Bullying on FFXIV

[Presbytier]

Blacklist the fool, dude.


Yeah, that ain't gonna fly. Animosity is one of the best and worst parts of the internet. Take it away and people get pissed. Gotta take the good with the bad. Thicken your skin, and deal with the jerks.

No it does not work in reality and it does not work for the internet. Anonymity is hurting the future viability of the internet.

[Preypacer]

You are not looking at the big picture; if everyone had to show who they where they would be far less likely to grief, and could actually face legal punishment easier when necessary.

You assume everyone thinks, or even cares about the possible ramifications of their actions.

Have you ever seen some of the stupid crap people will pull, and then seem surprised - or worse, completely unaffected - when they're caught?

Implementing a system on the assumption that it's going to be an effective deterrent for everyone is rather naive.

Some people simply don't care. Some think it's funny, or even cool when they're busted. There's a lot of very unstable people out there. And yes, some of them do play MMOs.

[Orophin]

Hiding your real identity is all well and good, but when its linked to you you are much less likely to be a douche.

Apparently you don't see some of the things posted on people's Facebook pages. XD

Seriously, I don't know what's so hard about using the blacklist. If you're drawing this kind of attention to yourself in the first place, you probably deserved it. I've played online games since Diablo and Starcraft and tended not to engage in general jackassery. I've never had these kinds of problems with people bugging me in games, probably because I've never created a reason for them to do so.

[Jynx]

You are not looking at the big picture; if everyone had to show who they where they would be far less likely to grief, and could actually face legal punishment easier when necessary.

Are you aware of how terrible for the entire world getting rid of internet anonimity would be? Many people in countries that are under dictatorships have been able to speak out because the net is a perfect outlet.

Do you know how many people would be harmed due to their information being freely known? (Not that most of it isn't allready on the net) But having your name(and by extension pretty much your location on a map) how bad things could get?

It's a case of doing much more harm than good.

[Preypacer]

The easiest and best solution to stop cyber bullying is to take the anonymity out of the web. Blizzard's Real Id plan was great unfortunately they caved to the pressure of people suddenly realizing they may have to own up top the things they said online.

It's not all about "people not wanting to own up to things they say online". Some people genuinely don't want their real identity getting out for any number of reasons.

How many times have you heard, or maybe even witnessed someone stalking another player online? Maybe a guy obsessing over a female player, or some other combination? It's bad enough that they have to deal with it in-game, but at least it's kept in-game. Imagine that stalker having access to the player's real name? There are ways of obtaining people's info on the web - unfortunately, even without their consent - and that kind of info would be a huge help to someone trying to do so.

How about someone who hasn't said anything abusive or wrong to someone else in the game, but simply became a victim of someone else who is rather unstable and decided to lash out at them over a simple disagreement, making all manner of threats against them, etc? I've seen that happen as well. Imagine that kind of person having access to your actual info?

How about the very simple idea of people valuing their privacy online and having the right to control who does or doesn't know their real name/identity?

It's easy to be cynical and think anyone against a Real ID type setup is "just trying to avoid owning up to their behavior online". But it's also very lazy and rather intellectually dishonest to do so. It takes very little time or energy to imagine a variety of situations where a person might want to keep their identity private for purely genuine and respectable reasons.

There was an incident a few years back where two arch rivals in the game Lineage 2 met at a real-life meet-up. They got into an altercation, and one of them ended up dead. Over a game. There have been other examples of people carrying out violent acts in real life over in-game dramas or situations. So it's not at all outside the realm of possibility for it to happen.

The solution to people acting like jackasses, or socio-pathic idiots in-game is to have a setup where players are accountable for their actions and behavior in-game. Final Fantasy XI managed this beautifully because it put a high value on community (server-wide community, not "your linkshell"). If you were a jerk to people, your reputation would get around and you'd become unwanted in groups, linkshells, etc. Your actions and attitude would catch up with you, for better or worse. This worked beautifully in XI and resulted in many people either having to clean up their act, switch servers or leave the game entirely. No real names were required.

[Keisuna]

It's not all about "people not wanting to own up to things they say online". Some people genuinely don't want their real identity getting out for any number of reasons.

How many times have you heard, or maybe even witnessed someone stalking another player online? Maybe a guy obsessing over a female player, or some other combination? It's bad enough that they have to deal with it in-game, but at least it's kept in-game. Imagine that stalker having access to the player's real name? There are ways of obtaining people's info on the web - unfortunately, even without their consent - and that kind of info would be a huge help to someone trying to do so.

How about someone who hasn't said anything abusive or wrong to someone else in the game, but simply became a victim of someone else who is rather unstable and decided to lash out at them over a simple disagreement, making all manner of threats against them, etc? I've seen that happen as well. Imagine that kind of person having access to your actual info?

How about the very simple idea of people valuing their privacy online and having the right to control who does or doesn't know their real name/identity?

It's easy to be cynical and think anyone against a Real ID type setup is "just trying to avoid owning up to their behavior online". But it's also very lazy and rather intellectually dishonest to do so. It takes very little time or energy to imagine a variety of situations where a person might want to keep their identity private for purely genuine and respectable reasons.

There was an incident a few years back where two arch rivals in the game Lineage 2 met at a real-life meet-up. They got into an altercation, and one of them ended up dead. Over a game. There have been other examples of people carrying out violent acts in real life over in-game dramas or situations. So it's not at all outside the realm of possibility for it to happen.

The solution to people acting like jackasses, or socio-pathic idiots in-game is to have a setup where players are accountable for their actions and behavior in-game. Final Fantasy XI managed this beautifully because it put a high value on community (server-wide community, not "your linkshell"). If you were a jerk to people, your reputation would get around and you'd become unwanted in groups, linkshells, etc. Your actions and attitude would catch up with you, for better or worse. This worked beautifully in XI and resulted in many people either having to clean up their act, switch servers or leave the game entirely. No real names were required.

THANK YOU.

Putting real info up for anyone to see is dangerous and will do just as much damage, if not more, than any good it will do.

[Anakhu]

Cyber bullying is a persistent problem to our everyday lives. Many people fall victim to it every day, and those same who fall victim to it "tend"( not always) to retaliate and fuel it further creating a big circle of he said she said you are blah blah. It is so easy to do and get away with and continue, that it getting stopped is just in the realm of non possible. Best thing to do is to just ignore, take note of the person. Walking away however seems like a cowards choice I know, but you don't have to simply do just that. Express to the person that you are uncomfortable with them, and why. Then do not say a thing back , let them keep trying to poke at you.. but remember you are the one who was bigger and finished the convo, not them. If they continue, you have the right to report them if you feel it is causing you true harm. Do not fuel them with a defense, copy what they keep saying, pull logs , and submit it to the forum head, game masters, or head of whatever you are interacting at. You will have all the proof to have something done to this person for continuing with thier behavior, and if they do not do anything to stop them and you feel you were wronged and this person continues their behavior, or increases it for lack of punishment.. you have the right to have charges pressed against him, and have the law deal with him. It is a criminal activity if you commit harm to another individual online. Many people over the years have lead to suicide by becoming victims to the nets bullying when gone to far. As OP pointed out, you never know what kind of situation this person could be in and what your doing to their feelings and thoughts at that moment.. it only takes a spark to burn down a forest. So be curteous, but you don't have to be " politicaly correct " . Be yourself, but when someone says you have gone to far.. respect them, and they will still hold respect for you.

[Jaimie]

The easiest and best solution to stop cyber bullying is to take the anonymity out of the web. Blizzard's Real Id plan was great unfortunately they caved to the pressure of people suddenly realizing they may have to own up top the things they said online.

Bad idea.

Ever hear the phrase "Not my problem, I don't want to get involved". Say you see someone in game being bullied. What are YOU gonna do ?

[Presbytier]

Bad idea.

Ever hear the phrase "Not my problem, I don't want to get involved". Say you see someone in game being bullied. What are YOU gonna do ?

Once again someone only looking at a small microcosm of the entire problem. What removing anonymity would do is make people behave as they would in real life(yes i know bullying and what not happens in RL but not to the extant that it does on the internet).

[Jynx]

Once again someone only looking at a small microcosm of the entire problem.

As are you.

Anonymity on the internet has done much good for the world itself. If everyone behaved as they did on the streets we would all be worse for it and often oblivious to the world around us and especially the flaws of ours and other governments.

*edit*

You also seem to think that the lack of Anonymity would make people not "Bully" online, face it people "Bully" with their names known all the time as well making your name known will do little to curb the real issue.