Transparency in Chat

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MalKalz
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Transparency in Chat

Post by MalKalz » Wed Jan 24, 2018 3:46 am

Earlier this afternoon, players were likely made aware of a post in the Suggestion Box that suggested players should be made aware of all forms of chat that are recorded in the server logs, and detailed explicitly in the journal. We assumed that tells being in the logs was already known; however, it has come to our attention that some players may not be aware. But, I do believe that some measure of transparency is necessary to address any concerns that a player may or may not have.

Logs are an integral part of Arelith in the sense of recording a wide variety of interactions, both text and character interactions. The concern that was risen had to do with the logs surrounding tells where there is belief that there is a violation of individual privacy. However, this has never been the intention of the server and tells are not perused for recreation - the time that tells are accessed is only when they are absolutely necessary for an on-going report.

Tells are logged in Arelith, like they are logged in any game, for example: League of Legends, DOTA, WoW, et cetera. These companies collect this information not in the attempt to violate privacy; however, have access to further resources when problems arise. Though it is not unreasonable to have expectations of privacy, much like the individual had. But, these tells are only accessed when there is a reason to check them. Otherwise it is an abuse of power, which we would address immediately.

It should be obvious that everything is monitored on Arelith, from bug-detection to tracking incidents and finding resolutions for problems (behaviour wise, IC-wise, et cetera). And, tells can point to cases of metagaming, abuse (verbal threats, hate-speech, et cetera) and violations of the PG-13 rule. And, the Admins / Head DM have the responsibility for everything in regards to Arelith.

However, the biggest concern was that DMs regularly have access to your tells, and can see whatever you type. This is incorrect. Tells are restricted to only Admin or Head DM access. Which leads me to explain the incident in which the player felt there was a violation as they have made the incident public knowledge:

I was the individual who accessed said tells, only from populating a search into the logs on the basis of my own DM name. I was looking for a question that someone had asked me a few days prior, and noticed that I was mentioned in a tell where I had made a decision (without making it). I then looked more into the situation around that time frame and was immediately introduced into intent to degrade the integrity of the server and create detrimental experiences with particular players, and verbal abuse to more than one community member.

As per the responsibility of a DM, we are to ensure the integrity of the server and address concerns that otherwise could negatively impact players on the server. So I did. And, had attempted to coach said individual to approach the game with a different attitude. However, I will not go further into details about that.

I will apologize to the player here if they did believe there was a breach of privacy. But, my actions were purely in the interest in maintaining the integrity of the server and curbing a rather detrimental attitude that would negatively impact the game for many. As I stated before, we do not (me included) actively peruse the tell logs to invade privacy, but act upon concerns brought to us that throw up an immediate red flag.

Thanks for reading. If there are questions or concerns, please send me a private message and I will address them as soon as I can.

-Spyre

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