Harassment of players (LGBT)

[Perditioner]

Has anyone else had issues with being harassed by other players using the in-game report system? Since the GM's refuse to discuss, who, what and why they were reported the system can be, and is, used to harass players by reporting players they don't like.

This seems like a major oversight in the system which is allowing people to harass people, many of my friends have been falsely reported recently leading to them being banned. Surely the GMs need to check that the person reporting is the target of what is being said, which they don't seem to be at the moment. Also do they not check for the same user repeatedly reporting people?

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

[MicahZerrshia]

From what I have seen in the past 15 years is that when they choose to actually do something either they ban for the silliest of things (like minor swears) or they bring the hammer down hard and quick on the things that need it. But that being said, if a lot of your friends are getting banned, they are likely not as innocent as they are making themselves out to be.

As a gay man myself, I see a lot of lgbt players that deserve bans for the way they handle any homo/transphobia directed at them or those around them. Just because you are right, doesn't mean you are acting or responding correctly to a situation and we should be able to call out and report bad behaviour even when its from ppl who are responding to bad behavior. Be an adult, handle a situation well and no need to worry about SE banning you. However, throwing a tantrum like a child or being nasty right back is grounds for a ban, and should be. Being part of our community does not make you exempt from reprocussions if you do not know how to handle yourself well in the face of adversity.

[Bubblesong]

From what I have seen in the past 15 years is that when they choose to actually do something either they ban for the silliest of things (like minor swears) or they bring the hammer down hard and quick on the things that need it. But that being said, if a lot of your friends are getting banned, they are likely not as innocent as they are making themselves out to be.

As a gay man myself, I see a lot of lgbt players that deserve bans for the way they handle any homo/transphobia directed at them or those around them. Just because you are right, doesn't mean you are acting or responding correctly to a situation and we should be able to call out and report bad behaviour even when its from ppl who are responding to bad behavior. Be an adult, handle a situation well and no need to worry about SE banning you. However, throwing a tantrum like a child or being nasty right back is grounds for a ban, and should be. Being part of our community does not make you exempt from reprocussions if you do not know how to handle yourself well in the face of adversity.

No we shouldn't if your acting in defense there is nothing wrong with biting back after being stepped on.
Shows you arent a doormat, if you want to start something you are fully giving your life over to the person you start bs with to do w/e they want to you in return.
This apply to everything if you start something you desever what you get, any reprisals and attack backs out of defense is 100% okay

[Espon]

No we shouldn't if your acting in defense there is nothing wrong with biting back after being stepped on.
Shows you arent a doormat, if you want to start something you are fully giving your life over to the person you start bs with to do w/e they want to you in return.
This apply to everything if you start something you desever what you get, any reprisals and attack backs out of defense is 100% okay

It doesn't matter if it's in retaliation. The ToS states that you cannot insult or harass other players. If someone does it to you, just blacklist them and/or report them. Don't sink to their level and give them ammunition to get yourself banned instead.

[KillaKilala]

It doesn't matter if it's in retaliation. The ToS states that you cannot insult or harass other players. If someone does it to you, just blacklist them and/or report them. Don't sink to their level and give them ammunition to get yourself banned instead.

Maybe they didn't think it was an insult or harassment? If I was a GM I would laugh at this. It's like you say, people like this are giving trolls amunition. The whole reason bullies exist, is because you let them bully youself by giving them a funny reaction. And why did you need to mention LGBT? Do you think if you were straight, they wouldn't bully you? No, they'd just find a different reason to make fun of you.

Anyway, I'm so happy that GMs don't ban these people. Because this way I have an infinite supply of drama.

[SpookyKobold]

From what I have seen in the past 15 years is that when they choose to actually do something either they ban for the silliest of things (like minor swears) or they bring the hammer down hard and quick on the things that need it. But that being said, if a lot of your friends are getting banned, they are likely not as innocent as they are making themselves out to be.

As a gay man myself, I see a lot of lgbt players that deserve bans for the way they handle any homo/transphobia directed at them or those around them. Just because you are right, doesn't mean you are acting or responding correctly to a situation and we should be able to call out and report bad behaviour even when its from ppl who are responding to bad behavior. Be an adult, handle a situation well and no need to worry about SE banning you. However, throwing a tantrum like a child or being nasty right back is grounds for a ban, and should be. Being part of our community does not make you exempt from reprocussions if you do not know how to handle yourself well in the face of adversity.

This is a whole lotta BS to say "you're not allowed to defend yourself after being harassed" which is total horse sh*t. Like did you have an AI write all that out? Or did you actually spend the time writing up a large paragraph assuming you know everything about the situation (you don't) and then victim blaming.

[Perditioner]

Minor swears is not harassment, waiting around a community for someone to say a minor swear then reporting them maliciously is.

[MicahZerrshia]

Minor swears is not harassment, waiting around a community for someone to say a minor swear then reporting them maliciously is.

If you don't want the potential of getting a ban, don't use minor swears or any other language that will get you banned, it really isn't that difficult. I swear like a sailor on shore leave irl, but my language in game, even around friends, is squeaky clean.

But since you said "many of your friends" are getting banned, well I do not think your pals are as innocent as they are making themselves out to be since the minor swears thing is one of those weird outliers that do not happen often. And frankly, something that may not be offensive to you, may be to someone else, even within the same community. For instance, irl I use the f word a lot to describe myself and my friends, who do the same. To us it's like the n word, its ok for us within the community to use it, but used by others it is racist and derogatory. However, my husband gets highly offended by it, even from myself or other gays and will report it. Therefore I only use that word around my friends who are of the same mindset and would never even think to say it in game or even irl if I do not know how someone feels about it. I know I see a lot of behaviour from ppl in this game, even from our community, that makes me cringe. Just because we are part of the lgbt community, does not mean we all have the same views on what is acceptable.

So, while you may have someone being malicious, you may also have others in our community that just have different views on what is acceptable, which is ok. The main takeaway you should get from this though, is there are rules on how to act in public spaces and if you wish to act or talk differently, you need to be in a more closed group where everyone is on the same page.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

If you don't want the potential of getting a ban, don't use minor swears or any other language that will get you banned, it really isn't that difficult. I swear like a sailor on shore leave irl, but my language in game, even around friends, is squeaky clean.

Totally agree Discord voice/text chat is for what WE really want to say to each other lol

The game also has a profanity filter, which, if memory serves, is on by default, it actually makes me very curious what word was used to cause this, I use Shout chat all the time, and I swear all the time, and I never had a single issue, but I also only use very light, basic swearing, like a superlative "fucking" or "damn", nothing beyond that.

Profanity filter doesn't mean you can swear, it just means it's there in case people BREAK THE RULES and swear.

I always assumed that GM's inspected server chat logs, or reviewed server instance recordings, and only if that kind of impartial 'proof' evidence was available, that they only then hauled people up for discussion.

When you report someone you have to put date/time/world within the report. So can't see them banning without the actual timestamp proof.

[SalamanderIX]

The GM's do seem to air on lighter touch when it comes to social stuff. But if anybody calls you anything remotely upsetting dungeon or other duty, they'll be suspended so fast.