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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsForum post of the day: Where's my big brother
by Amanda Dean 
Aug 26th 2008 at 3:12AM
At one point in time Chuck Norris jokes dominated trade chat. Then it was the Murloc game. I'm sure we've all noticed that now it's the anal <insert spell> gibberish that now floods the channel. Dolce of Blackrock believes that it's time the Blizzard begin moderating trade channels during prime time. The chat channel can be turned off, but then it loses utility for valid messages such as selling enchants, transmutes, and well, general trade.
As a parent, Dolce continued his argument:
Wow has a very broad appeal and the average parent would look at the packaging of the World of Warcraft and assume that it is nothing more than a fantasy game where their son or daughter can play with their friends and have "adventures".
The average parent I imagine (and this is merely a broadstroke comment based on the huge playerbase), may not have any sort of familiairity with online games, and even to a certain degree, computers as a whole.
Asking parents (although I am extremely attentive to what my childrens activities are) to have an intimate knowledge of joining and exiting out of city channels is a bit extreme. Perhaps if there were parental controls that you could set ot make this easier...... /wink
In any event I would not be suprised to see some news anchor with some over the top expository on the lewd and profane content that is seen in WoW spun out of context in the near future.
I would say they would be killing a variety of birds with one stone if they simply moderated these popular channels.
Blizzard has taken a passive role in moderation, allowing reports from community members to be the primary source of action. Beardly of Dalvengyr agreed that servers should be moderated at all times. Other offenses include "People sitting stealthed on Quest Givers, Taurens parking their kodo on the mailbox, gold spammers." All of which are annoyances that we've learned to deal with.
The text based nature of most communications means that Blizzard can review content at any time. When the abuse is too great, there is always the option of reporting someone for their obnoxious behavior. But since the process of opening a ticket and responding to a GM is long and cumbersome. In most most cases I let it slide.
World of Warcraft carries a T for Teen rating with the disclaimer that the experience may change during game play. That's Blizzard's way of saying that there will always be obnoxious people who violate the limits of taste and common sense. Parents must take responsibility for their children, but may not be able to read every offensive message that comes across.
Do you think Blizzard should take a more active role in moderation?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Forums, Forum Post of the Day
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 7)
Thorn Aug 26th 2008 4:32AM
And man, you guys need to speed up your servers. Your commenting system is apparently backlogged by about 15 minutes.
jumb Aug 26th 2008 4:33AM
I'm happy to see it stop, but not because of the offensive thing, just cause it's annoying. It's stupid because it just goes in a big cycle, then people enter, think it's funny and repeat something that was just said.
Palladiamors Aug 26th 2008 4:43AM
I shouldn't HAVE to ignore until my ignore list is full. Yes, we have a way to deal with those morons, but no, it isn't perfect. And the reason they are on the trade channel? Because everyone turns off the general channel if they have any sense. So the morons go to the only place where people might kind of have to pay attention, the trade channel. Its inane and ignorant that people have to sort through trash and stupidity just to sell or try to buy something on trade. Blizzard has an incredibally hands off approach to people like that, because those people do still pay for accounts, and actually PUNISHING them for stupidity might chase off their customers. Still, I think the WoW enviroment would be a lot better off without the majority of those morons running around.
theRaptor Aug 26th 2008 4:50AM
The majority of "those morons" are the kids of the parent in the OP. The only people who think most of the trade channel antics are funny, are either kids, or professional trolls.
Ban kids and the amount of idiotic and annoying behaviour would plummet. To show this just hang around on a server in the middle of a working week, and then watch the idiocy skyrocket at 3-4 in the afternoon.
Palladiamors Aug 26th 2008 2:52PM
Thats mostly true, Raptor, but a lot of those morons are also older people who know they can get away with it, because its the internet. I will agree that most of them are probably teens and younger kids who think its great fun, but I've known my fair share of college age and older people who are really just idiots. Used to, you could just turn off general and everything was okay. There for a while, it actually got so bad I even had to turn off world defense. It really isn't just about the trade channel. Some one before had a good solution, though. Ban their access to the channels they are spamming in, and if it persists, even their /say's. /p chat or guild chat could remain, if those poor sods could ever actually get into a guild or party. Further, make the ban from their ISP address as well as their account. That way they can still play WoW, but they won't be a bother to everyone.
Hash Aug 26th 2008 4:43AM
My ignore list is maxed out on just about every character. I hate the trade channel nonsense. I'd like to see similar functionality to the report spam feature. Its a temporary ignore and if enough people report you - you go into a silent mode for 15min or so.
Its kinda funny to end up pugging with a group and you've got someone on ignore cause they're a trade channel abuser...
theRaptor Aug 26th 2008 4:45AM
The problem with trade is entirely Blizzards fault for getting rid of /global. People want to be able to talk (spam stupid shit) with everyone on the server, and if they can only access a global channel while in a city, guess what, they will do it on trade. If they bought back /global then 99% of the idiocy would go there.
Note to idiot parents. WoW already has a profanity filter, GM's will also ban people for getting around it or for other inappropriate behaviour, if you report it (I got a guy banned for swearing at me in Malaysian). Active moderation would require an extra 2-3 employees for every server (real time monitoring 24/7). Not going to happen.
Wade Aug 26th 2008 4:49AM
Answer:
WoW is not a kids game. I dont know what its rated now but it used to be rated M here in Aus, which means 15+.
Eisengel Aug 26th 2008 4:52AM
If tickets didn't take 3 to 4 hours to get serviced and GMs were slightly more helpful than Nerf jackhammers there wouldn't be much of a problem.
specs1832 Aug 26th 2008 5:04AM
I'd have to say I'm against policing channels. There is a Teen rating and a profanity filter there, use them. Now if they wanted to add another where the player set the terms of it, like say Filter All Comments in Trade With the Word "Anal". That would be great. Each player could customize their own Chat Windows to filter out what they don't want to deal with. This would also free up alot of ignore spaces for the true asshats.
Anaughtybear Aug 26th 2008 5:06AM
People who don't like it can use the ignore feature. Yes, the ignore list should be bigger.
GMs are worthless anyway. They should have the balls to stick around and answer your reply if you get reported by some douche bag with a grudge. This email system telling you that you were reported is cowardly and favors the person who made the report every time. I realize nothing happens most times you get reported, but it's still not a fair trial. Often times people will provoke a response and then report you. Who wants to take the two hours to open a ticket and tell their side of the story? I understand that racist/sexist remarks should be reported, but people are basically asking for a witch hunt. Screw them and their undereducated children. And to you GMs, get some nuts and a clue.
Gerb Aug 26th 2008 5:16AM
General channels being moderated? Hell no. I enjoy causing a little anarchy out of boredom.
I already got banned 15 times (last one being perma...) on the forums for doing that / calling retards retards, so at least give me room to keep doing it in the game self.
parakletos Aug 26th 2008 6:56AM
I'm a parent playing the game as does my son. The profanity he hears is no worse than the stuff he hears at school but it doesn't mean its not offensive.
The other problem as others have pointed out is that the trade channel has become useless as its so full of general chat never mind whether its offensive or not.
One of thing I'd like to see when everyone signs on is 'Today's Heroic is....'
Tridus Aug 26th 2008 7:42AM
Turn on the profanity filter?
No offense, but I'm sick of people thinking the whole world should change its behaviour because they find something offensive.
You do not have a right to live in a safe little bubble world where nothing ever bothers you. If you can't deal with that, get off the Internet.
Fellbane Aug 26th 2008 12:41PM
Tridus, I am not on the "internet". I access a private server via the internet but I am not out "there" surfing the free net. And yeah, I think my quality of experience could be improved by removing all spam from /2.
Mihn Aug 26th 2008 5:24AM
Its the Greater Internet Farkwad Theory.
Regular Person + Anonimity + Audience = Farkwad.
People cant be civil in those situations, they think cause no one can identify them, they can act how they please.
G.I.F.T. ©Penny Arcade
Tanglebones Aug 26th 2008 5:57AM
For people who are tired of seeing these asinine "games" in trade chat, public channels are already monitored, by you, the user base.
Every user has agreed to the WoW Terms of Use (every patch) which includes the following: "...you may not:Transmit or post any content or language which, in the sole and absolute discretion of Blizzard, is deemed to be offensive, including without limitation content or language that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, sexually explicit, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, nor may you use a misspelling or an alternative spelling to circumvent the content and language restrictions listed above"
I report every violation of the above that i see in trade. I use the "report issue" as opposed to "open a GM ticket" because they seem to get serviced faster, and really reading a GM's macro'd repsonses doesn't help me out any. If everyone who was irked by this sort of behavior took the 30 seconds to report it... i dunno, something might happen, maybe we'd even see a "report offencive speech" like the "report spam" and "report AFK" that we have now.
To those who use the excuse "The game is rated Teen +"... the rating of the game does not excuse a violation of the legal contract (ToS) that you have to agree to in order to play the game.
Nereeza Aug 26th 2008 11:14AM
>I report every violation of the above that i see in trade. I use the "report issue" as opposed to ...
How do i do that?
Clicking "Report Spam" in hopes that the offender's comments will be noticed for what they are doesn't seem to work, and the fewer offenders, the better my game becomes..
Fellbane Aug 26th 2008 12:21PM
Tangle bones and Neereza, it's great that you guys do your part to report but let's face it, that does not help the immediate problem. If you want to use /2 and there is current tear on the latest fad joke, you are screwed. And since sending a report eventually requires a GM to investigate it, why not have that GM working real-time?
Sure, maybe a new option to report would be useful. Such reports could go to a designated GM who would have to give them a priority and thus be capable of removing spammers from /2 while they are spamming. But arguing details is pointless as Blizzard can work it out. They just need to do something.
ermansup Aug 26th 2008 5:37AM
It always comes down to money in the end. The costs of hiring enough people to monitor the trade channels of hundreds of realms are staggering. Considering the wait times for tickets it's obvious they are already trying to save costs on that department. GMs watching trade channels is a change that the lazy parents will never get.