Also hint at them that you might seek police help if SE cannot assist you in this matter(it might nudge them in the right direction).

Cheers,
D.

[Fallen_Infernum]

Yes in game, it has luckily not spread out of game to my knowledge although his threats have concerned out of game activities such as threats of violence and hacking.