Harassment. Is there anything to be done about it?

istateres

I'm always reluctant to respond to post on April 1st. I know there are people who say outrageous things just to "fool" others.

MornaBaine

PS4_ZeColmeia wrote: »

OMG I am so glad this thread is still going because I actually went through the process of joining the forums just to respond to this thread.

First, grow up. Anyone complaining for a string of emote gestures that they are construing as "offensive" is just plain sad. Sad, why? Because you are so upset in real life that you can't help but paint everything as "offensive" you see, including in a game.

Next, how much time do you have available to play? No seriously, how much time. I get on, I have a mission to get SP, CP and get sweet l00t. How do you have time to stay in one place long enough to get harrassed? I'm running around in delves, instances, dungeons, and zones so much I would leave almost everyone in the dust before I had time to notice their attempts at harrassment.

So that's visually, what about conversations? Have you bothered to use the UI and block someone? When I was waiting for a Vamp bite, I had a bunch of annoying kids talking over the top of me and others in area. We all blocked them, and went about our day. Simple.

___

So I don't even understand the premise of this thread except that you want everyone to play your way/the way you approve. You have every opportunity to save yourself from being bothered, including zoning in and out which will likely place you in another instance of the game.

This post could be taken as offensive or mean, instead take it as an opportunity. An opportunity for you to reevaluate your perception and realize happiness is 80% your perception of events. I hope you all get a chance to enrich your life in a way that helps you stop being upset at every event which could be construed as offensive and either join in the fun or go about your life and stop feeding the trolls.

Way to entirely miss the point and prove that you've not actually bothered to read the thread. So let me give you the short version in hope of enlightening you.

1. Every person who plays this game signs a TOS that includes a RULES OF CONDUCT they promise to adhere to. That Code of Conduct includes the following:

Take any action, organize, transmit any Content, effectuate or participate in any activity, group, or guild that is harmful, tortuous, abusive, hateful (including "hate speech"), racially, ethnically, religiously or otherwise offensive, obscene, threatening, bullying, vulgar, sexually explicit, defamatory, libelous, infringing, invasive of personal privacy or publicity rights, encourages conduct that would violate a law or is, in a reasonable person's view, objectionable and/or deemed to be in the sole discretion of ZeniMax inappropriate;

Engage in disruptive behavior in chat areas, game areas, forums, or any other area or aspect of the Services. Examples of disruptive behavior include, but are not limited to, conduct which interferes with the normal flow of gameplay or dialogue within a Service, vulgar language, abusiveness, hitting the return key repeatedly or inputting large images so the screen goes by too fast to read, use of excessive shouting [i.e., all text in capitals] in an attempt to disturb other users, "spamming" or flooding [i.e., posting repetitive text], commercial postings, solicitations and advertisements, posting advertising or promotional messaging, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or other commercial activities;

If players refuse to adhere to the legally binding CONTRACT they signed and consented to in order to play this game, I have ZERO sympathy for them when they receive the just consequences for their actions. This ISN'T about people being thin skinned. It IS about people who refuse to honor their word and act like decent human beings with a modicum of consideration for others.

2. The visual ignore feature requested for PvE areas actually BENEFITS the type of people described in #1 because it makes it to where they can be absolutely as vile as they wish... because the targets of their abuse can simply make them "cease to exist" from their perspective. It's WIN/WIN. The ONLY people who have any kind of issue with this idea are those who want to be able to continue to be abusive and spiteful towards others and are afraid that brand of "fun" is going to be taken away from them. As far as I am concerned, their opinion doesn't count.

themdogesbite

You can report the player in question and wait for your automated mail response, this is what you ahve to look forward to.

MornaBaine

themdogesbite wrote: »

You can report the player in question and wait for your automated mail response, this is what you ahve to look forward to.

I get ehy they will not reveal the outcome of their investigations. It would quickly become a legal quagmire. But these automated messages with no follow up DO leave players with the impression that NOTHING actually happens. That's part of why a better method of dealing with harassment, such as a visual ignore, is so desirable.

SantieClaws

This one is not usually one to lean in the direction of additional law enforcement ...

But the most logical long term answer is some actual in world, paws on the ground, GM type people.

Even if they don't say how many they have or where they are. Even if they are only seen now and again - the potential of being caught and banished to jail or something may be enough to make some people think twice about what they do.

No rule can matter if there is no enforcement to back it up.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

MornaBaine

SantieClaws wrote: »

This one is not usually one to lean in the direction of additional law enforcement ...

But the most logical long term answer is some actual in world, paws on the ground, GM type people.

Even if they don't say how many they have or where they are. Even if they are only seen now and again - the potential of being caught and banished to jail or something may be enough to make some people think twice about what they do.

No rule can matter if there is no enforcement to back it up.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

I'd be THRILLED if they actually hired a decently sized GM Staff and you actually saw them around in game. And there were actually enough of them to respond to complaints in real time as they were happening. But I think we all know that's never going to happen.

Usara

To be honest, I felt too like the OP was a bit... I don't want to say "exaggerating" but maybe "took things at heart a bit too much" ? ^^
I'm a woman, and I've been bothered by kids/stupid people (including other women) in the past too. But I guess we don't deal with "virtual" harassment the same way. And I know real harassment can be much much worse.

And I'm saying that as I reported a bunch of people for - guess what ? - harassment last week.
I had the "outrage" of killing a scamp in the sewers in "their" farming rotation. Well, yes I'm looking for the achiev too. Would they have told me "hey, join us, more scamps for everyone !" I would have been happy to. But no. They didn't.
For the next three days, each time they saw me, they insulted me, then emotes (because I guess they realized I had ignored them), and began pulling the sewer bosses on me - or rushed to my location and jumped around me when I was hiding from enemy players (when you are willing to die and loose your TV just to annoy someone, in my book it looks like you can't let go of a grudge).
So I just asked a friend to "taxi" me to another campaign until I could change the "legit" way. I was really furious at the time - and yeah, really upset - but now... meh. I've met worse people IRL. And I've met worse IG too.

So I understand it is annoying. I understand it really breaks your immersion/objectives/whatev... But take a second to realize all they want to do is annoy you. And that's all they can do with emotes/following. Take a breath. Report them. Change location or do something else for a while and you will ruin all their "fun".

On the other hand, I really feel like saying "stop being such a ***" or "lol, if you spent that much time in a location to be harassed, it means you don't have a life, lolilol" is really lame. Maybe those people could work on their social skills instead of being such jerks. Just saying.