Can we talk about the elephant in the room - Permanent Bans from the Official Forums

[Eli85]

Global companies shouldn't be forcing regional sensitivities on a global audience. Simply criticizing the game in a negative way can get you temporarily suspended.

And yet, many, many players have been posting on the official forums for years without a single black mark on their account. The issue is not regional sensitivities, it's asking players to be respectful adults, which should not be a large ask. If players cannot do this, the forums are, quite frankly, a better place without them.

[AxlStream]

When was the last time you took anyone on Reddit seriously?

More recent than on the OF.

[Hakuro89]

I've long been of a mind that SE needs to thoroughly scrutinize their forum moderation team on what they're actually doing, and make replacements where necessary. In a lot of situations it really feels like the moderators aren't really supervised and just go full Judge Dredd on anyone that steps out of line. If all of this was free, it wouldn't be a thing, but we ARE paying for the subscription needed to log in on the forums, and by proxy, we're paying to access the forum itself. We aren't just users to be banned at the drop of a hat, we're paying customers. Mind you, I'm not saying no one should be punished for anything, just that the punishments that are dealt out are way too heavy handed and often beyond overkill for the actual offense, which hilariously is often for language commonly used by IN-GAME NPCS. Not only that, but there's no real way to contest anything they hand you. I mean, you CAN appeal for having the ban lifted, but it's your word against the ridiculous moderator(s) that did it in the first place, so nothing ever gets overturned. "Fairness" means nothing to them. They only care about keeping things quiet and under control.

[Violet_Galaxy]

You have to put an 'e' at the end to make it FFXIV appropriate.

I'm actually legit curious if that would actually work or not. Not willing to try though since I've already been banned once for my "aggressive language". Me and my gosh darn it potty mouth.

[HyoMinPark]

And yet, many, many players have been posting on the official forums for years without a single black mark on their account. The issue is not regional sensitivities, it's asking players to be respectful adults, which should not be a large ask. If players cannot do this, the forums are, quite frankly, a better place without them.

I got a warning on my account for a post criticizing how I disagree with players having to turn to outside sources with regards to figuring out how to optimize their jobs, and questioned why the game itself doesn't have built in things like rotational help (beyond the Hall of Novice). The reasoning given was literally "anything we deem as something that breaks the rules".

Do tell me how that was me being, in any way, abrasive. There was no foul language used. There was no insulting of other posters. I didn't even word the text in a way to insult the Devs. I simply said that I find it silly we have to turn to outside resources to learn how jobs, because the game teaches us nothing. Other players have been permabanned for joke threads (that are not insulting towards anyone), or for using "a bad word" not even directed at another poster. At some point, it starts to feel a tad bit Draconian.

[Eli85]

I got a warning on my account for a post criticizing how I disagree with players having to turn to outside sources with regards to figuring out how to optimize their jobs, and questioned why the game itself doesn't have built in things like rotational help (beyond the Hall of Novice). The reasoning given was literally "anything we deem as something that breaks the rules".

Do tell me how that was me being, in any way, abrasive. There was no foul language used. There was no insulting of other posters. I didn't even word the text in a way to insult the Devs. I simply said that I find it silly we have to turn to outside resources to learn how jobs, because the game teaches us nothing. Other players have been permabanned for joke threads (that are not insulting towards anyone), or for using "a bad word" not even directed at another poster. At some point, it starts to feel a tad bit Draconian.

It is nearly impossible to answer your question without the offending post quoted word for word (and understandable why you would not give it, even if you could). I mean, one reality is, we are dealing with a Japanese company, and the way people in the Americas talk to each other, what is allowed and what isn't, is vastly differently to what is culturally acceptable in Japan.

[HyoMinPark]

It is nearly impossible to answer your question without the offending post quoted word for word (and understandable why you would not give it, even if you could). I mean, one reality is, we are dealing with a Japanese company, and the way people in the Americas talk to each other, what is allowed and what isn't, is vastly differently to what is culturally acceptable in Japan.

And they are dealing with a global audience, not just a Japanese audience. They are marketing a product, and they should expect critical feedback about it.

Unfortunately, the developers themselves have zero control over the forums — they are moderated by a third-party. And the “appeal process” that has been provided for players to appeal bans they feel unjustified is a mess that usually leads to nowhere after you get the runaround. I do think that SE should look into whomever they outsource to, because sometimes it gets to the point where you don’t want to bother offering feedback anymore, worried you’ll get a black mark for it even if you word it as politely and as constructively as you can. Not to mention that the warnings and bans dealt out are inconsistent — one person gets banned for a joke thread about Holy... but then another insults an entire server’s community simply because they had a heated disagreement with one or two people from there in an attempt to cause drama and derail the thread, and doesn’t even get touched.

[Taebok]

I wouldn't mind if they went back to ruling with an iron fist.
Lately, I find the forums becoming more and more lax.

[Shurrikhan]

And yet, many, many players have been posting on the official forums for years without a single black mark on their account. The issue is not regional sensitivities, it's asking players to be respectful adults, which should not be a large ask. If players cannot do this, the forums are, quite frankly, a better place without them.

A friend of mine made all of 20 posts here before he got banned, all the way back in ARR. Not one was remotely abrasive, or even so much as potentially able to be taken as condescending. 2 of his posts, however, did complain about the lack of stat transparency back when it was apparently taboo to discuss stat weights. And so the ban hammer descended.

[Eli85]

And they are dealing with a global audience, not just a Japanese audience. They are marketing a product, and they should expect critical feedback about it.

Unfortunately, the developers themselves have zero control over the forums — they are moderated by a third-party. And the “appeal process” that has been provided for players to appeal bans they feel unjustified is a mess that usually leads to nowhere after you get the runaround. I do think that SE should look into whomever they outsource to, because sometimes it gets to the point where you don’t want to bother offering feedback anymore, worried you’ll get a black mark for it even if you word it as politely and as constructively as you can. Not to mention that the warnings and bans dealt out are inconsistent — one person gets banned for a joke thread about Holy... but then another insults an entire server’s community simply because they had a heated disagreement with one or two people from there in an attempt to cause drama and derail the thread, and doesn’t even get touched.

Obviously I cannot speak for S-E, but I seriously doubt that they have a problem with critical feedback. What I think they see — which I tried to touch on — is the differences between culturally accepted practices in the West versus the East. In the West, there is a much higher tolerance for hostile, rude, and disrespectful language and tone. I think it's one of the larger problems with Western society. So for players to accede to Eastern standards — which honestly is just politeness and respect— is not a large ask. I won't go into anecdotal disciplinary decisions, seeing as we do not have the full picture. That said, perusing this thread, seeing what the lion share of the suspensions were for, it's fairly obvious that players just need to heed the ToS and they'll avoid 99% of problems.