If we do not bring the problem to the forefront they will continue to cause issues. Just tonight alone I had two RP sessions broken up by the same group of trolls.
What they do is a serious breach of the TOS, it's harassment. Yet reporting them does nothing -- I see the same names night after night engaging in the same trolling behavior.
I again am going to call upon the folks who run this game to step up and start enforcing your very own TOS. You can't say there isn't a problem when I submitted five tickets this week already and other fleet-mates have issued tickets on the same issue as well. Right now, it is one specific group above all others that is causing the damage -- yet absolutely ZERO action is being taken.
Given that you're admitting to using a group of players to abuse the report system in order to exert control over a group of players who RP within the TOS in a way that you don't like, it really begs the question - who are the harassers in this case?
I know at least one of the RP groups I hang with has taken to RPing on Fleetbase and aboard ship because the harassment has gotten so bad. The other, has had to go to invite only as the number of spammers in the chat channel got overwhelming. I joined a third RP group just recently -- that group too is having to RP on fleet-bases and ships because a certain group has taken trolling and harassment to the extreme.
RP is going to become more exclusive and harder to find if the public harassment isn't addressed. When it gets to the point where people are spewing verbal/text pornography (WHICH IS A VIOLATION OF THE TOS) during a recruiting session on DS9, recruiting dies out... and RP becomes difficult to find.
So, community managers, customer-service reps, occasional Dev, Dan The Producer-Man... how are we going to fix this? The customers are asking for your help== Is this going to turn into another "don't fit in a lockbox, can't help you" issue like the broken skybox graphics? Or can we call out and actually get a response -- get things resolved this time?
You should tell the whole truth about your agenda.
What you will not be aware of is that there are actually serious ToS breaches. Some include soft core TRIBBLE in forum signatures through to behaviour in game that is actually criminal or would highly offend any adult. It is getting so bad that it is getting media worthy, and an environment that parents would not want the their children exposed to. I find it rather saddening that there are players that risk bringing this game into disrepute.
I recommend reporting actual ToS violations rather than imaginary ones.
I recommend reporting actual ToS violations rather than imaginary ones.
Agreed. Conversely though it is not a player's job to police inappropriate behavior. If you witness inappropriate behavior in the game, you should be reporting it to the GMs so that they can investigate the incident and deal with it appropriately.
Vigilantes are only cool in comic books and westerns.
If you witness inappropriate behavior in the game, you should be reporting it to the GMs so that they can investigate the incident and deal with it appropriately.
I agree with this.
Off topic, I kind of wonder if it would help to have a "Code of Conduct" published by Cryptic to state in plain English what kinds of behaviors are not acceptable. The ToS is legalese format that most people probably skim through if they ever read it at all.
I think the biggest impediment to hassle-free RP right now is the lack of social sandbox areas aside from Bridges and Starbases. I mean, people would love to roleplay in places like DS9 and Qo'NoS but those areas simply are not available for private RP groups. They have no choice but to mix in with the general population who are going about their business.
Here's an idea that might not be impossible to implement, and has probably been suggested before: Service-Free Social Instances. Many players go to social zones to socialize, use email and banking services, visit vendors, etc. If STO provided instances of social areas where the services were disabled on the maps, they would be effectively set aside for true socialization including RP. People just wanting to drop stuff in their banks and cash out excess gear would never use those instances. People interested only in socialization could choose to transfer to the service-free zones and start their own private channels to stay out of zone chat. When they want to use services, they could transfer back to one of the main instances.
That would not fix trolling, of course. And behavior that violates the ToS would still be forbidden. But it might promote a healthy gap between the roleplayers and the anti-roleplayers.
Other ideas that have been tossed around include socially-enabled Foundry maps that would allow larger teams than 5 players to use them. It's actually a better solution in my book, but probably presents bigger technical issues than service-free social zones would.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I know at least one of the RP groups I hang with has taken to RPing on Fleetbase and aboard ship because the harassment has gotten so bad. The other, has had to go to invite only as the number of spammers in the chat channel got overwhelming. I joined a third RP group just recently -- that group too is having to RP on fleet-bases and ships because a certain group has taken trolling and harassment to the extreme.
Personally I couldn't be happier. This kind of RP I have seen recently belongs in private. If people want to be obscene and vulgar please do it in private.
RP is going to become more exclusive and harder to find if the public harassment isn't addressed. When it gets to the point where people are spewing verbal/text pornography (WHICH IS A VIOLATION OF THE TOS) during a recruiting session on DS9, recruiting dies out... and RP becomes difficult to find.
Which as it should be. IN PRIVATE and not rampant. This is Star Trek Online, not Role Playing Online.
So, community managers, customer-service reps, occasional Dev, Dan The Producer-Man... how are we going to fix this? The customers are asking for your help== Is this going to turn into another "don't fit in a lockbox, can't help you" issue like the broken skybox graphics? Or can we call out and actually get a response -- get things resolved this time?
I don't see how people playing with party poppers and running around with EV suits is harassment. Can someone please explain that to me?
Is it because these people want to go to a public social zone but don't like what people are doing around them?
Also just a disclaimer. I am not a member of nor am I associated with or have ever had been associated with one of the fleets that shall not be named. I have been called names in private messages and harassed just for using my party popper, while not saying a word in local or zone chat.
I have played WoW for a couple of years and I have always rolled there on roleplaying servers. However I consider these type of servers in that game as a failed concept. Why? Because a lot op players rolled on those server without any intention to roleplay. In most cases they weren't even aware of the status of the server.
Lots of discussions always about this issue, so I made a bold statement and I am going to do it again. Make a roleplaying server and let players pay for access.
I do not Know what the costs issues are for keeping up a separate server, but I would definetely pay a reasonable one time access fee to play on such a server.
Which as it should be. IN PRIVATE and not rampant. This is Star Trek Online, not Role Playing Online.
Star Trek Online is an MMORPG. Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. It's inherent to the genre. Now, I agree, there are things that shouldn't be done in public, but making sweeping judgments like that is abhorrent.
Ok so who are the GMs. Why do they not respond in a timely manner to complaints? 10 people file a complaint on a harassment situation.... no response.
Got stuck the other day, hit the GM button, was taken to a ticket submission that is still in limbo -- no response.
It's time that the GMs come forward and make themselves known or Cryptic needs to admit they do not have a GM staff.
I've got names, screen-grabs and chat-logs of the harrasment we suffered the other day. I have chat-logs of an RPG chat-channel member admitting that he's a convicted child molester IRL. I have others.
Ok so who are the GMs. Why do they not respond in a timely manner to complaints? 10 people file a complaint on a harassment situation.... no response.
Got stuck the other day, hit the GM button, was taken to a ticket submission that is still in limbo -- no response.
It's time that the GMs come forward and make themselves known or Cryptic needs to admit they do not have a GM staff.
I've got names, screen-grabs and chat-logs of the harrasment we suffered the other day. I have chat-logs of an RPG chat-channel member admitting that he's a convicted child molester IRL. I have others.
GM, STEP FORWARD and address these issues.
We're all waiting.
Marie are you aware of how many people play this game? I know that are are only a handful of GMs. They deal with hundreds of tickets daily and am sure your complaints are not at the top of the GMs concerns. They are busy fixing real problems. Also if they start playing TRIBBLE for tat with these silly complaints you mention I am sure they will upset quite a few of paying customers.
You always have the option to ignore people, beam out, invite your "friends" to some place private. If you are being harassed then you and you only can do something about it.
Organized community-wide harassment should be a priority. Especially when said harassment-group has a website and posts videos. Very classy and exactly the sort of thing that brings new paying customers to the game.
Same with having a child-molester in one of the main RP channels who brags about it.
Disclaimer: I am not nor have I ever been a part of Starfleet Dental or any of the other infamous fleets that have been mentioned. The following Post is in no way meant as a name and shame or anything of the sort.
There are some very real harassment issues directly steaming from some members of StarFleet Dental, however I also feel that all members of StarFleet Dental are being wrongly categorized by the actions of just a portion of their members.
There are three HUGE factors that play into this that Cryptic really needs to address:
1) Acceptable behavior rules. As stated by someone else in this thread there needs to be some very plain english (plain english meaning no legal jargon,etc) as to what behaviour is and isn't acceptable in public chat (both local and zone).
2)GMs: The GM population is definitely underpopulated to the point of being almost completely ineffectual at all. Most of the time GM reports are never responded to at all, but I'm also not blaming the GMs for this. GMs aren't employees, they are individuals that volunteer their time to help "police" the game and assist players with technical assistance when possible (ie being stuck and the /unstuck command not working).
In addition to needing to greatly increase the amount of GMs, they also need to create two different "ranks" of GMS. GMTech rank to help assist players with gameplay mechanics ie being stuck, mission not completing, etc. GMPOL rank to deal exclusively with reports of inappropriate conduct.
3)More dedicated chat "segregation": right now you can chose options for Local, Zone, Team, and Fleet chat. Local and Zone chat should be dedicated only to actual aspects of the game such as asking questions looking for groups, general chat. There needs to be separate options for Trade, Roleplay, and Fleet Recruitment. This isn't to segregate the playerbase, but to actually help bring them closer together based on specific current needs. An example for the need of more segregated global options would be the Gorn and Tribble joke spam that is/was often common place in social zones.
I'm noticing everytime someone brings up roleplay in a discussion, it always turns into a "People are mean to me in local chats" or "People run around us while we RP in public zones" while at the same time demanding a army of GM's to swoop down for both instances. Two fixes to this, that I think a good 100 people probably have suggested in the past and in this thread.
1. Ignore: If someone is giving you TRIBBLE for roleplaying, then just ignore them. Complaining about how someone is giving you grief for playing the game is silly. If it's bothering you so much that you feel we need an army of GM's making sure no one hurts your feelings, then just be more liberal with that ignore button.
2. Public/Private Zones: Instead of trying to RP in a huge populated instance, find less populated instances. You also can just cut out the middle man all together and roleplay in private zones. I'm sure there are plenty of RP foundry missions, if not make one.
Also you're able to make private channels, so that could also be another way to completely avoid the zone chats and local chats. I don't really RP in this game (Although I have Rp'd in other games like Star Wars Galaxies :P) so I don't really know how bad it is. However there are plenty of solutions out there besides complaining if you consider yourself a dedicated roleplayer.
I'm noticing everytime someone brings up roleplay in a discussion, it always turns into a "People are mean to me in local chats" or "People run around us while we RP in public zones" while at the same time demanding a army of GM's to swoop down for both instances. Two fixes to this, that I think a good 100 people probably have suggested in the past and in this thread.
1. Ignore: If someone is giving you TRIBBLE for roleplaying, then just ignore them. Complaining about how someone is giving you grief for playing the game is silly. If it's bothering you so much that you feel we need an army of GM's making sure no one hurts your feelings, then just be more liberal with that ignore button.
2. Public/Private Zones: Instead of trying to RP in a huge populated instance, find less populated instances. You also can just cut out the middle man all together and roleplay in private zones. I'm sure there are plenty of RP foundry missions, if not make one.
Also you're able to make private channels, so that could also be another way to completely avoid the zone chats and local chats. I don't really RP in this game (Although I have Rp'd in other games like Star Wars Galaxies :P) so I don't really know how bad it is. However there are plenty of solutions out there besides complaining if you consider yourself a dedicated roleplayer.
I'm a believer in common-sense problem resolution, but in all fairness I would like to point out some things in behalf of non-ERP roleplayers.
1. Ignore is okay for avoiding people in chat. Not so much for avoiding other players that insist on getting in your virtual face. That's kind of hard to ignore and not much good for immersion. This is one reason why people want a "total ignore" option that makes people they want to avoid completely invisible to them.
2. The Foundry is not necessarily a great option for roleplay when large groups are involved. Like any other Foundry mission, the 5-man team limit is in force.
3. The Foundry doesn't contain non-social maps for every iconic location, and they aren't necessarily straightforward to build, either. For example, I'm not sure there's an unpopulated map available for DS9 so hanging out on the Promenade might be problematical.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I guess they could try suggesting the foundry be expanded, not only in content but also in how many people can go into the missions. Like a 10-20 man option for foundry missions would be pretty interesting, if it's even possible for them to add that. Although with large RP groups in mind, I guess the foundry isn't a good option then. lol
My RP fleet recently started up again after a long time of being down, you can search us up if interested. "The Starsiders"
"If the Iconians come, and we're not ready... Well, let's just say these petty arguments won't mean a thing." - Vice Admiral Thomas Bouwman of the Starsiders
I find RP'ers a little creepy. Just as creepy as those folks that dress as animals. (Furries) But then I really don't get anyone that plays dress up and go to conventions either... very strange.
And yes i am guilty of poking fun at them.
I do wish there was a certain Chanel they would be forced to chat on so that normal gammers don't have to put up with their nonsense.
I would rather read Gorn jokes then look at the Rp'ers chat.
I find their chat strange and really makes me question their mental status.
you all will learn as long as dental fleet is here they will all ways find it that they are rping and are the best.my question is if you are rping dental what are you rping as and why are you all so hated by the players in the game i have a good idea what you are rping as and good job you play that part well.i do the same thing when i see a dental tag weather you troll or think the fleet is good i leave the stf or area i have seen your fleet troll stfs that had no rping in it i have seen you attack players that said nothing if you attack anyone in drozana becouse they are there dont hold yourself high becouse you are so unliked in the game by rpers the bad part is the new people on the game dont realize you get off on being hated thats the sad part but i guess its like the stock home thing oh well i just go on and iggie you all.
Everyone here just complain about Starfleet dental but there is number of role-players who do the same harrasment to other players...like abuse of local/zone chat on drozana station , what if a new player try to get help?.. how he can ask it if chat is always full?.
Or if someone doesnt agree with role-player in something , he invite hes friends for help in harrasment of one guy.... i have seen 7 role-players abusing newbie who just told that he doesnt like them.
Some of role-players even act like they know everything and everyone else is stupid if he doesnt agree with them.
Worst thing is that every role-player is like..why they hate us? etc.. , why they wouldn't?.. show respect to someone and he will give it back.
On starfleet dental side i cant say anything against them....they openly admit what they do and they are proud of it.
All this scene with Starfleet dental is big bad wolf and role-players are little red hood is stupid , good thing is that Cryptic doesn't listen to your constant whining.
From what I have seen personally there are a lot of people engaged in RP which ranges from silly to erotic. These RPers seem to complain if the environment is not exactly what they want it to be. On the other hand from what I have seen personally the members of the fleet's that shall not be named either stand around or run around in EV suits playing with party poppers, dancing or doing jumping jacks. I have not witnessed any harassment on the part of the alleged trolls in any of the public chat. It is the RPers that are harassing and complaining like they own the instance they are in and everybody must act or preserve their immersion. I got several PMs for just standing around playing with a party popper. I wasn't saying a word to anybody.
It is their sense of entitlement that makes me do my rounds at Drozana Station nightly to join in on the party. I always make sure I bring my party popper. If they don't like it they can go somewhere private with their weird now seemly in-code talk.
I wouldn't have as much of a problem if the conversation actually made some kind of relevant sense and was at least kept at the PG-13 level. If the RPers wish continue I might find the need to hold regular party's at Drozana equipped with free prizes and party poppers until they can learn to tone it down.
Think of the children folks. Would you want your kids hanging around with Gorn's and Orions handing out free contraceptives and wine coolers.
I wouldn't have as much of a problem if the conversation actually made some kind of relevant sense and was at least kept at the PG-13 level. If the RPers wish continue I might find the need to hold regular party's at Drozana equipped with free prizes and party poppers until they can learn to tone it down.
Drozana is not representative of the roleplaying community as a whole. In fact, those of us that take it seriously and keep it under "PG-13" actively avoid the place like the plague. The sooner you people realize this, the better.
Drozana is not representative of the roleplaying community as a whole. In fact, those of us that take it seriously and keep it under "PG-13" actively avoid the place like the plague. The sooner you people realize this, the better.
Sadly because Drozana is a mission hub, people see the RP happening there and assume this is how all RP is in game. It's only going to get worse as several of the new Romulan missions require Drozana as a hub.
We need the so-called GMs to make a sweep of the place and enforce some standards/enforce the TOS/enforce the rules there. Clean house. Drive these folks out of a major public hub and force THEM underground.
Perhaps the question is... why are we legitimizing ERP/trolling in a public hub... zero crackdown/zero enforcement... yet legitimate story-telling and RP is driven out of the game and marginalized. That is the question that needs to be asked.
I'm asking it. Why has this been tolerated for three years and when can we expect a reform?
I'm asking it. Why has this been tolerated for three years and when can we expect a reform?
Honestly? Because honest RPers tend to be a more mature crowd and just walk away rather than escalate the trolling game. The RP crowd is always forced underground anytime a game goes F2P because of the sudden influx of trolls and people with no imagination who mock RPers. When can we expect a reform? Never. There has never been any kind of crackdown, ever, in any game, even in games with dedicated RP servers. The reason for this is the same reason this has become Escorts Online: there are more of them than there are of us and the company refuses to enforce rules and common decendy on behalf of the minority.
you all will learn as long as dental fleet is here they will all ways find it that they are rping and are the best.my question is if you are rping dental what are you rping as and why are you all so hated by the players in the game i have a good idea what you are rping as and good job you play that part well.i do the same thing when i see a dental tag weather you troll or think the fleet is good i leave the stf or area i have seen your fleet troll stfs that had no rping in it i have seen you attack players that said nothing if you attack anyone in drozana becouse they are there dont hold yourself high becouse you are so unliked in the game by rpers the bad part is the new people on the game dont realize you get off on being hated thats the sad part but i guess its like the stock home thing oh well i just go on and iggie you all.
Ignoring the rambling your first question is a good one.
We RP being dentists and fire safety officers. This is partly a reflection of our origins in both fields. On the KDF side we also had the Imperial Revenue Service (now retired) where I was one of the leading fitness instructors.
Often we RP drills or actual emergencies. This includes foundry missions so you may see some overlap from those. Other times we RP people partying n Drozana while taking a break from flying our collection of lockbox ships.
The best way to combat this indecency is to promote more people to involve themselves in these zones where people decide to indulge in indecency aggressively. I will personally hand out prizes, EC and party Poppers to those that engage those that break the TOS and behave without concern of others.
I suggest those that belong to those fleets that shall not be named, buy up all the party poppers and enlist the assistance of those that are exposed to this lewd behavior.
If you find your way to any zone where rampant, inappropriate RP exists please disrupt and report any violations of the TOS and you will be rewarded.
Off topic, I kind of wonder if it would help to have a "Code of Conduct" published by Cryptic to state in plain English what kinds of behaviors are not acceptable. The ToS is legalese format that most people probably skim through if they ever read it at all.
I think that could only help. Most people probably do not read the ToS and even if they do they may not fully understand it due to the legaleze nature of it. Besides, it would make it very clear what Cryptic really is looking for out of its customers.
Honestly? Because honest RPers tend to be a more mature crowd and just walk away rather than escalate the trolling game. The RP crowd is always forced underground anytime a game goes F2P because of the sudden influx of trolls and people with no imagination who mock RPers. When can we expect a reform? Never. There has never been any kind of crackdown, ever, in any game, even in games with dedicated RP servers. The reason for this is the same reason this has become Escorts Online: there are more of them than there are of us and the company refuses to enforce rules and common decendy on behalf of the minority.
^Quoted for truth. Not much else to say... It is just the way of it.
The best way to combat this indecency is to promote more people to involve themselves in these zones where people decide to indulge in indecency aggressively. I will personally hand out prizes, EC and party Poppers to those that engage those that break the TOS and behave without concern of others.
I suggest those that belong to those fleets that shall not be named, but up the party poppers and enlist the assistance of those that are exposed to this lewd behavior.
If you find your way to any zone where rampant, inappropriate RP exists please disrupt and report any violations of the TOS and you will be rewarded.
Its time to get the community involved.
Um... I just want to say that I find your post a little bit confusing... So... Are you saying you are encouraging the Trolls or fighting Against them? I suppose it does not really make a difference. If you are actively fighting Trolls then you ARE encouraging them... Hmmm.
I think that could only help. Most people probably do not read the ToS and even if they do they may not fully understand it due to the legaleze nature of it. Besides, it would make it very clear what Cryptic really is looking for out of its customers.
^Quoted for truth. Not much else to say... It is just the way of it.
Um... I just want to say that I find your post a little bit confusing... So... Are you saying you are encouraging the Trolls or fighting Against them? I suppose it does not really make a difference. If you are actively fighting Trolls then you ARE encouraging them... Hmmm.
The indecency I speak of is the RP, not people attempting to limit it.
I was roleplaying in Drozana last night and then the following happened with one of these so called "role players".
The role player in question came in claiming that Dental had TRIBBLE his friend's account. Then separately one fleet member was sent a mail from his friend stating that he had been taken into protective custody by the state. So his friend's account is TRIBBLE and he had been taken away by the state yet he could still log in somehow.
We played along with this ridiculous gibberish for a while by actually role playing. He then stated that he was going to report us for dancing and using party poppers. What was actually going on is a strange plot to try to get people banned, a deliberate waste of GM time while failing to be unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
The fact is Starfleet Dental attracts crackpots because of our high profile. They also are unable to distinguish between IC and OOC. So every time you see someone rambling about their agenda to get Dental mass banned rather than talking about roleplaying you can understand the sort of terrible behaviour being forced on us in game.
Comments
Given that you're admitting to using a group of players to abuse the report system in order to exert control over a group of players who RP within the TOS in a way that you don't like, it really begs the question - who are the harassers in this case?
Shutup Wesley: First In Everything
You should tell the whole truth about your agenda.
What you will not be aware of is that there are actually serious ToS breaches. Some include soft core TRIBBLE in forum signatures through to behaviour in game that is actually criminal or would highly offend any adult. It is getting so bad that it is getting media worthy, and an environment that parents would not want the their children exposed to. I find it rather saddening that there are players that risk bringing this game into disrepute.
I recommend reporting actual ToS violations rather than imaginary ones.
Agreed. Conversely though it is not a player's job to police inappropriate behavior. If you witness inappropriate behavior in the game, you should be reporting it to the GMs so that they can investigate the incident and deal with it appropriately.
Vigilantes are only cool in comic books and westerns.
I agree with this.
Off topic, I kind of wonder if it would help to have a "Code of Conduct" published by Cryptic to state in plain English what kinds of behaviors are not acceptable. The ToS is legalese format that most people probably skim through if they ever read it at all.
I think the biggest impediment to hassle-free RP right now is the lack of social sandbox areas aside from Bridges and Starbases. I mean, people would love to roleplay in places like DS9 and Qo'NoS but those areas simply are not available for private RP groups. They have no choice but to mix in with the general population who are going about their business.
Here's an idea that might not be impossible to implement, and has probably been suggested before: Service-Free Social Instances. Many players go to social zones to socialize, use email and banking services, visit vendors, etc. If STO provided instances of social areas where the services were disabled on the maps, they would be effectively set aside for true socialization including RP. People just wanting to drop stuff in their banks and cash out excess gear would never use those instances. People interested only in socialization could choose to transfer to the service-free zones and start their own private channels to stay out of zone chat. When they want to use services, they could transfer back to one of the main instances.
That would not fix trolling, of course. And behavior that violates the ToS would still be forbidden. But it might promote a healthy gap between the roleplayers and the anti-roleplayers.
Other ideas that have been tossed around include socially-enabled Foundry maps that would allow larger teams than 5 players to use them. It's actually a better solution in my book, but probably presents bigger technical issues than service-free social zones would.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Personally I couldn't be happier. This kind of RP I have seen recently belongs in private. If people want to be obscene and vulgar please do it in private.
Which as it should be. IN PRIVATE and not rampant. This is Star Trek Online, not Role Playing Online.
I don't see how people playing with party poppers and running around with EV suits is harassment. Can someone please explain that to me?
Is it because these people want to go to a public social zone but don't like what people are doing around them?
Also just a disclaimer. I am not a member of nor am I associated with or have ever had been associated with one of the fleets that shall not be named. I have been called names in private messages and harassed just for using my party popper, while not saying a word in local or zone chat.
Lots of discussions always about this issue, so I made a bold statement and I am going to do it again. Make a roleplaying server and let players pay for access.
I do not Know what the costs issues are for keeping up a separate server, but I would definetely pay a reasonable one time access fee to play on such a server.
Star Trek Online is an MMORPG. Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. It's inherent to the genre. Now, I agree, there are things that shouldn't be done in public, but making sweeping judgments like that is abhorrent.
Got stuck the other day, hit the GM button, was taken to a ticket submission that is still in limbo -- no response.
It's time that the GMs come forward and make themselves known or Cryptic needs to admit they do not have a GM staff.
I've got names, screen-grabs and chat-logs of the harrasment we suffered the other day. I have chat-logs of an RPG chat-channel member admitting that he's a convicted child molester IRL. I have others.
GM, STEP FORWARD and address these issues.
We're all waiting.
Marie are you aware of how many people play this game? I know that are are only a handful of GMs. They deal with hundreds of tickets daily and am sure your complaints are not at the top of the GMs concerns. They are busy fixing real problems. Also if they start playing TRIBBLE for tat with these silly complaints you mention I am sure they will upset quite a few of paying customers.
You always have the option to ignore people, beam out, invite your "friends" to some place private. If you are being harassed then you and you only can do something about it.
Same with having a child-molester in one of the main RP channels who brags about it.
VERY classy.
There are some very real harassment issues directly steaming from some members of StarFleet Dental, however I also feel that all members of StarFleet Dental are being wrongly categorized by the actions of just a portion of their members.
There are three HUGE factors that play into this that Cryptic really needs to address:
1) Acceptable behavior rules. As stated by someone else in this thread there needs to be some very plain english (plain english meaning no legal jargon,etc) as to what behaviour is and isn't acceptable in public chat (both local and zone).
2)GMs: The GM population is definitely underpopulated to the point of being almost completely ineffectual at all. Most of the time GM reports are never responded to at all, but I'm also not blaming the GMs for this. GMs aren't employees, they are individuals that volunteer their time to help "police" the game and assist players with technical assistance when possible (ie being stuck and the /unstuck command not working).
In addition to needing to greatly increase the amount of GMs, they also need to create two different "ranks" of GMS. GMTech rank to help assist players with gameplay mechanics ie being stuck, mission not completing, etc. GMPOL rank to deal exclusively with reports of inappropriate conduct.
3)More dedicated chat "segregation": right now you can chose options for Local, Zone, Team, and Fleet chat. Local and Zone chat should be dedicated only to actual aspects of the game such as asking questions looking for groups, general chat. There needs to be separate options for Trade, Roleplay, and Fleet Recruitment. This isn't to segregate the playerbase, but to actually help bring them closer together based on specific current needs. An example for the need of more segregated global options would be the Gorn and Tribble joke spam that is/was often common place in social zones.
1. Ignore: If someone is giving you TRIBBLE for roleplaying, then just ignore them. Complaining about how someone is giving you grief for playing the game is silly. If it's bothering you so much that you feel we need an army of GM's making sure no one hurts your feelings, then just be more liberal with that ignore button.
2. Public/Private Zones: Instead of trying to RP in a huge populated instance, find less populated instances. You also can just cut out the middle man all together and roleplay in private zones. I'm sure there are plenty of RP foundry missions, if not make one.
Also you're able to make private channels, so that could also be another way to completely avoid the zone chats and local chats. I don't really RP in this game (Although I have Rp'd in other games like Star Wars Galaxies :P) so I don't really know how bad it is. However there are plenty of solutions out there besides complaining if you consider yourself a dedicated roleplayer.
I'm a believer in common-sense problem resolution, but in all fairness I would like to point out some things in behalf of non-ERP roleplayers.
1. Ignore is okay for avoiding people in chat. Not so much for avoiding other players that insist on getting in your virtual face. That's kind of hard to ignore and not much good for immersion. This is one reason why people want a "total ignore" option that makes people they want to avoid completely invisible to them.
2. The Foundry is not necessarily a great option for roleplay when large groups are involved. Like any other Foundry mission, the 5-man team limit is in force.
3. The Foundry doesn't contain non-social maps for every iconic location, and they aren't necessarily straightforward to build, either. For example, I'm not sure there's an unpopulated map available for DS9 so hanging out on the Promenade might be problematical.
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I guess they could try suggesting the foundry be expanded, not only in content but also in how many people can go into the missions. Like a 10-20 man option for foundry missions would be pretty interesting, if it's even possible for them to add that. Although with large RP groups in mind, I guess the foundry isn't a good option then. lol
And yes i am guilty of poking fun at them.
I do wish there was a certain Chanel they would be forced to chat on so that normal gammers don't have to put up with their nonsense.
I would rather read Gorn jokes then look at the Rp'ers chat.
I find their chat strange and really makes me question their mental status.
Just sayin' RP'ers strange... real strange:D
Or if someone doesnt agree with role-player in something , he invite hes friends for help in harrasment of one guy.... i have seen 7 role-players abusing newbie who just told that he doesnt like them.
Some of role-players even act like they know everything and everyone else is stupid if he doesnt agree with them.
Worst thing is that every role-player is like..why they hate us? etc.. , why they wouldn't?.. show respect to someone and he will give it back.
On starfleet dental side i cant say anything against them....they openly admit what they do and they are proud of it.
All this scene with Starfleet dental is big bad wolf and role-players are little red hood is stupid , good thing is that Cryptic doesn't listen to your constant whining.
It is their sense of entitlement that makes me do my rounds at Drozana Station nightly to join in on the party. I always make sure I bring my party popper. If they don't like it they can go somewhere private with their weird now seemly in-code talk.
I wouldn't have as much of a problem if the conversation actually made some kind of relevant sense and was at least kept at the PG-13 level. If the RPers wish continue I might find the need to hold regular party's at Drozana equipped with free prizes and party poppers until they can learn to tone it down.
Think of the children folks. Would you want your kids hanging around with Gorn's and Orions handing out free contraceptives and wine coolers.
Drozana is not representative of the roleplaying community as a whole. In fact, those of us that take it seriously and keep it under "PG-13" actively avoid the place like the plague. The sooner you people realize this, the better.
Sadly because Drozana is a mission hub, people see the RP happening there and assume this is how all RP is in game. It's only going to get worse as several of the new Romulan missions require Drozana as a hub.
We need the so-called GMs to make a sweep of the place and enforce some standards/enforce the TOS/enforce the rules there. Clean house. Drive these folks out of a major public hub and force THEM underground.
Perhaps the question is... why are we legitimizing ERP/trolling in a public hub... zero crackdown/zero enforcement... yet legitimate story-telling and RP is driven out of the game and marginalized. That is the question that needs to be asked.
I'm asking it. Why has this been tolerated for three years and when can we expect a reform?
Honestly? Because honest RPers tend to be a more mature crowd and just walk away rather than escalate the trolling game. The RP crowd is always forced underground anytime a game goes F2P because of the sudden influx of trolls and people with no imagination who mock RPers. When can we expect a reform? Never. There has never been any kind of crackdown, ever, in any game, even in games with dedicated RP servers. The reason for this is the same reason this has become Escorts Online: there are more of them than there are of us and the company refuses to enforce rules and common decendy on behalf of the minority.
Ignoring the rambling your first question is a good one.
We RP being dentists and fire safety officers. This is partly a reflection of our origins in both fields. On the KDF side we also had the Imperial Revenue Service (now retired) where I was one of the leading fitness instructors.
Often we RP drills or actual emergencies. This includes foundry missions so you may see some overlap from those. Other times we RP people partying n Drozana while taking a break from flying our collection of lockbox ships.
The best way to combat this indecency is to promote more people to involve themselves in these zones where people decide to indulge in indecency aggressively. I will personally hand out prizes, EC and party Poppers to those that engage those that break the TOS and behave without concern of others.
I suggest those that belong to those fleets that shall not be named, buy up all the party poppers and enlist the assistance of those that are exposed to this lewd behavior.
If you find your way to any zone where rampant, inappropriate RP exists please disrupt and report any violations of the TOS and you will be rewarded.
Its time to get the community involved.
I think that could only help. Most people probably do not read the ToS and even if they do they may not fully understand it due to the legaleze nature of it. Besides, it would make it very clear what Cryptic really is looking for out of its customers.
^Quoted for truth. Not much else to say... It is just the way of it.
Um... I just want to say that I find your post a little bit confusing... So... Are you saying you are encouraging the Trolls or fighting Against them? I suppose it does not really make a difference. If you are actively fighting Trolls then you ARE encouraging them... Hmmm.
Maybe what we need is a bit of this for you then: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dI6mPDCqEo
The role player in question came in claiming that Dental had TRIBBLE his friend's account. Then separately one fleet member was sent a mail from his friend stating that he had been taken into protective custody by the state. So his friend's account is TRIBBLE and he had been taken away by the state yet he could still log in somehow.
We played along with this ridiculous gibberish for a while by actually role playing. He then stated that he was going to report us for dancing and using party poppers. What was actually going on is a strange plot to try to get people banned, a deliberate waste of GM time while failing to be unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
The fact is Starfleet Dental attracts crackpots because of our high profile. They also are unable to distinguish between IC and OOC. So every time you see someone rambling about their agenda to get Dental mass banned rather than talking about roleplaying you can understand the sort of terrible behaviour being forced on us in game.