IC Forums and the (over-)usage of VPN

[Garras Up]

9 minutes ago, Sixty said:

No one won. You have your opinion and everyone else has theirs. Yours is just a generalized opinion based on pure speculation about the situation, wanting OOC regulation on something that’s entirely IC. I stopped replying because your opinion won’t change and neither will mine. I didn’t see it necessary to respond to you about it any longer. 

My opinion is one held by various other players from all positions throughout the server, I'm just the only one speaking on it how it is.

[Storm]

My two cent on this is that it's not a big deal. Look at how much VPN companies have been pushing their services as of late, think back to how hard people were shilling for Nord VPN just a year (give or take) ago. Most, even non-tech savy, people are aware of what a VPN is nowadays. At the same time it really doesn't matter if a post was made behind a VPN or not 9/10 times. Unless its an actual threat with some merit to it, no one is going to care enough to get it tracked down. We portray a state within the United States of America, praise the First Amendment.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Dawn

[Sixty]

3 minutes ago, Garras Up said:

My opinion is one held by various other players from all positions throughout the server, I'm just the only one speaking on it how it is.

As is my opinion, as evidenced in this thread. See just above. Just because your opinion is held by others, doesn’t make it right. Same goes for my opinion. We’re at an impasse. Agree to disagree.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Sixty

[Smilesville]

14 minutes ago, Garras Up said:

what does getting a lockpick have to do with unrealistic 'use' of a vpn?

Obtaining a lockpick to break into a house without admin supervision would be just as easy as pretending to know a thing when it comes to information technology.

 

Quote

Why would I want to find some clown making comments on a news article? I'm simply tired of seeing the 'vpn' tag bullshit at the bottom of every person's comments as if somebody's gonna PM them OOCly and ask where their IP address says they are, as if that isn't powergame-ish as fuck.

Then what's the purpose of all this? If we're not arguing against VPN use because you don't want to track someone down, is this really just about a flippant preference you have against seeing VPN's mentioned on the forums?

 

Quote

How is it narrow minded to believe that the over-use of the VPN thing is stupid and should stop?

That's not what I said, though.

 

What's narrow-minded and toxic is the idea that something isn't realistic because you wouldn't personally do it. It's the same problem I have with the way fear RP is typically adjudicated - "I wouldn't fight back against someone who has a gun pointed at me, therefore it's unrealistic and powergaming for anyone to do so." Plenty of people do, and we have countless examples of video evidence to prove it. Some even come out on top.

 

Thinking a particular course of action is ill-advised, inefficient, or unnecessary is quite a different thing than saying an action shouldn't be permissible.

[Garras Up]

38 minutes ago, Smilesville said:

Obtaining a lockpick to break into a house without admin supervision would be just as easy as pretending to know a thing when it comes to information technology.

Only you can't do such things without an admin's permission.

 

39 minutes ago, Smilesville said:

Then what's the purpose of all this? If we're not arguing against VPN use because you don't want to track someone down, is this really just about a flippant preference you have against seeing VPN's mentioned on the forums?

Pretty much yeah, it's irritating to see because 99% of the comments using VPN's are either trollish, or are just comments of a nature that wouldn't warrant a VPN.

39 minutes ago, Smilesville said:

That's not what I said, though.

 

What's narrow-minded and toxic is the idea that something isn't realistic because you wouldn't personally do it. It's the same problem I have with the way fear RP is typically adjudicated - "I wouldn't fight back against someone who has a gun pointed at me, therefore it's unrealistic and powergaming for anyone to do so." Plenty of people do, and we have countless examples of video evidence to prove it. Some even come out on top.

 

Thinking a particular course of action is ill-advised, inefficient, or unnecessary is quite a different thing than saying an action shouldn't be permissible.

I see what you're tryna say, but my point still stands. VPN usage is becoming so common that it's basically becoming a meme. Every time I look at the online section I expect to see atleast 10+ comments from people 'using' VPN's saying trollish shit or simply trying to be funny. 

[Valkyria]

My character, CT, one who's very much aware about cyber-security and all that jazz, shitposted hard all day every day without a VPN, because nobody's gonna do anything over a "lol this dude died hah ecks dee" comment made in character. It's too much effort to bother that much over a shitpost. I personally feel it is a bit extreme to VPN up and bounce your connection off of a Russian spy satellite that's biolocated both on the Western end of Alaska and in the deep bowels of space at the same time, but I'm sure some characters have their reasons. People think they'll have this elite hit-squad tracking them over a shitpost on a press comment or some such, which just hasn't been the case. Search "CT-1" on the forums to see what I mean.

 

tl;dr — people use it all the time, I feel it's excessive but as long as they're OK with the roleplay that comes if anyone wants to track them down, shouldn't be an issue.

[waterwings]

6 minutes ago, Wirbelwind said:

SNIP

The thing is that it is so incredibly easy in this day and age to activate a VPN. On your cellphone, computer. You pay for a subscription once (or use one of the free VPNs available). Click on the "Connect" button and you are set for life as most apps allow automatic connection once your computer turns on.

It is not extreme to use a VPN at all, though:

7 minutes ago, Wirbelwind said:

I personally feel it is a bit extreme to VPN up and bounce your connection off of a Russian spy satellite that's biolocated both on the Western end of Alaska and in the deep bowels of space at the same time

This is not how it works.

You connect to a VPN in London.

There is just a datacenter in that place which acts as a gateway through which you're connected to the internet.

What you described is more like the TOR network (Also free to download), bouncing your connection from Egypt to Albania to the US to Nigerio to the UK to the US to South Korea. Which is why I think using the TOR network should be against the rules while using a plain old VPN shouldn't.

[Valkyria]

2 minutes ago, BjornV said:

This is not how it works.

You connect to a VPN in London.

There is just a datacenter in that place which acts as a gateway through which you're connected to the internet.
 

It's an exaggeration for comedic effect and a reference to an old post in one such thread, but thank you nonetheless!

[Sixty]

1 hour ago, Wirbelwind said:

tl;dr — people use it all the time, I feel it's excessive but as long as they're OK with the roleplay that comes if anyone wants to track them down, shouldn't be an issue.

It's not excessive at all. They are highly accessible and easy to use. For example, Mozilla's VPN costs $4.99 a month with no bandwidth restrictions, 30 countries worth of servers, no network activity logging and you can connect up to 5 devices (including your phone). It's also a click-of-a-button to turn it on. Anyone could do it very, very easily. It would actually be next to impossible to prove where someone was visiting on the internet since they don't keep track of your network activity. Sure they could gain access to your real IP address as that is logged when you connect to the VPN, but even with a court order there may not be a lot of information there to provide. That's the whole point of a VPN. I don't agree that it's excessive or out of the ordinary. If someone wants to use one, that's their decision and their IC reasoning. That shouldn't be restricted as its an IC matter. However, I do agree the IC forum role play surrounding it should be held to a higher standard. Especially if someone is actually claiming to use one and the fact that not all VPN companies are created equal. I'm sure many of the free VPN options are not so strict with their privacy policy.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Sixty

[Pádraig]

instant fix: 

 

using a vpn should require world points

@nervous hmu