PoE Chat Moderation Overreaching and Needs Correction

I meant to make this some time ago after getting muted for the first time in years for what was really an innocuous comment in Global 1 after the Prophecy League had ended. Here is my initial message to GGG Support after a conversation that went nowhere with support in game. And yes, I am aware that this would fall on deaf ears as the practice is to 100% always support the decision made by the responding moderator regardless of the validity of such a decision, but my concern is that this moderation is essentially falling under the umbrella of "anything that is offensive" which is so open to interpretation and subjective that anything that anyone says is offensive to them is grounds for getting someone else muted, even if the grounds for it is specious and has no real justification behind it. And, having been a moderator for the 2nd biggest poker website in the world, I'm aware of how many sites operate on an account basis. There is a section for notes for each account where moderators/administrators can view and add notes depending on a particular incident. My concern is that this, and probably many others like it, are being lumped in as "unruly" or "racist/offensive" remarks when that is completely ignoring context and assuming intent, which is what they in their own words are saying is at least part of the problem, and that this is going to remain as a note on the account for as long as it exists. It seems as though anyone could find almost any justification to be offended, report you for being offensive, and your muted for comments that even a year ago would be essentially ignored. I hope that Anita and her kind haven't infected GGG with their PC/SJW nonsense, but it does seem to be creeping in here.

"

Hello GGG Support.


With the very real understanding that this will essentially fall on deaf ears as the policy is generally, by and large, to simply reinforce the decision made by the moderator without regard for context or circumstance or even if the action was justified speciously, I have to report that unwarranted action was taken against my account by Mel_GGG (Dev).


During the league changeover, just messing around in chat, a player stated the he was leaving and I responded, [Removed by Support] Now, please note the spelling. This is a reference to a Dave Chappelle skit where he parodies the sensitivity of the "N-Word" by using it as the last name of a white family in an 50s style sitcom. Please feel free to verify this via a simple google search or simply click the link below:


[Removed by Support]


Now, I became increasingly annoyed at this, particularly after the mute had expired and informed the rest of the chat not to quote Dave Chappelle as GGG moderators seemed particularly sensitive, and perhaps was rude in my communication but rudeness, to my knowledge, is not a moderate-able offense which would warrant action taken against an account. I believe the action taken had absolutely no justification outside of a specious appeal to a general attempt to link it to being "offensive", particularly when her exact words to justify it are as follows:


"I'm afraid that deliberately offensive jokes are not permitted, regardless of the source material. This is to ensure that our moderation remains consistent, as we do not apply favouritism or leniency to specific players based on their religion, sexuality, race, ethnicity, national origin, language, gender, age, disability, or membership to any other social groups." (Her first message being "You have been muted for 10 minutes due to offensive remarks.")


You have to be particularly sensitive to view this as "deliberately offensive" as this assumes that she can read my intent, which wouldn't make any particular sense given the context, and even less so once any communication is attempted (it was not).


I'm painfully well aware that you're extremely unlikely to do absolutely anything about this but parrot the T&C and general guidelines, which I did not violate, and do nothing, but I will have to insist this is escalated as I am going to have to demand any action taken against my account is reversed and no notation made and for your moderators to actually exercise discretion and prudence instead of knee-jerk reactionary sensitivity-based action.

Now the reply was very predictable and ameliorated nothing. I was and still an annoyed by this but not much I can do.

However, again, today, I was muted by GGG_Gary because during the RIP Spam (Which is what happens when a player on the ladder dies, it has been happening for years now), I said, [Removed by Support] and said it several times. This is the norm during a RIP spam. People say all kinds of things. This is not, and never has been, a rude/demeaning/insulting practice. Its roots are in solidarity. Yes, I received this message:

GGG_Gary: Hi there, you have been muted for 2 hours for offensive comments."

with him later stating, "There's a difference between RIP and attacking the player that died."

Then, I make the offer that I will apologize if he can point me to the rule that says it's against the rules to be disrespectful to a player that dies on the ladder. His response:

"Under the code of conduct, it can be covered by the following: Making hateful or needlessly negative comments. Personally attack or cause harm to the reputation of others. Antagonize others in an obnoxious manner."

Ignoring the fact that I did none of those things, unless you really want to squint your eyes and tilt your head to justify it in a post hoc fashion, I have to say this seems to highlight a growing trend where you can be muted for saying anything that is "offensive," where anyone can claim to be offended by even trivial comments and they take action against you. This is PC nonsense run amok in a game where we should have relative (though not absolute) freedom.

I would suggest that GGG take a closer look at who is moderating their game and chat because they seem quite out of touch with what is happening and the traditions that have been in the game for nearly the entirety of its existence. This is, quite frankly, ridiculous, and needs to be ameliorated.

all that wall of text because of a 2h mute? common.

the real reason gary muted you was that it's "git gud you bloody newbshit", get your meme right!

also: wtb 'enter'

Should have been muted permanently and banned from the forum.