RA = Random Abuse

I don't know about you all, but while in RA, many people tend to abuse others in various forms. The most prevalent form of abuse is reporting each other for leeching and verbal abuse (results in automated punishment). Reporting for leeching in RA results in temporary expulsion from the arena for the duration of the hex. Verbal abuse results in temporary banning from the server itself.

The reason I bring these issues into the light is because, due to these automated functions, RA's known to cause grief, anguish, etc.. via other player's spite, abuse, etc.. in lieu of the facts about automated punishment.. Correct?

I've been reported for verbal abuse so many times.. and they've all been successful at banning me (due to it's automated & unmonitored nature.. meaning that the 'Live Team' has d-hex/banning on auto-pilot). My verbal abuse was a direct result of RA and the conditions (i.e.: grief, anguish, etc.. via spite, abuse, etc..) incurred [as stated above]. Am I at fault for desiring to compete *clicking enter.. no team assembly required* in RA and cursing as a result of all the garbage abuse players lunge at me? Or has Anet given too much automated power to kids 14 years and younger..?

Take the time to think this through and generate your opinion in a non-flaming manner.

The reason for my query is that RA's the only arena I enjoy to the max, but have the hardest time with due to these issues.

Can the Live Team fix this? And How? (no flaming, please).

If so, what would be your proposition for fixture? (once more, no flaming).

I cannot empasize the no-flaming portion as this is a very delicate topic. Any derrogatory posts are to be deleted asap; don't want topic-lock to result. Thanks and have at it! =)

One final comment, please refrain from saying things like 'Go TA' or 'RA is newb/low-level PvP and needs no attention' because they don't help whatsoever in improving things there. Random Arena is an arena.. where players compete.. It deserves the same equal attention as any other arena.

Comment away!

I'll admit that I don't fully understand why so many people have issues being banned for language, simply because I have never had any such troubles. While in Random Arenas, Alliance Battles, Jade Quarry, Hero Battles, or any of the other areas where people like to talk smack, I just perform my role in the party and ignore most of it. I have only been reported once for anything, and that was getting a drink quickly while waiting for JQ, and not immediately moving at the spawn. I came back with more than enough time to move to the portal of my choosing and prepare, so no one else complained and there was no issue. The "no harm no foul" clause applies.

The only thing I can suggest is to make yourself an obvious player, not a leecher or a bot. Say hello to your teammates at the beginning of a new series of matches and coordinate throughout. Odds are, if you're the helpful leader on the team, your team won't be a problem, and won't inspire the other team to become a problem. As idealistic as this sounds, it works.

I've seen:
- People jump in and report all fellow team members, then leave.
- Leechers, etc who were reported, and then reported everyone who reported them.

Imposing a penalty aspect to reporting others doesn't work, because you can't deter people who don't care about the penalty, and simply want to grief. E.g. threats of retaliation don't deter suicide bombers...

The entire concept of a community moderating itself is flawed. Unless you can somehow make the entire community suddenly be mature, reasonable individuals, there will always be abuse. All you can really do is try to make yourself less of an easy target.

This game lacks any sort of community reputation, so people feel safely anonymous to harass others without affecting their own reputation. The entire game is also soloable, so even if someone could accumulate a bad community reputation, it doesn't stop them from accomplishing anything in the game.

the random arena environment isn't going to change. if you want a serious pvp experience try an organized format.

Uh, I have no idea what you're talking about. If you actually got banned for verbal abuse, you said something dickish. You might not think it was ban-worthy, but you said something. Nobody gets banned for being silent. And reporting someone for verbal abuse when they've done nothing... does nothing.

If all 3 of your teammates reported you for leeching, even if you weren't, yeah, you'll get barred from entering for a few minutes. But the only time I have ever been reported for leeching in RA was when I was on a warrior when I accidentally hit enter with no skills on my bar and got an immediate game. I auto attacked valiantly, but they (rightfully) reported me. I have never been reported for leeching for no reason.

Quit whining about nothing, and turn the chat off if you really can't control yourself to not flame on the internet.

PS: Telling us 3 times not to flame you is asinine.

Sensitive carebears run guild wars. You have to cater to the 12 year olds, and the 12 year olds parents' wishes. Cause if they don't like one single thing you say they'll take hundreds of screenshots and e-mail anet over and over like it's customer support until they get what they want. That's what carebears do, and carebears run guild wars.

Guild Wars? They run many more things than Guild Wars. They run nearly all forms of media and entertainment besides what is considered "adult films."

You can't get rid of this problem, the devs have to cater to this problem. They have to bow down to it, like we all do, that's just the way it's gonna go as long as they have a say...

The only thing you can do is accept it and be silent so you don't get apprehended by them.

LOL Best descriptor thusfar. Alot of truth behind it.

Saying 'no-flaming' is needed.. because otherwise, people will all-the-more flame and I need the support of the admin to prevent threadlock (as many flamers so intend to get threads locked by way of spamming derrogatory comments).

Syncers..? BEAT THEM! I'd much rather face off against syncers to have a worthy competition. Qqing about them tells me you're lacking understanding and skill for PvP. I dunno how many countless sync groups I've defamed by way of pure skill experience and execution. If you're lacking, then you have plenty of room for improving your skills in PvP. Improve and come back to beat sync groups. Nothing gives me such a rush than to beat a good team. I wish it gave you all that same rush.. ._.

The point of this thread is to convey a relevant issue in RA: 'Abuse!' It needs to be extinguished.. but the only way for that to happen is for whoever the one-man Live Team is to step up and take control of the situation. I say throttle down on d-hex points and automated penalties as well as provide balance in RA. What say the rest of the RA (PvP) Community?

Sure it gives me a great rush when I beat a team of g7 syncers. But not only am I not able to beat them in TA (which is why I'm in RA) but I also have 3 other random people on my team who are likely as bad, if not worse, than me.

So those g7 syncers should just stick to TA where they belong and let me farm my RA glad points in peace.

haha, RA is fixed. Before DCS RA was way to popular compared to other pvp formats, so they fixed it. Now it is less popular.

I haven't experienced troubles in Ra firsthand.
usually when I play I never say a word except "gg" and I always play never leech.
So I spose i try to stay outta the spotlight

But maybe they could have a permanent moderator or a couple who could handle /reports in Ra?
I dunno thhats all I got

Anet should hire a person or people, or if they already have the person or people, give them new rules.

Anet should only ban on intent by word, not by word itself. RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO as a word, should never, ever be bannable, it's a word. Intent is what makes that word evil, a word should never have auto-intent. But society today has a few words that do have auto-intent, it's stupid. Anet should have a person that reads reports, and then decides what to do based on intent. If someone talks in their day to day talk, "Well I went to the store and almost got hit by a car, it was RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing scary man." That shouldn't be bannable (but it is cause the word has auto-intent).

If someone is blatantly trying to cause harm, it will be obvious, whether joking or serious. These so called words we call "bad" don't even have to be used, many other non "bad" words can cause blatant harm as well. Then Anet can ban these people. But for people who use these words as fillers for other words, they shouldn't be banned. Even if they have different meanings, it's easy to see intent in words and actions (in this manner) should be based on intent.

No word should be bannable. No word should have auto-intent. Today in society, that's how we live. Scared of words. Sometimes it seems people think these words are living on their own, with their own intention. But because we have people who run things, that are scared of these words, this so called "bad" language, because society told these people to be scared...things won't change.

I await a day when a game has devs who do see this. Then again, Devs might feel the same as me, but do what they do based on the fact these carebears make them money. Ah well.

wth? Syncing is a problem, this is not.

Despite failing at guild wars I still trash talk people whenever i win and i've never, ever been banned. Either you're blowing this out of proportion or you're just acting retarded.

Calm down, load up a George Carlin album, and then calm down. They don't ban you for saying words that the filter would censor IF you say them in a non-insulting context. I have often said "This is shitty," or the like in general chat and not been banned. If you call someone a shithead, however, and they report you, banning is a possibility-- though a slim one. Generally only racial slurs* have, in my experience, shown to be the things they actually care about.

*Edit: or extremely sexual things

Probably some idiot thinking the dishonorable hex helps them with their -3/+60 when hexed set in pve.

If I went around talking like George Carlin does, without showing any intent to cause harm with my words, merely, just using them as words. I would indeed get banned for it. I have before. I don't usually insult others, but I have before, without using this "bad" language. I didn't get banned for that. But if I would have used "bad" language, I would have gotten banned for it.

I have literally quoted Carlin bits (Ratshit, batshit, 69 assholes tied in a knot...) while waiting for FA to pop and not gotten punished. Anyway, the real problem is GW has no intermediate punishment. It's either the mod on duty passes or you get banned for 3 days. There is no warning, and that's really the problem. Most people swear and forget about it, but a few get banned and never forget it. The inconsistent style of moderation leaves everyone confused as to what we can and what we can't do, so we end up with useless threads like this.

Oh, they do. Happened to me once.

Prove me wrong.

Yeah, that's why Anet needs to change from other developers, sit down, and make some hard, specific rules. Then ban based on those rules. Ban based on intent, rather than the words themselves. I realize some words, like racial slurs, have auto-intent because of what people have done (and still do), it's sad, but that's the way it is. But there isn't so many of those that Anet can't cover them.

No they didn't.

Prove me wrong.

Or don't, because that's childish and retarded.

Try to express yourselves in a more passive manner. So far, there's alot of interesting things being said. It's apperent that there're existing issues in the RA (PvP) Arena that need addressing. Getting them out there is the important thing because the one-man Live Team may perhaps set their eye on it. Believe it or not, they actually might see this thread and say,"hmm.. lemme take a quick peek.." and viola! The issue has potential to be addresssed.

Keep things as flameless as possible and we might someday see a positive change.

Yes. Yes, you are at fault if you begin to rant, curse or verbally abuse other players. Keep a word processor open and type your rants in there if you need to just let off steam. But, should you decide that you can't contain yourself and you must give voice to your cursing and abuse because of "the garbage abuse players lunge at me" then be prepared to be banned, and be mature enough to acknowledge that you've broken the rules and caused the ban yourself.

You can be banned for nothing more than use of a filtered word, in any context. It all depends on whether you are reported or not, most of the time you probably wont be.

I don't know if that is their official policy, but it has happened consistently. I imagine it is simply at the discretion of whichever CS rep checks the report, and whether they had their coffee that morning.

I'm sorry, but saying that your "verbal abuse is the direct result of RA and the conditions incurred," is a poor excuse for raging in RA. If you are falsely reported for leeching, take a screenshot and send it to Anet. If there are people hurling insults at you, report them for verbal abuse. If your teammates are running cripstorm, let them be.

If you want better challenges and less frustration, I'd recommend more organized PvP (GvG/HA).

Don't play RA problem solved

Ignoring the fact that you just called most people 14 year olds and that you don't know how reporting works, here's my comment.

When someone reports you, if enough reports go out that Anet turns their head and takes notice, they go to chat logs and see why so many reports were sent. Then they judge the chats, and if there's a violation, action is taken. /verbalabuse isn't randomized, type /report and read it. If you've had enough people report you for verbal abuse to get banned you weren't just mildly cursing at your hapless luck in RA. I've been banned for some mischief in the past (sending 1 PM to everyone in Kamadan, "sexual" name) and since then, I take responsibility for myself and report anyone who is blatantly abusive/obnoxious, but leave minor things alone such as curses here and there in a convo. Everyone is different however, but generally by being risque and obnoxious with your words - even just mildly - you will probably be prompting at least 1 or 2 people to report you. You can whine about your ban all you want but the fact is you'll just keep getting banned if you don't control yourself. So, in my case, I'm not a "14 year old kid", I'm just tired of the people who think they can waltz into D1 and spam racism and obscenity, while people with the name "Hexual Healing" get their characters locked. I'm actually 19 and plotting to register for a summer semester course at community college. How about you?

As for /reporting leechers, also your fault. You were either griefing (not moving/not doing anything/god awful build on purpose/no armor/pick your poison) or your computer is bad and you were still loading while everyone else was up and about. The latter is understandable because I myself (try) to run this game on a 4-5 year old computer. Some days it just takes a little bit to get into RA matches, but mostly I'm in ready before the battle is joined.

Anyway, I think you should take a break from RA. If it's causing you "grief" and "anguish", you really should. Be honest with yourself and try not to attract any ire from anyone. If a clan of spiteful pricks decides to /report spike you for saying "shit" after you die, tough break. You can control yourself but sometimes you just get snagged like that. There's nothing you can do.

RAs real problem lies in leavers, specifically idiots on their glowing-hands, scuba gear monks who think RA is VIP PvP.

I hate to play the devil here, but the hypocrisy of talking repeatedly about not flaming in this thread, asking for the deletion of anything that would be considered flaming, and the ground rules you laid down is the same thing many are asking for in game. Can you not see that? Keep it clean, keep it civil, control yourself. Surely others are aware of the irony that the OP is asking of this entire topic?

Edit: I should add that if I'm looking at this in the wrong way please just put me in my place. But it just seems that the outcome you want from this thread is the same thing that those who report you want from in game. Granted, there are many more aspects to it in an online environment so please feel free to address that.

It all comes down to self control, most people have it, some just don't seem to have any at all and blame everyone else when it bites them in the butt.

There is only 2 reasons you will ever get flamed in RA, these are:

A) You fail.
B) You tell someone else they fail.

So you're either doing one of the above, all you have to do is stop doing those 2 things and you'll notice people normally don't even talk to you never mind flame you. Problem solved /thread.

My problem normally lies in part B. I really do find it hard to suppress my rage at the sheer retardedness of some of the RA community, who don't just seem to fail at basic game concepts but also at reading, writing and just generally forumlating proper responses or aguements.

Don't break the rules and you won't get banned.

Edit: Eddie, option 3: You kick butt and the idiots are sore losers (ie "WTF? you hacker, I cast backfire on you (a R/W) and you didn't die, WTF? /report the hacker" or "OMG, they are a really good team, that must mean they are leachers.")
Seen that more then once.

I don't care. If people get offensive I roll my eyes, if people report me... well.. nothing happens since all I say is gg and gl and I always do my part in the fight lol.

There are people who find certain language offensive, and while I agree most of the cases are silly bullshit, I must also admit that: "Ok I've actually offended these people like this. Perhaps I should mind my language because I'm not the only guy in the world and we should all make room for each other."

Here people may say: "Well they should remember that I am allowed to be here too then". Definitely they should, but in case they were thinking that exact way you just did they would have reported you anyways. You can not improve other people, you can only improve yourself. You may be able to give them some guidelines, but it's up to them if they will use it. That's just how it is.

With correct spelling. :P

One time I got flamed cause I won using a WoH sin. I never talked in local, but I think Option 3 fit for that. Hahaha.

This rarely happens.

Also, oh noez, I made a typo....

Wait, what? You can get a ban for using offensive language? Then why the hell is there an option to turn the censor off?

No that clearly fits into category A. You winning has no influence on that fact that it's clearly fail.

Shorter OP: "Am I at fault for... cursing?"

Answer: Yes.

I kept my team alive without any deaths. Versus a team with a monk. It's only fail in the wrong hands.