Request for clarification of game rules regarding harassment

Dear @Matt and @Tim!

A member of the Staff has recently made a bold statement about what constitutes harassment, and I would like to ask you to clarify or confirm or deny that statement.


Statement by @Heidi: https://royals.ms/forum/threads/community-blacklist.166479/page-239#post-1493263

Question asked by @Tect: https://royals.ms/forum/threads/community-blacklist.166479/page-239#post-1493266

@Heidi's answer: https://royals.ms/forum/threads/community-blacklist.166479/page-239#post-1493271

I am a bit confused and concerned by the statement made by @Heidi and by the example provided.
Questions to Matt/Tim (heavily based on the example in @Heidi's post):

If I were to whisper a friend, or message them privately on discord, and hypothetically write "Hi guys, Heidi is making bullshit statements that she is clearly unfit to make but I am too nice to expose her", and let's say @Heidi hacks into my discord account and finds that message, can she use that to get me banned for "harassment" by using statements I might make in a private conversation in which she did not participate?

Based on the example provided in post https://royals.ms/forum/threads/community-blacklist.166479/page-239#post-1493271 such hypothetical message about Heidi would be interpreted as me harassing her.
Do you agree with that interpreation?
Is such evidence (obtained in potentially questionable ways and circumstances) valid in a report?
Would I receive a ban for those statements made in a private conversation, in which the person being discussed did not participate?

 

I think the word you guys should be using is Slander/Slandering instead of Harassment

 

Oh I was about to raise this issue when I have time but OP have summarized it nicely.
In additionally, that specific situation sounded like a GM trynna established their power on their fellow players - GM stated that talking bad about someone else with friends is considered as harassment and It's a serious situation because harassment is a ban-able offense.
I hope we may have a clear answer/ statement on this from upper management and have a better direction for the community and GMs to be aligned with for the sake of community.

 

Thank you for clarifying your point of view. I agree that something could be considered harassment (or whatever other word we use to describe it) while not resulting in a ban. However it was not clear from your post whether you meant it just as a negative behavior or as a behavior that can be reported and banned, especially as this happened during the discussion about private chat screenshots leaked from discord and so on. Therefore I would like to get a clear answer from Matt or Tim whether such situation can result in a player getting banned or not.

 

Personally i find slandering someone without anything to back it up is indeed a form of harassment. But i do think adding the words slander in your statements would have helped.

Original
"Simply stating repeatedly (both here and to your guildies) that you have stuff against us, but won't share it for reasons X, Y, Z, is a form of harassment."

"If I go to my guildies and say "Hi guys, Tect is a liar but I am too nice to expose him", then that would be me harassing you."

Edited with the word Slander added

"Simply stating repeatedly (both here and to your guildies) that you have stuff against us, but won't share it for reasons X, Y, Z, is just slander and a form of harassment."

"If I go to my guildies and say "Hi guys, Tect is a liar but I am too nice to expose him", that would be me slandering you and in turn would mean that i'm harassing you by causing damage to your reputation."