Are GM's held to a higher standard with Code of Conduct?

[Vaughn.8172]

Over the year's of playing online games I've came across lots of people and GM's. A recent interaction with an individual had me thinking. Are GM's held to a higher standard with User Agreement and Rules of Conduct when playing as a GM or when they are just playing as a normal player? For being a straight forward answer I feel it maybe not shared in same faith. I for one think they should conduct themselves to accommodate the highest standard of both.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

No. It's like old school mob-run Vegas out here. There's widespread abuse of power by a mafia of GMs. If you clear a raid too fast they'll break your knuckles. Hide your kids, hide your wife.

But seriously, we don't know. We aren't privy to that information. Either they are or they aren't. Personally, I won't make any demands of somebody who's not on the clock.

[Ray Koopa.2354]

Shouldn't we all be held to higher standards with the ToS and own interest? ;)Except Asura players. They're allowed to call everyone a bookah.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

What answer are you expecting to get?

The amount of topics like this, where you are "allowed" to talk about the administration and the "truth," has drastically increased over the past months. In my opinion these threads are wide opened traps to catch people with a too big mouth. Whenever you watch such a topic and notice a very controversial post suddenly getting removed, you know another one bite the dust. Because normal forum users cannot remove their posts. They get moderated. The post is removed, because it broke any of the rules we agreed to and the poster is sanctioned depending on the level of the issue. Talking bad about the administration in any way is against the rules. While these topics are not bending or breaking any of the rules, they attract people who will.

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

@Blood Red Arachnid.2493 said:No. It's like old school mob-run Vegas out here. There's widespread abuse of power by a mafia of GMs. If you clear a raid too fast they'll break your knuckles. Hide your kids, hide your wife.

But seriously, we don't know. We aren't privy to that information. Either they are or they aren't. Personally, I won't make any demands of somebody who's not on the clock.

They froze my cat and hid it in the Black Citidel in a block of ice for making too many problems on the forums, Gaile ordered the hit.

I've said too much, her Gumbas might put me in cement shoes and make this statement disappear, like it never happened!

[Yamazuki.6073]

I expect them to behave like humans. I personally don't know why many people want the gaming industry to be as robotic as every other industry, only to then complain they are being seen as money bags.

[Linken.6345]

They are human too so why shouldent they be held to the same standard as anyone else? unless we got our robotic overlords already then I bow down in submission.

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

@"HnRkLnXqZ.1870" said:What answer are you expecting to get?

The amount of topics like this, where you are "allowed" to talk about the administration and the "truth," has drastically increased over the past months. In my opinion these threads are wide opened traps to catch people with a too big mouth. Whenever you watch such a topic and notice a very controversial post suddenly getting removed, you know another one bite the dust. Because normal forum users cannot remove their posts. They get moderated. The post is removed, because it broke any of the rules we agreed to and the poster is sanctioned depending on the level of the issue. Talking bad about the administration in any way is against the rules. While these topics are not bending or breaking any of the rules, they attract people who will.

Nah you just have to be very conscious about how you word it, I mean I've skirted the edge of the event horizon, that point if no return for years; just post smarter and try to flag instead of engage if you get angry enough you know you'll say something stupid.

Even following my rules will still land you in hot water at times no matter how well you write your comment, or how much you can back it up with logic, or how many articles you can link in an appeal that proves what you said is true.

How ever it will keep your head above water %90 of the time.

[Danikat.8537]

Firstly what do you mean by GMs? This game doesn't have paid staff (or volunteers) who will come into the game and act as moderators. If you report someone you're not going to see a guy with an Anet logo next to their name appear next to you to sort it out.

You might see someone with an Anet logo next to their name, but my understanding is all staff have that option (it's actually a guild tag, so they turn it on or off by representing the staff guild). So that person could be a PR/community person like Gaile, or they could be an artist or a programmer or the guy in the accounts department who makes sure their taxes are done. They're not necessarily qualified community managers and they're definitely not there to moderate player behaviour in the game. Whenever I've seen them (rare, but it happens) they've said they're checking out a the latest release and watching players reactions and just doing it for fun in their free time.

(Not relevant to this topic but they've also said they have to play the same way as anyone else - they can't just create items or gold even for themselves and can't go invincible or teleport themselves around.)

This is pure speculation now but I imagine the rules are similar to my work's rules on people going on our forum. We follow the exact same rules and are held to the same standard, but there's an extra rule that you shouldn't identify yourself as staff and then give an opinion that contradicts the company line because even with a disclaimer people keep taking it as an official statement.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

There are actual GMs that enter the game. They have Gm as the first part of their Display Name, and special-colored chat. I believe Chris Cleary is the Lead GM, or, at least, one of the GMs.

[Danikat.8537]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:There are actual GMs that enter the game. They have Gm as the first part of their Display Name, and special-colored chat. I believe Chris Cleary is the Lead GM, or, at least, one of the GMs.

I guess they don't come over to the EU servers then. I've seen Anet staff occasionally but never seen someone with GM in their name or with special chat colours, just the Anet logo after their name.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I don't think many players have seen them.
But, you read about them in the archived forums.

[STIHL.2489]

It's tricky.

If they have the game on their home computer and want to play it on their private off time account, then the answer is No they sign the same ToS and EULA as everyone else.

At Work, depending on their Job, they will also sign other agreements with Anet directly, like Non-Disclosure, and the like, as well as need to adhere to company policy when using their Anet Employee Account. So, while they will sign the same ToS as everyone else, they will often also have other agreements directly with Anet that will span any and all of Anets games and social media accounts.