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Video Game Tuesday: How to Report Other Players Properly

Michael Blaker
Game Industry News is running the best blog posts from people writing about the game industry. Articles here may originally appear on Michael's blog, Windborne's Story Eatery.

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This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m covering a topic that will help make your experience in MMOs much better if you ever encounter cheating, are harassed or even just have a bug.

Why am I writing this?: Well just last night (as of the time I’m writing this) me and a friend in my Final Fantasy 14: ARR free company were sexually harassed by another player. I talked with the person in question’s free company leader and was told to F&#@ off because being sexually harassed in a video game isn’t the same thing as being harassed out of the game. Needless to say I included the leader in my report to the Game Masters because such behavior and attitude  is unacceptable to me.

What is Reportable?: Cheating through any means, Being harassed in any way by another player and even just finding a bug in the game.

Why Should You Report?: Because all of the above is unacceptable in a game that is played online with other people, in the case of a bug it helps improve the game, and the other two are improving the gameplay for you and countless others as well. Being harassed by another player isn’t fun.

What Should You Type in your Report?: Include as many of the following as possible. The time the event occurred, the player’s name and server (if applicable), Exactly what occurred (be honest as they can check it and if you lie you’ll be punished instead). If it’s a bug you are reporting try and include the exact steps of what you did prior to the bug happening.

What Happens Afterwards?: Usually you’ll be contacted by a customer support rep, sometimes called Game Masters, who will than confirm and ask any further questions if they need it. This may take anywhere from a few minutes after you submit your report to several hours or even days if it’s incredibly busy. You won’t know exactly what happened, but the gossip from players will usually get around.

But They Don’t Care because X occurs all the time: Whenever you hear this complaint ignore it, and if you tell the player who’s harassing you to shape up or you’ll report them you may hear this. It’s a lie, because they do care and need you to help make the game better free from assholes, cheaters and bugs. I heard this excuse from the leader in my situation last night and I could laugh in his face because I know that what he and his friend had done was unacceptable and they’d be punished.

Can I punish the players in question?: In a game like World of Warcraft if the person is on a different faction you can kill them out in the world if you are on a PvP server, but generally you can’t punish them personally. However know that situations like mine are bannable offenses and you’ll get the last laugh.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday

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