Chat Filter :o

[PrestonTheSlime]

While I believe the chat filter is un-necessary I do see the benefit of it because the younger fanbase. In this post I will go over a few Pros and Cons of this new chat filter to both players and staff.

Pros for the Players
-A younger fanbase can play with this new chat system, expanding the community.

-Provides an OKAY solution to spamming and "cursing"

Cons for the Players
-Less freedom of expression: (Ex. If you fall off in /warp pvp and type "FUDGE" no one will take you seriously.)

-Mistakes in the system: (now some word combinations and names are unable to be typed. Ex. If you were to say any word with sh at the end followed by a space then the word it, the game would detect you saying "sh it" as opposed to "Push it"

-(this one might just be my opinion) Chat Filter Bypassers: This is the most annoying thing I've ever seen. People who bypass chat filter just to say what they would have said in the first place are only as annoying as spongebob or not having a release date for the new prison.

The main problem is if you try to fix the mistakes in the system by making the chat more lenient you subject yourself to more chat filter bypassers and the more strict you make it to stop the bypassers, the less freedom people have. Lose Lose situation.

Pros for the Staff
-Easier Moderation: While us players would like to think the only reason the staff is ever on is to Moderate our chat, ban the hackers and assist us, its not the only reason they are here. Even though that tends to take most of their time they are still here to PLAY THE GAME just like us. This easier moderation would make it to where a lot of them can take less time busy and actually have some free time to play like they loved doing when they first started.

-Less Reports: I've seen quite a few reports based around mistreatment of chat privileges to bully, harass or annoy. This chat filter puts those to a halt by making them harder to do.

Cons for the Staff
-One of the only cons I can think of for staff is Chat bypassers.

-Another very minor one is, what if a staff member likes to have their chat unfiltered because it helps them to better see inside the minds of the players and helps to get to know them better. That in turn helps to build the community.

My Suggestion?
I only came into writing this post with one solution but have thought of one way better in the process of writing.

My first idea was to have staff be able to turn off chat filter with a command when they get on and regulate chat as normal. Of course there would be an auto-detector if staff were disconnected or they could turn it off manually before getting off. This would have chat be a much better (more normal) place but only when staff is on.

My second idea (the one I favor) is to have the chat filter as a default set to on but the players can pull up a menu using maybe /chat or /filter to access the filter and turn off all of it or just pieces. The "cursing" detector when on could still display the message but with a **** instead of shit. The spam detector would remove any identical or very similar chat messages said within the last *insert amount here* of messages. That way the older community that wants no chat filter can have no chat filter while the kids can still have their chat filter and the server would still be kid friendly. Sure this second option would take more effort to produce but would it be worth it?

Before I end I just want to say that this is meant to be a DEBATE POST so please don't just vote on the poll (make sure you vote on the poll though :D) but put your opinion in the comments and if you think you can fix the idea better....
TELL US HOW.

I look forward to seeing everyone's opinion and as always
~Cheech <3

 

[Kk28]

I think this is an amazing idea, my younger sister plays on this sever and I hate for her to see curse words at such a young age.

 

[Leesy]

The filter is absolutely retarded. I cant say so many things, i do not swear, i do not advertise, yet i am frequently told off by the filter. Theres nothing worse than being told not to do something that youre NOT doing! ... except maybe having to type out the same thing 4 times in various different ways simply to try to say the thing that youre saying, which is perfectly innocent! imo this filter only punishes the good people by making chat difficult and does nothing to stop the bad people who easily find ways around it. I have 40000 screenshots of waffleman653 being vulgar despite the filter if anyone needs any proof!!!!

 

[PrestonTheSlime]

The filter is absolutely retarded. I cant say so many things, i do not swear, i do not advertise, yet i am frequently told off by the filter. Theres nothing worse than being told not to do something that youre NOT doing! ... except maybe having to type out the same thing 4 times in various different ways simply to try to say the thing that youre saying, which is perfectly innocent! imo this filter only punishes the good people by making chat difficult and does nothing to stop the bad people who easily find ways around it. I have 40000 screenshots of waffleman being vulgar despite the filter if anyone needs any proof!!!!

This is the type of thing my Less Freedom of Expression and Chat Filter Bypassers comparison was referring to! I wish more people would see this as it is a very important subject. Just so you know I'm completely with you on this Leesy.
~Cheech <3

 

[ChocBar]

As a staff member, I have seen no cons to the system. I have not had anything that I try to say filtered.

The complaints I have heard from players are trivial, like not being able to type Sharpness X and having to type Sharpness 10. Complaints like that are nothing compared to the bullying and harassment that happen in unfiltered chat. Often the harassment is not reported.

I also don't believe players truly have freedom of expression. By playing, the agree to follow server rules. And in Skyblock those rules include no cussing, at all. So arguments about having to say "fudge" when dying in PVP don't apply here.

I can see where some players won't like being inconvenienced by some restrictions. Most people, including me, don't like change. But to me, protecting kids from being bullied and harassed when staff aren't on line are worth it.

And, if there is proof of players bypassing chat filters to be vulgar, to bully or to harass, I would love to see it posted in the forums under player reports. Staff try to check those most everyday and deal with issues that are reported. But, if it isn't reported, with proof, it is difficult to help.

Honesty, if more people reported the abusive players, we would not need the chat filters.

Purpz

 

[Leesy]

As a staff member, I have seen no cons to the system. I have not had anything that I try to say filtered.

The complaints I have heard from players are trivial, like not being able to type Sharpness X and having to type Sharpness 10. Complaints like that are nothing compared to the bullying and harassment that happen in unfiltered chat. Often the harassment is not reported.

I also don't believe players truly have freedom of expression. By playing, the agree to follow server rules. And in Skyblock those rules include no cussing, at all. So arguments about having to say "fudge" when dying in PVP don't apply here.

I can see where some players won't like being inconvenienced by some restrictions. Most people, including me, don't like change. But to me, protecting kids from being bullied and harassed when staff aren't on line are worth it.

And, if there is proof of players bypassing chat filters to be vulgar, to bully or to harass, I would love to see it posted in the forums under player reports. Staff try to check those most everyday and deal with issues that are reported. But, if it isn't reported, with proof, it is difficult to help.

Honesty, if more people reported the abusive players, we would not need the chat filters.

Purpz

the last time i reported a player, the report sat there for 2 days before i chased up ryan to look at it. I feel like it would still be sitting there uninvestigated had i not. So i figured i wouldnt waste my time reporting people anymore. Me and 20 other people are still waiting for donator tags on these forums after posting in that thread. I got the idea that whoever is in charge of doing things on the forums was kind of lazy... as all hell.

 

[PrestonTheSlime]

As a staff member, I have seen no cons to the system. I have not had anything that I try to say filtered.

The complaints I have heard from players are trivial, like not being able to type Sharpness X and having to type Sharpness 10. Complaints like that are nothing compared to the bullying and harassment that happen in unfiltered chat. Often the harassment is not reported.

I also don't believe players truly have freedom of expression. By playing, the agree to follow server rules. And in Skyblock those rules include no cussing, at all. So arguments about having to say "fudge" when dying in PVP don't apply here.

I can see where some players won't like being inconvenienced by some restrictions. Most people, including me, don't like change. But to me, protecting kids from being bullied and harassed when staff aren't on line are worth it.

And, if there is proof of players bypassing chat filters to be vulgar, to bully or to harass, I would love to see it posted in the forums under player reports. Staff try to check those most everyday and deal with issues that are reported. But, if it isn't reported, with proof, it is difficult to help.

Honesty, if more people reported the abusive players, we would not need the chat filters.

Purpz

This is why I added my suggestions. Like suggestion #1, some staff would rather just moderate chat while they are online, thus adding the option for /filter off or something along those lines.

As for suggestion #2 if players want to take the risk of being bullied/harassed (keep in mind they can /eignore) by taking off the chat filter that is their decision to do so. This way the people that aren't wanting to be exposed to a potentially offensive chat can still have that option as-well, and yes I do understand that no cussing is in the rules but it hasn't been encouraged until the chat filter came out.
~Cheech <3

 

[ChocBar]

yes I do understand that no cussing is in the rules but it hasn't been encouraged until the chat filter came out.

No cussing has been enforced in Skyblock for the year and a half I have been on the server.

the last time i reported a player, the report sat there for 2 days before i chased up ryan to look at it. I feel like it would still be sitting there uninvestigated had i not. So i figured i wouldnt waste my time reporting people anymore.

I looked and your previous player report was closed the same day it was reported, and you rated that "fabulous". I do not handle giving out forum tags and don't see them having the same priority as reports about players who are breaking the rules. As I said I try to look every day. I am not lazy and I volunteer my time for the MineVast community. But I also have a personal life. I have family, I have friends, I get sick, I have even taken a vacation (gasp). So you may not get instant results. But the player reports are viewed and dealt with. Please continue to make them and help me deal with the players who ruin the fun for everyone.

Purpz

 

[Leesy]

No cussing has been enforced in Skyblock for the year and a half I have been on the server.



I looked and your previous player report was closed the same day it was reported, and you rated that "fabulous". I do not handle giving out forum tags and don't see them having the same priority as reports about players who are breaking the rules. As I said I try to look every day. I am not lazy and I volunteer my time for the MineVast community. But I also have a personal life. I have family, I have friends, I get sick, I have even taken a vacation (gasp). So you may not get instant results. But the player reports are viewed and dealt with. Please continue to make them and help me deal with the players who ruin the fun for everyone.

Purpz

It most certainly wasnt closed the same day i posted it! But of course I did rate it fabulous once ryan closed it, he handled it as soon as I told him about it and he did a great job of it.

As for the chat filter I have no idea how you haven't had any problems with it, although its not as bad as it used to be since dacon 'fixed' it, it's still rather frustrating, nothing worse than typing out instructions for someone only to have it say "don't advertise" then having to do it all over. I've been trying to work out what makes it think im advertising, sometimes I can figure it out and reword it, sometimes I cant, today i had a problem with it and I think I was just using too much punctuation so i switched to commas instead of fullstop. Still. It's not the end of the world of course. The server is so good in every other way that I can completely deal with this inconvenience, BUT I don't think it's stopping anyone from slinging insults if that's what they want to do.

 

[Dynsalir]

Hey guys,

Before I get into the subject of this thread let me quickly address the following;

It most certainly wasnt closed the same day i posted it! But of course I did rate it fabulous once ryan closed it, he handled it as soon as I told him about it and he did a great job of it.

I'd say a day is a perfectly acceptable amount of time to wait for a Skyblock staff member to deal with your report - http://prnt.sc/8mllrl :)

Now, on to the topic of this thread. I too agree that the current chat filter seems to be more of a annoyance and is making communication hard due to its false positives. We're working on a way to improve the chat filter so its a more native and welcome feature rather than a communication hindrance.

Thank you for your suggestions, Cheech. The management team has had a meeting this morning on your suggestions and we too agree that having the option to disable the filter will make us be able to appeal to both our younger and more mature player bases. Of course if we were to go down this route the server rules regarding excessive swearing, being respectful and non-offensive to other players would still be enforced.

Dynsalir.

 

[Leesy]

Sorry to be allll off your topic, I don't know if it's because of edit or because of different time zones (sept 18 morning and sept 19 night?) but for me it was definitely the second day because it was a morning when I decided to ask ryan to look at it and i wrote it up not the night before but the night before THAT. I don't care what your stamps say, I'm certain of this.

And i aaasked him to look. I shouldn't have.

Anyway I'm finished with these forums, I only feel worse for having been a part of them now.