Log mass messages

[Tigairius]

I personally believe all PMs should be logged, not only mass messages. I know this is a major invasion of privacy, which is something I don't generally advocate, but in this special case. If not local staff, then tenured global staff should be able to view the history between people in order to help solve disputes of claimed harassment.

Graal is the only online game I can think of that doesn't log messages sent through the game, and it is a security risk as a result. If you want to speak privately, use e-mail, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, ICQ, etc. There are many ways to talk about private things that don't even need to be discussed on Graal, so use them.

Being able to view PMs can give us the following capabilities (and more):

1. Solve complaints about stolen passwords being spread around, we could search for the account name being discussed in PMs and find the person(s) sending out the password.
2. Handle cases of mass messages containing inappropriate things (pornography, passwords, illegal discussions), and have solid proof to back it up.
3. Find discussion of anti-graal (spreading out links to trainers, people admitting to the use of such, etc).
4. Find additional information on account scams, item scams, and allow us to make the communities a safer place with proper proof.
5. Solve problems with extreme cases of harassment.
6. Many more "special case" problems can also be solved.

I find myself commonly asking, "Do you have the PM history?", and "Do you have the RC history?" Someone should be able to look these things up to get solid evidence...

[Crono]

Originally Posted by Tigairius

I personally believe all PMs should be logged, not only mass messages. I know this is a major invasion of privacy, which is something I don't generally advocate, but in this special case. If not local staff, then tenured global staff should be able to view the history between people in order to help solve disputes of claimed harassment. Graal is the only online game I can think of that doesn't log messages sent through the game, and it is a security risk as a result.

Other games have professional and hired teams of staff to be trusted with these logs, Graal doesn't. Local staff should definitely not be given such rights whatsoever if such a system were to be implemented. As someone that actually plays the damn game I can assure you that harassment isn't really that big of a problem outside a select few who probably bring it onto themselves anyway.

Originally Posted by Tigairius

If you want to speak privately, use e-mail, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc. There are many ways to talk about private things that don't even need to be discussed on Graal, so use them.

If PM's weren't intended to be used privately why call them "private messages"? There's probably trash people shouldn't be talking about through e-mail, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc but hey apparently thats ok because it's not Graal right? One of the only points going for Graal is that it can be used as a chatroom for people who are just really bored (or people who realize Graal has no real gameplay left LELELEL), don't try to kill that too.

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by Tigairius

Solve complaints about stolen passwords being spread around, we could search for the account name being discussed in PMs and find the person(s) sending out the password.

Stolen passwords are usually taken care of regardless. If I've stolen a password, I'm going to send it to someone over MSN if I don't want to be caught. If I want to boast that I've stolen the password (like many people do) then it's going to be obvious that it's from me anyway, private messages or not.

Originally Posted by Tigairius

Find discussion of anti-graal (spreading out links to trainers, people admitting to the use of such, etc).

This can be done through the word filter.

Originally Posted by Tigairius

Find additional information on account scams, item scams, and allow us to make the communities a safer place with proper proof.

Absolutely no 'real game' does this, they just provide a means of educating and warning their playerbase of such dangers which Graal does not.

Originally Posted by Tigairius

Solve problems with extreme cases of harassment.

...
There's an ignore feature for that.

[Tigairius]

Originally Posted by Crono

As someone that actually plays the damn game I can assure you that harassment isn't really that big of a problem outside a select few who probably bring it onto themselves anyway.

As someone who actually moderates the game, I would have to say that harassment is an issue, whether it is or not for you is not the problem being presented. Perhaps some of the harassment is brought onto themselves but that doesn't we should turn a blind eye to the situation.

Originally Posted by Crono

If PM's weren't intended to be used privately why call them "private messages"?

They would be called private messages because it's a way to privately message someone on the game and is not publicly seen, like mass messages. That does not mean they should be completely private from the administrators who run the game, and should not be taken so literally.

Originally Posted by Crono

There's probably trash people shouldn't be talking about through e-mail, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc but hey apparently thats ok because it's not Graal right? One of the only points going for Graal is that it can be used as a chatroom for people who are just really bored (or people who realize Graal has no real gameplay left LELELEL), don't try to kill that too.

Exactly. We are not trying to moderate what you talk about in your life, just keep the trash off of Graal. People can chat on Graal no problem while still being moderated, providing that they are not talking about illegal things. I fail to see the problem.

Originally Posted by Rufus

Stolen passwords are usually taken care of regardless. If I've stolen a password, I'm going to send it to someone over MSN if I don't want to be caught. If I want to boast that I've stolen the password (like many people do) then it's going to be obvious that it's from me anyway, private messages or not.

It is a lot harder to go around asking everyone for their MSN than it is to just mass message it or PM it to people, because a lot of people are reluctant to disclose their MSN to other people upon informal request. Maybe it would be obvious to you, since you're the one boasting, but to us actually doing the job, it's not always so obvious, and obviousness is not proof, we need solid evidence.

Originally Posted by Rufus

This can be done through the word filter.

Not exactly, everyone can still just say "go to ww\w.we\b\site\.com just remove the \!" How do you propose such things are handled? Magical word filtering that automatically understands what the person is conveying? No, it requires human intelligence. A word filter can only help, but is not entirely sufficient.

Originally Posted by Rufus

Absolutely no 'real game' does this, they just provide a means of educating and warning their playerbase of such dangers which Graal does not.

Every single game I have played, which includes several high-end MMOs are able to sift through your private messages in order to see security-related problems.

Originally Posted by Rufus

...
There's an ignore feature for that.

Obviously there are special cases, and the ignore feature is not always completely sufficient. Some people have several accounts, and some people illegally change their PCIDs to log into new guest accounts and continue harassment after being ignored. Every single harassment case isn't just "black and white," there are always new and special ways people are finding to harass other people.

[Crono]

Originally Posted by Tigairius

As someone who actually moderates the game, I would have to say that harassment is an issue, whether it is or not for you is not the problem being presented. Perhaps some of the harassment is brought onto themselves but that doesn't we should turn a blind eye to the situation.

As someone that actually plays the game and actually sees what goes on, as opposed to just reading tickets of those that are brazen enough to complain after local staff refuse to deal with them, I say you're blowing things way out of proportion. Harassment isn't a major problem, hell, just log on a server and ask one of their GPs?

Originally Posted by Tigairius

That does not mean they should be completely private from the administrators who run the game, and should not be taken so literally.

Originally Posted by Code of Conduct

Should a player or players be suspected of illegal or abusive activity, GraalOnline reserves the right to use administration tools to monitor individuals' communications via chats and other private messages.

So unless someone is suspected of doing anything illegal, the chat logs shouldn't be applied to everyone but rather suspected individuals only. And no, I'm pretty sure it's not acceptable to deem every Graal user as a suspect.

Originally Posted by Tigairius

Exactly. We are not trying to moderate what you talk about in your life, just keep the trash off of Graal. People can chat on Graal no problem while still being moderated, providing that they are not talking about illegal things. I fail to see the problem.

Players don't like it when everything they say is being logged, watched, or both. Then again as a moderator I wouldn't expect you to understand.

And p.s, sup

[Tigairius]

Originally Posted by Crono

So unless someone is suspected of doing anything illegal, the chat logs shouldn't be applied to everyone but rather suspected individuals only. And no, I'm pretty sure it's not acceptable to deem every Graal user as a suspect.

That's not exactly what it necessarily means, it says GraalOnline can use tools to monitor the chat, meaning that it's already logged, and we, the GraalOnline staff, can use that tool to monitor what was said. Try to remember that monitor has a past-tense meaning as well.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by Tigairius

I personally believe all PMs should be logged, not only mass messages. I know this is a major invasion of privacy, which is something I don't generally advocate, but in this special case. If not local staff, then tenured global staff should be able to view the history between people in order to help solve disputes of claimed harassment.

Absolutely not.

Solve complaints about stolen passwords being spread around, we could search for the account name being discussed in PMs and find the person(s) sending out the password.

Find discussion of anti-graal (spreading out links to trainers, people admitting to the use of such, etc).

This is a silly reason, I can't see this being used hardly at all. Why not just change the password? I wouldn't be so much opposed if you could search through PMs and see a list of accounts who have said the phrase, as long as you can't see full-text messages. Obviously, the full text would have to be stored somewhere, but it should only be accessible Stefan.

Handle cases of mass messages containing inappropriate things (pornography, passwords, illegal discussions), and have solid proof to back it up.

Mass message logging is great.

Find additional information on account scams, item scams, and allow us to make the communities a safer place with proper proof.

It's not worth the loss of privacy.

Solve problems with extreme cases of harassment.

I agree with others, if they are really being harassed, I think it'd be possible for us to tell in at least some way. They can always use the ignore list, and if that fails, they can send in screenshots of PMs, etc. I wouldn't be opposed to a log saying when PMs where sent (and who the recipient was) so you could see if the players are actually talking. Also, as someone else said, a way to validate PMs would be great (e.g. some kind of hash).

It's just not worth the loss of privacy, and I know there would be cases of PWAs and other globals "snooping" on others.

Originally Posted by Frankie

so what you're saying is that GPs would be randomly reading through mass message logs to try and find things they deem inappropriate? I understand going through the logs when trying to resolve an issue, but going through them at your own leisure to find people to punish is just pathetic.

That's not what I said at all. If a player PMs us saying someone else has been massing about them, and we've received no masses, how are we supposed to check it?

[Tigairius]

Originally Posted by cbk1994

This is a silly reason, I can't see this being used hardly at all. Why not just change the password?

So, you're essentially saying that if someone gets shot in the street, why not just put the person in the hospital and forget about the shooter?

Originally Posted by cbk1994

It's not worth the loss of privacy.

I have yet to see a good reason why, you have plenty of privacy in e-mails, AIM, Yahoo, MSN, etc. You could easily say "well, let's take it into AIM" before the conversation becomes too personal.

Originally Posted by cbk1994

I agree with others, if they are really being harassed, I think it'd be possible for us to tell in at least some way. They can always use the ignore list, and if that fails, they can send in screenshots of PMs, etc. I wouldn't be opposed to a log saying when PMs where sent (and who the recipient was) so you could see if the players are actually talking. Also, as someone else said, a way to validate PMs would be great (e.g. some kind of hash).

I thought you of anyone would know how easily screenshots can be altered, but just in case you didn't, let me demonstrate.



Keep in mind, now, that I have no photoshop on this computer and just using Microsoft Paint right now.

Originally Posted by cbk1994

It's just not worth the loss of privacy, and I know there would be cases of PWAs and other globals "snooping" on others.

Well, for one, globals shouldn't be doing that, and I doubt they would without a reason, we all do have lives and don't spend our time sitting around thinking of how we can invade your privacy. In the event that something like that did occur, you should have taken private matters into MSN/AIM to begin with. I definitely agree, it would be scary to give many people access to such content (PMs) but I also think it's necessary to give someone access to such things.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by cbk1994

That's not what I said at all. If a player PMs us saying someone else has been massing about them, and we've received no masses, how are we supposed to check it?

then you should of reworded your post because you specifically said "and player's don't report them" which made it seem like you would just look through the logs even if nobody reported anything.

[Dragonosteel]

I agree with globals having access to logs in game. Definitely NOT server staff, though.

It would just be a disaster! This is what would happen:

Staff make fun of people over RC based on logs -> Staff that leak RC to their friends leak RC to their friends -> Their friends harass the player.

Originally Posted by Bell

While screenshots and histories are ok as 'additional evidence.' They should never be used as the sole evidence. They are too often altered or submitted to look like the accused is doing something wrong.

UN GPs would like to have a word with you. I can think of at least ten occasions within the past year where I've seen someone get jailed over fake screenshots used as sole evidence against the player, even one of these cases happened a few days ago.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by Dragonosteel

I agree with globals having access to logs in game. Definitely NOT server staff, though.

It would just be a disaster! This is what would happen:

Staff make fun of people over RC based on logs -> Staff that leak RC to their friends leak RC to their friends -> Their friends harass the player.

Which logs? Masses? Yeah, we could send the masses that everyone already received to others.

[fowlplay4]

Originally Posted by Dragonosteel

I agree with globals having access to logs in game. Definitely NOT server staff, though.

It would just be a disaster! This is what would happen:

Staff make fun of people over RC based on logs -> Staff that leak RC to their friends leak RC to their friends -> Their friends harass the player.

UN GPs would like to have a word with you. I can think of at least ten occasions within the past year where I've seen someone get jailed over fake screenshots used as sole evidence against the player, even one of these cases happened a few days ago.

That's UN's problem, not other servers. Obviously if they have leak issues then they need to fire their moles.

But this is about accessing the logs of mass messages, which are sent to everyone and would definitely come in handy when prosecuting for people who are repeat offenders of spamming, harassment, flaming, and so on.

[Crow]

Whole thing's a bit tricky though. What if you just send a mass message to your buddy list? It would be considered one, but should it be logged? If not, how to decide if the messages are logged when a certain amount of people are left out of the mass message?

[Dragonosteel]

Originally Posted by fowlplay4

That's UN's problem, not other servers. Obviously if they have leak issues then they need to fire their moles..

I don't think Zodiac or any other server is immune to the RC leaking issue, though...?