False Reporting

[SkippyPaul]

I learned a valuable lesson last nite in Esplanada. You can see myself and Sweet and a few friends talking at the end of the nite. Behind me is a "guest". Unfortunately I didnt take the screen shot at the right times, but this guest was asking the girls for certain "favors" which I will not mention here. Everyone immediately reported this dude and got the generic thankyou message from vmk. I however report this dude saying he was saying things to girls that are against values. I get this message rofl. Mental note to self............mind your own business from now on or YOU will be out looking in.

[/IMG]

 

[ShellyMatey]

Hmm.. this is a very good topic. For your case I wouldn't say you falsely reported. Some people use false reports for revenge and other cases. I've seen many of them and they were not banned. At least you didn't get banned is all I say.

 

[darkacre]

You don't say exactly what you observed, so I can't offer an opinion about this particular warning, but in general this is becoming a problem. I notice it in many of the game rooms and on all the boards I read. People are reporting others for slight or even perceived violations that aren't actually violations. I saw a boy come up to a girl and ask "How you doing?" and she said she would report him if he talked to her again. Time and time again, we see self-appointed scambusters talking about how they reported someone that they "knew" was trying to commit a scam, when they really had no way of knowing. If I was the staff member sifting through all these, I'd start issuing warnings and bans, too.

 

[hdmonkeybug]

I think the point is the differences in the replies we get for reporting the same incident. This has happened to me, where I have reported something and another person who witnessed the same incident also reported it. They got the nice generic thank you and I got a note saying to read the values.

The OP in this thread stated that he would not repeat what happened here. If it cannot be repeated here, it absolutely has no place in vmk so - it sounds like a legitimate report.

 

[darkacre]

I think the point is the differences in the replies we get for reporting the same incident. This has happened to me, where I have reported something and another person who witnessed the same incident also reported it. They got the nice generic thank you and I got a note saying to read the values.

The OP in this thread stated that he would not repeat what happened here. If it cannot be repeated here, it absolutely has no place in vmk so - it sounds like a legitimate report.

That makes it sound like there are a lot of things being said which some people would take offense to, and others would brush off. It also sounds like these reports are going to different staff members to read, and what one staff member thinks is a bad thing, the other thinks is a non-violation. Or perhaps they both thought it was a non-issue, but one shrugged the report off and they other wanted you to stop reporting such stuff. A third possibility could be that the staff member who responded to you made a mistake. Who's to know?

 

[Blumonkeyboy]

VMK new law: its ok to make VMk an M rateds game
VMK old law: keep it family friendly


This makes me sick

 

[JulyGirl]

Wow. I guess the moral of the story is don't report. I noticed on the home page or newsletter there was a spiel about reporting too much and how that could get you banned.

 

[dizanimator]

That makes it sound like there are a lot of things being said which some people would take offense to, and others would brush off. It also sounds like these reports are going to different staff members to read, and what one staff member thinks is a bad thing, the other thinks is a non-violation. Or perhaps they both thought it was a non-issue, but one shrugged the report off and they other wanted you to stop reporting such stuff. A third possibility could be that the staff member who responded to you made a mistake. Who's to know?

I know there's no simple method to test it, but I wonder if people could send in identical reports and get two or more different responses? It would be odd if one was told thanks for reporting, it's being looked into, and another was told not to false report.

I asked once through Call for Help what was actually considered an emergency and should be reported in game after being told yet again to use Contact Us on the web site, and this is the answer I received:

That's a bit different than the explanation currently in the newsletter:

VMK 911
The Call for VMK Staff option is VMK's 911 service, so please only use it in emergencies – if another Player is hassling you or making you feel uncomfortable. For general questions about the game, take a look at the FAQs.

I have been made uncomfortable when others in the room use violent or adult language, and have been told that isn't an emergency. I almost want to go to the parks and say out loud some of what has been said on VMK and see if the cast's reaction is different than that of VMK staff, but I don't want to expose kids to that any more than they already are. VMK should really make a list of things that are commonly reported, and tell us which way they prefer we report them.

I'm also worried about getting in trouble for false reporting when I do report someone, because while I may want to directly quote back what someone said, I type slowly sometomes and it may be gone from the screen before I am able to copy it all down, or in explaing what happened I am limited by only saying a word twice (maybe four times if I capitalize it) in a report. I don't want to get in trouble for false reporting just because of the dictionary. It would seem like a good idea if we could just click on a speech bubble to copy that text into a report, but then we might have a lot more false reports or people banned for things taken out of context.

 

[mking624]

I think a lot of it depends on the wording you use and whoever reads it. In any time I've reported someone, I have never had an issue with staff. Only one time did I ever get a response unexpected...and that actually was the lack of a response (most of the time I get the "thank you, we're looking into it" for possible scams -self appointed scambuster - or "just press ignore" if I report someone who is CLEARLY using crude and disgusting language). Typically I don't report as it is...there usually has to be continuous action for me to report it (i.e., if a simple question of "can I borrow" is asked, I'll say no, remind the room not to let others borrow, and move on. But if the person persists about the borrowing and follows me around everywhere...which has happened to me a few times, I will report them, and that's the only time I report them), but even so, I am careful with how I word things. There really does need to be some sort of flagging system with how many times a person has been reported and for what reasons...that way when VMK does get a report on someone, they can look up that user name and determine if, when, and why the person has been reported before before they jump the gun and assume you made a false report (i.e. if a bunch of people are complaining about the same thing, then that can't possibly mean one person out of all those people decided to make the story up). If many other people reported this same incident, obviously more than one person was reading these reports for you to get a different response from them. Something tells me that either the person reading your report either didn't care to actually investigate what happened, or did see it and decided not to do anything about it (which honestly wouldn't surprise me as players seem to be getting away with more and more stuff regarding their language lately). But obviously something isn't getting done if everyone who reported it didn't have a problem but you did. Makes you wonder what's going on....

 

[mking624]

I asked once through Call for Help what was actually considered an emergency and should be reported in game after being told yet again to use Contact Us on the web site, and this is the answer I received:

That's a bit different than the explanation currently in the newsletter:

I have been made uncomfortable when others in the room use violent or adult language, and have been told that isn't an emergency. I almost want to go to the parks and say out loud some of what has been said on VMK and see if the cast's reaction is different than that of VMK staff, but I don't want to expose kids to that any more than they already are. VMK should really make a list of things that are commonly reported, and tell us which way they prefer we report them

I think part of the problem here is the lack of consistency with the VMK staff. There was one time I was in a room where this one player was away from keys. For some unknown reason, this group of girls starts being verbally violent against him. If anyone tried to ask them to stop, they would use violent language towards that person. I used the Call for Help button, tried as best as I could to explain what was going on...and shortly after, VMK staff arrived and handled the situation. Not too long after, a very similar incident occured (same room...different player names) and after realizing this wasn't going to stop, I again called for help. The response this time was something to the effect that if I didn't want to "hear" them, I could just use the ignore button. In my perception that was no different than saying "oh it's ok for them to do that, just don't pay attention."

If two nearly identical situations get two different responses, then there's obviously an issue with consistency and they need to clearly, VERY clearly define what things they will and will not take action on, what things they will and will not show up for, what things they will and will not consider a legitimate report, etc. Otherwise they should keep expecting reports to come in that they believe are "false", but by past experiences, we've seen have received acceptable responses from them.

 

[SkippyPaul]

You don't say exactly what you observed, so I can't offer an opinion about this particular warning, but in general this is becoming a problem. I notice it in many of the game rooms and on all the boards I read. People are reporting others for slight or even perceived violations that aren't actually violations. I saw a boy come up to a girl and ask "How you doing?" and she said she would report him if he talked to her again. Time and time again, we see self-appointed scambusters talking about how they reported someone that they "knew" was trying to commit a scam, when they really had no way of knowing. If I was the staff member sifting through all these, I'd start issuing warnings and bans, too.

I didnt mention here what the boy was asking girls to do for a reason. But trust me, I know when someone is violating vmk values. I do not report ppl for minor petty things. This was of sexual nature. And if staff perceives that as within values then its time we took a good look at disney.

 

[Laurabearz]

I now include in my reports what the offender person has said, the VMK time, location and instances..

I say something like...

This player is dictionary dancing very bad words of a boy girl thing in Town square South at the vmk time of Tree in the afternoon. It's bad, very Bad. Thanks

 

[ShellyMatey]

I mention to review the chat of the person. It usually works

 

[NeptuneBlue]

plz vmk players stop reporting ppl its not getting you anywhere just play your own game. let vmk handle it.
thx

 

[mking624]

plz vmk players stop reporting ppl its not getting you anywhere just play your own game. let vmk handle it.
thx

Many times VMK "handles" it by depending on the people who report offenders, just an FYI.

 

[ShellyMatey]

Many times VMK "handles" it by depending on the people who report offenders, just an FYI.

That is true

 

[shellybellypolo]

Maybe it's time all of the DIS wrote a BIG message into VMK explaining this. There is a lot more discussion then action, and if we want a change in things, we should try action.

My speech moment is over with, thanks for reading

 

[MizBubble]

I'm with you guys on this. I've had boys come up to one of my characters (not my main one, because it lists that i love my kids and my guy in real and that scares them) and ask me the same types of things you are talking about. I have reported and gotten the message to leave the room if the topic is bothering me or I am being harassed. But that doesn't really solve the problem, now does it? these kids are still out there, being exposed to this. I, for one, have a HUGE problem with this. Yes, I can leave the room, but what happens when the offending guest starts saying this stuff to a 11 or 12 year old girl? This should NOT be tolerated. Sigh. The world just makes me sad sometimes. I agree, Shellybellypolo, we should express our concern in mass to VMK. I know they are aware of this problem, but obviously, strong enough actions are not being taken. Ok, I'm off my soap box now. Next person up!

 

[SkippyPaul]

plz vmk players stop reporting ppl its not getting you anywhere just play your own game. let vmk handle it.
thx

Vmk cant possibly be reviewing all conversation at all times. I'm sure they appreciate players bringing certain players to their attention. While you can chose to ignore, others are hearing it!! I will not turn my back on that.

 

[SkippyPaul]

I'm with you guys on this. I've had boys come up to one of my characters (not my main one, because it lists that i love my kids and my guy in real and that scares them) and ask me the same types of things you are talking about. I have reported and gotten the message to leave the room if the topic is bothering me or I am being harassed. But that doesn't really solve the problem, now does it? these kids are still out there, being exposed to this. I, for one, have a HUGE problem with this. Yes, I can leave the room, but what happens when the offending guest starts saying this stuff to a 11 or 12 year old girl? This should NOT be tolerated. Sigh. The world just makes me sad sometimes. I agree, Shellybellypolo, we should express our concern in mass to VMK. I know they are aware of this problem, but obviously, strong enough actions are not being taken. Ok, I'm off my soap box now. Next person up!

ty Well said. I am not one for reporting. It takes alot for me to get mad enough to report. This was one of those times.

Oh and I had another of those times last nite while on the pirate dock when a fellow dis member came up to me saying things like "you make me ill, your gross etc". Yes...imagine that. I was speechless. Naturally I wont mention any names, he knows who he is. But this is an on going problem I've had on vmk for some time with other players with their harrassing. I was to in shock at the time but know if it happens again I will also report that. When in vmk central last Dec it was one things I spoke to a vmk staff about. He agreed no player should have to hear things or be harrassed in the game. Yes he is entitled to his opinion...but so am I.

Enough said.