Communication Guidelines for Chat Channels, Discord & Mumble

Hi Everyone,

To our newer member, we welcome you to the OTG FFXIV chapter, we’re glad you have accepted our invitation. To both our new members and our more veteran members, this message is about our in game chat channels and mumble VOIP and how the spirit of our chapter and OTG as a whole is incorporated into these.

FFXIV Chapter Guidelines for In-Game and Mumble Communication

Public Channels

Our in game conversations and mumble chatter are lively, informative and fun. This is the way it should be. A great community of players that support and learn from each other and most importantly have fun together. We have never really integrated a “policy” about our chat areas, so we decided to post this information for all of our members to understand how important our community is. Please bear in mind, anything mentioned in this thread does not supersede our OTG code of conduct, which can be found here. Remember, “Laid back, not too serious, no drama… all about the fun” is the core of OTG and that certainly carries into our chapter. We also believe that our chat is where the game truly lives. An MMO just isn’t the same without friends to share our wins, losses, gains, failures and of course the derpiest of derp moments!

When members are using public communication areas in the FFXIV chapter, we would ask that you keep the following in mind:

· Our main focus in the public channels is to be respectful at all times. Be respectful to our membership, the OTG guild as a whole, and to Square Enix, the company who works hard to ensure we have a great game to play. Please try to keep the language respectful as well.
· Many members means that we have people gaming at all stages of the game. Please do your best to keep the public channels free of story spoilers. This includes battle strategies for content, as many people like to figure things out for themselves. Do feel free to link them to guides or use /tell (if possible) instead.
· Ask questions! There are many members who are veteran to the game and are willing to help out wherever they can.
· We understand that negative experiences can and will happen to you. We also understand that those are popular thing to share when they happen. This is ok, we only ask that you share this in a short comment or two, and to not drag on a conversation about “the worst tank you’ve ever seen”. With this in mind, please try your best to not call any other players stupid, or dumb, etc. that is just disrespectful.

Private Channels
As for private channels, these areas are treated somewhat differently. Private channels are exactly that. They have been set up by a member, and as such are not governed by our chapter policies. However, please remember that even private channels and the content therein can be guided by the Old Timers Guild Code of Conduct. Any member is free to ask for an assist from an officer if they feel their private channel is being abused in any way.

Public v. Private

As a follow up to the above, we would like to define for everyone the differences between public and private channels.

In-Game Chat Public Areas:
· Free Company Chat and any guild created Linkshell (ie; Crafting/Gathering LS)
In-Game Private Areas
· These would include any privately made Linkshell

Mumble Public Areas
· Public areas of Mumble include The Lobby, Co-op Corner, Golden Saucer, General Groups and Raids
Mumble Private Areas
· These would include any channel created by a member for their own use with friends, other members, etc.

In summary, we would like to say that we have a great respect for all of our members and other players of the game and we wish to do our best that everyone is always treated with respect. How we communicate with each other is at the core of what we and the OTG guild as a whole believe in. Thanks for taking the time to read through this post, if you have any questions about the comments within, please contact an officer for more information.

See you out there!

Your Officer Team