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In-game Silencing System

blznfunblznfun Member Posts: 241 Arc User
Apparently you can be silenced by anyone (or several people working cooperatively) in STO. I was sitting at the exchange minding my own business when I went to respond to a private PM. My PM didn't go through and I thought the person who PM'd me logged off. When I checked my friends list it showed them online. That's when I checked the system messages and low and behold I was silenced for 24 hours.

I immediately contacted a GM through the behavioral button. Today I got a response saying its an automated system and that I have to wait for it to expire before I can chat again...

REALLY??? Just because someone or a group of people (you know who you are since ironically I was silenced right after the harasser was standing behind me doing the running man...) want to grief someone else (God forbid), I can't chat now and Cryptic refuses to do anything about it! I mean they have logs. They can see that I am being legit and truthful. Harassment should not be tolerated by the community, STO and lastly Cryptic/PW.

They have removed these in the past for me and several others after the response "We have reviewed the circumstances surrounding your chat ban and can find no reason for it. We have opted to remove it early." (Or something similar)

If this is the way Cryptic is going to treat their customers for abiding by the "Terms of service" and not punish those who are violating for those who all following it, God help us...

I am very frustrated about this and wonder what the "Terms of Service" are even for at this point. If they aren't going to uphold them, do we really need them?
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Post edited by blznfun on
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Comments

  • blznfunblznfun Member Posts: 241 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    Cryptic, what are you going to do about this blatant disregard for the silence feature?

    I think simply "Ignore" without the chat ban system is fine. Someone doesn't want to see what your typing fine, report GM, fine... But the GM should be putting the chat ban on, not the system through automation.

    And if someone comes with a legit reason why they should not be chat banned under the current system, I think it should be investigated thoroughly.

    Lets put an end to the chat griefing Cryptic!
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  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    They're not going to do anything about it. It's Friday night, the Devs are off until Monday. Just deal with your 24 hour chat ban and get over it - it's probably half over already.
    STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
  • blznfunblznfun Member Posts: 241 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    Actually it has less than 3 hours to go, but regardless. They have already stated they won't do anything and I have to wait for it to expire... Thats horse*(#$!
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  • blznfunblznfun Member Posts: 241 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    Never mind I redact the statement I made in this particular reply...
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  • foundrelicfoundrelic Member Posts: 1,380 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    The kicker is, if this happens often enough to one user that user can suffer a FULL ban, not just a chat ban.

    THAT would be a grievous abuse of this feature.

    Imagine a Lifer who pays every month to get new ships, features and other things.

    Someone sees this player in 900 day bling and gets his friends to mas silence the lifer.


    THe lifer fiels their complaint, gets told that there's nothing that can be done.


    Ban lifts, Lifer goes about his business.


    Griefer does it again.


    And again and again until the lifer gets banned.



    What happens?


    An investigation? Probably not. The lifer is now out $300 and whatever else he/she has sunk into the game, all because of a ****ing troll abusing the system.
  • wraithshadow13wraithshadow13 Member Posts: 1,728 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    This same thing has been happening over on the champions forums as well, a lot of people seem to be abusing this system just to grief others. I can understand that there are those that take advantage of it to actually report spammers and such, but now that it's grieving people I think they should change it to work like the bug report so that it takes a small image of the chat system for the last minute or so as well as asks for a discription of what they were saying. If some one reports they were banned for no reason it's on record if they wanted to dispute it. If they were reported by some one falsely that person gets banned for a day, and repeat offenders get banned longer or more harshly.
  • lomax6996lomax6996 Member Posts: 512 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    I have a simpler solution. Just do away with it completely. If you don't want to receive someone's messages you can simply "ignore" them. That's all the control that's needed. The idea of giving players such control over other players is ludicrous and invites the exact sort of abuse that the system is now getting. There are plenty of MMO's out there that have no such system. You're option is "ignore" and that's option enough.
    *STO* It’s mission: To destroy strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations... and then kill them, to boldly annihilate what no one has annihilated before!
  • cursixcursix Member Posts: 0
    edited September 2012
    Question for the OP; did you speak at all in zone/local chat before that? If not, it really is a serious problem that Cryptic isn't even doing an automatic check of "Did this person even TALK?" before taking action.
  • mimey2mimey2 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    cursix wrote: »
    Question for the OP; did you speak at all in zone/local chat before that? If not, it really is a serious problem that Cryptic isn't even doing an automatic check of "Did this person even TALK?" before taking action.

    On top of that, there should be a means to see WHO is doing the reporting? Not to the person that they reported of course, but to Cryptic. I mean, if it is people doing it on purpose as well, then in turn, it would only be wise if people seem to be constantly reporting everyone for no reason just to get them silenced.

    I'm surprised this kind of problem hasn't happened sooner.
    I remain empathetic to the concerns of my community, but do me a favor and lay off the god damn name calling and petty remarks. It will get you nowhere.
    I must admit, respect points to Trendy for laying down the law like that.
  • calicowallcalicowall Member Posts: 7 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    lomax6996 wrote: »
    i Have A Simpler Solution. Just Do Away With It Completely. If You Don't Want To Receive Someone's Messages You Can Simply "ignore" Them. That's All The Control That's Needed. The Idea Of Giving Players Such Control Over Other Players Is Ludicrous And Invites The Exact Sort Of Abuse That The System Is Now Getting. There Are Plenty Of Mmo's Out There That Have No Such System. You're Option Is "ignore" And That's Option Enough.

    Hear Hear!
    [echo] Ninjas... Druids... Right?! [/echo]
  • cormorancormoran Member Posts: 440 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    blznfun wrote: »
    Apparently you can be silenced by anyone (or several people working cooperatively) in STO. I was sitting at the exchange minding my own business when I went to respond to a private PM. My PM didn't go through and I thought the person who PM'd me logged off. When I checked my friends list it showed them online. That's when I checked the system messages and low and behold I was silenced for 24 hours.

    I immediately contacted a GM through the behavioral button. Today I got a response saying its an automated system and that I have to wait for it to expire before I can chat again...

    REALLY??? Just because someone or a group of people (you know who you are since ironically I was silenced right after the harasser was standing behind me doing the running man...) want to grief someone else (God forbid), I can't chat now and Cryptic refuses to do anything about it! I mean they have logs. They can see that I am being legit and truthful. Harassment should not be tolerated by the community, STO and lastly Cryptic/PW.

    They have removed these in the past for me and several others after the response "We have reviewed the circumstances surrounding your chat ban and can find no reason for it. We have opted to remove it early." (Or something similar)

    If this is the way Cryptic is going to treat their customers for abiding by the "Terms of service" and not punish those who are violating for those who all following it, God help us...

    I am very frustrated about this and wonder what the "Terms of Service" are even for at this point. If they aren't going to uphold them, do we really need them?
    Yeah this has been around since STO went live.

    Remember, you too can work within the system. You have friends and the knowledge that Cryptic will never do anything about it.

    Have fun!
  • eristhevortaeristhevorta Member Posts: 1,049 Bug Hunter
    edited September 2012
    Right, if you know or suspect who gr33f'd you, you can gr33f him back with a cupple of your friends, then he's the one getting kickbanned, not you.
    "Everything about the Jham'Hadar is lethal!" - Eris
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  • cursixcursix Member Posts: 0
    edited September 2012
    mimey2 wrote: »
    On top of that, there should be a means to see WHO is doing the reporting? Not to the person that they reported of course, but to Cryptic. I mean, if it is people doing it on purpose as well, then in turn, it would only be wise if people seem to be constantly reporting everyone for no reason just to get them silenced.

    I'm surprised this kind of problem hasn't happened sooner.

    My assumption is they do in fact log who has reported who in their system. The question though is how high up the ranks of Cryptic do you have to be in order to see those logs. I would not be suprised if a GM is unable to access those and needs a full blown dev to look at it.
  • blznfunblznfun Member Posts: 241 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    cursix wrote: »
    Question for the OP; did you speak at all in zone/local chat before that? If not, it really is a serious problem that Cryptic isn't even doing an automatic check of "Did this person even TALK?" before taking action.

    No, I did not speak or type in zone AT ALL... This person likes to come up to me a do the running man. Its a classic case of harasment/stalking. Seems he "seeks" me out just to see what I will do. Up to last, I just joined in and did the running man with him. Seems he didn't like it too well and had him and his buddies silence me... Now of course, I could be completely wrong about my accusation, but its just so ironic that I received a PM shortly after the "running man" show and couldn't respond to it. The time read that I was silenced just shy of a few minutes of 24 hours. It doesn't take a village idiot to put 2 and 2 together and realize it makes 4 since I have an ongoing harassment/stalking issue with this person...
    cormoran wrote: »
    Yeah this has been around since STO went live.

    Remember, you too can work within the system. You have friends and the knowledge that Cryptic will never do anything about it.

    Have fun!

    This is not my style. I have never and will never abuse the system in place...
    Right, if you know or suspect who gr33f'd you, you can gr33f him back with a cupple of your friends, then he's the one getting kickbanned, not you.

    See above comment...;)

    As to another comment I didn't get quoted: I agree that an "Ignore" function is simple enough. They just need to remove the feature from "Ignore" which is when so many people ignore you in a short about of time it auto silences you... I am not sure of how many need to do it or in what time frame the ignores need to come it though...
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  • cormorancormoran Member Posts: 440 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    blznfun wrote: »
    This is not my style. I have never and will never abuse the system in place...

    Your choice, but the system, as it stands, is NEVER going to change.



    NEVER.
  • blznfunblznfun Member Posts: 241 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    Well at least the latest mail I received stated they were going to do something about my situation (with 3 hours remaining on my ban I might add so it was pointless at that time.) But maybe at least the person(s) who abused it might be disciplined...
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  • hasukurobihasukurobi Member Posts: 1,421 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    cormoran wrote: »
    Your choice, but the system, as it stands, is NEVER going to change.



    NEVER.

    ^Agreed. Fight fire with Explosives and be done with it. If they silence you, get them fully banned. If Cryptic decides to actually CARE about the issue they might do something when enough folks are banned.
  • mewimewi Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    Earlier this week I complained about being silenced by players at ESD for no reason. I wrote an email to their "support."

    Days later I received a response, where they completely disregarding the abuse, didn't bother to read the email and blamed me for policy spam abuse.

    A+ Customer Support

    Quite frankly, they just don't care. All that matters to them is the money, every penny they can find in a gutter and if implementing a cheap system that is easily abused means they don't have to hire more support staff, then so much the better.

    I mean who cares how many customers you get to quit the game for sheer lack of incompetence... you already have their money right? It isn't like they are going to pay more in the future or anything, loyal customers are a myth. We'll just get the next sucker that comes along.
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  • hereticknight085hereticknight085 Member Posts: 3,783 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    mewi wrote: »

    Quite frankly, they just don't care. All that matters to them is the money, every penny they can find in a gutter and if implementing a cheap system that is easily abused means they don't have to hire more support staff, then so much the better.

    Hence why they have such unstable servers now. LOVE companies like this one... -.-
    It is said the best weapon is one that is never fired. I disagree. The best weapon is one you only have to fire... once. B)
  • dracounguisdracounguis Member Posts: 5,358 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    I never knew this silencing thing existed. :eek: Ignoring, sure; I've been on both sides of that. ;) But GMs/Devs letting an automated system put a hammer down on a player is madness w/o some person looking into it before punishment is meted out.

    Better some jerk get away with annoying everyone at ESD (till everyone ignores him) than one innocent person get banned due to juvenile malice.
    Sometimes I think I play STO just to have something to complain about on the forums.
  • mimey2mimey2 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    More reasons to stay off of any major hub with this kind of abuse going on.
    I remain empathetic to the concerns of my community, but do me a favor and lay off the god damn name calling and petty remarks. It will get you nowhere.
    I must admit, respect points to Trendy for laying down the law like that.
  • anazondaanazonda Member Posts: 8,399 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    I never knew this silencing thing existed. :eek: Ignoring, sure; I've been on both sides of that. ;) But GMs/Devs letting an automated system put a hammer down on a player is madness w/o some person looking into it before punishment is meted out.

    Better some jerk get away with annoying everyone at ESD (till everyone ignores him) than one innocent person get banned due to juvenile malice.

    Report Spam... If enough people (one is not enough) uses this function, the player in question will be silenced for 24 hours.

    Granted this function can be abused, but in the long run, I'd rather not be without it... If it wasn't for it, we'd probably have entire instances filled with goldsellers.
    Don't look silly... Don't call it the "Z-Store/Zen Store"...
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  • majesticmsfcmajesticmsfc Member Posts: 1,401 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    And people wonder why I have zone and local chat disabled.

    Sorry to hear of this abuse, for the OP and everyone else who has had this. Cryptic wonders why people leave, it's them that drive us away, their lack of caring, enforcing their own terms of service and their lack to fulfil what the community needs in terms of content.
    Support the Game by Supporting the KDF, equality and uniqueness for all factions!
  • paragon92518paragon92518 Member Posts: 268
    edited September 2012
    blznfun wrote: »
    Apparently you can be silenced by anyone (or several people working cooperatively) in STO. I was sitting at the exchange minding my own business when I went to respond to a private PM. My PM didn't go through and I thought the person who PM'd me logged off. When I checked my friends list it showed them online. That's when I checked the system messages and low and behold I was silenced for 24 hours.

    I immediately contacted a GM through the behavioral button. Today I got a response saying its an automated system and that I have to wait for it to expire before I can chat again...

    REALLY??? Just because someone or a group of people (you know who you are since ironically I was silenced right after the harasser was standing behind me doing the running man...) want to grief someone else (God forbid), I can't chat now and Cryptic refuses to do anything about it! I mean they have logs. They can see that I am being legit and truthful. Harassment should not be tolerated by the community, STO and lastly Cryptic/PW.

    They have removed these in the past for me and several others after the response "We have reviewed the circumstances surrounding your chat ban and can find no reason for it. We have opted to remove it early." (Or something similar)

    If this is the way Cryptic is going to treat their customers for abiding by the "Terms of service" and not punish those who are violating for those who all following it, God help us...

    I am very frustrated about this and wonder what the "Terms of Service" are even for at this point. If they aren't going to uphold them, do we really need them?

    Do you actually expect Cryptic to respond...or to even care for that matter? Welcome to my world son! As players we have 2 options: Put up with whatever BS Cryptic deems is in the best interests of the game....or just stop playing. It's that simple.
  • askrayaskray Member Posts: 3,329 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    Few things.

    I've never heard of anyone being permanently banned for having chat bans issued multiple times. Considering how many times I've seen a friend of mine get chat banned, For random things mind you, I doubt this is a true statement.

    Also I STRONGLY suggest you do not grief back using the report spam tool. Doing so is not exactly a wise idea. Fighting fire with fire never works folks :P

    While I agree, and trust me I've been on the chat ban end of things multiple times for no reason, it's annoying, I'd rather have the system in place than without it. Like anazonda said, goldsellers would be running rampant and a GM would literally be sitting in ESD 24/7/365 instead of answering tickets (How they respond is another matter which is not what I'm talking about).

    Finally, if you are being harassed by people then file a ticket. Not about the chat ban, but about the harassment AND them using the report spam system to stop you from enjoying the game. If the first one gets an automated response and it happens again, file another one referencing the first ticket ID. :)

    That is the best way to handle it.
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  • mewimewi Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    askray wrote: »
    Few things.

    I've never heard of anyone being permanently banned for having chat bans issued multiple times. Considering how many times I've seen a friend of mine get chat banned, For random things mind you, I doubt this is a true statement.

    Also I STRONGLY suggest you do not grief back using the report spam tool. Doing so is not exactly a wise idea. Fighting fire with fire never works folks :P

    While I agree, and trust me I've been on the chat ban end of things multiple times for no reason, it's annoying, I'd rather have the system in place than without it. Like anazonda said, goldsellers would be running rampant and a GM would literally be sitting in ESD 24/7/365 instead of answering tickets (How they respond is another matter which is not what I'm talking about).

    Finally, if you are being harassed by people then file a ticket. Not about the chat ban, but about the harassment AND them using the report spam system to stop you from enjoying the game. If the first one gets an automated response and it happens again, file another one referencing the first ticket ID. :)

    That is the best way to handle it.

    Yeah because Cryptic, is going to punish 10+ of their customers when they abuse 1 customer with a system they shouldn't have access too.

    Do you really think Cryptic is going to do mass punishments on that scale? 10 customers make more money than 1.

    Besides this fact, there is no way for a player who has been report spam abused to figure out who was abusing them thus making it even more difficult to deal with.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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  • crow1980crow1980 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    This thread could be moved into "The chat ban system needs an overhaul change" http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?p=4931111#post4931111 same topic and content and just sticky that one to keep more threads from poping up on the same topic...

    :D
    I would imagine it is not easy being a developer when faced with this "Community List of Demands" --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2KLyBapfTc every day, all day, (offended by bad language dont watch..)
  • mewimewi Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    crow1980 wrote: »
    This thread could be moved into "The chat ban system needs an overhaul change" http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?p=4931111#post4931111 same topic and content and just sticky that one to keep more threads from poping up on the same topic...

    It's sorta closed, ironic they silenced the thread about people being unjustly silenced ^.^
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  • edna#7310 edna Member Posts: 21 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    anazonda wrote: »
    Granted this function can be abused, but in the long run, I'd rather not be without it... If it wasn't for it, we'd probably have entire instances filled with goldsellers.


    On ESd are people who make this for fun so you agree with what they are doing.You can stop reading a chat or add the person to ignore thus removing it from your life...of ocurse is easier to exploit a function invented by someone very "smart" than stop reading the damn chat.

    mewi wrote: »
    It's sorta closed, ironic they silenced the thread about people being unjustly silenced ^.^

    Nope that is just to cause frustration.I mean support is zero (ok in the best case scenario you will get a useless response from support) and the game has more exploits than missions...you cant want more.
  • bluegeekbluegeek Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2012
    mewi wrote: »
    It's sorta closed, ironic they silenced the thread about people being unjustly silenced ^.^

    It got "sorta closed" because people wouldn't stop taking shots at each other.

    When a thread goes off the rails, it gets closed down. It had absolutely nothing to do with silencing the original topic.

    Can't speak for the other moderators, but I am all in favor of modifying the existing chat spam controls. Some of the player-suggested modifications I like are:

    * Start with a shorter ban time, with the ability to increase it if the user keeps getting reported for spam.

    * Make users acknowledge what Cryptic says constitutes actual spamming before they can submit a report.

    * Make sure each report gets logged in the ticket system, and that the person being reported gets every ticket number so they have a record of what happened that CS can actually verify.

    * Give players a "Get Out Of Ban" instant amnesty option, limited so that true spammers can't use it to dodge the system.

    * The ban shouldn't apply to self-policing chat channels like Fleet or Team.
    My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here
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