WoW Rookie: Filter out the #$%!
by Lisa Poisso 
May 13th 2009 at 9:00PM
Hey, isn't that the same screenshot we used for WoW Rookie just two weeks ago? Indeed it is, faithful readers – because frankly, "Who wants my man meat?" is the perfect illustration for today's topic.
The World of Warcraft is your refuge at the end of a long, hard day – and the last thing you want to see rolling across your screen is the kind of lowbrow posturing that's given Barrens chat its notorious reputation. Or perhaps you'd like to let the kids try their hands at WoW, but you don't want them soaking up the rough language that seems to turn up more and more frequently in busy city Trade and General channels.
It's time to take charge of your game chat.
Turn on the profanity filter. WoW's profanity filter is on by default, but many players disable it as soon as they realize it's bowdlerizing their chat text. If your kids are beginning to eye their own characters, you may want to revisit the profanity filter. Hit your Escape key to go the Main Menu, and go to Interface Options, then Advanced Options. Look for the Mature Language Filter in the Chat section.
Be forewarned that the existence of a profanity filter does not give players an excuse to use inappropriate language in game. "The Mature Language Filter is only an extra means of protection from obscenities in chat channels, not an excuse to use them," says Blizzard. "All players need to adhere to the World of Warcraft Harassment Policy at all times."
Leave the public chat channels. Whether you're trying to dodge Barrens chatter for a more peaceful, immersive play session or trying to protect young ears from the kind of ear-blistering talk that's likely to erupt in zones frequented by immature players (Barrens and Elwynn Forest, we're looking at you), sometimes it's easier to simply leave the General and Trade channels. To leave General chat, type /leave general; to rejoin, type /join general. Note that you may not be able to rejoin Trade or city-specific channels unless you are in that city.
Ignore problem players. You can keep from seeing chat messages (both public and private) from players who annoy you by adding them to your ignore list. To ignore a player, type /ignore playername. You can view your Ignore list by clicking your Social button (the same place you'd look for your Friends list).
WoW offers a relatively small ignore list. If you run out of room on your list, you may find you need to remove some players from your list or install an add-on that allows you to ignore more players.
WoW Rookie feeds you the basics to get you off to a good start in the World of Warcraft. Find more tools you can use in the WoW Insider Directory and WoW Insider Leveling Guides.Filed under: Tips, How-tos, WoW Social Conventions, Features, WoW Rookie
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Vidi May 14th 2009 7:54PM
First, install ignoremore. this addon allows you to have an infinite ignore list. I love it.
Second, don't leave general. Most of the idiots don't hit /1 unless its an accident. So just leave Trade chat. Then use General for all your trade needs.
Third, if that's not enough, several servers have set up their own trade chat. If you played on say Skywall, it might be called SkywallTrade. Several players then take turns doing their level best to moderate their private "public" channel. Check your serever forums to see if one is available on your realm. If not, maybe starting one would be a good idea.
Remember if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Don't add to the spam by arguing with the morons. You can't cure stupid. You can only avoid it as best you can.
Maybe we should petition Blizzard for more control over our "private" channel? Or maybe one of those fine addon authors could come up with something?
Just a few thoughts.
Zooty May 15th 2009 4:40PM
I am totally against the anal[spell] spam, but the trade channel can even get hilarious, I enjoy when I have to stop by a city to do something because there's normally a funny conversation going on. Sure there are the regulars that talk about crap and spell bad, but when it's not them, people can get quite funny.
Vulgarity, aside 'damn it' and 'hell', really is kind of a drag though, even more so the racial and other discriminatoryterms, those don't really fly with me, as it's just ignorant (when obama became president anyone?)
But to attack every single person that talks in trade channel is extreme, it's simply the only universal channel that people auto connect to, so it's like a direct link to the playerbase. If blizzard maybe makes a universally, and not just in city, chat channel you auto-join upon logging in, I'm sure people would migrate to that rather than trade, thus clearing it up for trade.
There's just something fun about talking to people whom I don't know already on my realm (can only fit 100 people on your friends list unfortunately) about wow and various things, while waiting in-between things in wow, and ont having to have a separate window open to do such.