TTS has a global chat system which is (apparently) auto-moderated to prevent off-topic discussion; "off-topic" hasn't been made terribly clear by moderators themselves or their Global Chat Rules (published here[kb.tabletopsimulator.com]) but the short version of it is that a player was banned from global chat for mentioned that they are gay. When prompted, the moderator who issued the ban, Jorp, suggested that the reason was self-evident with the defense: "Maybe you didn't understand them [the rules] correctly".

Upon request for clarification from the moderation team in the Discord server, another moderator, CHRY, offered the explanations: "If your message is offensive of disruptive then it will be met with a kick and/or ban.", "Discussing sexuality has no place in global chat.", and "Tabletop simulator is about playing tabletop games, not a place to discuss sexuality, fetishes, politics." - that last point is important because "fetishes" and "politics" have not been relevant up to this point until, unprompted, a community moderator mentioned those topics alongside "sexuality" as inappropriate topics for discussion.

The charitable reading is that the (apparent) auto-moderation has been implemented in the way that it has to prevent terms like "gay" being used in a derogatory fashion - unfortunately for TTS, auto-moderation isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish between contexts in which a word is applied, so it's insufficient as a moderation tool. Additionally, it seems that in their desire to ensure that global chat is as potentially free from drama as possible, the TTS community management have curated an environment in which any self-identification or expression that differs from heteronormativity is "inappropriate".

Their own moderation guidelines have created the perfect environment for anti-LGBT rhetoric and sentiment to thrive - regardless of whether this is how they actually feel or not - and this is reflected in the surge of positive reviews for this game, containing everything from a simple "based" (which is almost certainly a dog-whistle at this point) to full on anti-LGBT screeds. It is deeply disappointing, additionally, that in the wake of the increased discussion and reviewing of this game, that the developers themselves have done virtually nothing to clarify their stance, moderate their playerbase, or even apologise to the community that they have caused so much harm. In fact, they haven't even offered an apology to the player in question who they banned.

TTS is a massively, massively social game; sure, you can probably use it to play some board games that are single-player, but its intention is clearly to be a multi-player board game engine - it is unfortunate, then, that they have decided to not address the fact that they are cultivating an audience of players who regurgitate harmful rhetoric (ironic or not) and generally create an environment that is toxic to any demographic of player. I sincerely hope the developers pull themselves together and do something about this issue, because if they don't, it's literally a slippery slope from here.

Trans rights are human rights.

TTS has a global chat system which is (apparently) auto-moderated to prevent off-topic discussion; "off-topic" hasn't been made terribly clear by moderators themselves or their Global Chat Rules (published [url=https://kb.tabletopsimulator.com/getting-started/chat-rules/]here[/url]) but the short version of it is that a player was banned from global chat for mentioned that they are gay. When prompted, the moderator who issued the ban, Jorp, suggested that the reason was self-evident with the defense: "Maybe you didn't understand them [the rules] correctly". Upon request for clarification from the moderation team in the Discord server, another moderator, CHRY, offered the explanations: "If your message is offensive of disruptive then it will be met with a kick and/or ban.", "Discussing sexuality has no place in global chat.", and "Tabletop simulator is about playing tabletop games, not a place to discuss sexuality, fetishes, politics." - that last point is important because "fetishes" and "politics" have not been relevant up to this point until, unprompted, a community moderator mentioned those topics alongside "sexuality" as inappropriate topics for discussion. The charitable reading is that the (apparent) auto-moderation has been implemented in the way that it has to prevent terms like "gay" being used in a derogatory fashion - unfortunately for TTS, auto-moderation isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish between contexts in which a word is applied, so it's insufficient as a moderation tool. Additionally, it seems that in their desire to ensure that global chat is as potentially free from drama as possible, the TTS community management have curated an environment in which any self-identification or expression that differs from heteronormativity is "inappropriate". Their own moderation guidelines have created the perfect environment for anti-LGBT rhetoric and sentiment to thrive - regardless of whether this is how they actually feel or not - and this is reflected in the surge of positive reviews for this game, containing everything from a simple "based" (which is almost certainly a dog-whistle at this point) to full on anti-LGBT screeds. It is deeply disappointing, additionally, that in the wake of the increased discussion and reviewing of this game, that the developers themselves have done virtually nothing to clarify their stance, moderate their playerbase, or even apologise to the community that they have caused so much harm. In fact, they haven't even offered an apology to the player in question who they banned. TTS is a massively, massively social game; sure, you can probably use it to play some board games that are single-player, but its intention is clearly to be a multi-player board game engine - it is unfortunate, then, that they have decided to not address the fact that they are cultivating an audience of players who regurgitate harmful rhetoric (ironic or not) and generally create an environment that is toxic to any demographic of player. I sincerely hope the developers pull themselves together and do something about this issue, because if they don't, it's literally a slippery slope from here. Trans rights are human rights.