Curious query regarding safety tools

Posting out of curiosity. Would love to hear people's answers on some, or all of the questions below.

0. Do you know what safety tools are?

1. Do you use safety tools in your games? Which games? Which tools?

2. Have you ever suggested to your GM that you should establish safety tool when they didn't take the initiative?

3. Does your safety tool usage vary between in person games, online games and pbp? In what way?

4. Do you think safety tools are necessary for a good play experience? Does it differ between genres/themes? Does it differ based on GM experience?

5. Have you ever had or witnessed any bad play experiences that wouldn't have happened if you'd established proper safety tools beforehand? What's your story?

I tend to add safety tools to my games, but have rarely needed them as just defining my expectations before hand is enough to attract those with similar guidelines or remind players to follow them.These are variants of ones I found on this site and I have seen other versions of them. Not all games have them but some GM may mention the option if players ask or just post expected Line & Veil for the game

I think is healthy to have the discussion and use the tools to start the conversion.
I selvom need/use them myself, but if eg setting fire to kittens is to much for one player, the i can express my bad guys evilness in a different way

Another thread with thoughts on the subject - link.

So far I haven't used any formal safety tools in my games, unless fade-to-black on certain subjects count. During session 0 as the GM, I ask my players whether there's any subject matter they would rather not tread. Of course, they can always reach out to me later too, if we brush up against something uncomfortable.

I wouldn't say safety tools are required for a good play experience. They can be helpful for some players, but others don't find a need for them. It's pretty context-dependent!

The safety conversation is a must in all the games I start: taboo topics, lines and veils, any personal stuff I need to know about can be messaged to me personally. I don't use a formal checklist though, those, while comprehensive, can also make players feel as if they are filling in a form as if they were applying for the right to play a game, which might defeat the purpose of trying to help a group of players come together and learn to be comfortable playing with each other.

I also caveat an open-ended promise. Things can change along the way if/when boundaries shift or when sometimes players discover they weren't as comfortable as they thought they might be. I try to establish in advance that such conversations can be had any time along the way, and for everyone to understand why this must necessarily be always an option on the table.

in my experience 95% of the time no safety tools needed, most people are decent.

when you add in playing in person, with random people and/or paying to play then safety tools can have their place.

0. Do you know what safety tools are?
Yes.

1. Do you use safety tools in your games? Which games? Which tools?
With formerly unknown players at convention games - Lines & Veils and/or X-Card

2. Have you ever suggested to your GM that you should establish safety tool when they didn't take the initiative?
No.

3. Does your safety tool usage vary between in person games, online games and pbp? In what way?
Absolutely. With in person games, they are only needful if people don't know each other (especially me as GM). In pbp games, Lines & Veils can be practical, but are mostly unnecessary. Online, I don't play with people I don't know and therefore don't need the safety tools.

4. Do you think safety tools are necessary for a good play experience? Does it differ between genres/themes? Does it differ based on GM experience?
Not at all. Trust and respect are much more needful than any tools.

5. Have you ever had or witnessed any bad play experiences that wouldn't have happened if you'd established proper safety tools beforehand? What's your story?
I did, but that was the style in the 80s and sometimes even 90s...

addendum:
I use the X-Card the old way - I stop when the X-Card is used and asked what the problem is to understand how to navigate further on - which I explain before the game, of course.

Should people misuse (yes, that happens) the X-Card, they may leave my game at once.

With others, they have learned they can trust me and notice me should I get into the wrong waters.

I feel like it's a bit odd to say that safety tools are not needed when people are decent/respectful/trustworthy. People can be polite and respectful and still cause a bad experience when they don't know a specific topic someone dislikes. Not all uncomfortable topics are 18+ and expected to be uncomfortable. Would anyone say a person is being indecent or disrespectful if they posted a pic of a sponge and accidentally caused a reaction from someone's trypophobia?

I just don't like the implication that safety concerns are only caused by indecent people. I can play in a game with players I think are trustworthy, but if they raise a topic I dislike and they don't know about, a bad experience will be had regardless. No matter how much respect or trust there is, lack of knowledge is still lack of knowledge. So if the game doesn't have any safety tools or at least a conversation about it prior, it puts me in an awkward situation of having to either raise the topic myself or hope that the themes I dislike won't come up (and they are definitely not themes one would usually expect to cause problems).

Just my two cents; my main thoughts on safety tools were in the other thread already. :) I'm also not trying to oppose the views expressed above, I just think it's important to remember that not everyone has common dislikes, and certain ones can be niche and unexpected.

Edit: as an addendum, I also like knowing what other people don't like so I can be sure my riskier posts are not making anyone uncomfortable.

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And just to stay on thread topic, my answers to posed questions:

0. Yes.
1. I like Lines & Veils questionnaires with pre-set lists of themes, I would use them if I were running something new. Either that, or just asking everyone if there are specific themes they'd like to avoid.
2. Yes. Or more precisely, stated my own list of themes to please avoid. Felt awkward, but better safe than sorry.
3. Can't answer, only play PbP.
4. Yes, unless you're playing with very close friends. Especially for horror, gory stuff, relationship dramas, historical fiction and anything adult.
5. Had some slightly unpleasant experiences, but nothing too bad.

I'd just chime in to say that folks who don't think safety tool are needed perhaps haven't had an experience where they were desperately needed, and while I get that knowing your group well can clear a lot of land-mines... not all of them. Especially depending on the game and subject matter. My thoughts are also in that other thread, but CATS is your friend!

There I see a misunderstanding I'd like to correct...

It's not about trustworthiness, being disrespectful or anything. It's about the trust and respect we have for each other, so when anything happens, we at the table are able to talk about what is the problem.

Where a "I can't stand it but don't want to talk about it" is fine.
Where a "I don't like this in that combination but otherwise it's okay" is fine.
Where a "I never thought it would be a problem, but..." is fine.

I feel like it's better to work towards preventing anything from happening in the first place than doing damage control after the fact. It's good if the group can move past an unpleasant experience, but it would have already occured. I'd rather it not occur at all.

Also this is reaching into a murky area of what exactly makes a safety tool, beside its name. Your first example is pretty much an X-Card, and any discussion of uncomfortable topics can become Lines & Veils of a sort. Is the question of needing safety tools about needing specific, strictly denoted tools, then, or any form of safety, regardless of the name? That does significantly change the meaning of an answer about needing safety tools. (My interpretation was more general: any safety conversation is a safety tool.)

But yeah, mainly I think preventing issues is more important than relying on resolving them as they happen. That is a personal opinion, however.

I don't know if I'd say "I don't think safety tools are needed", but I've never used them. And you're right, I haven't had an experience where they're desperately needed. But I have been in a lot of games over my years here and in IRL games, and lately with games in hell, Barovia, and a ghostly Saltmarsh, the subject matter has been very dark at times.

However, I certainly don't have a problem with other people using safety tools! If you find them helpful, then who am I to say you're wrong?! But I wouldn't want DMs to feel that they're somehow failing if they don't use safety tools. We seem to have fun without them.

There are some young teenage players in my IRL game, and we don't have safety tools. Mainly it's about watching our casual cursing, but that's not just game stuff; it's general conversation too.

I don't use them with my home group because I know the players well and I know what triggers them and what doesn't. I have used other groups in the past, but much of the time it doesn't become an issue since I avoid hot-button topics in my games.

I tend to be of two minds regarding this. When I run my professional games, you can bet I'm having everyone fill out a lines and veils form, and having a discussion during the session zero and making sure the players know I have an open door and that I prioritize safety and comfort.

But around here, I like to list the obvious trigger warnings in the game ad. I also frequently ask everyone if they have any topics or scenarios they'd like to avoid. But I'm much less formal about it.

I don't think GMs are failing if they're not using safety tools, but I wish more people would at least ask "hey, any topics you'd like to avoid" before the start of the game. Each time they don't and I have to bring it up on my own I feel like an entitled prick. XD

It's especially awkward with the topic which is incredibly benign and mundane but which I have a very strong aversion towards. No one would expect it, so I have to bring it up if I don't want to risk it randomly coming up.