Problems with devs/guides in game

[NorCalGooey]

They can read all chat and all whispers. It's really unfortunate because as much as I want to play and build in this game, its just too frustrating knowing I simply MUST use an out of game chat system to not have my information read by devs and guides.

This is a problem because one of my favorite parts about this game was discovering new methods of doing something and having it be my choice whether or not whether I choose to share those methods or perhaps information that no one or very few no about.

Anyways, I just don't see the need for this feature. It just makes people not want to use the in game chat system.

Only problem is, even if you say you will remove guide/dev chat powers, we never know if you truly did. This feature is seriously causing me to not want to play the game at all. And its a shame because its becoming a great game.

[GuideRaguel]

Greetings,

I completely understand your points here, If I may I'd like to add some information...

Guides can not and will never be able to Read any conversations outside of Global, Local and /Help chat.
The only way Developers can read private messages such as tribe chat/whispers etc is through pulling Chat Logs from the server directly.
The only time these are used is to protect a player, such as times of complaints of misbehaving in chat etc.
Only 3 people have access to this and they are all Coders.

Any mmo that requires a server will have every single chat logged, regardless of whether its private or not. For legal and security reasons.

[MrDDT]

As Aud said, Im upset about this also.

I dont mind chats being logged, what I do mine is a dev able to tell his tribemebers because he plays what was said, or worse say it in public.

They even have an open TS3 server which they talk about what is being said in private chats. Or message you in game telling you what you said or commenting about it.
Log it all you want, it should be read when there is a reason to read it. IE someone files a complaint and you need to go back and see what was said to verify it.

I know another person that had this problem air'd out in global was China and Andrew about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

[GuideRaguel]

Agreed.
And If there is ever a case that a player suspects foul play by another player or Staff Member, then report it straight away to our Abuse Email.

However, in the meantime this will be looked into, and we are taking this very seriously.

[Solei]

I think the guide did a fantastic job explaining the policy on reading chats. I am a former EQ guide and there are reasons for needing to access chat logs. I feel that if you have something that personal to discuss then your best bet is to take if offline totally. I personally dont feel anywhere on the net is so secure that what you say cant fall into anothers hands. Anyways, in my opinion game chat should be monitored more closely in my opinion. Im a mother and until you've had a child of your own, you would understand my concerns..this is why my child was never permitted to play online games. Chat is often to inappropriate. As for the TS3 server. I am now often found there as well as my own vent server. I have personally never heard anything being relayed that someone else is saying in game in private.

I think all this guide and dev bashing needs to stop. Its uncalled for and unnecessary. If you have an issue with a guide or dev then contact support and dont start drama within the community. It only takes away the enjoyment of the game for the rest of us as well as scares off new players. It seems that its only a few of you who have soooo many complaints about the game...why not move on and make yourself less miserable and allow those of us who do enjoy the game to continue to do so.

I thank Jordi, the devs and the guides for the terrific jobs they do. Without them, you wouldnt have a game to play. Im very excited about the future of Xsyon.

[NorCalGooey]

I think the guide did a fantastic job explaining the policy on reading chats. I am a former EQ guide and there are reasons for needing to access chat logs. I feel that if you have something that personal to discuss then your best bet is to take if offline totally. I personally dont feel anywhere on the net is so secure that what you say cant fall into anothers hands. Anyways, in my opinion game chat should be monitored more closely in my opinion. Im a mother and until you've had a child of your own, you would understand my concerns..this is why my child was never permitted to play online games. Chat is often to inappropriate. As for the TS3 server. I am now often found there as well as my own vent server. I have personally never heard anything being relayed that someone else is saying in game in private.

I think all this guide and dev bashing needs to stop. Its uncalled for and unnecessary. If you have an issue with a guide or dev then contact support and dont start drama within the community. It only takes away the enjoyment of the game for the rest of us as well as scares off new players. It seems that its only a few of you who have soooo many complaints about the game...why not move on and make yourself less miserable and allow those of us who do enjoy the game to continue to do so.

I thank Jordi, the devs and the guides for the terrific jobs they do. Without them, you wouldnt have a game to play. Im very excited about the future of Xsyon.

There's a reason this was brought forth publicly. I could contact support but there's no way to know if the issue has been dealt with. There still isn't anyway to truly know, they are the devs after all. We can't see what they are looking at.

It's understandable devs can go back and check the chat logs, but they shouldn't be able to see live stream chat of who they wish to see. It doesn't even bother me that much that a dev can read what I am saying, because they aren't suppose to have influence over the live game world. It starts mattering when they share that information with other players to better the experience.

I have no proof that devs would take information from private chat and share it with other players. However, I do know of them sharing information with other players, and I do know they can read all chat. Combining those two makes me not want to chat in game. I have multiple experiences of devs seeming to know what I am talking about (like whispering me out of nowhere when I am in mid chat with others, and dev explains something to me or says something very simliar to what I was just discussing), and have heard of multiple experiences of devs sharing uncommon knowledge.

This wouldn't bother me so much if I actually wanted to share more of my information with people, but I do not at this time.



Thanks Raguel for the response.


This is not meant to slam the devs, it's just a concern I have and others seem to have it as well. So I made it public. I understand it's bad for rep, but if something was happening its better for it to come out now and be dealt with now rather than later, when there may be a larger fan base to see it.

Please feel free to delete the thread though. I won't complain.

[Liquidblade]

I think that we are a bunch of cry babies that wish to do stuff behind Notorious Games with out them know what the heck we are doing.... I mean why else would you care whether they are monitoring your chat or not? If we have something bad to say about them and they are reading then they just have to swallow up or smite us!!! Seriously!! Start building already you all have to much time in your hands!

On the other hand, If they are sharing stuff that I am whispering to someone about someone else and they reach that other person to warn them....then yes this becomes a problem. I still think that this is one of my least concerns in the game however. I rather see more content and gameplay before worrying about this issue.

[Book]

Chat logging is definitely standard practice. Even on battlefield 3 where there isn't much chat going on, it's all logged by those sponsoring the server you might be playing on. It has to be to justify bans/kicks due to racism/language etc.

I've also seen games have to take legal action due to threats on someone's family from within the game.

I'm having difficulty imagining what you could be discovering in-game that a dev wouldn't already know about? Would have thought they would be more intimately knowledgeable of all mechanics in game than players?

Only thing that comes to mind, which is only due to my own lack of imagination, is if a mechanism isn't working as they had intended and thus could be exploited for undue advantage. One choice available to them at that point is to level the playing field by letting everyone know... thus no longer an unforeseen advantage.

Not even saying that's what you're talking about, but I could see that happening.

Is it just a matter of privacy? I do tend to keep my conversations even with relatives rather benign in any game(well, ever since I quit drinkin' anyway ), but I also usually figure anyone listening would probably be bored to tears.

[dem1urge]

Only problem is, even if you say you will remove guide/dev chat powers, we never know if you truly did. This feature is seriously causing me to not want to play the game at all. And its a shame because its becoming a great game.

From the ToS, Section 6: "Apart from certain personal information no form of communication is private. All forms of communication connected with Xsyon, both out of and in game, maybe be monitored or viewed at any time by Notorious Games personnel." And, furthermore: "Notorious Games may, with or without notice, monitor, record, review, modify and or disclose your chat sessions and activities, whether by text or voice, conducted through the Service."

You should always read the terms of service. This one is fairly standard.

[MrDDT]

From the ToS, Section 6: "Apart from certain personal information no form of communication is private. All forms of communication connected with Xsyon, both out of and in game, maybe be monitored or viewed at any time by Notorious Games personnel." And, furthermore: "Notorious Games may, with or without notice, monitor, record, review, modify and or disclose your chat sessions and activities, whether by text or voice, conducted through the Service."

You should always read the terms of service. This one is fairly standard.

I think its fine if that's what they want to do, but I dont think many players will be happy knowing that devs read it, and talk about it to other players (but not all other players only some they choose to), or chat about it in global. I believe many people will not want to play this game.

If they do want to do these actions, I would like to make sure new players know this is going to be happening so they can make the choice at the start of play instead of after they might have given or said something which they thought was at least not going to be said to other players.