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Private Messages Are Not Private

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2012 in Ten Forward
I sent a message to a user about something and a mod replied. Not even a gold name one either. So if I or anyone else becomes a purple name, we can go into other users mail boxes and read their mails?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Dev's answer with purple names in-game... they are only gold here in the forums...

    I would not go and become paranoid... the Dev's have access to everything (or at least I must assume they do, since they made the software)... But I doubt the average joe does not have access..
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    anazonda wrote: »
    Dev's answer with purple names in-game... they are only gold here in the forums...

    I would not go and become paranoid... the Dev's have access to everything (or at least I must assume they do, since they made the software)... But I doubt the average joe does not have access..


    No, this person is a forum purple name. And the message wasn't in-game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    IMO that is some serious breach of privacy there.

    We're STO players, not wannabe terrorists. There is no need to eavesdrop on player to player communication!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    No, this person is a forum purple name. And the message wasn't in-game.

    Sorry, yea... I somehow "reverted" back to the time when Dev's were mods too... sorry.

    carmenara wrote:
    IMO that is some serious breach of privacy there.

    We're STO players, not wannabe terrorists. There is no need to eavesdrop on player to player communication!

    We may not be terrorists... but we are the enemy.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    He probably forwarded the message to a dev because he didn't know the answer. Or the dev has dual identities like Batman, er, Bat-dev.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    anazonda wrote: »
    We may not be terrorists... but we are the enemy.

    That we are my friend...that we are....

    And I would like to add on a personal note....I think having Community Moderators is a bad,bad idea.Players shouldn't be allowed to "police" other players,it inevitably leads to a misuse of power.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    This is a tad unsettling...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    This is a tad unsettling...

    You did read the EULA right?
    I'm willing to bet there's a section in that which allows it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    It's getting more and more disturbing to hear rumors of Moderator abuse. I really hope the Devs are watching these issues closely since a few bad Mods could kill a game if things get out of hand.

    On the other side, I hope the Mods are doing everything they can to make sure we understand that they are handling things with total fairness. So far the only things I've seen are removal of pretty obviously abusive posts, which shows they're doing their jobs, but the suggestions that they are playing favorites either in the forums, in the game or or in viewing private correspondence (without cause) is troubling. That kind of thing could lead to serious problems for Cryptic. (And I for one don't want to see this game go down or become another EvE.)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    That's particularly disturbing given that we are forbidden from posting any PMs on the forum because it's private, even if it comes from mods.


    Yeeeah.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    SHARKFORCE wrote: »
    That we are my friend...that we are....

    And I would like to add on a personal note....I think having Community Moderators is a bad,bad idea.Players shouldn't be allowed to "police" other players,it inevitably leads to a misuse of power.

    absolute power, corrupts, absolutely.

    I've seen some shaky things done recently and have noticed a change in attitude on the forums, I think we are now indeed, the enemy.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Honestly, I've been bothered by the community moderators since the first time I saw one posting in a non-moderator capacity in the Academy section. They gave outright awful advice, which was corrected by another poster, but the OP took the moderators advice, and learned the hard way. They'd assumed that the colored name implies some authority, and felt betrayed when their information was flat out wrong.

    That and I'm a bit bitter about the "Take a look!" sticky in discussion getting gutted and restored a couple times by overzealous moderators who misunderstand the line between announced and unannounced content.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    It depends. Mods can check PM if they are reported for what ever reason. If the message you sent could have been reported because of something you said, and the mod reply was in regards to that then i dont find that strange. now im unsure if that only applies to cryptic mods or community mods as well. i would assume both but i dont know. your experience would suggest its both.

    if the mail was a normal mail with no reason to be reported then that would be both unusual and invading into privacy that was not called for.

    send a ticket, address it to stormshade or branflakes and ask them to investigate if you feel its crossed the line.

    technically they will be allowed to read them but that does not mean they should if nothing in the post broke the rules.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    if the mail was a normal mail with no reason to be reported then that would be both unusual and invading into privacy that was not called for.

    send a ticket, address it to stormshade or branflakes and ask them to investigate if you feel its crossed the line.

    technically they will be allowed to read them but that does not mean they should if nothing in the post broke the rules.

    OP's PM is very unlikely to contain any malicious content - Storm_Strike has been a regular contributor of constructive feedback and discussion for as long as I've been on the forum. (Well not that long by STO standards but I've generated many hundreds of posts since F2P)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    i personaly know two of the community reps, and i will say that both them are the most honest people i know off and i was cheering them on there new positions, as for the invasion of privacy problems at the moment there is no facts available, except for the OP post, i wont condemn a witch hunt without more facts. and in this case there is none
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Guys, the answer is quite simple, and isn't at all worrying.

    The player you sent a message to is just an alt to a GM, when replying it was simply from the globally visible GM. I can confirm first hand that this is what many games do, and most likely what PW do too.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    i would request some proof before i even believe any of this.

    the OP's message probably got forwarded or reported or something like that.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    I'm willing to wager that Community People Persons are not only vetted, but are watched themselves. After all, if one of them dun goofed, it would reflect badly on STO.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    momiji wrote: »
    Guys, the answer is quite simple, and isn't at all worrying.

    The player you sent a message to is just an alt to a GM, when replying it was simply from the globally visible GM. I can confirm first hand that this is what many games do, and most likely what PW do too.

    STO, however, doesn't. Only one forum presence per account rather than per character, and even in game alts are linked by their @handle. When community moderators post in a non-moderator capacity, they're still identifiable by their purple names.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    There is absolutely no way for a volunteer moderator to be able to see your Private Messages, Chat Logs, PMs etc.

    Cheers,

    Brandon =/\=
This discussion has been closed.