Roleplay/Partyfinder Discrepancies & Policy Enforcement by GM's

[Kaurhz]

If PF is intended for the formation of parties to attempt content, then that must mean all those PF advertising sales for runs/clears are fine unless it can be proven that RMT or other TOS violations are involved.

With that said, false advertisement should be taken into consideration. Using level 50/60/70 roulette PF to advertise for an Ultimate is bad regardless if everything else about it is truly legit.

Selling and advertising to run content at that moment are 2 different things, irrespective of whether RMT can or cannot be proven. Party Finder should be done with the intent of grouping up and clearing content at that moment or at a given time (static replacements, albeit temp), not for selling the content.

[Batbrat]

I remember when I didnt know what those were and a friend was like "wanna go to one and find out??" and that was one of THE most hilarious nights of my final fantasy life. I in turn did the same to other friends who did the same to new friends they met and it makes me feel like part of it almost tradition now. Even though we're not roleplayers and we certainly don't look down on those who are, it's kind of fun to be out of our comfort zones. As long as everything is kept respectful, I see nothing wrong with it.

That said, the party finder thing...it's the main way we all picked one but no one wants to see people banned over it. Advertise in limsa and other towns. and if it's a big special occasion reason, then make a twitter post-twitter attracts big crowds too. Is there one big discord for people to advertise theirs as well? If not, that could also be a decent idea. There are always ways around rules! If one route closes, you just have to try another one!

An idea for square when it comes to housing though; you know how in a housing ward the yellow house icon means it's locked and the blue house icon means it's open? What if you could have a "venue" setting that made that house icon pink or some other different color. That way people in wards could easily find which houses in their area are holding gathering events. Because whether people like it or not, a huge part of mmo's is social life. Especially during a time most of us are still stuck caged in our homes irl over covid. Anyway just an idea.

[linayar]

Party Finder should be done with the intent of grouping up and clearing content at that moment or at a given time (static replacements, albeit temp), not for selling the content.

While I can agree with that, in general, I also do think that selling clear/loot runs for in-game currency is really no different than selling gears/food/potions/leveling kits/etc.

If the game allows for player trading/economy, then any in-game business is legitimate unless the product/service being sold is a violation, and helping someone clear content/get loot is the opposite of a violation in an MMO. An in-game business transaction in such a case would just be part of the social aspect of the game.

[Aslae]

Some one or some group of people are taking it upon themselves most likely to get something started in "cleaning up" PF listings.

The GM isn't technically wrong. PF is there for creating parties. Not for advertising.

The correct method as was mentioned I believe is moving those things to the Fellowship function. The RP crowd should take it upon themselves to collectively move their stuff over there so PF can stay what it was meant to be.

Have you tried using the fellowship function? It's absolute trash. Until we have something better, pf is the easiest way to do it. And by the way, the GM offered the alternative to pf be shouting in cities. It's much easier to avoid a pf advertisement than all of us RP'ers shouting in city chat.

[Airyll]

So, if using the "Other" section of PARTY finder (not a duty finder, not a Roulettes/Dungeons/Trials/Extremes/Savages/Ultimates/Hunts/FATEs/Maps/Eureka/Bozja/Gathering ONLY finder, but a party finder) to advertise a roleplay venue is apparently a breach of the ToS because roleplay isn't official in-game instanced content or whatever, that also means:

• The infamous Nepnep's AFK Club and every other AFK club PF on aether is also in breach of ToS and we can expect them to be contacted by a GM and thrown into GM jail
• The raid sellers who abuse Duty Roulette tab and advertise as supposedly doing "Levelling" or "50/60/70" roulette so they can show up at the very top of the PF before anything else can also be expected to be contacted by a GM and thrown into GM jail for abusing the party finder and even wilfully advertising in the wrong section
• The people who use the Other tab to sell crafting levekits will also be thrown into GM jail and contacted by a GM
• The people trying to sell homes and using the PF to advertise the sale will, also surely, be contacted by a GM and thrown into GM jail

Yes? Yes???

Because if we're going to start seeing claims of advertising "non-content" being a supposed breach of ToS and not the "intended" use of the party finder, every single one of the above also falls into that category (and a couple of them are even more egregious infractions than the roleplay advertisements are, since they are using the wrong categories intentionally to push other parties further down the list or they aren't even planning on running any content at all!) and we all know that Square GMs will be consistent in enforcing this new apparent rule, instead of going out of their way to specifically target a subsection of the community who for all intents and purposes are using the "Other" section of the Party Finder to find parties to do content with (even if that content isn't a dungeon. Which, hey, gathering and maps and FATEs aren't dungeons either, so.)

[van_arn]

So, if using the "Other" section of PARTY finder (not a duty finder, not a Roulettes/Dungeons/Trials/Extremes/Savages/Ultimates/Hunts/FATEs/Maps/Eureka/Bozja/Gathering ONLY finder, but a party finder) to advertise a roleplay venue is apparently a breach of the ToS because roleplay isn't official in-game instanced content or whatever, that also means:

• The infamous Nepnep's AFK Club and every other AFK club PF on aether is also in breach of ToS and we can expect them to be contacted by a GM and thrown into GM jail
• The raid sellers who abuse Duty Roulette tab and advertise as supposedly doing "Levelling" or "50/60/70" roulette so they can show up at the very top of the PF before anything else can also be expected to be contacted by a GM and thrown into GM jail for abusing the party finder and even wilfully advertising in the wrong section
• The people who use the Other tab to sell crafting levekits will also be thrown into GM jail and contacted by a GM
• The people trying to sell homes and using the PF to advertise the sale will, also surely, be contacted by a GM and thrown into GM jail

Yes? Yes???

Because if we're going to start seeing claims of advertising "non-content" being a supposed breach of ToS and not the "intended" use of the party finder, every single one of the above also falls into that category (and a couple of them are even more egregious infractions than the roleplay advertisements are, since they are using the wrong categories intentionally to push other parties further down the list or they aren't even planning on running any content at all!) and we all know that Square GMs will be consistent in enforcing this new apparent rule, instead of going out of their way to specifically target a subsection of the community who for all intents and purposes are using the "Other" section of the Party Finder to find parties to do content with (even if that content isn't a dungeon. Which, hey, gathering and maps and FATEs aren't dungeons either, so.)

You're right, we need to make a new tab for Market so the crafters have a place to sell their wares.

We can nuke the brothels in the T rated game though. Or, more accurately, send them deep underground.

[Aslae]

You're right, we need to make a new tab for Market so the crafters have a place to sell their wares.

We can nuke the brothels in the T rated game though. Or, more accurately, send them deep underground.

We get it buddy, you don't like the brothels. But to my understanding, they've taken down more than just the brothels.

[Solarra]

...the GM offered the alternative to pf be shouting in cities.

I honestly can't see how that would be an improvement. I am fairly sure that there would be a flood of reports if every RP event was advertised through /shout.
I agree Fellowships are too limited to be of much use to anyone and Discord and Twitter, which Rindez suggested above, are out of game.

I think the most elegant solution to this issue would be to give RP it's own tab in the PF.

[Aslae]

I honestly can't see how that would be an improvement. I am fairly sure that there would be a flood of reports if every RP event was advertised through /shout.
I agree Fellowships are too limited to be of much use to anyone and Discord and Twitter, which Rindez suggested above, are out of game.

I think the most elegant solution to this issue would be to give RP it's own tab in the PF.

Absolutely agree with this. RP should have it's own tab, and if people don't like RP they can just avoid it completely.

[van_arn]

We get it buddy, you don't like the brothels. But to my understanding, they've taken down more than just the brothels.

Some sacrifices are to be made for the betterment of all.