Loving STO - Hating the chat rules and getaways

ishapza1

This may sound like a personal rant, but bear with me and you will get my point.

When I started playing years ago I noticed a few things about chat that made me steer clear for the most part and limit any other interactions I needed to have in order to play to the bare minimum.

1st. We all know there are extremely rude people in the game - people that get off on being as insulting as
possible to get a rise out of others.

2nd. There are people that seem to lurk about waiting to pounce and tear strips of others in order to get their
daily jollies.

3rd. There are people that whilst they could be classified under the above 2 categories are simply that much worse
- the abusers of fleet mates, friends and strangers in private channels, because they can. These are either
owners / operators / admins of said channels and grossly abuse the authority they have over others.

Below is an example of the 3rd kind of abuse I'm referring to:

I logged into the game and saw that the one channel I was invited to was running up the chat window. Being curious, I scrolled back up to see what the hot topic was and discovered that a person I counted as a fairly good acquaintance was being accused of some not very nice things. I added my 2 cents worth in channel by stating that it is not fair to accuse/vilify someone if they are not there to defend themselves and that maybe the whole matter should just be let be until both parties are present. After a few pleasantries with others in channel, I started running my many toons thru cell ship, not bothering with chat as it distracts.

Imagine my surprise when I look down to ask if anyone in that channel wanted cell invites, only to discover I was kicked from the channel.

[Personal correspondence/naming & shaming removed]

A special note: even after the 2 sort of apologies, I was still not re-instated to the channel. No skin off my back, but it shows a certain type of behaviour does it not? My question is this: Should I report this person, will anything actually be done about it? There are much worse examples of chat authority abuse, I'm sure people can fill pages, but again, will anything be done if reported? Anything more than the canned "thanks for telling us, now put this
person on ignore and if we do, do something, you'll never know because it's private"?

risian4

On the topic of ignoring: I try to ignore all drama. It's also the main reason why I avoid chat channels that I don't have any influence on - with the Science Channel being the only exception.

All other channels are hardly worth it or fun to join. DPS runs are the most boring ones in the game and their channels have too many people in them who think they're everything, for stuff like trading you don't actually need a channel at all.

All that being said; I would remove the names from your post. It's against the rules to post private correspondence and name someone from in-game encounters here, it could get you into trouble.

risian4

Which, btw, doesn't mean that I have not encountered individuals who were annoying while playing the game - but it's best to move on and just forget that it happened.

ishapza1

Noted, I edited the name. On the topic of ignoring though, if I had to go through all the trouble of ignoring everyone that says what they want and act how they want, I'm pretty sure my ignore list would exceed any other record I have in-game. Ignoring does not solve the problem, it only hides it.

risian4

I didn't really mean placing them on your ignore list, just don't pay attention to them.

And are you aware that you can create separate tabs for different channels? I usually keep fleet and cross-fleet channels on a tab where I can also see local and team chat, plus any personal messages sent to me. Everything else goes to a tab named 'Zone' or 'Elite'.

Easy to just switch to the chat you do want to see that way.

ishapza1

Still the same thing isn't it though? We turn a blind eye and let these individuals get away with too much. Some poor soul may lack our fortitude in ignoring these comments/attacks and take it very personally. I have seen some chat assaults that question the person's very origin and their mother's fidelity to the human race. It's not right, it must be stopped.

risian4

Yeah well... that topic has come up here very often. It's not just chat issues, trolls can get away with their behaviour as well.

Not much will be done about it. I completely agree that ignoring it is not an ideal solution, but it's the only thing that will probably work as there simply isn't much you or I, or any other normal player, can do about it.

crypticarmsman

ishapza1 wrote: »

A special note: even after the 2 sort of apologies, I was still not re-instated to the channel. No skin off my back...

^^^
Really? is that why you come to the STO forums for a game of naming and shaming? If ity really is no skin off your back so to speak. Either report the person ingame and move or, or just move on. STO is played on the internet. Why would you expect anyone to behave better in STO then they do on the internet in general?

I'm not a fan of bullies; but I'm also not a fan of whiners either. The game gives you tools to handle these situations - use them, or don't.

anazonda

Complaining about drama, by causing drama...

Thats some serious irony right there.

comrademoco

risian4 wrote: »

On the topic of ignoring: I try to ignore all drama. It's also the main reason why I avoid chat channels that I don't have any influence on - with the Science Channel being the only exception.

As a TSC admin said, and I quote, "Aww, that's very flattering"... Thank you for being part of such amazing part of the STO community

Also OP... you do have a point there... You were indeed being -to an extent- harassed by a channel admin based on assumptions after you simply defended someone...

BUT... *emphasis on BUT* I do strooooongly.... I strongly suggest you change the names @ handle to something else or [redact] them... because ... name and shaming gets you a hard hammer close hammer/warning/ban from the mods

kodachikuno

best advice... choose your fleets/channels better. Its kinda cold n harsh but you get a much better STO experience

risian4

Hehe it's the truth. While I do have access to some DPS channels (have to keep some contact with what's going on there - how else am I going to complain about certain things here? ), I limit my activity there. TSC is the only one I enjoy reading and sometimes posting in besides our fleet chat.

gradii

Well OP, what I would do is just find a better channel to join, if they kicked you for that reason, it must be a pretty crappy place.

ishapza1

crypticarmsman - I did not come here to shame and name anyone - in case your little inspired rant at me caused you to miss it, I did edit the name after the 1st person commented on it. It was and is supposed to be an example. The whole point of this is to raise awareness/shed light on the fact that in-game reporting amounts to jack and that ignoring the problem does not make it go away - it simply becomes someone else's problem.

comrademoco - same answer on the name thing and tbh, I kinda expect some response from them on this. If I get banned I will accept that - as long as they request full details of the incident and punish the other person involved as well and I'm informed of said punishment. No use waving a big stick on the forums if you can't/won't do it in the game. I agree with the admin response, I've seen it many times on ESD.

kodachikuno - good advice. does this mean you will leave a fleet you helped build for years because of 1 or more bad apples? Will you leave any and all channels where one or more of this kind of people infiltrate? How is that promoting a better experience? Ignoring a problem.........

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protoneous

repetitiveepic wrote: »

Also be very careful of most channels with 'mods.' With a few very narrow exceptions its just crazy people working their personal problems out on the public. The same is true of fleets with "fleet leaders."

Druk you've made negative reference to fleet leaders previously and I often wonder why?

With few exceptions all those I've met and dealt with have been some of the most generous, helpful and hardest working people I've met. I'm sure you've found the same in Starfleet Dental.

Being a leader of two fleets myself and an officer in others I've spent over 5 years of continuous service in helping members, picking up the slack with doffs and dilithium in projects and taking care of all the administrative duties and costs.

A few bad apples can give any group a bad name (in this case the topic started with channel admins) but I find myself scratching my head at your comments about fleet leaders over time.

p.s. and members don't refer to me as "Dear Leader", they just use my first name

p.p.s. most if not all channels would have owners, admins, operators, etc.

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protoneous

repetitiveepic wrote: »

protoneous wrote: »

repetitiveepic wrote: »

Also be very careful of most channels with 'mods.' With a few very narrow exceptions its just crazy people working their personal problems out on the public. The same is true of fleets with "fleet leaders."

Druk you've made negative reference to fleet leaders previously and I often wonder why?

With few exceptions all those I've met and dealt with have been some of the most generous, helpful and hardest working people I've met. I'm sure you've found the same in Starfleet Dental.

Being a leader of two fleets myself and an officer in others I've spent over 5 years of continuous service in helping members, picking up the slack with doffs and dilithium in projects and taking care of all the administrative duties and costs.

A few bad apples can give any group a bad name (in this case the topic started with channel admins) but I find myself scratching my head at your comments about fleet leaders over time.

p.s. and members don't refer to me as "Dear Leader", they just use my first name

p.p.s. most if not all channels would have owners, admins, operators, etc.

I have heard too many horror stories of "my fleet leader did this" "my fleet leader said that" "my fleet leader wants this."

I think the attitude has its roots in the days before NoP Public Service. "Fleet Leaders" held the keys to the best fleet gear and took advantage of it, in many cases disreputably.

I've always considered a real fleet leader to be someone who organizes and also contributes the most to a fleet. There are lots of good people like that out there. And thankfully with NOPPS there are many fewer of the bad kind, since they have no leverage over people anymore.

I guess I 'grew up' in sto fleets where it was more of a partnership than a leadership thing.

Like many things in life, you sometimes tend to hear more about the few bad things than the many good.

In the early days, selling access to fleet gear, if done disreputably, is not something that's aligned with my own moral compass. Selling things at an excessive cost for profit for example. That's not right.

I agree with the your definition of a real fleet leader. They should lead by example.

So if one fosters fear of bad experiences with fleets, fleet leadership or channel moderators this helps the NOPPS channel. I understand.

Channels such as yours do provide a good service for players by offering map invites to top tier holdings so that people can get what they need sooner using their own fleet's provisions. Although these days this same service can also be provided through armadas as well in many cases.

Good job at trying to help the community nevertheless.

jaguarskx

I don't bother using chat.

The only exception is in Brotherhood of the Sword Elite where from time to time I would tell players to focus on doing the secondary objectives first, before the primary objective. Many times other players would provide those instructions.

There are a lot of noobs in that queue from time to time. They tend to TRIBBLE me off as well as other veteran players when they ignore the secondary objectives and only focuses on activating the Iconian consoles. Especially when veterans repeat the instructions because the noobs continues to ignore those instructions and who then type in chat, "Why did the mission fail?"

kodachikuno

ishapza1 wrote: »

kodachikuno - good advice. does this mean you will leave a fleet you helped build for years because of 1 or more bad apples? Will you leave any and all channels where one or more of this kind of people infiltrate? How is that promoting a better experience? Ignoring a problem.........

Actually..... I did just leave a fully upgraded pair of fleets that I'd helped build for the last 4 years because of one person. Admittedly that one person was the leader but it was still one man. I've helped found a new KDF fleet and I know the people in it from their Fed side one and I'm having a lot more fun interacting with them even if it will be a while before I see fleet gear again.

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starkaos

repetitiveepic wrote: »

You can permanently ban people from the game just by ignoring them. Then it's like they don't exist anymore.

Or just consider everyone on the internet as npcs of varying levels of AI. Unless I can speak with them in person, then there is no proof that a person I am chatting with online is an actual person. The same could be said for news. Any news that we have watched recently and haven't personally experienced could be a fabrication. How do we know that <Insert famous person> actually exists? All telecommunications and media is based on the trust that there is a person on the other side of the screen.

jodarkrider

Naming & shaming is a no-no, OP.
/Closed