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Notice Regarding Trading Harassment

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...or keep annoying people with

 

"Can I be on your list now?"

 

"Now?"

 

"Now?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

".............now?"

 

That´s a type of harrassing an user, too.

 

They will give you a message if you are on the list. Or not, if they do not WANT you on their list :c

Next day:

 

 

Now??

 

 

 

 

Please...

 

 

!put me on your list!!

 

 

 

 

 

Sry, i hate when people stalk my scroll and PM me for request for my 2. gen tinsel.

 

So far i reply very nice - telling I dont want to have a list.

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Just adding something that I just noticed.

 

People sometimes think that DC rules do not apply to off-site DC threads on other adoptable boards.

 

DC-threads on other adoptable sites surely do fall under the same rules as the board in question and the DC rules too, right?

We cannot police other forums, however, I am pretty sure you can contact the staff on those forums and direct them to this thread and ask for help. However, I am pretty sure if it is brought up, captures of harassing discussion, staff here may be able to possibly assist by some form of repercussion. But it would have to be discussed. I would definitely try to help in all my power to prevent DC harassment from happening off site.

 

Also if staff from sites where harassment occurs, I would be open to PM or Email, from the staff or "the bothered user" to discuss how we may bridge and fix the problem. Even if they try to bipass forums and go straight to email - even more serious an issue of harassment - we do have the rule regarding user interaction in the TOS does say all interactions must be wilful, I am pretty sure there is something we can do there directly in game if it continues with enough recorded evidence.

 

For on and off forum sites/IRC/other

 

Keep screen captures - Screen captures are best

Keep logs.

Keep paste bins handy.

Get the user's IP if you can from forum staff, if they permit it, or have them send it.

Get the user's scroll name.

 

To better defend yourself be polite with the problematic user at all times. This does not mean give in to them if you do not wish it, but simply say "I'm sorry, but no."

Best not to go screaming at mods for help, but asking.

 

So for off forums sites:

Contact Staff There

Include a link to first post as way of explanation of the rules we have regarding the situation.

 

Worst case scenario, Contact Starscream or another DC staff.

 

What a Starscream Stands for (Ignore the evil variation of me wink.gif )

and believe me when I say I will go to bat for you.

 

I am zero tolerant of any behaviour that strikes of Bullying.

 

I am a strong believer in personal privacy and the right to be left alone.

 

I believe NO only needs to be said once. It does not mean ask again later, ask more incessantly, get on knees and beg with tears.

 

I am very sure NO is a universal word. Most people can understand NO.

 

I am a strong believer that ignorance of the rules is not an excuse. - try to say sorry I did not know speeding was illegal to a RL police officer.

 

I am a strong believer that the scroll owner has absolute control over who gets his/her dragons eggs. Who he/she breeds them to. What names they wish to give them. If they want to freeze/kill/bite/release/insert-other-action-here. It's all the scroll owners decision and no one else's.

 

Private messages do not mean a user can behave in a manner that is against general forum rules. If private messages become negative/hostile/uncomfortable contact staff and we will get right on it.

 

So in summery TOS is still in play offsite.

DC threads on offsite forums fall under the rules of the offsite forums

 

That covers it? I am heading to school

Edited by Starscream

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I'm glad of the reminder. I've not been harassed yet for a trade, I've only experienced the other side (someone skipping out on an IOU, to the point of deleting their forum ID). sad.gif In that case, I didn't send harassing PMs, just a couple of friendly reminders spaced a long time apart.

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Harassment is still harassment regardless if its in real life or here. If users are actually being made upset in real life, I think it qualities.

 

That's not what i mean. I mean that real harassement should be carried out as "real one". Begging for an egg, spamming inbox with requests - it's AB, not harassement. After all the only one real way to harass people here (on forum, not the main site) is to have connections with some dirtyhanded mods. Such cases should be done here. (excommunicate such persons if it's serious).

Other cases should be passed to local law & order standard procedures.

 

PS. for example: if someone (Mr. 1st) told somebody (Mr. 2nd) _not to trade_ or _trade_ to another 3rd party as a requiered condition to accept offer between 1st and 2nd - it's OK. It's legal. (clans, orders, teams etc. doesn't exist in dc (afaik), but i can imagine them here).

 

PPS. Maybe i'm missing something. (english is not my 1st or even 2nd). But it seems that "harassment" used here has much wider meaning, than i can expect. "Annoying" is not "harassment" to me. It's different kind of activity. Harassment is much more aggressive actions taken. Why they are mixed up here?

Edited by Fsaber

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That's not what i mean. I mean that real harassement should be carried out as "real one". Begging for an egg, spamming inbox with requests - it's AB, not harassement. After all the only one real way to harass people here (on forum, not the main site) is to have connections with some dirtyhanded mods. Such cases should be done here. (excommunicate such persons if it's serious).

Other cases should be passed to local law & order standard procedures.

 

PS. for example: if someone (Mr. 1st) told somebody (Mr. 2nd) _not to trade_ or _trade_ to another 3rd party as a requiered condition to accept offer between 1st and 2nd - it's OK. It's legal. (clans, orders, teams etc. doesn't exist in dc (afaik), but i can imagine them here).

 

PPS. Maybe i'm missing something. (english is not my 1st or even 2nd). But it seems that "harassment" used here has much wider meaning, than i can expect. "Annoying" is not "harassment" to me. It's different kind of activity. Harassment is much more aggressive actions taken. Why they are mixed up here?

Harassment is harassment. It isn't restricted to the legally actionable sort.

 

ha·rass  (h-rs, hrs)

tr.v. ha·rassed, ha·rass·ing, ha·rass·es

1. To irritate or torment persistently.

2. To wear out; exhaust.

3. To impede and exhaust (an enemy) by repeated attacks or raids.

[French harasser, possibly from Old French harer, to set a dog on, from hare, interj. used to set a dog on, of Germanic origin.]

ha·rasser n.

ha·rassment n.

Synonyms: harass, harry, hound, badger, pester, plague

 

That fits what happens here just fine. (As you say - English isn't your first language and you do VERY well to post so well in it - and I can see that you may only have come across the use of the word in the legally actionable sense.)

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and I can see that you may only have come across the use of the word in the legally actionable sense.)

Yup. I'll remember that. 10x.

 

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I’m safe. No one asks me to breed anything, anyways. : )

 

Horrible that these things are happening, though. Most of the people here are quite friendly. I think unsure.gif

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It is really sad that this had to be reminded. But there are bad apples everywhere, eh?

Thank you mods (and TJ of course) for keeping this community running so smoothly wub.gif

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Why FuzzieBee - you just warmed my cockles!! So when DO I get my Trio/Silver/Gold/Tinsel????? I want it NAO!!!

 

I'm eternally amazed at the lack of manners shown in the world today, but also eternally amazed at the caring attitudes of a LOT of people in DC (Y'listenin' Fuzz??).

 

Harassment seems to be another form of bullying - a bully is a coward and should be ignored.

 

Hugs to you Fuzzbutt! er bucket.

 

 

hahaha, I'm sorry, the last line just struck my funny bone, lol lol

 

Sending a rose... laugh.gif

Edited by Husky51

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O.O Well, I guess there's an upside of not having any valuable dragons...

Agreed. Four and a half years on Dragon Cave, and I still don't have anything worth trading. Probably most of us are in that boat, which is why I don't think prize dragons are a good idea. They make the winners targets to harassment, and they give infinite trading power to a small percentage while the rest of us may eventually get the scraps. Things like this have really taken the enjoyment out of what used to be a fun collecting game.

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Woah, no matter how much I want some breeds, when a breeder says 'no', it means no. I didn't though it would be so hard to understand for some people.

 

Glad they are taking care of this matter. It must make the game less enjoyable when someone is trading-harrased.

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Agreed. Four and a half years on Dragon Cave, and I still don't have anything worth trading. Probably most of us are in that boat, which is why I don't think prize dragons are a good idea. They make the winners targets to harassment, and they give infinite trading power to a small percentage while the rest of us may eventually get the scraps. Things like this have really taken the enjoyment out of what used to be a fun collecting game.

That's not true. I can see a couple of things just on the first page of your scroll whose eggs I'd love to trade for.

 

People don't only want prize dragons; I want low gen silvers, and other not so hard things (see my sig...)

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I guess that's your experience, fuzzbucket (and I say that respectfully). Mine is that I have a hard time trading for anything at all. Maybe I just don't understand what to put up for trade and what to ask for it. *shrugs*

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I was once in a situation that others deemed "prank" and "just get over it" but in the end, it turned out to be a very serious issue that involved courts, police, whole bunch of unpleasantness for myself and a load of other women.

 

How that relates is that I had my phone traced and flagged the harassing caller police tracked him down, made the arrest.

 

Now that is a real life example

 

Harassment is NOT just a legal definition. it's any unwanted contact that does not stop. This may include one person constantly pestering. Or it may include multiple people pestering, especially if the user has made it clear that contact is not desired.

 

If people think harassment is too strong a term, which it is not, I would toss bullying out there because some circumstances ARE exactly that. And internet bullying is a very serious and very real issue. If we can prevent such issues here on DC then we've made our community that much more pleasant a place to be.

 

Personally, I feel that if anyone finds this thread's existence a threat to them or find it intimidating may have a very guilty conscience. All we ask is that people please respect the wishes of others.

Edited by Starscream

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This is good to see. The only trouble I've ever had was a couple of people a few years ago with my holly. This was before the HM's; they were quite...demanding.

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Back to topic.

 

It´s not only about the trading itself, it´s about the general choice of tone between users (yes, that coming from me)

 

 

it´s not only YOUNG users, or newbies that take the wrong wording, and make out of a request a demand.

 

I have seen seen seasoned gamers that outright said "Either you do it like I said you do it, or the trade is off!"

It´s their right to say it, but that strongly sounds like blackmailing, bullying someone to do what they want.

Either you do what I say, or you don´t get what you desire.

 

And not quite a few users bend to their demands, out of fear of being shunned by the community, or being declared greedy.

 

 

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I'm very sad that this has become such an issue that the mods had to post a reminder about the rules, and I'm also reminded about the darker side of human nature that causes some people to act certain ways. I'm fortunate to not be a victim of this problem here, but I feel strong sympathy for the people that have been affected by it.

 

Even though this is a game, harassment and bullying is still possible (play any fighting game or first-person shooter over PSN or XBL and you'll see what I mean) and I'm glad it's being addressed here. As someone who has been a victim of bullying it's a very serious issue which ignoring does not always make go away.

 

Thank you mods, for giving us a way to address it so we can continue to enjoy being in this community and playing this game we love so much.

 

Starscream, I couldn't have said it better myself.

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If users are actually being made upset in real life, I think it qualifies.

Well, that depends on whether they're feeling *justifiably* upset or not. If they're upset because someone is using PM to insult them, curse at them, threaten them, make aggressive demands, etc., then that's harassment, yes. But on the flip side of the coin, some people simply get upset very easily about things. There was one person a couple of years ago who blew up at me for wasting their time by disregarding their scroll/trading preferences in their profile. Which it might theoretically be understandable why this could upset them, except that this was a person who had pm'd ME asking to trade with me, not the other way around!

 

I approve of people who are being intolerably rude and aggressive being banned from the forums, in other words, but I don't necessarily agree with people getting into trouble every time another user may feel upset. Mildly irritating things like offering junk on a trade, asking for a free egg, or PMing every week to ask if the gift I promised to breed for them is ready are not in the same category as sending threatening or ranting PM's demanding things. Remember it may just be a kid on the other end.

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I believe the reason why this was brought up is because of how serious this issue have become. I have seen first hand how PM communications can turn from annoying to rude to simply *harassment*. I am sure the mods can, with their own discretion, decide if a user has crossed the line. So, simply rude messages might not get the same disciplinary action as a really serious one.

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I believe the reason why this was brought up is because of how serious this issue have become. I have seen first hand how PM communications can turn from annoying to rude to simply *harassment*. I am sure the mods can, with their own discretion, decide if a user has crossed the line. So, simply rude messages might not get the same disciplinary action as a really serious one.

Correct. Absolutely correct.

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Agreed. Four and a half years on Dragon Cave, and I still don't have anything worth trading. Probably most of us are in that boat, which is why I don't think prize dragons are a good idea. They make the winners targets to harassment, and they give infinite trading power to a small percentage while the rest of us may eventually get the scraps. Things like this have really taken the enjoyment out of what used to be a fun collecting game.

 

Very funny! I'd LOVE some of your dragons. tongue.gif

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Really, some people...

I came to the Cave purely for fun, just to add some shiny shiny to my forum signatures. Pretty soon I got involved more than I expected, I get excited when my eggs hatch, and I went positively bonkers when I found a Dorkface among my first three dragons from AP. But some part of my brain still remembers that this is just a game.

While in my mind my pretties are precious to me I can't understand how could anyone harass real, feeling people because of a bunch of coloured pixels on a comp screen. Really.

 

So thank you mods for trying to keep the game clean.

 

edit: And as to prize dragons, valued dragons, rare dragons... I think that value is in the eye of the beholder. What's worthless for you may be what another person craves for.

Edited by MelaBruxa

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