Stormbringer

Best, or second best, is debatable.

You may be right Rockster. It does seem a bit sad though.

You did ask for proof http://3dxforum.com/index.php?/topic/6600-should-avatars-belonging-to-an-account-have-a-common-parent-nickname/page-7&do=findComment&comment=285263 I do have to say, however, that it doesn't really matter if someone is an alt or not, they are the same person behind the mask, so to speak. If they present a good argument, avoid abuse and show respect for other others then everything is fine. The problem is where alts are used to mislead, abuse, stalk and so on. This point has cropped up frequently in discussions. SImply put 'people join for the promise of sex and stay for the social aspect'. I don't visit cold rooms because cold rooms leave me, quite frankly, cold. I prefer rooms where there is good music (not forgetting a chance to listen to styles of music that I wouldn't normally) and good conversation. I think once the novelty has worn off people look for something a bit more sustaining. The future of 3dxChat lies in providing that bit extra because the promise of constant sex can only go so far.

May I repeat the point I was trying to make? That there are many small changes that could make the game better for everybody, they do not need to be major. I see one of the purposes of threads like this one as a way to tease these out. Despite that I still feel more tools to enable users to create, and share, content would overcome most of the major criticisms that have been expressed. There has been some discussion about hwo this might be done, but it seems to have stalled. **Edit here** - to pick up on a post by one of the more vocal members of the community, a clothes editor would enable him to have as many socks as he likes.

Do I detect a pattern here? First try to stifle discussion with threats under ToS then stifle it with rubbish. Will abuse come next? I strongly suspect that users are reluctant to participate in discussions because of the risk of troll attack? An excellent future update could, and should, increase the effectiveness of both the ignore function and enable moderators to act more quickly, effectively and consistently. Of course that’s not to neglect the tools to increase the range of user created content available. One question does stick in my mind. One poster argued that retention of new users is as low as 20%. I don’t think that is sufficient for a successful business. The big question the devs need to address is why this is so. In addition to the range of content forum users have suggested that there are too few women playing, I think it is generally agreed that the proportion of female users is low. I think that my be significant, viewing some of threads over the past year or so. Do male users want to play with male users playing as female? The point I am trying to make is that there are many small changes that could go a long way to making 3dxChat more successful as well as better for those of us already playing.

Such an intelligent and insightful analysis of my argument. It is hard to counter such powerful intellects.

You miss my point, RobT. I the rules are not applied consistently then they are not worth having. This is not about democracy but commercial considerations. If users feel some people can get away with breaking the rules and others can’t then they will have a poor view of the game, they will not stay to enjoy what it has to offer. In addition unchecked rule breaking will ultimately cause a decline in the user base. Constantly being exposed to homophobia, as in this case, trolling, stalking, rascist comments etc. Does not make an entertainment worth paying for.

That’s useful to know. A few days is interesting and demonstrates how seriously the moderators view certain transgressions. I feel the issue important as the moderators have to be seen as fair and consistent. I don’t doubt they make the best decisions they can based upon the information available. I’m not convinced a few days ban is appropriate for the kind of behaviour we have seen recently. Not just a breach of the rules but flagrant disrespect towards the moderators. I suspect the rules about moderation are more to protect the moderators from any legal challenge rather than to prevent reasonable discussion. If I have misjudged the rules and have overstepped the mark, then I apologise. I do feel the issue very important. I don’t want to clog up this or the other thread any more so may, once i’ve considered things a bit more, open a new thread. The wording will need to be carefully thought out to permit good discussion without breaking any rules. Where were we before this diversion took place?

Thank you RobT. I would have preferred hearing it from the moderators.

You seem fixated with someone called Simon and someone called Ciera. FYI neither is me. Could this fixation explain why you consider homophobic comments to be acceptable? The carrying of a homophobic tag line on your profile is also contrary to ToS. In line with my post in the other thread I call upon the moderators to act regarding the homophobic comments and to confirm that the Terms of Service are upheld.

Thank you, I was certain i’d seen it. As far as I can tell no action has been taken yet over the homophobic comments. I think this is cause for concern as it reflects badly on the moderators. I think that seeing as Terms of Service have been so flagrantly breached some sort of statement from the moderators is required. As it stands they appear to condone homophobic and other forms of abuse. I ask this question of the moderators ‘Do you, or do you not, enforce the Terms of Service and the Game and Forum Rules?’ If you do what action have you taken regarding thle individuals homophobic comments? I am aware that this in itself could contravene ToS but justify my post by saying that users’ confidence in the moderators is an important part of the survival of 3dxChat in a competitive market place.

I suppose I ought to have made a screen grab at the time, at the time you had a screen grab of your characters page in game showing RobT, Roberta (or was it Boberta, I can't quite recall) and KorbinDallas. I'm sure proof could be found if someone looked hard enough. Not that it matters particuarly, the point is simple. You accuse others of being alts all the time yet you get all offended when somebody does exactly the same to you. You do this as if to say that what they say is invalid because they have alts, all because you are unable to put together an argument. Is there any chance that this thread could go back on track? Although there does seem to be a few pages that covers an area that crops up frequently about how alts are used. I think these past few pages show that there is a good reason for making alts more difficult to create and perhaps, as has been argued before, identifying the lead avi. While this would be a serious restriction for those people who play sensibley it would have been brought about by the actions of those few who don't and use alts to cause trouble.

KorbinDallas, if I remember rightly from one of my visits to his profile page, is one of RobT's alts.

I agree it is time to give the moderation team a chance to decide how best to proceed. I remain concerned about the level of disrespect shown to them by the same person who posted the homophobic comments in the first place. I hope I am not the only person to have reported this. I hope that the moderation team can and do act quickly because I don't think this sort of thing can be allowed to carry on for long. What sort of message is it giving out to the user base if this is allowed to continue.

Come to think of it, Mar_Mohan may have a point in that this part of the thread has come far enough until such time as the moderators respond with how they intend to enforce the ToS in the middle to long term, or there is some other sign that action has been taken following the reports that have been made. I don't think I am the only person here to consider homophobic comments as being contrary to ToS, particularly as such things are specifically stated in ToS. It is a few days now since the offending comments were made and reported. I think it fair to give the moderators a chance to follow the reports up. However, I think it is important not to let the issue dissappear completely.

I get a strong feeling that I'm not alone in wanting to know how the server testing is going, for how long that testing is going to continue as well as how and when the final new version will be rolled out.

Are you trying to say that homophobic, and other abusive posts, are acceptable? Perhaps you think that they do comply with ToS? I don't think you are trying to say that at all, but it would be quite understandable if I did. What you are trying to do is deflect attention from those homophobic comments for some reason. Possibly because the person who made those comments is a friend of yours? As I said before the ToS are fundamental to the way people play the game. That directly impacts on the way the game develops. I do not feel discussion of ToS is outside the remit of this thread, for the reasons above. You disagree, that is fine and your prerogative. I would like to ask your reasons. Accusing me of derailing a thread that has already been derailed by homophobic comments is not really a good reason, imho.

Perhaps I can explain, to save you reading through the whole thread. Early on concern was expressed that the ignore function provided by the new server was inadequate, that moved on to my suggesting that the report feature might not be any better. From then on ToS have been referred to with suggestions that they may not be robust enough and possibley not enforced. Recently ToS have been contravened by someone making homophobic comments. Despite reports it appears no action has yet been taken. The person who made the homophobic posts has made several attempts to justify them. I think, and you are welcome to disagree, that the ToS are quite fundamental to the future development of the game. A failure by the moderators to enforce the terms of service opens the way for 3dxChat to become quite a hostile place. Quite simply customers do not want to pay their subs to be confronted by homophobic jibes, or any other form of insult or abusive language. It is meant to be entertainment. The thread is punctuated regularly by descriptions of ways the ToS have been broken in game and how the new version could make this more of a problem. Which way do you want the game to go:- a happy place where the rules are respected by all or an unhappy place where people seem to get away with abusive language with impunity? In that sense this aspect is relevant to the discussions that have developed from the OP.

How, may I ask, does that relate to what looks very much like a failure of the moderators to act when the Terms of Service are broken? In this recent case the issue is homophobic content being allowed to go un-checked. Such content being expressly forbidden in the ToS.

With this post I want to repeat that a failure to act by moderators to breaches of the terms of service show that they condone such breaches. That makes a mockery of having them in the first place. Rules should be applied to all and enforced where appropriate. Unless something new happens that will be my last word on this aspect of this thread. The other point I want to make is that it would be useful for users to know an approximate timescale for testing of the new server and for roll out of the updated game.

I have been thinking some more about this since my last post, earlier this evening. I want to say this as clearly as I can to the moderators. If you fail to act against posts, and people, who contravene the Terms of Service then you are saying that you approve their posts. I don't believe for a minute that you condone the posting of homophobic content, or any other breach of ToS. The time has come, in my opinion, to draw a line under this and for breaches of ToS to be dealt with effectively. He is showing disrespect to you and the 3dxChat team as if he is saying 'ban me if you dare'. Consider the message you are sending out to your customers by allowing this to continue. I don't intend to engage with this person any further but will continue to report anything he posts that is against the rules. I advise others to follow suit, try to ignore him and to report anything that breaks the rules. He is trying to be as offensive as possilbe in the hope that someone will say something he can use to get them banned. Do not give him that pleasure.

What is wrong with using the generally accepted terms for homosexuals, there are plenty enough available without straying in to the realms of abuse? The other terms you mention are, in their way, quite descriptive but are still not the kind of language anyone particularly wants to be associated with. They are quite clearly meant to be insulting and if used to insult somebody would also be contrary to ToS. The only person getting hot under the collar about this is you. The homophobic terms you have used recently remain contrary to Terms of Service, Accusing soembody of being a victim, multiple accounts or anything else does not change that simple fact. Again I ask that the moderators take a more active role both on the forums and within the game. There are many arguments in favour of doing so, which have been more than adequately covered in other threads, as I recall.

I’ll now try to bring things back in line with some of the topics discussed here. There has been some discussion about the meaning behind the term of service and how they might be applied. I think this little spat indicates the need something a bit more hands on in terms of moderation. Both on the forums and in game. A few posters have indicated how a few people with several active accounts can, and do, cause trouble in game and can get round ignores and bans. In this post, therefore, I am asking the moderators to take a more active stance with a view to making 3dxChat a better place for everybody.

Please explain how that makes the homophobic comments you made conform to the Terms of Service? In any case to make false accusations is against ToS.

I posted on this yesterday. I had to make a new account on the test server, together with a new character as the old one hadn't been released when the original test account expired. For good measure I'll repeat what I said and hope Gizmo will pick up on it. It would a be very helpful to users if Gizmo could give us some idea of how he sees the testing developing and how he intends to roll out the final 'new version'.