Team Chats and Punishment

[LillyAnna]

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Before I begin, I just want to preface this by saying that I in no way am attacking anyone or am I trying to be disrespectful. I am not trying to start a heated argument either. I just had a question/concern and was wondering if staff could answer it for me.

My question is- why isn’t it ok to joke around and lightly cuss in team chat?

Before you jump on me, hear me out. I 100% understand why staff need to monitor chats. I get the purpose, and I am not mad they are seeing the chat (although it can be frustrating if they are playing, because it does seem like an unfair advantage). I get staff need to make sure no rules are being broken and nothing sketchy is happening.

What I am concerned about is like 4 of my friends today got muted for mild cussing and joking around in team chat. I get if it was in general chat. That would be wrong- but in team chat where only 5 people could read it?

I guess I am just frustrated because my friends said something along the lines of: “omggggggg someone is here! ****” and they got warned for spam and muted for 30 minutes.



It was in team chat- only we could see it and we don’t care. It just seems unfair that all my friends were getting muted left and right for saying curses in a joking manner, while 1 hr later theres people openly making rape jokes in general chat for everyone to see. They don’t get punished because no staff is on.

I was just wondering if it was possible for staff to ease up a little when people are in team chats? I’m not saying people should say horrible things- but saying “**** someone is here”- is that really worth a 30 minute mute or a warning? I’m not trying to tell anyone how to do their job or be disrespectful- I want to make that clear. I am just frustrated because it just seems so strict. I understand the purpose of making sure people are not like cheating or being inappropriate, but idk mild cursing in a joking way doesn’t seem as bad as the punishments for it has been. I guess because of the amount of horrible things people say in shout when no staff are on, I am shocked that so many people were getting in trouble for joking in team/private chats.

Idk, maybe I am the only one who feels this way. I just wish it wasn’t so strict is all.

 

[ArmenTheHeli]

I agree. I get that they need to monitor the chats,and that's fine, but if someone is swearing in a private team chat that only those team members were going to be reading them does it really require a mute?

 

[UnknownMelody]

I'll answer each statement/question as I go to make it easier for the both of us. c:

Staff members are not allowed to play while using spy. Spy is the command that allows us to see the chat that normal players can't. So, we have already fixed this issue. Although, if you believe a staff member may be using the command while playing - please report it with whatever evidence you may have as this does give them an unfair advantage and it isn't allowed.

Most rules apply everywhere because if someone breaks them, it could still be offensive (or whatever) to anyone who reads it. For example, if someone is joking about racism in team chat, someone may be offended. I would also like to point out that we don't warn for swearing if the filter catches it. The only issue we have is with filter bypass because the filter is there for a reason. Some players are offended by swearing, and who's to say that someone on your team is offended by it? It's better to be safe than sorry.

This seems a little strange to me though. I don't believe any staff members can see team chat at the moment due to the new team update. The only time we can see it is when a muted player uses it, or when someone swears in a message.

We don't have a very big staff team, so at times it is difficult to ensure that chat is monitored at all times. Certain staff members can only moderate for certain periods of time and due to time zone differences, we just can't find a happy medium to keep the server under control 24/7 with the amount of staff we have. We are doing our best though, and we have the recruitment team checking out new applications everyday to try and get this situation under control.

It seems to me that you're main issues are with the strictness of the rules and the fact that they still apply in team chat. As staff members can't see most team chat at the moment, that shouldn't really be an issue. As for the strict rules, I have been informed that we will be loosening up some chat rules around December 20. I hope this reply answers your question. c:

 

[LillyAnna]

They can see parts of team chat (or at least could yesterday). They responded to us when we were talking about how it was snowing in Canada. They also muted people for joke cussing in team chat- my friend said something that was caught by the filter and was still warned. I also know for a fact they were playing with it on because they were warning my friends at the same time they were calling for wars in Atlanta. But the way you describe the chat spy..maybe they only saw the cursing. IDK much about that system so if that's the case it makes sense I guess.


Thanks for responding and your help. I appreciate it

I'm not asking to make racists jokes or anything super offensive. Just sometimes during a war people get excited and cuss. My team is chill- we all discord together and have known each other for a long time. We don't mind, and I think that's the part that was frustrating us the most is that no one was offended but they were warned for disrespect but no one felt disrespected lol.

I appreciate you responding. Have a great day