Guild Wars 2

I know I’m going to be viciously attacked for saying this – probably a few private hate mails, but saying it anyways.

GW2 is my FAVORITE game – it’s top notch above any other MMO on the planet, but I’m sick and tired of all the nasty, sexual comments, all of the constant cussing and belittling other players on every map. I shouldn’t have to mute my Say and Map chat. Why should these people who do such things rule chat? There’s no end of the constant vulger language, cruel and hateful speech, and constantly, openly talking about sex.

Am I the only one who feel this way? Guys/girls who do this are ruining a great game that ANET has, and is making it unfriendly for those who do not partake in such things.

No, you’re not the only one who feels that way. However, I don’t really have a problem with “cussing”. You can always change your chat filters so you won’t see swear words. And talking about sex isn’t that big of a deal to me, either, provided the talk isn’t vulgar and doesn’t devolve into misogynistic comments. As for hate speech and vulgar topics of conversation, if things get truly awful, please report those people. And don’t be afraid to block those who really get on your nerves.

Report and block the ones violating the TOS. A vulgar word here and there when not directed at someone is likely not violating the TOS.

Report so ANet can punish the ones violating the rules and block so you don’t have to see it anymore but don’t have to shut down map/say chat.

I personally haven’t seen too many bad chatters. Not enough to say that they are ruining the game. But I don’t hang out in a popular gathering spot for too long either.

Yeah, everywhere I go, it seems I see it constantly. Seems like Say and Map chat are owned by the trolls.
How do I set a filter for the bad words without blocking all of Say and Map?

In-Game press Esc and click on Options. At the top will be the Language section. The third drop down menu is the Profanity Filter. You can set it to None, Normal, or Maximum.

Oh that’s awesome!!!!!!
Thank you sooo much!!!!!

In my opinion, this game has one of the worst communities I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe not as bad as diablo 2 but still… pretty bad especially in sPvP and here on the forums.

Yes, well, adolescent males make up a big part of the videogame market. So there it is. GW2 is comparatively good.

Maybe someone will create a game where you have to be a 40yrs+ female to possess an account?

Meh. It’s a teen rated game, and adolescents are generally pretty vulgar.

Foul and sexual language are okay in my books. We’re old enough to handle it, after all. It’s abuse that shouldn’t be tolerated. Harrassing someone without using indecent language is far worse than the trolls who hang around talking about getting wasted and so on.

Are you on an NA server? I’ve only very rarely seen map chat as bad as you’re describing, and that’s usually groups of people who know each other and don’t seem to have considered that there are other people in map chat.

Jahroots.6791:

Meh. It’s a teen rated game, and adolescents are generally pretty vulgar.

Foul and sexual language are okay in my books. We’re old enough to handle it, after all. It’s abuse that shouldn’t be tolerated. Harrassing someone without using indecent language is far worse than the trolls who hang around talking about getting wasted and so on.

Teen means as young as thirteen. If you wouldn’t walk up to a middle school class on a field trip at the mall and say what you are about to say, you shouldn’t be saying it in map chat, and you are responsible in game for the repercussions that come with that inappropriate behavior just as you would be in public in real life.

I don’t have a big problem with people talking about sex, the activitiy, in the chat.
When they start to insult others I report and otherwise I ignore things, that I’m not interested in.
I had mainly contact with semingly female players though.

In general I do not see that much of what OP describes tbh, EXCEPT on world bosses. but well, what to expect from a load of people gathering around and making fun waiting for a dragon to spawn. They get bored and it is safe from home behind the computer to say what mommy does not allow.

said that, I get sometimes pretty angry, but then I think, let them, I am 12 and what is this people trying to troll adults is normal, because in the end, an online game is not any different then “most” forums.

Try going back to World of Warcraft as a beta player just to check things out and seeing all the vulgar sex talk and comments about naked selfies to look at personal links

Now that’s distgusting, worst thing they could have ever done is go the path of linked Twitter accounts and selfies

I don’t like hearing vulgarity, and wouldn’t like it if I was in my 40’s, 50’s + or even as young as 10 years old. Just my preference, I guess.

Conncept.7638:

Teen means as young as thirteen. If you wouldn’t walk up to a middle school class on a field trip at the mall and say what you are about to say, you shouldn’t be saying it in map chat, and you are responsible in game for the repercussions that come with that inappropriate behavior just as you would be in public in real life.

IRL, 13yr olds are usually among the worst offenders when it comes to vulgar language.

I can appreciate that some people don’t like this, but I’ll take free, offensive speech over heavy moderation any day.

In-game chat 90% of the time is pretty tame in most areas I go to. When it gets out of sorts it’s usually one person pushing the agenda. This is definitely not a community that I would describe as toxic, but I guess each person’s mileage may vary.

Vulgarity was getting a bit much for me last night but there isn’t a report category for simply vulgar, sexual specific language. I’m not talking about eavesdropping on a couple doing some cyber RP. I do think a strong warning is in order so it wanes for awhile.

Jahroots.6791:

Conncept.7638:

Teen means as young as thirteen. If you wouldn’t walk up to a middle school class on a field trip at the mall and say what you are about to say, you shouldn’t be saying it in map chat, and you are responsible in game for the repercussions that come with that inappropriate behavior just as you would be in public in real life.

IRL, 13yr olds are usually among the worst offenders when it comes to vulgar language.

I can appreciate that some people don’t like this, but I’ll take free, offensive speech over heavy moderation any day.

That’s what I was thinking. Maybe it’s different these days (unlikely) but me and my friends swore far more when we were 13, 14, 15 than any time before or since. We were practically competing to fit as many swear words as possible into a sentence.

These days I don’t even know why, but it seemed cool at the time.

Jahroots.6791:

IRL, 13yr olds are usually among the worst offenders when it comes to vulgar language.

I can appreciate that some people don’t like this, but I’ll take free, offensive speech over heavy moderation any day.

It wouldn’t even need to be heavy moderation. I personally don’t think that temp banning individuals whom drop vulgar comments in say/map chat to be heavy moderation in the slightest. You would get kicked out of a public establishment for having discussions like that in a manner that the surrounding community could hear. I don’t mind it in something as local as whisper/party even guild chat however map and say chat shouldn’t be subject to any talk such as this.

The adolescent attitudebeing vulgar does not make it alright for such discussions to occur and at the very least they need to get a temp ban shoved in their faces so as to learn to keep those discussions local.

Not that it matters to me as I have my map and say turned off the vast majority of the time because I have a low tolerance for immaturity.

Not sure what maps you go on, but my experience with the GW2 community is incredibly positive.

Sure there’s the occasional asshat, but you get those regardless of where you go, in life and online. They’re best left completely unacknowledged except for a report to ANet

Some of what you see depends on the game mode you play, some of it depends on your home world, and some on your own perceptions.

/Report people for ‘verbal abuse’ who are excessively cussing, being vulgar, personally attacking others. /block people who are annoying you for whatever reason.

99% of the time, I find GW2’s community to be awesome: helpful, entertaining, insightful. 1% of the time or less, there are obnoxious jerks who seem only to be happy when others are miserable. I block ’em and move on.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Some of what you see depends on the game mode you play, some of it depends on your home world, and some on your own perceptions.

/Report people for ‘verbal abuse’ who are excessively cussing, being vulgar, personally attacking others. /block people who are annoying you for whatever reason.

99% of the time, I find GW2’s community to be awesome: helpful, entertaining, insightful. 1% of the time or less, there are obnoxious jerks who seem only to be happy when others are miserable. I block ’em and move on.

Verbal abuse is directed at a particular person. Kind of like how your actions would be considered abusing the report function.

You hearing something you don’t want to hear is not verbal abuse. Me cussing you out and insulting you is verbal abuse.

Considering there’s nothing in the ToS or Rules of Conduct that says people can’t talk about any of this, maybe you could just block individual users? A feel a bit of maturity goes a long way.

People can talk about what they want to talk about, unless they’re specifically mentioning, attacking, or whispering you abou it, i don’t see any TOS breach or Rules of conduct breach.

Vulgarity is not the same as immaturity and public establishments in real life dont have chat filters for those who do not want to hear vulgarity.

Ultimately what we have here is just a matter of different people having different tastes (as regards to word use) as long as no one is abusing anyone.

That said, this is private property and the owners get to decide what is and is not allowed. Is there a report function for vulgar language?

I dislike such talk, but feel I am in no position to demand anything of random people on the internet. Noone is forcing me to read the chat.

edgarallanpwn.8739:

Verbal abuse is directed at a particular person. Kind of like how your actions would be considered abusing the report function.

You hearing something you don’t want to hear is not verbal abuse. Me cussing you out and insulting you is verbal abuse.

Considering there’s nothing in the ToS or Rules of Conduct that says people can’t talk about any of this, maybe you could just block individual users? A feel a bit of maturity goes a long way.

People can talk about what they want to talk about, unless they’re specifically mentioning, attacking, or whispering you abou it, i don’t see any TOS breach or Rules of conduct breach.

Well, let’s say there’s a case where someone in map chat is saying terrible things about a particular race of people. Luckily, I’ve only seen this happen maybe one time since I’ve been playing, so it won’t happen often. But yeah, using racial slurs, making extremely vulgar comments about the race, etc. Even if it’s not directed at a player, that is still verbal abuse and should be reported, in my opinion.

Verbal abuse doesn’t have to be directed at a particular player for it to qualify as Verbal Abuse (and to get rightfully reported).

edgarallanpwn.8739:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Some of what you see depends on the game mode you play, some of it depends on your home world, and some on your own perceptions.

/Report people for ‘verbal abuse’ who are excessively cussing, being vulgar, personally attacking others. /block people who are annoying you for whatever reason.

99% of the time, I find GW2’s community to be awesome: helpful, entertaining, insightful. 1% of the time or less, there are obnoxious jerks who seem only to be happy when others are miserable. I block ’em and move on.

Verbal abuse is directed at a particular person. Kind of like how your actions would be considered abusing the report function.

You hearing something you don’t want to hear is not verbal abuse. Me cussing you out and insulting you is verbal abuse.

Considering there’s nothing in the ToS or Rules of Conduct that says people can’t talk about any of this, maybe you could just block individual users? A feel a bit of maturity goes a long way.

People can talk about what they want to talk about, unless they’re specifically mentioning, attacking, or whispering you abou it, i don’t see any TOS breach or Rules of conduct breach.

Sorry I don’t think your interpretation is correct, based on what I’ve read from the developers in these forums. If someone is swearing repeatedly, the only viable option in the reporting drop down is ‘verbal abuse’ — it’s a catch-all for a lot of situations.

Anyhow, neither your interpretation nor mine matters really — only ANet’s evaluation does. They have a full-time staff that reviews stuff like this to determine if someone is being disruptive to the community.

I apologize that I was unclear about what I do: If someone’s behavior bugs me, I block them. I only report if I think that ANet is likely to want to know, which is my best guess based on what Chris Cleary, Gaile Gray, Michael Henninger, and others have posted here or on Reddit.

So no, I doubt very much that my use of the /report feature would be considered excessive, let alone ‘abusive’.

I sometimes report people who are using unnecessary vulgar language who purposely try to dodge the filters.

I 100% use the report function if somebody is being provocative, using slurs or conveying sexist/racist/misogynistic/generally explicit messages. I advocate others to, as well.

Even if the language itself isn’t directly aimed at a specific player, a player using trashy language and spreading hate should be punished. I’m fairly sure that Anet wants to make sure that their chat is as clean as is reasonable.

I’ve seen things that the OP is describing. Not often, though, but when I do see it, it’s often OTT “Your Mum” jokes. If it’s sexually explicit or particularly… eh… descriptive, I’ll definitely report and block.

I wouldn’t suggest using the report function willy-nilly, but if you think something is dubious or treading the line, I’d recommend reporting it. If Anet can see your reasoning why you chose to report (but don’t see the offence as rule-breaking or punishment-worthy) I doubt they’d put action on you for “falsely reporting”. Just use a clear head and try to be objective.

RoseofGilead.8907:

edgarallanpwn.8739:

Verbal abuse is directed at a particular person. Kind of like how your actions would be considered abusing the report function.

You hearing something you don’t want to hear is not verbal abuse. Me cussing you out and insulting you is verbal abuse.

Considering there’s nothing in the ToS or Rules of Conduct that says people can’t talk about any of this, maybe you could just block individual users? A feel a bit of maturity goes a long way.

People can talk about what they want to talk about, unless they’re specifically mentioning, attacking, or whispering you abou it, i don’t see any TOS breach or Rules of conduct breach.

Well, let’s say there’s a case where someone in map chat is saying terrible things about a particular race of people. Luckily, I’ve only seen this happen maybe one time since I’ve been playing, so it won’t happen often. But yeah, using racial slurs, making extremely vulgar comments about the race, etc. Even if it’s not directed at a player, that is still verbal abuse and should be reported, in my opinion.

Verbal abuse doesn’t have to be directed at a particular player for it to qualify as Verbal Abuse (and to get rightfully reported).

If abuse is directed at a group to which an individual belongs it is directed atthe individual though so it would be abuse. Saying, “I F’ing hate broccoli,” is not abusive despite being vulgar (although I suppose a Sylvari might take offense).

Ashen.2907:

If abuse is directed at a group to which an individual belongs it is directed atthe individual though so it would be abuse. Saying, “I kitten hate broccoli,” is not abusive despite being vulgar (although I suppose a Sylvari might take offense).

One doesn’t have to be a part of the group being attacked to know that certain language is wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated. There is a huge difference between saying “I kitten hate broccoli” and “I kitten hate /insert race\. Those /insert racial slur\ are worthless and should all be strung up.” The former uses a curse word, but it’s not really offensive (except to Sylvari, of course). The latter is offensive and qualifies as hate speech. If I see someone saying the former, I’ll probably chuckle and keep on going. If I see someone saying the latter, I’m reporting them, even if I’m not part of the race they’re insulting.

RoseofGilead.8907:

Ashen.2907:

If abuse is directed at a group to which an individual belongs it is directed atthe individual though so it would be abuse. Saying, “I kitten hate broccoli,” is not abusive despite being vulgar (although I suppose a Sylvari might take offense).

One doesn’t have to be a part of the group being attacked to know that such language is wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated. There is a huge difference between saying “I kitten hate broccoli” and “I kitten hate /insert race\. Those /insert racial slur\ are worthless and should all be strung up.” The former uses a curse word, but it’s not really offensive (except to Sylvari, of course). The latter is offensive and qualifies as hate speech. If I see someone saying the former, I’ll probably chuckle and keep on going. If I see someone saying the latter, I’m reporting them, even if I’m not part of the race they’re insulting.

As I indicated, racist commentary directed at a group is abuse but vulgarity is not necessarily.

Ashen.2907:

RoseofGilead.8907:

Ashen.2907:

If abuse is directed at a group to which an individual belongs it is directed atthe individual though so it would be abuse. Saying, “I kitten hate broccoli,” is not abusive despite being vulgar (although I suppose a Sylvari might take offense).

One doesn’t have to be a part of the group being attacked to know that such language is wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated. There is a huge difference between saying “I kitten hate broccoli” and “I kitten hate /insert race\. Those /insert racial slur\ are worthless and should all be strung up.” The former uses a curse word, but it’s not really offensive (except to Sylvari, of course). The latter is offensive and qualifies as hate speech. If I see someone saying the former, I’ll probably chuckle and keep on going. If I see someone saying the latter, I’m reporting them, even if I’m not part of the race they’re insulting.

As I indicated, racist commentary directed at a group is abuse but vulgarity is not necessarily.

And I agree.

welcome to the world of online gaming.

ckotoc.5421:

welcome to the world of online gaming.

Yes but should that excuse basic civility?

Lol you need to get over yourselves. There’s a profanity filter and a block option, if you can’t take people swearing, or talking about sex and drugs, then filter them out.

They’re not obligated to mind their manners around you. Remember, online actions and interactions are not rated by the ESRB.

In 2 something years i have never experienced anything like op said. Not during pvp, wvw, pve dungions and open world or any aspect of this game. There is something called action and reaction, if you are provoker you’ll get your answer simple as that. Asking questions like : guise, is water wet?? on map chats will attract numerous trolls.

i have strange feeling that op giggles every time somebody mention genitals.

Donut.6914:

Lol you need to get over yourselves. There’s a profanity filter and a block option, if you can’t take people swearing, or talking about sex and drugs, then filter them out.

They’re not obligated to mind their manners around you. Remember, online actions and interactions are not rated by the ESRB.

It’s not there so players are free to use vulgar and profane language.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Why-is-there-a-Profanity-Filter/first#post4436966

If there are words like the F word you don’t like, the chat filter should be blocking them for you. If people are bypassing the chat filter, I think you can eithe report them or open up a support ticket to say a word is not being filtered properly.

If people are saying hateful things, you can report them. If they are harassing people in any way, whether in a racist/sexist way or just a deliberately mean way just report them for “verbal abuse”. It does get looked into.

I haven’t heard all this vulgar language that OP has heard. Generally, if the conversation is annoying, I just turn off map chat but it’s pretty rare that I feel the need to do that. From what I’ve read, other games are much worse and Guild Wars 2 is mild and friendly in comparison. Anyone whose speech is breaking TOS, I block and report.

Behellagh.1468:

Donut.6914:

Lol you need to get over yourselves. There’s a profanity filter and a block option, if you can’t take people swearing, or talking about sex and drugs, then filter them out.

They’re not obligated to mind their manners around you. Remember, online actions and interactions are not rated by the ESRB.

It’s not there so players are free to use vulgar and profane language.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Why-is-there-a-Profanity-Filter/first#post4436966

Then what is it for? I say the f-word in almost every single sentence I make. That’s how I grew up, that’s who I am, that’s the way I speak. Many many people have blocked me because they don’t like to hear the f-word so much. I understand and respect that, but I am never going to stop saying it because of how others feel. That’s what the filter/block is for.

Block and move on if they offend you. If they say or do something that is against the TOS, report them. It’s up to A-net to make the final determination on what to do about it. You don’t have the right to just not be offended though.

Jumpin Lumpix.6108:

In my opinion, this game has one of the worst communities I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe not as bad as diablo 2 but still… pretty bad especially in sPvP and here on the forums.

I only really see this in practice PvP and it’s usually complaints about “cheeze” builds and is not normally personal harassment (although that does happen). It’s very rare for me to see this in unranked or ranked.

I see far more trash talk and harassment in other games. Overall I find that people in unranked and ranked are surprisingly nice to each other.

Donut.6914:

Behellagh.1468:

Donut.6914:

Lol you need to get over yourselves. There’s a profanity filter and a block option, if you can’t take people swearing, or talking about sex and drugs, then filter them out.

They’re not obligated to mind their manners around you. Remember, online actions and interactions are not rated by the ESRB.

It’s not there so players are free to use vulgar and profane language.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Why-is-there-a-Profanity-Filter/first#post4436966

Then what is it for? I say the f-word in almost every single sentence I make. That’s how I grew up, that’s who I am, that’s the way I speak. Many many people have blocked me because they don’t like to hear the f-word so much. I understand and respect that, but I am never going to stop saying it because of how others feel. That’s what the filter/block is for.

The filter is there to help people avoid seeing the profanity, but it is not permission to be profane. Those two things are not mutually exclusive by any means. You do not have freedom of speech in GW2. It’s A-nets game and if they consider what you are doing to be unacceptable they can do whatever they like about it.

I do agree that using a filter and blocking is the best option for the players to avoid the problem though.

Turn filter on and use ignore.

Sex is a natural thing. Animals do it. Dogs do it. Cats do it. People do it. It’s not as “taboo” as you think, because it’s the process of which brought you onto this planet. If the animals and creatures in the game’s world were real, they would most likely be doing it as well. Not talking about it isn’t going to make it exist less.

As for the comments of harassment, racism, prejudices, and discrimination, those all can be reported to a GM for Chat review for possibly account action. They’re completely different than talking about sex.

I just report and let Anet sort it out. I do applaud Anet for sticking to its guns about its rules. I report anything that that I find bothersome or rude.

My encounters with dialogue that bothers me is actually lower in this game than any game I’ve ever played. I have noticed an uptick of vulgarity lately in cities though. Trust in Anet to police those buggers, they do a good job if the miscreants are reported.

Best of all worlds is to use the guild chat tab so you only hear your friends and folks in close proximity to you, not the troll on the other side of the map.

Emiko.3217:

What I wanted to post and originally wrote had a Message Body Length over 5001 as I’ve learned in the preview so instead of splitting it into 3 posts and clotting this thread, I decided to just screenshot it and attach the picture of what I originally wrote as a reply to you. Here you go.

Yeah, this is pretty much the state of the world, as pessimistic as that is. It’s a shame. I just run guild wars with map and say ticked off now.

Seems to come in bunches…which makes sense. This kind of conversation kind of feeds on itself. Once it gets started with a bunch of kids, it seems to go on endlessly. So…I make generous use of my block function and move on.

Sometimes I’ll try to steer map chat in a different direction. Otherwise, I just ignore the chat. It usually isn’t bad enough for me to think someone deserves a ban, so I rarely report. The only place I’ve really had an issue is while waiting for tequatl to spawn. In pvp I ignore map chat altogether because I only play in a full party and communicate in TS

Im pretty sure that outside the trolls I encountered in wvw, I have never seen vulgair language and chat I get annoyed with.
Are you really sure it’s not you OP? Because frankly the part of your post, “openly talking about sex.” makes me think that you are offended by the least of things.

Well you all get far more interesting chat than I do lol

I would say, if it’s bad enough to report, report it. If it’s NOT bad enough to report, then you should probably just ignore it and try not to fixate on it too much

Personally I love the chat, it’s usually funny and we have a good laugh. If anyone posts anything genuinely offensive or troll-y they usually get jumped on pretty sharply – racism, sexism, homophobia, those things are pretty much universally unacceptable, and I’ve never seen those be tolerated for a moment in mapchat, they always get shut down right away by other players. But talking/joking about sex? Well, that’s as old as the hills, we’re a LOT more prudish than our ancestors were*, so I think it’s pointless getting all stirred up over it

*Roman and medieval houses in Britain were decorated with huge phalluses and nearly all the art on the walls was pornographic – and this in normal family rooms lol… and you should see what monks used to draw in the margins of bibles they were copying! Bibles. Copied by monks. There’s a few hillsides in the south of England decorated in a way that might disturb the OP a little too, and let’s not even get started on Maypoles