GM Warning for 'Offensive Language', No actual reason given

[DanteKardo]

Alright, so let's start this with the logs of the conversation I had between the GM and myself;




Since he's said I should direct myself to the official forums, here I am.

My issue is that I'm not being told what I was warned for. To warn/punish somebody for 'offensive language', with no clear detail of what it was that was 'in breach' of these offensive language 'rules', makes it;

A: Impossible for me to adjust my behavior given I don't know what was said that was wrong

and

B: Forces me to refuse to communicate *At all* if I don't want to risk to offend anyone.

Now for those of you that might go ' you where told, it's "offensive language" ', being warned for offensive language is like being warned for 'saying something at some time that may have upset someone without knowing what it was, who it was, or what was so upsetting about what was said'.

In a bottom line, all this approach will do is foster less communication, paranoia in players about what they can say in general, and like me now, ensure that people communicate less ingame overall, because I will certainly refuse to use any chat with people now that I do not know personally. It's simply too much of a risk and I'm not jeapordizing my year-long account for the subjective opinions and whims of other people.

As a last 'note', for those of us who enjoy Roleplaying, this infact might become a huge problem down the line in the future, because roleplay, given it's a story-telling medium, can be offensive by it's own nature, depending on what themes you play (and no i'm not talking about ERP). So you can't even RP in public venues, on RP servers, without risking getting into a warning/suspension loop.

So yeah, curious to see what other peoples opinions on these are, and if we can get a more 'satisfying' approach in the future, because warning and suspending people without giving clear evidence or reason towards these motions is just wrong on multiple levels. I understand this is a game and not a public court, but some measure of 'due process' should be there if you want people to adjust their behavior accordingly, and not have to resort to drastic measures as I am now forced to.

PS: I'll be making an official copy of this post to reddit

[Vahlnir]

Personally, if someone is going to report me for "offensive language" I would like to know what I said to avoid saying it in the future. Thankfully I don't really see this ever being an issue for me, but even so...I don't think it's unreasonable to want to know what was said that was labeled as offensive.

[MorbolvampireQueen6]

i really think they should at the very least tell you what word or line was viewed as offensive. Like really how are you suppose to avoid repeating if you don't know what caused it to start with. sorry op you got ... over...

i think they really avoiding to tell you the line you said is offensive to save their own skin i rlly do.

[Awha]

My guess the GM believe that every member of the community has the same thresh hold when it comes so called offensive language so they may be operating under the false assumption that you already know what you said tha warranted the report.

[Vahlnir]

My guess the GM believe that every member of the community has the same thresh hold when it comes so called offensive language so they may be operating under the false assumption that you already know what you said tha warranted the report.

Some people use what could be considered offensive language in the traditional sense as part of their regular vocabulary, so some of them may be genuinely confused as to why they've been reported. 9 times out of 10 I wouldn't even care or notice. Not really sure what the circumstances are surrounding the OP though.

[Awha]

Some people use what could be considered offensive language in the traditional sense as part of their regular vocabulary, so some of them may be genuinely confused as to why they've been reported. 9 times out of 10 I wouldn't even care or notice. Not really sure what the circumstances are surrounding the OP though.

I agree that is why I think the GM was operating under a false assumption. They should have told the OP, but alas that was not the case. Was a failure on the GM's part, while I have never been punished in game, I do know for forum posts they provide a quote for what was reported, maybe a supporting email may shed more light on the situation for the OP, not sure if you get an accompanying email for reports that happen in-game though.

[Skivvy]

I agree that is why I think the GM was operating under a false assumption. They should have told the OP, but alas that was not the case. Was a failure on the GM's part, while I have never been punished in game, I do know for forum posts they provide a quote for what was reported, maybe a supporting email may shed more light on the situation for the OP, not sure if you get an accompanying email for reports that happen in-game though.

The GM mentions an official email will be sent with more information.

When I got my forum ban, the email I received included my reported post. I would hope an in-game ban also provides similar information, but I'm not sure.

[Rongway]

Some people use what could be considered offensive language in the traditional sense as part of their regular vocabulary, so some of them may be genuinely confused as to why they've been reported.

https://support.na.square-enix.com/r...1&tag=users_en

The current Prohibited Activities are as follows:
3.3 Profanity and Offensive Language. You may not use profanity or any language that a reasonable person would find offensive. The Game is for players aged 13 and older. You agree to behave accordingly.

If one doesn't understand what this does and doesn't cover, one ought not say anything. If one does understand, then one is assuming the risk for anything one chooses to say. Nobody forces one to use colorful language in their speech.

And if one wants to argue that they can't say anything without people getting offended, yes, these rules are in place because the devs and GMs have a vested interest in protecting players from exactly that sort of person.

[Vahlnir]

https://support.na.square-enix.com/r...1&tag=users_en


If one doesn't understand what this does and doesn't cover, one ought not say anything. If one does understand, then one is assuming the risk for anything one chooses to say. Nobody forces one to use colorful language in their speech.

And if one wants to argue that they can't say anything without people getting offended, yes, these rules are in place because the devs and GMs have a vested interest in protecting players from exactly that sort of person.

Oh, it's definitely part of the ToS. I was just pointing out that such language is ingrained in some people's vocabulary. Definitely doesn't help them one bit while playing an MMO. Just about everyone knows what profanity entails. Offensive language though? That's an awful lot of area to cover as of late.

[Reap00]

Alright, so let's start this with the logs of the conversation I had between the GM and myself;




Since he's said I should direct myself to the official forums, here I am.

My issue is that I'm not being told what I was warned for. To warn/punish somebody for 'offensive language', with no clear detail of what it was that was 'in breach' of these offensive language 'rules', makes it;

A: Impossible for me to adjust my behavior given I don't know what was said that was wrong

and

B: Forces me to refuse to communicate *At all* if I don't want to risk to offend anyone.

Now for those of you that might go ' you where told, it's "offensive language" ', being warned for offensive language is like being warned for 'saying something at some time that may have upset someone without knowing what it was, who it was, or what was so upsetting about what was said'.

In a bottom line, all this approach will do is foster less communication, paranoia in players about what they can say in general, and like me now, ensure that people communicate less ingame overall, because I will certainly refuse to use any chat with people now that I do not know personally. It's simply too much of a risk and I'm not jeapordizing my year-long account for the subjective opinions and whims of other people.

As a last 'note', for those of us who enjoy Roleplaying, this infact might become a huge problem down the line in the future, because roleplay, given it's a story-telling medium, can be offensive by it's own nature, depending on what themes you play (and no i'm not talking about ERP). So you can't even RP in public venues, on RP servers, without risking getting into a warning/suspension loop.

So yeah, curious to see what other peoples opinions on these are, and if we can get a more 'satisfying' approach in the future, because warning and suspending people without giving clear evidence or reason towards these motions is just wrong on multiple levels. I understand this is a game and not a public court, but some measure of 'due process' should be there if you want people to adjust their behavior accordingly, and not have to resort to drastic measures as I am now forced to.

PS: I'll be making an official copy of this post to reddit

Whatever you said it was against the ToS. That is all you need to know. Be careful what you say. It can come back to haunt you very quickly in this game. It isn't WoW.