Roleplay/Partyfinder Discrepancies & Policy Enforcement by GM's

[ctcc42]

the PF isn't for advertising "venues" in general

And bubble wrap is not for reliving stress, but that doesn't mean you cant use it for the purpose. I'm going to get those little bubbles!

Seriously though. mmoRPGs are for roleplaying. Its in the name. If you have to use a party finder to form a party, then all those people playing an RPG without role playing are going to need a warning to.

[Theodric]

I'm uncertain how banning a safe-for-work Cafe RP protects the vulnerable. Even if you have a heart condition you can roleplay drinking coffee quite safely.

It's very likely to be a blanket ban brought about by the excess of inappropriate party finder listings related to erotic role-play. The role-playing community itself has not been addressing that, thus the GM's likely have no choice but to do what they can to mitigate such things from being apparent. Naturally I can't name any names due to the naming and shaming rules in place, though a number of 'cafes' and 'casinos' advertised through the party finder have turned out to be connected to some very predatory individuals.

[JanVanding]

Current ToS really allows them free interpretation of how someone is breaking the rules.

You also can't misrepresent things, like you can't advertise something under duty roulette title when it's not. That's a reportable action if you are misleading people. Nevermind the brothel term.

You should look at how they interpret the ToS when they banned Arthars for being toxic to someone on twitch, but not in-game. Or the person who leaked pictures of what was in the TEA patch on twitter before the servers went up. These GMs didn't just login for their first day on the job yesterday, they also aren't dumb to not know what brothel means. In fact they may visit your advertised brothel since they can be invisible anywhere in Eorzea.

Arthars ban was fair

Why?

A streamer that is partnered with Twitch for the content they stream is taken as an "ambassador of the company" and all content they stream is covered under SE intellectual property rights and the right at any time to take action against any action that may bring the company into disrepute.

He had ACT up on the screen, they had enough to ban him just from that as it's under Third Party tools and modifications.

The TEA leak was because of Datamining, again strictly forbidden in TOS.

You can't compare PF advertising of Venues/Events which are not against TOS and have a clear precedent set by Senior GMs to acts that actually broke TOS with evidence that SE easily had access to.

[Katie_Kitty]

Now, for the pink lady here... You are putting a lot of words in my mind right here. I only stated that people went from >using< party finder, to >abusing< party finder, in both reasonable, unreasonable, or just silly fashion. And i am honestly surprised you, specifically took such a personal offence to this. Did my advert jab strike a nerve?
And as i mentioned above: floods happen not only in the "Other" tab, but everywhere else too. Maybe when GM's are done cleaning up this mess, they'll crack on RMT traders too, even though i kinda doubt that's gonna happen.

And i am sorry, if you are going to throw words like "offense", and assume things about others like that, maybe chat with them for a bit, you'll be surprised how wrong you can be in your labels.

I think run sellers are incredibly annoying. I blacklist every single one I see and yet there are new names popping up constantly that i have to blacklist as well, and my blacklist isn't eternal. It makes it even worse that they have the gall to spam their garbage in the roulette section of the PF, openly abusing and miscategorizing their PFs in order to thrust their ads onto everyone who opens the party finder, and SE seems to have no intention of ever doing anything about it. It makes the game look very bad, like it is overrun with RMT and bots and nobody wants to see that.

Then I come in here and see somebody acting like some RP venue ads hidden all the way down at the end of PF in the "other" are somehow a problem that needs to be addressed. Honestly, 99% of people in this game, I'm pretty sure a large chunk of them aren't even aware of that stuff existing because they have no reason to go to the other section. But you can't just ignore the RMT run sellers because they actively force their ads to the top of PF by misusing the roulette section. If anything needs to be addressed, it's this, not the people and venues that help contribute to making the world feel alive.

[GrayDawnclaw]

Protecting the vulnerable, children or otherwise, is a noble enough pursuit.

Right, because banning some poor SFW Cafe RP people for something that isn't even against the Terms of Service who are doing so in the last page of the Party Finder (which means you have to dig for it) is "protecting the vulnerable".

Meanwhile, people selling clears for real money (which IS against ToS) in the Duty Roulette tab of the Party Finder (thusly misusing it, which again IS against ToS) are perfectly fine according to the GM in question.

[Jeeqbit]

limited number of fellowships one must join - as well as the fact that it requires invitation just like linkshells.

It does not. You can setup recruitment in the Fellowship Finder, and people can join through that (and they do, usually reaching hundreds of people quite quickly).

Do you happen to know when the screenshot is from?

One of the posts in here mentioned it was from 2016.

[Theodric]

Right, because banning some poor SFW Cafe RP people for something that isn't even against the Terms of Service who are doing so in the last page of the Party Finder (which means you have to dig for it) is "protecting the vulnerable".

Meanwhile, people selling clears for real money (which IS against ToS) in the Duty Roulette tab of the Party Finder (thusly misusing it, which again IS against ToS) are perfectly fine according to the GM in question.

Personally I'd like to see both problems dealt with. I'm optimistic that as the server visit feature is expanded, the crackdown on inappropriate party finder listings will increase.

[FelisDarwin]

It's very likely to be a blanket ban brought about by the excess of inappropriate party finder listings related to erotic role-play. The role-playing community itself has not been addressing that, thus the GM's likely have no choice but to do what they can to mitigate such things from being apparent. Naturally I can't name any names due to the naming and shaming rules in place, though a number of 'cafes' and 'casinos' advertised through the party finder have turned out to be connected to some very predatory individuals.

Right, but right there at the beginning of what you wrote is the problem: "a blanket ban brought about", as in it's new. If Squenix wants to make that change they can, but that's a change, and one they need to announce. Making an unnannounced rule change and enforcing it immediately with penalty and without notice is not okay, period. That's why people are mad.

...well that and not smacking down the run sellers, since their reasoning would cover them. Nobody likes run sellers.

[handlesscombo]

AFAIK they only ever have condemned ERP in public, but not seeking it publicly (without being explicit) or doing it in private. Having an FC named "Eorzean Royal Pastries" specializing in "cream pies"? Not okay. Just flat out mentioning "our FC is 18+ and ERP-friendly"? Fine, apparently. And it does make a certain amount of sense.

Agreed; if ERP is kept private and venues are responsible in keeping public chats clean, there is no issue.

As others have mentioned, protecting kids from NSFW content is vital for our community--any venue whose management does not take that seriously shouldn't have authority. Having a thriving RP community and still keeping public spaces clean are goals we can work toward in tandem! Instead of arguing with each other, let's find solutions that work for both of us.

[MeiraStarborne]

One of the posts in here mentioned it was from 2016.

Ah, thank you! I missed that detail for the origins of the screenshot of the GM condoning ERP in game.

So, I can't speak for 5 years ago, but when I entered the RP community about 2 years ago and started actively going to the "Other" tab, I cannot recall seeing PFs for venues advertising their ERP services like I do now. If venues offered services, it was not broadcast like that. I'm not saying it's ok to change their stance and not communicate that to the community, but I'm wondering if that isn't what happened?

Regardless, I'd like to see a current, official statement since we seem to have two conflicting statements from GMs.