Guild Wars 2

I’ve seldom encountered any truly offensive speech in chat on this game.

That said, I don’t believe for one second that ANet actually takes such speech seriously. I have encountered a few players in WvW and PvP who spewed extremely racist, homophobic, and/or threatening speech, unprovoked, day after day. I reported them repeatedly over a period of weeks. Nothing ever came of it. I rarely bother reporting such things at this point.

Griz.4102:

I’ve seldom encountered any truly offensive speech in chat on this game.

That said, I don’t believe for one second that ANet actually takes such speech seriously. I have encountered a few players in WvW and PvP who spewed extremely racist, homophobic, and/or threatening speech, unprovoked, day after day. I reported them repeatedly over a period of weeks. Nothing ever came of it. I rarely bother reporting such things at this point.

Well they did ban people on our server for being racist idiots. So they do care and they do ban them.

Well, I don’t have problem with this and I don’t see swearing a lot on EU-servers anyway. Though I am in a mainly English guild and they swear there all the time – at least in Teamsspeak :-)

tigirius.9014:

This is what happens to the community when certain decisions cause the majority of players to leave the game, you’re left with the so called elite 1% that love to do these kinds of things while they are playing. Harassment is in their twisted psyche and no you’re not alone about it being troublesome.

We tried to warn folks that it would degenerate into this but no one listened. You can see posts about it that I participated in years ago describing this very thing would happen to the community in the end. It started however with kicking certain classes from dungeons and degenerated from there.

Sadly nothing can be done about it at this point without causing more damage I suspect.

I guess when someone has some petty pet peeve, he can integrate just everything into his grand picture.

If you think this mmo has toxic-chat that must mean you never played other mmos..because if you did..you would easily see this game is one of the friendliest and open minded.

All all the problems i think this game has, this one is on the bottom of the list because of the very nature of the community.

Rebound.3409:

If you think this mmo has toxic-chat that must mean you never played other mmos..because if you did..you would easily see this game is one of the friendliest and open minded.

All all the problems i think this game has, this one is on the bottom of the list because of the very nature of the community.

In the end it comes down to playstyle. The more competitive a playstyle is, the higher
the chance you get to hear harsher words.

So normally you will not hear much in open world here where everyone just happily
plays together .. but it gets harsher in PvP and also Dungeons.

Also the mechanism of Silverwaste leads to more toxic behaviour because there is
a highter chance to fail than at the old world bosses.
At that point i also try to ask myself if it is really wise to make open world content
harder just for those people that want raids, and carry that behaviour into the
open world .. or better give them their instanced holes, to keep the open world
more friendly.

Understandable.

I’ve played this game since the beginning and have only ever encountered one offensive player. I’m a very tolerant person but both his alt char name and the comments he was making were so extremely offensive that half the guild threatened to leave if he wasn’t immediately kicked. I kicked him and have never seen him since.

Having said that, some topics can give offense without the author realising so our guild has a ban on discussing religion, RL money and politics in guild chat. That and if you wouldn’t say it in front of your granny then don’t say it in guild chat.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Ben K.6238:

With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

What do we do for pet names? I’ve seen a few rangers running around with pets that have some obscene names, and others downright derogatory towards a certain demographic.

I don’t have a problem with people “cussing” in general (such as when they miss that last jump in a JP and plummet to the beginning), but if I see anyone directing insults at others I submit a report.

I don’t typically report “offensive names” because almost nothing offends me. I mean, they would have to be super overboard with the name for me to even notice it, and I still probably wouldn’t care enough to report it.

It’s when stuff is targeted at my fellow players that I use the report feature.

TheDraco.3965:

OH NO someones saying something I dont like? Silence them!!!!

Very mature attitude to have.

Inability to moderate your language and letting it degenerate in swear words, foul language, racist hate speech and/or (usually not funny) sexual innuendos is way more immature.

It is one thing if you talk in the presence of people that you know are used (or even expect) this kind of behaviour (i.e in chat of a guild filled with like-minded players). When talking in a map chat however, in the presence of people you don’t know and are not sure whether they are offended or not, you should take as much care as in similar RL situations.

Miss Lana.5276:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Ben K.6238:

With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

What do we do for pet names? I’ve seen a few rangers running around with pets that have some obscene names, and others downright derogatory towards a certain demographic.

One of the changes I have really been hoping for regarding ranger pets (among many), is that I really wish they would just change pet names to being visible only to the ranger that owns the pet. All other players will see the standard “Juvenile Thingy” name or “Tamed Thingy” to prevent issues of other rangers thinking it is an animal that is free for them to tame. This would completely remove inappropriate ranger pet names as being an issue.

StinVec.3621:

Miss Lana.5276:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Ben K.6238:

With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

What do we do for pet names? I’ve seen a few rangers running around with pets that have some obscene names, and others downright derogatory towards a certain demographic.

One of the changes I have really been hoping for regarding ranger pets (among many), is that I really wish they would just change pet names to being visible only to the ranger that owns the pet. All other players will see the standard “Juvenile Thingy” name or “Tamed Thingy” to prevent issues of other rangers thinking it is an animal that is free for them to tame. This would completely remove inappropriate ranger pet names as being an issue.

I hope that doesn’t happen…I don’t give my pets offensive names, but I do like seeing other people’s names (like someone’s polar bear named Knut) and I like others to be able to see my pet’s names. If we could click a pet and report an offensive name that would be good though (I have seen a few offensive pet names, but not many).

An in-game way to report guild names would be nice too. I’ve only ever found myself doing a ticket for two or three really REALLY bad guild names and I haven’t seen them around since, so the ticket for a guild names does work, but it’s a little time intensive and I guess it’s to make it so that only the really offensive ones get reported.

LilMissBossy.1467:

I brought this game two weeks ago thinking how great it was going to be playing an mmo with other people all sharing the same experience. Since then I have hardly said a word to anyone. The trolling, the ridicule a lot of players do from behind their screens has put me off engaging others. I will grant that some people are nice and it seems in their nature to be so towards others, thank you to those that help a flailing new player.

What I do wonder is, how many new people simply do not log back in due to this? People new to MMOs are little prepared for the bad behaviour, let alone to defend ourselves. I myself have almost given up due to the things I have read people saying in the in the PvP lobby.

I did not know there was a profanity filter and I will be sure to use it however, it does not cover the intent people put behind their words.

Well, kitten, you should play LoL then. If you’re playing in the competitive component of a game, you need to understand that 6/10 people don’t like losing, and 4/10 are bad winners too, so they’ll flame you, they’ll vent their frustration at you not performing how they think you should, and in those cases maybe if instead of clamming up like a shellfish you ask for some advice, 8/10 of those people in GW2 will probably give you some advice.

Because lets face it, no one likes having the team that gets 0 on a match. And if one can help to have a repeat performance, most of us will give advice as good as we can.

On the PvE side, you’ll have to bee somewhat unlucky to experience that much of a bad language, and that’s where you’ll find the shared experience, not really on the pvp side.

Yep. I see it often at world bosses. It’s all the kitten redditors who are used to saying only what they think will get them the most laughs. And teenagers who don’t understand that sex is normal and you don’t have to make an asinine joke about it every other sentence. It’s the worst when they use Say chat, because then you can’t even ignore it unless you stop looking at the screen.

But there’s really nothing that can be done about rampant immaturity online. That’s a society problem.

khani.4786:

StinVec.3621:

Miss Lana.5276:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Ben K.6238:

With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

What do we do for pet names? I’ve seen a few rangers running around with pets that have some obscene names, and others downright derogatory towards a certain demographic.

One of the changes I have really been hoping for regarding ranger pets (among many), is that I really wish they would just change pet names to being visible only to the ranger that owns the pet. All other players will see the standard “Juvenile Thingy” name or “Tamed Thingy” to prevent issues of other rangers thinking it is an animal that is free for them to tame. This would completely remove inappropriate ranger pet names as being an issue.

I hope that doesn’t happen…I don’t give my pets offensive names, but I do like seeing other people’s names (like someone’s polar bear named Knut) and I like others to be able to see my pet’s names. If we could click a pet and report an offensive name that would be good though (I have seen a few offensive pet names, but not many).

An in-game way to report guild names would be nice too. I’ve only ever found myself doing a ticket for two or three really REALLY bad guild names and I haven’t seen them around since, so the ticket for a guild names does work, but it’s a little time intensive and I guess it’s to make it so that only the really offensive ones get reported.

I agree with your view. I would much prefer a right-click > ‘Report Inappropriate Pet Name’ option to be available when selecting a pet to the change I outlined so pet names can remain visible to all for those that enjoy naming and seeing what others have named their pets.

Gaile Gray.6029:

On the Kittenizer™: Yes it’s an automated system but it’s also a thing here, now. In fact, I find myself saying “kitten” in actual speech. Which is fine at the office, where everyone understands. Might be a little awkward IRL. For instance, “Well, kitten, none of the kitten avocados are ripe enough for guacamole” at the grocery store."

:D

I do enjoy that one of the dev’s character names on the forums is kitten, and in the game… something else…, why is that word considered bad, if you don’t mind me asking? starts with a d ends with a p

as for the rest, personally I know I had an issue coming out of high school. It’s become common vernacular to cuss for the youth of today (and many adults). The F bomb has become equivalent to an “umm” for many people.

Jerus.4350:

I do enjoy that one of the dev’s character names on the forums is kitten, and in the game… something else…, why is that word considered bad, if you don’t mind me asking? starts with a d ends with a p

My understanding is that it is insensitive toward the mentally disabled.

Jerus.4350:

as for the rest, personally I know I had an issue coming out of high school. It’s become common vernacular to cuss for the youth of today (and many adults).

You’re kidding yourself if you think this is a new thing.

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

Gaile Gray.6029:

On the Kittenizer™: Yes it’s an automated system but it’s also a thing here, now. In fact, I find myself saying “kitten” in actual speech. Which is fine at the office, where everyone understands. Might be a little awkward IRL. For instance, “Well, kitten, none of the kitten avocados are ripe enough for guacamole” at the grocery store."

:D

Yeah I probably spend too much time on the forums, but I find myself doing that as well. I have to consciencely NOT use “kitten” when speaking. I don’t generally swear much, but that whole “kitten” thing just kind of sticks with you. :P

I think the word “kittenton” should be added to Webster’s Dictionary.

As in:

“The elementalist just did a kittenton of damage to that dolyak!”
“Why did you go out to eat again? We have a kittenton of food in the fridge!”

As for the OP… block and move on. If that’s not enough… I guess you can always vent your frustrations on Tumblr. Remember to trigger warn!

Xdmatt.3958:

I think the word “kittenton” should be added to Webster’s Dictionary.

As in:

“The elementalist just did a kittenton of damage to that dolyak!”
“Why did you go out to eat again? We have a kittenton of food in the fridge!”

‘Kittenload’ for British players And yes, I have both used and seen kittenload ingame lol

I remember someone posted once about the apparent (and obviously incongruous) indifference of sylvari NPCs to the possibly-dying Avatar of the Pale Tree right in front of them, and they posted a hilarious screenshot in which they’d highlighted this with arrows and ‘KITTEN!!!!! KITTEN!!!!’ …it was so funny I nearly cried laughing and I can’t help thinking of it every time I have one of those wtf moments in rl

One thing that needs to be pointed out, if it hasn’t been already, is that you CANNOT report or ignore someone who’s being abusive via the /emote chat method. Rightclicking a name that sent an /emote, does nothing – it has no context menu. And since some people use names that include complex non-standard alphabet characters, retyping them manually can be very difficult.

I was being called Fort Aspenwood Garbage (abbreviate) over and over, I finally kill the player in the pvp match, says “your so good”. I tell him “better than you”. He reports me. So I reported him back, as a little vulgar language doesn’t overly bother me. Next thing I knew we had lost 500-100, as I was spending too much time dealing with the trolling. (Same goes for my teammates)

This is not the first time, but this was probably the worst time, as this thief was insulting everyone on my team, along with some guardian who kept repeating “HUE” right after, whatever that meant… lol I didn’t report obviously, but it was almost comical.

Trash talking during a pvp game is really more infuriating than other places, as you have to keep dealing with it while you try to play. In the end, I’ve gotten my fare share of “you su*k” after a match, which isn’t so bad.

I know this sounds petty, but I’d love a confirmation email that someone I reported got banned or suspended. Players might feel like they aren’t helpless to a constant barrage of insults by a few angry players.

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

Its automated like that? 4??
Isn’t that really easy to abuse for free name changes?

Vyshan.2345:

One thing that needs to be pointed out, if it hasn’t been already, is that you CANNOT report or ignore someone who’s being abusive via the /emote chat method. Rightclicking a name that sent an /emote, does nothing – it has no context menu. And since some people use names that include complex non-standard alphabet characters, retyping them manually can be very difficult.

Well if its too hard to report, then maybe you should think twice about what you’re reporting… If its something you won’t report because its inconvenient, maybe it isn’t THAT worthy of being reported in the first place.

I had a bad experience with something like this in Archeage. And there you have to spend currency (labor) to report people. Someone reported me for botting, probably because i was playing along with my brother on very similar names.
So to prevent being punished i had to travel to this main town, and spend currency myself to get rid of it.
So yeah, it SHOULD be inconvenient for people to report players, i mean just because someone cursed once on a frustrating situation doesn’t mean he’s like polluting the chat or being abusive or outright offensive even.
Specially when you can filter that out, if it offends you.

I do see an increase in childish behavior in the game… Maybe the 10€ promotions made it more accessible to small kids, so an influx of less mature players? Still, its not even close to what you see in many other MMOs, specially the free to play kind. And nothing even slightly close to Shooters and MOBAs.

I wouldn’t be too concerned though. I do think the game could use a few more report categories in there, for spammers and whatnot.

ReaverKane.7598:

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

Its automated like that? 4??
Isn’t that really easy to abuse for free name changes?

Vyshan.2345:

One thing that needs to be pointed out, if it hasn’t been already, is that you CANNOT report or ignore someone who’s being abusive via the /emote chat method. Rightclicking a name that sent an /emote, does nothing – it has no context menu. And since some people use names that include complex non-standard alphabet characters, retyping them manually can be very difficult.

Well if its too hard to report, then maybe you should think twice about what you’re reporting… If its something you won’t report because its inconvenient, maybe it isn’t THAT worthy of being reported in the first place.

I had a bad experience with something like this in Archeage. And there you have to spend currency (labor) to report people. Someone reported me for botting, probably because i was playing along with my brother on very similar names.
So to prevent being punished i had to travel to this main town, and spend currency myself to get rid of it.
So yeah, it SHOULD be inconvenient for people to report players, i mean just because someone cursed once on a frustrating situation doesn’t mean he’s like polluting the chat or being abusive or outright offensive even.
Specially when you can filter that out, if it offends you.

I do see an increase in childish behavior in the game… Maybe the 10€ promotions made it more accessible to small kids, so an influx of less mature players? Still, its not even close to what you see in many other MMOs, specially the free to play kind. And nothing even slightly close to Shooters and MOBAs.

I wouldn’t be too concerned though. I do think the game could use a few more report categories in there, for spammers and whatnot.

You either didn’t read what my post said, or didn’t understand what my post said.

If someone’s name is “ÇzoàêiliIlIlIlIxîÉ” and is following you around harassing you with emotes, how do you report/block that, with any sort of ease, with no rightclick context menu on /emotes?

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

They have said repeatedly that this is not true, that there are no automated bans, name changes or anything like this. Each report is looked at by a support person and who makes a decision.

Source
—————————————————————————————
warduke.1780:
“I’d also like to hear Anet’s input. Is this true – do you ban players just because dozens/hundreds of other players report them?”

Gaile Gray
ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead
“Nope. You can rest assured, if 100 players report Fred, but Fred’s not doing anything wrong, he’s going to be just fine. The 100 false reporters? Not so fine, if they start abusing the report system. (And we may not use the exact message as expressed above, but that’s pretty much how it works.)

That bit that someone said in the OP’s screenshot about “1,000 posts and the player is auto-banned” is ridiculously untrue.

What category do you think these people are choosing? Here are the categories:
Botting
Inappropriate Character Name
Spamming
Verbal Abuse
Scamming
Selling Gold
LFG System Abuse.

I will check with CS to see if there’s a trend of false reporting, and ask them if they may want to increase tracking reporting players to check for signs of abuse.

Thanks for this discussion. It’s good to be able to set the record straight."

Screenshot, submit a ticket. And change maps.

On a similar topic, I have noticed a recent trend some trolls have engaged in. its simply ringing the highest note on the bell over and over again for sometimes hours on end. I like the player music for the most part, and hate having to swap between the options screens all the time to reduce player music. Some of the songs people play are really quite good, but hearing a high c above c tone for a solid hour is just well, ridiculous! Is there anything you Anet fellows and gals can do to either make the sound options easier to get to, say… a radial button next to the map button at the bottom right for that, or make a way to report players who abuse that to try to irritate people?

Just a flesh wound.3589:

They have said repeatedly that this is not true, that there are no automated bans, name changes or anything like this. Each report is looked at by a support person and who makes a decision.

Source
—————————————————————————————
warduke.1780:
“I’d also like to hear Anet’s input. Is this true – do you ban players just because dozens/hundreds of other players report them?”

Gaile Gray
ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead
“Nope. You can rest assured, if 100 players report Fred, but Fred’s not doing anything wrong, he’s going to be just fine. The 100 false reporters? Not so fine, if they start abusing the report system. (And we may not use the exact message as expressed above, but that’s pretty much how it works.)

That bit that someone said in the OP’s screenshot about “1,000 posts and the player is auto-banned” is ridiculously untrue.

What category do you think these people are choosing? Here are the categories:
Botting
Inappropriate Character Name
Spamming
Verbal Abuse
Scamming
Selling Gold
LFG System Abuse.

I will check with CS to see if there’s a trend of false reporting, and ask them if they may want to increase tracking reporting players to check for signs of abuse.

Thanks for this discussion. It’s good to be able to set the record straight."

That is good to know. However, the fact that an actual person made the choice to make my guild mate change his name actually makes me feel a bit worse about the whole thing.

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

Someone asked Gaile about having a character named Isis and, at the time, Gaile said it was ok. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Name-Misunderstanding/first#post4344839

Also, it doesn’t matter if 1,000 people report a name or only one person: someone still has to manually investigate and (sometimes) a team will review the decision.

Finally, it doesn’t matter if you or I think the names are ‘offensive’, it only matters if ANet thinks the name is disruptive to the community.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

Someone asked Gaile about having a character named Isis and, at the time, Gaile said it was ok. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Name-Misunderstanding/first#post4344839

Also, it doesn’t matter if 1,000 people report a name or only one person: someone still has to manually investigate and (sometimes) a team will review the decision.

Finally, it doesn’t matter if you or I think the names are ‘offensive’, it only matters if ANet thinks the name is disruptive to the community.

Yeah, I already replied to the first person who posted that above saying it was good to know.

And as I said above, the fact that a human being actually thought my guild mate’s name needed to be changed is pretty sad. It was a name. Not a vulgar name. Not a name with a hidden meaning. Not a name that could be seen as a derogatory term in any language. So yeah. Kind of silly.

Andred.1087:

Yep. I see it often at world bosses. It’s all the kitten redditors who are used to saying only what they think will get them the most laughs. And teenagers who don’t understand that sex is normal and you don’t have to make an asinine joke about it every other sentence. It’s the worst when they use Say chat, because then you can’t even ignore it unless you stop looking at the screen.

But there’s really nothing that can be done about rampant immaturity online. That’s a society problem.

Oh I think you can. A 72 hour “time out” should send a message loud and clear that such immaturity is frown upon in this game. This isn’t a free speech issue it’s about enforcing civility in chat.

Reading this thread makes me happy that the only time I have map chat up is when I need to ask a question. And every time I’ve done that, I’ve gotten a helpful and polite answer to my (sometimes silly) question. And then I turn it off.

Swear words don’t bother me, but I really don’t need to see a stream of juvenile language rolling down my screen either. The comments of “we’re all adults” is so contrary to the choice of words and speech that they’re defending, that it’s laughable.

Personally I’ve never had abuse heaped on me or witnessed it. But I know it exists. And with no exception, >all< of the random people I’ve started chatting with and playing with in the same area have been helpful, polite and fun to play with. Not once have I had a random person or group of people that I’ve joined up with turn into jerks.

I also notice that the “me generation” is in full effect. “It doesn’t bother me, so you should all suck it up.” So your feelings are the only ones that matter? Being civil to other people doesn’t matter?

Words don’t hurt me. But I’m aware enough that my feelings aren’t your feelings, and I should be respectful enough to consider that when I open my mouth around you.

RoseofGilead.8907:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

Someone asked Gaile about having a character named Isis and, at the time, Gaile said it was ok. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/support/Name-Misunderstanding/first#post4344839

Also, it doesn’t matter if 1,000 people report a name or only one person: someone still has to manually investigate and (sometimes) a team will review the decision.

Finally, it doesn’t matter if you or I think the names are ‘offensive’, it only matters if ANet thinks the name is disruptive to the community.

Yeah, I already replied to the first person who posted that above saying it was good to know.

And as I said above, the fact that a human being actually thought my guild mate’s name needed to be changed is pretty sad. It was a name. Not a vulgar name. Not a name with a hidden meaning. Not a name that could be seen as a derogatory term in any language. So yeah. Kind of silly.

If it’s the name I’m thinking of, it was taken over by a terrorist group. Unfortunate for your friend and all but when someone sees that name now they don’t think of a somewhat obscure goddess but a group that currently making headlines.

Consideration for others’ feelings shouldn’t morph into policy. Otherwise we’ll soon enough live in the world governed by the rules of SJW Tumblr. Not that in some ways we aren’t progressing towards it already… At any rate, one should be courteous, but one also has every right to be a donkey in a hat (figure that out yourself) if he so chooses so long as he’s not broadcasting methods of cheating, hacking or otherwise breaking the game’s mechanics. We already have built-in methods of dealing with said donkeys (block), and those are plenty sufficient.

On the subject of names, an interesting study. In game, I have seen a Proffit Muhamod and also a Holey Jebus. (Names are altered to protect the players; and no, they weren’t straight up Prophet Muhammad and Holy Jesus, but close enough). I kept up with them for a while. Proffit Muhamod survived for a little under a week; Holey Jebus is still kicking around last I checked. Make of it what you will.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Miss Lana.5276:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Ben K.6238:

With regards to obscene guild names, is reporting individual players the best way to address the issue?

A ticket is better. The report options have nothing to do with the guild name so they won’t know that’s what you are trying to report. Get the Display name and character name as well as the guild name and tag and report it on a ticket.

Correct. Please submit a ticket. The in-game report is expressly for character names.

What do we do for pet names? I’ve seen a few rangers running around with pets that have some obscene names, and others downright derogatory towards a certain demographic.

Submit a ticket. But please be sure you include the exact spelling of the character name or the display (name.1234) name, so that the team can look into the matter. It isn’t possible to pull a pet name without account-related info.

Thanks for asking.

Gaile, could you hand up a suggestion to the policy folks? Rather than split efforts on tickets and reports, would it be more comprehensive for the report form generated by in-game reporting to include not just name, but current pet name and current guild representation as well?
This would streamline the process for the people moderating names and would make it an easier process for players to engage in.

The community where I am is usually super-duper kind, courteous and funny.

Don’t know about you, I’ve had a ball.

Gaile Gray.6029:

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

I see that someone referred to earlier statements I made about this, but I want to make it clear, again, that we do not have automatic blocks based on the number of reports. Auto-blocks based report numbers would encourage (and support) mass griefing. Consider: “Report Fred.1234 for an offensive name, and if enough from our guild do it, that person will be blocked!” That’s just not the way things happen, not for behavioral issues, not for offensive chat, not for names.

Rest assured that reported names are reviewed by a human being, and a human being — not a report-counting automaton — decides on the appropriate action, often with input from another human being on the team.

So, are mythological names a no no, or is it that a terrorist organization coppied that name forcing it to become banned?

Jerus.4350:

Gaile Gray.6029:

RoseofGilead.8907:

serenke.4806:

Because i happen to know someone who was forced to change their character names when there is absolutely nothing offensive about them. So if there is an actual professional moderation team at work, why are they not professional enough to spot the difference between offensive/insulting/inappropriate and normal?

And no, the names in question are not – in any way – inappropriate.

The problem with the “inappropriate character name” thing is that it’s set to automatically force a renaming after a certain number of reports are made against the same name (I’ve heard multiple times that the number is four). Someone in my guild was forced to change his name (which is the name of a goddess and multiple fictional characters) because enough people reported his name due to the same four letters being used as an acronym for a terrorist organization.

So yeah, something needs to change there.

I see that someone referred to earlier statements I made about this, but I want to make it clear, again, that we do not have automatic blocks based on the number of reports. Auto-blocks based report numbers would encourage (and support) mass griefing. Consider: “Report Fred.1234 for an offensive name, and if enough from our guild do it, that person will be blocked!” That’s just not the way things happen, not for behavioral issues, not for offensive chat, not for names.

Rest assured that reported names are reviewed by a human being, and a human being — not a report-counting automaton — decides on the appropriate action, often with input from another human being on the team.

So, are mythological names a no no, or is it that a terrorist organization coppied that name forcing it to become banned?

The terrorist group using that name and making headlines is what made that name bannable. I gather that at one time they were willing to reverse this change but possibly there were too many complaints if they stopped allowing it.

Yeah, I mean it makes sense, but honestly I’m not willing to read the whole naming policy (the things I agree to without reading…, i accept any repercussions though) but I know an old game I played also banned any famous names so if you slipped one through they’d also force a change if caught. So I’m curious if it’s just the whole terrorist thing (which I do find sad, it’s letting the terrorists win!) or if it’s also the whole “c’mon come up with your own thing”.

Jerus.4350:

Yeah, I mean it makes sense, but honestly I’m not willing to read the whole naming policy (the things I agree to without reading…, i accept any repercussions though) but I know an old game I played also banned any famous names so if you slipped one through they’d also force a change if caught. So I’m curious if it’s just the whole terrorist thing (which I do find sad, it’s letting the terrorists win!) or if it’s also the whole “c’mon come up with your own thing”.

Nah. The blame can be squarely aimed at the terrorists. There are that many Norse gods running around that if a name-change was forced then I’d imagine the game would lose a fair chunk of goodwill.

While we’re at it, lets mandate that all clothing come to the ankle, no higher. All tops must come all the way up to the throat – no low necklines.

Language is to be moderated so that no “off colour” language ever makes it’s way into the open where someone might be offended.

Servers will be down every Sunday, so that nobody need work toward anything on the sabbath. It would be Saturday for some sects though, so to be safe perhaps we ought to shut them down on weekends.

/sarcasm off

I’m sorry, OP, but one person’s “offensive comment” is the next person’s belly laugh.

By the standards of any internet forum, GW2 is positively tame.

zenleto.6179:

Jerus.4350:

Yeah, I mean it makes sense, but honestly I’m not willing to read the whole naming policy (the things I agree to without reading…, i accept any repercussions though) but I know an old game I played also banned any famous names so if you slipped one through they’d also force a change if caught. So I’m curious if it’s just the whole terrorist thing (which I do find sad, it’s letting the terrorists win!) or if it’s also the whole “c’mon come up with your own thing”.

Nah. The blame can be squarely aimed at the terrorists. There are that many Norse gods running around that if a name-change was forced then I’d imagine the game would lose a fair chunk of goodwill.

Absolutely, but would naming your character Jesus be ok? What about Allah? Muhammad? Vishnu? Jehovah? Satan? At what point are these type of figures ok and what point are they bad? What makes Thor/Odin ok but probably not some of the others? Just that no one has a fit?

Jerus.4350:

zenleto.6179:

Jerus.4350:

Yeah, I mean it makes sense, but honestly I’m not willing to read the whole naming policy (the things I agree to without reading…, i accept any repercussions though) but I know an old game I played also banned any famous names so if you slipped one through they’d also force a change if caught. So I’m curious if it’s just the whole terrorist thing (which I do find sad, it’s letting the terrorists win!) or if it’s also the whole “c’mon come up with your own thing”.

Nah. The blame can be squarely aimed at the terrorists. There are that many Norse gods running around that if a name-change was forced then I’d imagine the game would lose a fair chunk of goodwill.

Absolutely, but would naming your character Jesus be ok? What about Allah? Muhammad? Vishnu? Jehovah? Satan? At what point are these type of figures ok and what point are they bad? What makes Thor/Odin ok but probably not some of the others? Just that no one has a fit?

At the point that society generally considers those first few names religious and sacrosanct, while the last two are mythological. Even if Jesus and Mohammad are still current names.

Jerus.4350:

Absolutely, but would naming your character Jesus be ok? What about Allah? Muhammad? Vishnu? Jehovah? Satan? At what point are these type of figures ok and what point are they bad? What makes Thor/Odin ok but probably not some of the others? Just that no one has a fit?

Naming a character Thor/Odin would be similar to naming a character Zeus or Apollo, or Ra or Sekhmet.

The difference is that you shouldn’t refer to deities/holy beings that are currently revered and worshipped by (a huge amount of) people.

Makes sense, old religions don’t matter only “new” ones.