I am not exaggerating. Not in the slightest. It's all factual and true.
It's the same reason they implemented extreme cooldowns for posting. The posts were not praising the new DR, and the only thing the devs love (metrics) were being "skewed" in their mind by search engines recording all the non-flattering postings. Hell, maybe some unkind comments started trending? Who knows. The response was fast: Shut everybody up, and fast.
It also has no comparison to LoR's release. It's really quite Draconian in style, and a sure sign the devs in charge can't hack the job anymore.
He's exaggerating. It wasn't because people were complaining it was because of their methods of expressing their dislike of things.... it was kinda like the digital equivalent of throwing TP all over the police station....
You're focusing too narrowly on the temp bans. If you put DR in the context of the increased forum post cool down, the temp bans, and the "fun" thread closures as you call them, it does seem like Cryptic is actively trying to censor dissent at an unprecedented level. We can agree to disagree on this point Marhawk.
If you put DR in the context of the increased forum post cool down, the temp bans, and the "fun" thread closures as you call them, it does seem like Cryptic is actively trying to censor dissent at an unprecedented level.
You're focusing too narrowly on the temp bans. If you put DR in the context of the increased forum post cool down, the temp bans, and the "fun" thread closures as you call them, it does seem like Cryptic is actively trying to censor dissent at an unprecedented level. We can agree to disagree on this point Marhawk.
Not really. Non of the individual actions they have taken recently is anything out of the ordinary.
Closing threads for being a rage fest? happens regularly, it's the #1 reason for thread closures.
Banning someone for posting angry rants? Standard practice. But only for people who are excessively obnoxious about it.
Banning someone for raging about how one of their favorite threads got closed? Yeah, that's normal too.
A lot of people disappeared from the forum at the height of the raging about the Tour the Galaxy change. Was it more or less than recently? I don't know. I don't actually know how many people were given vacations in either case.
He's exaggerating. It wasn't because people were complaining it was because of their methods of expressing their dislike of things.... it was kinda like the digital equivalent of throwing TP all over the police station....
It just has to be an exaggeration, I haven't been banned for my signature. If they were banning all forms of decent regarding DR, wouldn't the forums would go silent ? That's hardly happened.
I agree with Markhawkman, it had to be because of the method of expression.
One would have to concede that Cryptic isn't pleased with the negative reactions to begin with, one shouldn't expect them to have had much patience left for posters who cross the line.
BUT, maybe they were thinning out the most vocal amongst us. Speculation sure, but either way, it is THEIR sandbox, We just play in it, so long as it pleases them.
Go look at posts #11, and #13 in this thread. Those are the "banned" avatars.
A small group of players are using those avatars to imply they were the victims of what they think were unjust moderations without violating the forum rule of not discussing moderation.
As far as what type of avatars are not allowed on the forum
so.... an avatar whuch reads "banned" is not allowed? Or is that the avatar Cryptic gives you for violating the rules? If it is the prior, how does that violate the EULA?
No one is getting banned for disagreeing with Cryptic, if they did that, we all be gone.
All gone??? Nope. You're forgetting the White Knights Guard... I believe they even got Iconians helping them with fun-killing technology to defend Cryptic's transgrind hub.
so.... an avatar whuch reads "banned" is not allowed? Or is that the avatar Cryptic gives you for violating the rules? If it is the prior, how does that violate the EULA?
I feel like I am missing something...
Anything that violates the terms of service for the forums (located as an announcement in every part of this forum) is not allowed and that includes in signatures and avatars.
If people are caught violating the rules in signatures or their avatars, they may, at the sole discretion of PWE, have that ability removed. Which yes, some people have lost that ability and no, it does not say banned or anything of the like.
No one has lost their signature or avatar permissions just based off of disagreeing with anything Cryptic or PWE has done.
Yes, I'm that Askray@Batbayer in game. Yes, I still play. No, I don't care. Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker. Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
Anything that violates the terms of service for the forums (located as an announcement in every part of this forum) is not allowed and that includes in signatures and avatars.
If people are caught violating the rules in signatures or their avatars, they may, at the sole discretion of PWE, have that ability removed. Which yes, some people have lost that ability and no, it does not say banned or anything of the like.
No one has lost their signature or avatar permissions just based off of disagreeing with anything Cryptic or PWE has done.
That makes perfect sense. So the "Banned" avatars are just their way of being clever... got it
Anything that violates the terms of service for the forums (located as an announcement in every part of this forum) is not allowed and that includes in signatures and avatars.
If people are caught violating the rules in signatures or their avatars, they may, at the sole discretion of PWE, have that ability removed. Which yes, some people have lost that ability and no, it does not say banned or anything of the like.
No one has lost their signature or avatar permissions just based off of disagreeing with anything Cryptic or PWE has done.
As an attorney, I would prefer some clarification, is it "hate speech" or "hate against Star Trek Online" speech that will not be tolerated?
Thank you,
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]-32nd Vipers- PvP Team
Nothing is impossible to him who would try.... except getting cryptic to care about pvp.
They don't seem to mind my sig nor my forum avatar.
But I know They don't care for things that include the North Korean leader.
That will get you a warning and your sig deleted.
<shrug>
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
I would actually like to challenge that last point. I recently critiqued the handling of the "empty queues" as a bug and not an issue of fewer players -- I'll admit I was brash, but not breaking any rules -- and was penalized for it. I asked for clarification but was ignored by PWE staff. I think you are doing a fine job, and Bluegeek more or less so depending on how humorless and dour he feels on any given day, but I cannot speak for everyone modding this forums. it seems to me that players are getting punished for criticizing PWE/Cryptic handling of things recently without any clarification as to how rules have been broken. It's a shame, too, as I'm usually the one defending the stupid game from the rabid pack of angry forums posters.
Oddly enough, I find myself agreeing with nabreeki here. I've seen threads shut down without notice, and emails to the volunteer mods return back with "It wasn't me, must have been someone else". There's a Dark Moderator somewhere on this forum, who's applying a censorship on these forums, and not even the volunteer mods know what he's doing.
stardestroyer001, Admiral, Explorers Fury PvE/PvP Fleet | Retired PvP Player
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9 My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
You do realize that the volunteer mods aren't the only mods on the forum.
askray, bluegeek, and whatshisname can't hand out suspensions or bans. That requires a goldname, Cryptic employed moderator like "Q". I think Smirk and some others also have the same access as the mods.
So there aren't "dark" mods, there are "gold" mods.
Still sticking to the Dark Moderator thing.
With most of the gold named accounts (Smirk, Trendy, the various devs popping in and out), if they were to shut down a thread, either they would post in that thread explaining why, or edit the last poster's post for the same reason. I've noticed a trend of threads being closed without explanation - which means no one can pinpoint which mod closed the thread. Thus, "Dark Moderator" - operating in the dark.
stardestroyer001, Admiral, Explorers Fury PvE/PvP Fleet | Retired PvP Player
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9 My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
With most of the gold named accounts (Smirk, Trendy, the various devs popping in and out), if they were to shut down a thread, either they would post in that thread explaining why, or edit the last poster's post for the same reason. I've noticed a trend of threads being closed without explanation - which means no one can pinpoint which mod closed the thread. Thus, "Dark Moderator" - operating in the dark.
Lemme put this little conspiracy theory to rest.
Moderators and CM's can see every action each other do unless it's done in the admin control panel (ie by a CM for the purpose of banning, changing user groups etc etc). If we tell you we don't know who did it it's because a) we cant look atm or b) we can't tell you. In the end? We're not going to tell you what mod did what. It's not that we're afraid of backlash or what not, but we aren't in the business of placing each other in the line of fire either
Every infraction or warning is logged and we can see them, every edit actually shows to ALL users who did the edit (it shows below the signature saying last edited by so and so at what time), all closed threads can be looked into who closed them and so on.
There is no "dark moderator" where we don't know who's doing what. The only 3 moderators we have are myself, bluegeek and midnight. Besides Trendy and Smirk there are more CM's that can pop over and help out if things get overloaded.
When a thread is closed without reason it could be for a few reasons.
First off - it could be we're doing it from our phones and cannot reply. Honestly I've closed a couple of necro posts without putting a reason from my phone. We aren't totally required to put a reason when we close a thread. Yes, it's something we all try to do to keep conspiracies like this not come up, but really life doesn't work out like everyone wants it too. :P Sometimes we will close a thread without reason.
Secondly - if it's REALLY outta control and obvious, we shouldn't have to put a reason. If you're just trying to tell us "You should ALWAYS put a reason" - Seriously? If it's (for example) a flame war for 30 pages it should be extremely obvious that it's going to be closed. Us adding a post saying "Thread closed for excessive flaming" is a bit redundant.
Finally, the only people that can hand out bans on the forums is Perfect World CM team. Not even a developer from Cryptic can ban you on here. Course yes, if you annoy them to the point they request it for good reason then well... bye bye :P
Any who that's my 11:30 pm post before I go to bed.
Yes, I'm that Askray@Batbayer in game. Yes, I still play. No, I don't care. Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker. Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
I would actually like to challenge that last point. I recently critiqued the handling of the "empty queues" as a bug and not an issue of fewer players -- I'll admit I was brash, but not breaking any rules -- and was penalized for it. I asked for clarification but was ignored by PWE staff. I think you are doing a fine job, and Bluegeek more or less so depending on how humorless and dour he feels on any given day, but I cannot speak for everyone modding this forums. it seems to me that players are getting punished for criticizing PWE/Cryptic handling of things recently without any clarification as to how rules have been broken. It's a shame, too, as I'm usually the one defending the stupid game from the rabid pack of angry forums posters.
I also criticized them about the whole "that is a reporting bug" thing. Only got a thread locked w/o explanation; no ban hammer.
No one has lost their signature or avatar permissions just based off of disagreeing with anything Cryptic or PWE has done.
Would you please kindly find out what happened to mine? I submitted tickets...reported to GM and dont even have half of the infractions needed to get disabled as per PWE community rules. If you rather PM please do so and hope not violating any rules...just stating a concern.
Comments
Not at the level we're seeing now. Lots of harmless threads are getting silenced and quite a few people were silenced.
My character Tsin'xing
It's the same reason they implemented extreme cooldowns for posting. The posts were not praising the new DR, and the only thing the devs love (metrics) were being "skewed" in their mind by search engines recording all the non-flattering postings. Hell, maybe some unkind comments started trending? Who knows. The response was fast: Shut everybody up, and fast.
It also has no comparison to LoR's release. It's really quite Draconian in style, and a sure sign the devs in charge can't hack the job anymore.
You're focusing too narrowly on the temp bans. If you put DR in the context of the increased forum post cool down, the temp bans, and the "fun" thread closures as you call them, it does seem like Cryptic is actively trying to censor dissent at an unprecedented level. We can agree to disagree on this point Marhawk.
They're doing a freaking terrible job of it, too.
Closing threads for being a rage fest? happens regularly, it's the #1 reason for thread closures.
Banning someone for posting angry rants? Standard practice. But only for people who are excessively obnoxious about it.
Banning someone for raging about how one of their favorite threads got closed? Yeah, that's normal too.
A lot of people disappeared from the forum at the height of the raging about the Tour the Galaxy change. Was it more or less than recently? I don't know. I don't actually know how many people were given vacations in either case.
My character Tsin'xing
100% this!!!
Just us shadows here...nothing to see. Best Expansion EVER
Happy holidays and hope the banning brings back the joy of the season
I'm amazed why they haven't banned you for real
I agree with this too. Look at the majority of my posts, did I get banned? Nope.
It just has to be an exaggeration, I haven't been banned for my signature.
I agree with Markhawkman, it had to be because of the method of expression.
One would have to concede that Cryptic isn't pleased with the negative reactions to begin with, one shouldn't expect them to have had much patience left for posters who cross the line.
BUT, maybe they were thinning out the most vocal amongst us. Speculation sure, but either way, it is THEIR sandbox, We just play in it, so long as it pleases them.
so.... an avatar whuch reads "banned" is not allowed? Or is that the avatar Cryptic gives you for violating the rules? If it is the prior, how does that violate the EULA?
I feel like I am missing something...
All gone??? Nope. You're forgetting the White Knights Guard... I believe they even got Iconians helping them with fun-killing technology to defend Cryptic's transgrind hub.
PS: Nice sig, prierin. LMAO
Anything that violates the terms of service for the forums (located as an announcement in every part of this forum) is not allowed and that includes in signatures and avatars.
If people are caught violating the rules in signatures or their avatars, they may, at the sole discretion of PWE, have that ability removed. Which yes, some people have lost that ability and no, it does not say banned or anything of the like.
No one has lost their signature or avatar permissions just based off of disagreeing with anything Cryptic or PWE has done.
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
That makes perfect sense. So the "Banned" avatars are just their way of being clever... got it
As an attorney, I would prefer some clarification, is it "hate speech" or "hate against Star Trek Online" speech that will not be tolerated?
Thank you,
Nothing is impossible to him who would try.... except getting cryptic to care about pvp.
But I know They don't care for things that include the North Korean leader.
That will get you a warning and your sig deleted.
<shrug>
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
If they would they would need to remove 90% of the forum users as of late it seems.
Happy customers everywhere.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
Oddly enough, I find myself agreeing with nabreeki here. I've seen threads shut down without notice, and emails to the volunteer mods return back with "It wasn't me, must have been someone else". There's a Dark Moderator somewhere on this forum, who's applying a censorship on these forums, and not even the volunteer mods know what he's doing.
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9
My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
Still sticking to the Dark Moderator thing.
With most of the gold named accounts (Smirk, Trendy, the various devs popping in and out), if they were to shut down a thread, either they would post in that thread explaining why, or edit the last poster's post for the same reason. I've noticed a trend of threads being closed without explanation - which means no one can pinpoint which mod closed the thread. Thus, "Dark Moderator" - operating in the dark.
Missing the good ol' days of PvP: Legacy of Romulus to Season 9
My List of Useful Links, Recently Updated November 25 2017!
Lemme put this little conspiracy theory to rest.
Moderators and CM's can see every action each other do unless it's done in the admin control panel (ie by a CM for the purpose of banning, changing user groups etc etc). If we tell you we don't know who did it it's because a) we cant look atm or b) we can't tell you. In the end? We're not going to tell you what mod did what. It's not that we're afraid of backlash or what not, but we aren't in the business of placing each other in the line of fire either
Every infraction or warning is logged and we can see them, every edit actually shows to ALL users who did the edit (it shows below the signature saying last edited by so and so at what time), all closed threads can be looked into who closed them and so on.
There is no "dark moderator" where we don't know who's doing what. The only 3 moderators we have are myself, bluegeek and midnight. Besides Trendy and Smirk there are more CM's that can pop over and help out if things get overloaded.
When a thread is closed without reason it could be for a few reasons.
First off - it could be we're doing it from our phones and cannot reply. Honestly I've closed a couple of necro posts without putting a reason from my phone. We aren't totally required to put a reason when we close a thread. Yes, it's something we all try to do to keep conspiracies like this not come up, but really life doesn't work out like everyone wants it too. :P Sometimes we will close a thread without reason.
Secondly - if it's REALLY outta control and obvious, we shouldn't have to put a reason. If you're just trying to tell us "You should ALWAYS put a reason" - Seriously? If it's (for example) a flame war for 30 pages it should be extremely obvious that it's going to be closed. Us adding a post saying "Thread closed for excessive flaming" is a bit redundant.
Finally, the only people that can hand out bans on the forums is Perfect World CM team. Not even a developer from Cryptic can ban you on here. Course yes, if you annoy them to the point they request it for good reason then well... bye bye :P
Any who that's my 11:30 pm post before I go to bed.
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
I also criticized them about the whole "that is a reporting bug" thing. Only got a thread locked w/o explanation; no ban hammer.
Would you please kindly find out what happened to mine? I submitted tickets...reported to GM and dont even have half of the infractions needed to get disabled as per PWE community rules. If you rather PM please do so and hope not violating any rules...just stating a concern.
Thanks!