unforum

[draghkar]

Ethical question

[mrshomersimpson]

i think you are completely right

I do not like the idea of ANYONE researching things to use to hurt someone seems very wrong..

I can give as good as i get with nastiness, however if something is said that might cause upset then i agree that it might indeed cause long term damage to someone.

Game suggests fun .... that does not sound like fun.

There was byologyc a while back where some personal things got to me and i had to take several steps back from the game. It sort of put a dampener on the whole thing for me :S

So yes i fully agree with you

xxx

[OhWhatProvidence]

I'm assuming they mean in an IG way. If it gets to be too much (like the whole weakandwounded thing in early My Dad's Tapes) i'd say just let the PM know beforehand that he's at risk of loosing some players. What game is it? I can give them a quick rundown of why that's not a good idea, 'm not afraid to get behind the curtain, esp not in matters of puppetmaster ethics.

If it's OOG stuff, like doxing *shutter* or stalking on OOG sites, some are okay with that, others aren't. Generally, the PM knows the audience well enough to know what they can handle. After the weakandwounded incident, where it got WAY out of hand with the personal information (though, it was info she had revealed to the PM on her own, if I recall), she shut down her unfiction acct, twitter, skype...all that. The other players retaliated on the uF forums and the PM doesn't pull that stuff anymore (expect for with me, but I sort of asked for it and expect it now, in MY opinion it adds a bit more to the game)

It all depends. Some games give you levels of interactivity, maybe he's just looking for addresses or phone numbers for mailing things or phone calls, maybe the PM is a creeper. Like I said, if you wanna give me the name of the game and any main email address I'm more than willing to talk to the PM and get a handle on things...I apparently have a bit of a rep for being the one willing to go behind the curtain when ARGs get tricky like this. XD

TL;DR: go with your gut, don't give any info unless you feel safe, and if it gets too far either let the PM know yourself or let a mod know so they can handle it, or let me know so I can handle it.

[Pixiestix]

That's the kind of blurring the lines bull shit that pisses people like me off. That's a rookie PM who doesn't GET IT. It is one thing to use info that was farmed ingame {such as snail mail, phone numbers, or email that the pm got voluntarily from players} it is another to be an internet stalker and wanna be 4chan kidlet. A PM who does stuff like this effectively gets BLACKLISTED by the community

On a separate note, if any player's personal info is used IG and gets posted by any players here on the forums for ANY reason, it will be deleted.

Also, if the PM takes info from the forums and uses it IG to attack players, the game will get frozen on the forums - we don't take kindly to breaking that type of TOS.

What game is this in reference to?

ETA: oh, this is Orior Ascendo isn't it? yeah... Someone who has already broken TOS here and got a warning from Kona. yeah.... I'd be careful.

[draghkar]

Thank you guys for the response, and yes, it is Orior Ascendo

I sent the PM an email, which was basically neutral in tone, and warning him that this cause of action might be harmful..

his reply to that was merely one of dismissal..

I have sent kona a pm with the details on that..

@OWP, your assumption is incorrect.. the data gathered is not only IG information.

[TallulahBelle]

[Pixiestix]

[licoricesniper]

I would have quit, too. I have a pretty strong constitution and am generally more drawn to the disturbing/weird ARG's, but I don't care who you are or if its IG or OOG, making a threat to my pets, person, or person I know means I am done. There are other ways to get your point across or add layers to the game, or whatever you are trying to do.

It's all common sense.

[MageSteff]

It is one thing for a PM to use info provided by a player, but the PM must also realise that abuse of that trust can easily kill a game.

Intense can be fun, as long as private info is handled safely and will everyone on the same page as to what that info can be used as.

i.e. giving one NPC info does not mean that the player has given permission for that NPC to publically broadcast that same info (i.e. phone numbers, home addresses, email addresses). Misuse of player info is a good way to create a bad feeling and not only kill the current game but make people leery of trusting that PM in future games.

But then if you want to stab yourself in the foot with your bayonet, go right ahead.

[Crescent]

agreed -I'm a PM who asks for personal information, BUT respectfully uses it - or tries to. I have characters play with truth or dare style of game and manipulates the answers given. I'd not scower for extra info, but I would use anything they put on main Facebook page should it be relevant - BUT not use something that was 'personal' [ie relatives, partner, pets etc]
Its an interesting one, especially when the game tries to become more than just 'solve the code, give an answer': however, making threats such as I'll kill your pets etc. NO.
characters can become brutal etc BUT only part of the game, and as far as the players allow. I test each persons water gently - one player was very 'I only want simple info' where another was quite happy to have phone calls etc o get more immersed and to have other life stuff mentioned - eg job and study course.
I'd never use the fact that they had girlfriend who... or who had pet who...
There are lines, and they should not be crossed. Approached though and teased about crossing, makes it more interesting. So long as everyone realises it IS a game and that I won't actually be sending time-travelling cops to break down their door...

[Checkmite]

(Old thread, I know)

What about the question of -players- essentially "doxing" PMs? In threads for a number of games I have noticed that some players seem to consider it a matter of course to search website records and dox any names they find, or try to run whois on IP addresses they suspect of being used by PMs or other game staff and dox any names they find on these. On a couple of occasions players have mentioned using these names to search for phone numbers, addresses, even information like professional or educational histories. In one game that I won't name, one player seemed to have set a trap to obtain the IP address of an NPC, did "whatever" on an IP address thus obtained, and posted what seemed to be the details of the owner's professional career in the thread, and afterwards it turned out the person whose IP address this was done to was just some lurker who happened to be following the thread and clicking on all the links.

Is anyone willing to try and justify this? Has there ever been a specific instance anyone can recall where actual pertinent IG information was found by looking up the personal data of the people who registered the game's websites, or that behind the IPs that NPCs might be using? Has some PM somewhere actually posted a cipher or something on his personal Facebook page or hidden a clue on his home answering machine? I do not know, but I am, how you say, skeptical. It seems to me as if taking these kinds of steps crosses a line; I don't think running an ARG (or in the above-mentioned case, merely following one!) should effectively make one's own personal information fair game.

[Crescent]

[been away for a bit]

replying to checkmite: don't know of any - and I personally, when running an ARG, separate myself from all aspects of the game - including registering such - I hate when I miss an aspect and a player finds my 'real' name... means I've not done my job thoroughly - that being said, all players have, thus far, been respectful of that [even pming me or informing me of such]