RP Servers and Cyber Bullying

#0 - Nov. 3, 2010, 2:02 p.m.

TROLLS: First of all, I'm going to ask that no one trolls this topic as this pertains to subject matter that is large and has affected many people. If you feel the need to troll it or "ask social questions," please make a separate thread for it.

Here we go...

Recently -- actually last night -- I was sitting up and writing a paper for my Marketing and Business Ethics class when I recieved a phone call from a friend of mine who was in tears. Now, this friend of mine is generally a pretty strong individual. If he gets a snide remark from someone, he's quick to shrug it off and continue smiling and goofing off, so I can only surmise that this has been happening for quite a while to break down such a strong barrier.

During the phone call, he began to discuss how people on his RP server (name witheld to protect his identity) were harassing him to the point that the game was no longer fun for him. I suggested that he stop playing if it were that bad. I also suggested he ignore these people.

Well, ignoring them only worked for so long. Eventually these people began to harass him off the game as well -- as if their antics in-game weren't enough to send this poor guy spiraling. I had been in a similar situation once before and I know how it can hurt. Even if you have a hard center and can take it, I understand there are people out there who are a bit more sensitive to things like this.

When I didn't get a response from him on the other end of the phone, I dropped my laptop and ran to his house, which is only a block away. I had to prevent a suicide attempt.

The things they had written him were immature, stupid and just plain spiteful in ways I didn't think humans could be. It made me so angry that I uninsalled WoW from his comupter and called up the hopsital to ensure he got the help he needed. This begs the question: Are people on RP servers far more viscious when it comes to online bullying than other servers?

Reading up on cyber bullying and such, I came to find a poll that people on PvP and PvE servers get bullied but people on RP servers get bullied online and offline 4 times more than people on other servers. The ignore feature isn't working anymore. We need to be proactive in stopping things like this. I ask that if you see someone being bullied or know someone being bullied -- don't be afraid to stand up for them and tell the bully to stop!

Nevalistis

#135 - Nov. 4, 2010, 6:30 a.m.

There's a lot of fantastic discussion in here, and I really don't want to see this get off topic. The two cents I would normally provide has already been provided, but I'll reiterate for the sake of emphasis.

If a player is harassing you in game, please place them on ignore and report them to us.

If they continue to harass you, the issue can escalate into what we refer as ongoing harassment. Follow the step above, and clarify when you report that this is an ongoing case. Harsher punishment is associated with such cases.

If the harassment surpasses the game and begins to be a part of your outside life, if you feel threatened, we stress that it is important to report such situations to your local authorities. While we cannot provide information regarding other players to players, we can provide information to the appropriate legal representative. We will always accommodate in such severe situations.

I'm unable to enter the debate that is ongoing in this thread, and I will leave this open for now. But be aware that derailment of any kind, trolling, or harassment in this thread is not acceptable. Leave the discussion positive, please.

Nevalistis

#165 - Nov. 5, 2010, 4:18 a.m.

Q u o t e:
I would like to 100% agree with you. But there was a huge example of this as I was being griefed and constantly harassed by players who youtube their griefings. They were using a faction toon to locate me and then used their opposing geared faction toons in full gear versus a 71 hunter.

After days upon days of griefing and not being able to level. I reported it to Blizzard both in game ticketed and email. On both accounts I was told that PvP happened and nothing more. But these guys were doing much more than that. They called everyone nerds and referred them as ,server name> Legends. They persisted and even other players tried to help but they just get dragged into the ganking cause it was a 4-5 vs 1 situation with full wrathful.

I was forced to server transfer my character to be able to play. So why in this situation I wasn't helped after reading your statement.

I wanted to address this, as these situations get rather sticky.

It's possible that the Game Master was addressing what you reported - the ganking and camping, to be specific. Those actions, unless deemed incredibly extreme and out of the ordinary, are ones that we are typically unable to intervene with as there is a PvP solution and to engage the opposite faction appropriately in this manner is the best and most encouraged resolution. It is the nature of such realms and regular world PvP is part of the intended experience.

The "extreme and out of the ordinary" part is the one that is difficult to quantify. I have seen cases like this that go beyond simple camping. Camping a guy for a few deaths? Okay, that's pretty much to be expected on a PvP realm. Camping a guy for weeks or even months on end? Definitely outside the realm of a normal PvP experience.

In situations like these, you have to help us identify exactly you are reporting. Were they harassing you verbally? Do not respond and report that communication - the PvP aspect really does not have a bearing on that kind of situation. Had this been an ongoing case that you had reported to us previously? Mention this in your petition. We log histories related to the accounts involved in these situations, and keying in on the focus of ongoing harassment from a one-off encounter can make all the difference in the type of investigation that occurs. If a Game Master is not made aware that this is a repeatedly occurring issue, they may not realize that is the situation at hand when conducting a normal investigation.

Again, thank you to everyone who is remaining civil and constructive in this discussion. It is very much appreciated. >^.^<