Gaia Police Departments

[mamarita]

There has been a lot of talk around about Gaia Police Departments.

Many people favor them, but others see them as strong armed bullies.

It's one thing to have Gaia police, but should they be left up to the members to have or should the Admins/NPC's be the police. This is an interesting concept.

I would like frank discussion with valid reasons, and keep it civil, please  

[mamarita]

I personally do not like the idea of several guilds setting up police departments.
First: You are going to have conflicts between guilds as to who is policing which towns. This is going to be like setting up gang wars and it won't be pretty to watch.

Second: Who makes up the laws that are being enforced? Is it just ToS they are enforcing, or are some imaginary rules/laws being enforced? Are speeding and jaywalking laws being enforced?

Third: What kind of fines and to whom are these fines going to paid? Let's get real here. Is a guild or a person going to profit from these rule breakers? And if a guild is going to profit, what good does it do the guild since we all know that a guild treasury cannot be used. If the "fines" go to a guild mule, well, then we have another can of worms we have to worry about. This reeks of abuse all over the place.

Fourth: I foresee Gaians reporting "Police Officers" for all kinds of ToS violations themselves and people being banned or suspended left and right. I think some Administration Moderators need to be talked to before these Police Departments get out of hand!  

[OneOfLittleHarmony]

Um... what are they going to police? And for what?  

[BobCatHKSS]

Actually there used to be many Gaia Police Departments out there. My guild had an alliance with several of them.

Today, those alliances are gone, gangs took over those guilds and expelled the membership. I removed many of the alliance links.

They start out with some semblance of being actual patrol officers. They go to towns, report people for TOS violations. Sometimes maybe even actually get some violators kicked off of Gaia.

Then they turn into RP forums.

Then they basically die.

Utterly worthless.  

[Kenocka]

While a police department seems like a good idea in theory I don't see it being held up without corruption. Instead a neighborhood watch, people that just go to the towns and report ToS violations and other abusive behavior seems better. They don't need to issue fines, they are not governmental entities and if they did so then it reeks of fishy abuse waiting to happen. If groups of people want to go through the towns and voluntarily stop the violations with reports and screenshots then that's fine. They're just being good users.  

[DIAMOND-XIII_SSC]

i have never seen the use for them, within guilds that i own the guild crew and vice do the policing, if there is a problem in the guild were gonna solve it ourselves NOT hire some outsider to take care of it
this is also something very easily abused and should not be on gaia , the real police on here are the gaia admins and devs

 

[Bobby Dillon]

So the majority of Guild Captain's and Crew should know me. I have founded a very successful guild 'The Gaian Wedding Chapel, Inc' which was spotlighted numerous times while I was the 'President' of the Guild. Before that I founded many 'Law Enforcement' Guild's, as it is an interest of mine to join that sort of career in the in-real world.

I have recently acquired the Chief of Police position in the Barton Town Police Department and since then all sort of issue's regarding all Law Enforcement Police based Guild's have risen.

One of these were harassment toward's the member's of GaiaOnline from these officer's, and I will admit that a few of our officer's were accused of it, and it has been dealt with since then.

Other issue's involve the officer's of any guild thinking they are on the same level of a GaiaOnline Moderator. At the Barton Town Police Department we don't believe in this, and I have constantly reminded the officer's of my guild, even before I acquired such a position, I have always reminded them that they are not moderator's, and we are only trying to do the 'reporting' that no one else is doing.

I have been contacted by the Editor of Gaia Online Magazine regarding this and the petition asking for all police-based guilds to be banned was taken down as we have dealt with such problems.

Some of the Law Enforcement Guild's on GaiaOnline are very childish, immature and it's what's giving guild's like mine such a bad reputation.  

[Lunar Mirage]

I've been giving this alot of thought, and really the first thing to come to mind is the Crimson Knights in the anime .hack//SIGN.

The idea is a good one, and this group like the police departments here, was created with the goal of equality, and keeping things civil so that everyone could have fun while helping the admins to crack down on those causing the serious issues. They weren't sanctioned by CC Corp as a true police force, but the admins did realize how important an asset could be to use people on the inside.

However, the true danger lies in just as it's been stated...they get a little power hungry, things get out of control, and they become little more than a pack of bullies abusing the powers they might have been given to pursue such 'criminals'. In their thirst for justice, the fact that all of us are nothing but players in a game is lost.

From the wiki article on the epsiode "Declaration" where Subaru disbands the Knights:

Quote:

When Subaru returns to meet with the Crimson Knights, she learns that they went against her orders and used force against various "criminals." Angered, Subaru orders that Silver Knight be brought before her. As she gives the order, she receives an important e-mail from CC Corp. Subaru once again confronts Silver Knight about his disobedience and is outraged that he had requested that CC Corp send the Knights authorization to view personal log data on all active members of The World. The request was denied on the grounds that the Crimson Knights are an unsanctioned organization of normal players. Subaru requests that Silver Knight return to the original ideals of the Knights, but he refuses and accuses Subaru of being afraid of fighting injustice. He and others feel that she has made an exception for Tsukasa, who is an illegal character, and that this is preventing her from doing her job properly. Having had enough of Silver Knight's words, Subaru disbands the Crimson Knights.

Even on this forum site, people tend to lose focus of the ideals that we are all just members, and as Crim once told Subaru "Play in the way that you enjoy most." Sure, this may not be an MMORPG, but the ideals are the exact same...

Given a good leader, or set of leaders, that can keep in mind that they are player/members just like the rest of us, and that all this is meant to be 'fun', then i see no problem with the police forces, but keeping in mind the danger does exist out there to go beyond...there'd need to be good reins on those they chose.

Anyways...my two cents. I hadn't actually heard of the police departments being formed, till the guild announcement, but then again...nursing school eats my brain and time xd  

[Lunar Mirage]

Bobby Dillon

So the majority of Guild Captain's and Crew should know me. I have founded a very successful guild 'The Gaian Wedding Chapel, Inc' which was spotlighted numerous times while I was the 'President' of the Guild. Before that I founded many 'Law Enforcement' Guild's, as it is an interest of mine to join that sort of career in the in-real world.

I have recently acquired the Chief of Police position in the Barton Town Police Department and since then all sort of issue's regarding all Law Enforcement Police based Guild's have risen.

One of these were harassment toward's the member's of GaiaOnline from these officer's, and I will admit that a few of our officer's were accused of it, and it has been dealt with since then.

Other issue's involve the officer's of any guild thinking they are on the same level of a GaiaOnline Moderator. At the Barton Town Police Department we don't believe in this, and I have constantly reminded the officer's of my guild, even before I acquired such a position, I have always reminded them that they are not moderator's, and we are only trying to do the 'reporting' that no one else is doing.

I have been contacted by the Editor of Gaia Online Magazine regarding this and the petition asking for all police-based guilds to be banned was taken down as we have dealt with such problems.

Some of the Law Enforcement Guild's on GaiaOnline are very childish, immature and it's what's giving guild's like mine such a bad reputation.

You illustrate my point exactly! And in the same breath, I want to thank you for being the exact type of leader that's called for to lead something like this. THIS is the kind of people we need. =D  

[Naioka]

DIAMOND-XIII_SSC

i have never seen the use for them, within guilds that i own the guild crew and vice do the policing, if there is a problem in the guild were gonna solve it ourselves NOT hire some outsider to take care of it
this is also something very easily abused and should not be on gaia , the real police on here are the gaia admins and devs

OneOfLittleHarmony

I concur with Diamond. Although it is a good idea, this hypothetical police department would really be just back-up for the real mods by reporting people when they see abuse. I don't encounter abuse often.. maybe it's because I'm captain of an LBT sanctuary cat_sweatdrop but I think that guilds should be able to police themselves.

I know in my guild, you get kicked for saying anything judgmental, derogatory, manipulative, or for ridiculing someone too harshly.

 

[Ayame-Yuura]

I am personally very much opposed to this both because I've had my wilder days and also because I don't believe any regular members should be going around being KJs or watching everyone's every move for ToS violations. Personally feels a little creepy to me.

Besides, this is the internet. Apparently, trolls, spam and the like has existed since time immemorial.

In my opinion, the best way to quell these violations that are harmful to our younger members is education. Because one can never tell another person enough how important it is to keep their real names, passwords and home addresses a secret, to not click suspicious links, to put people who harass them on their ignore list (or report) and to always be careful because "h4xx0rs", cyber-hungry peeps and trolls could be lurking around each corner.

It would be like us policing ourselves. Enforcement from the inside.

^ Sounds like a fairy dressed up in pink with glitters and everything. x___x *throws up*

Well~ That's my 2 cents, at least! XD XD  

[Ranas_Dragon]

Maybe I'm missing something, but what would these police groups do besides going around and reporting annyoing idiots?
It seems to me that the type of person to join such a group would already be reporting TOS violations when they came across them. Would it be just a group doing that in a more organized fashion? If so, why not sign on to be one of the mods? It sounds like they're stretched pretty thin in some places, and also that there are a number of them that, to put it politely, are missing the point of being a mod.

I can't really tell people what they should set up a guild to do, but I'm kind of confused as to what difference having a "police guild" would do as opposed to having the mods keep up on what they're supposed to be doing.  

[gearfreak]

So, they're basically just wannabe mods reporting everybody they see, or what? I don't get it. I don't see any point to such a thing except people trying to feel special or be recognized because they report TOS violations. Besides, does anybody even use towns anymore?