Guild Wars 2

The suggestion is simple:

Allow players the ‘status’ option of blocking ALL random players’ comments (including the speech bubbles that appear when people talk in public), and be invisible to everyone EXCEPT for your guildies and friends.

This way you can still talk to your guildies and friends, without seeing random private messages and comments from public/map/team chat etc.

The way it is now, if you put your status to ‘invisible’, you can’t PM friends or take part in any guild chat. Sometimes you just want to be invisible to everyone except for those people you know and trust.

There’s been countless times I’ve had enemies in WvW PM me abuse simply because they died and wanted to make sure I knew how angry they were. I’ve also had, on occasion, the odd bot or two PM me the same thing everytime with their gold selling scam website, followed by ‘hace a nice day’ – I’m sure we’ve all seen it at some time or another (and yes they do actually say ‘hace’ not ‘have’ >_<).

And there’s also been many, many times when I just really hated people in general because my sexuality was mocked every single day, reminding me that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t avoid the nasty comments towards LGBT people, but with this suggestion, I could. I could have this block feature on, and still be visible to my friends and guildies and be able to talk to them, without listening to randoms and their hateful messages, or bots and their horrible spelling.

If Anet were to implement this as an extra option to the ‘status’ menu we have currently available, it would allow players like myself, to have a much safer environment. My friends and guildies aren’t homophobic, and that’s what’s important to me.

Right now though, I simply can’t avoid all the nasty comments. Even when I ticked all the chat boxes off like public, map, and team chat, I could still see players’ speech bubbles across their head when they talked, and sure enough, a player said something negative about gays. I’m also exposed to random hateful PM’s, and bots that are just annoying.

If you want an example of what kind of comments I hear on a daily basis, I’ve compiled a screenshot of just a few things I hear every single day. All names have been censored for their privacy. But anyway…

Would others want an option like this? Where the only people you want to talk to are guildies and friends?

Very disappointing chat in your screenshot. I am sorry you have to put up with that.

You can edit your message box to show only Guild messages.

I hope they never add this option.

I hope they do add this option; the ability of people to ‘follow’ you without your consent and the inability for you to delete them, is ridiculous. This option would deal with the issue the OP has (although frankly the half-wits in the OP’s screenie ought to be removed from GW) and ensure that you are only seen by whom you want to be seen by.

Before anyone comes out with the old “it is not an issue unless you have something to hide” chestnut, an individual’s right to privacy in a game that they pay for, wholly outweighs some random strangers right to see you there.

Sorry, but all I can say is request a better profanity filter, report censor bypasses, and move on. I hope this never gets implemented. It’s hard enough to communicate with a PUG when you find out two of them have filtered all but whisper or guild.

I can understand where the OP is coming from, but I think it’s more of an issue of needing to report those people then it is to filter them.

Think of all the actual good, friendly people you’d miss out on talking to if this option was implemented OP.

Azure Fang.8605:

Sorry, but all I can say is request a better profanity filter, report censor bypasses, and move on. I hope this never gets implemented. It’s hard enough to communicate with a PUG when you find out two of them have filtered all but whisper or guild.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. For some reason I hadn’t had my profanity filter on, so I’ll put it on when I get back in game – thanks! That should eliminate some of the comments I get daily.

In terms of this suggestion being implemented, it would only be as an option for those who are more reserved or simply just want to be left alone by people. For me personally, I don’t think many would be using this block filter if they were in a group situation (like a dungeon for example) as they would be required to listen to those in their group – be it randoms, guildies, friends etc. so this wouldn’t really be helpful in those situations anyway.

Thanks for the comments and constructive criticism thus far people, I really appreciate it.

The word gay in itself is not a swear word. And a lot of the times people are not trying to insult homosexual people, but rather use it in a “that sucks” kind of way. Remember that word meanings change often and fast, 50 years before “gay” used to mean “joyful”. As in “I’m having a very gay day”. Some of the remarks can be seen as insults, but not all that you point are actually wrong. To some of them, I think, that you’re reacting too sensitively.

I read everything that’s written. The talk about lesbians among sylvari is just how people joke.
“kitten that is gay” is how the word is most commonly used right now and like I’ve said most homosexuals do not see anything wrong with it, because it’s not directed at them or even used as an insult.
The person using the harsh word "starting with “fa” in the say chat can be reported.
The person on the map chat being racist can be reported.
Commander saying “stay on my kitten ” “no kitten ” is once again joking and you’re seriously overreacting.

Mirta.5029:

The word gay in itself is not a swear word. And a lot of the times people are not trying to insult homosexual people, but rather use it in a “that sucks” kind of way. Remember that word meanings change often and fast, 50 years before “gay” used to mean “joyful”. As in “I’m having a very gay day”. Some of the remarks can be seen as insults, but not all that you point are actually wrong. To some of them, I think, that you’re reacting too sensitively.

I read everything that’s written. The talk about lesbians among sylvari is just how people joke.
“kitten that is gay” is how the word is most commonly used right now and like I’ve said most homosexuals do not see anything wrong with it, because it’s not directed at them or even used as an insult.
The person using the harsh word "starting with “fa” in the say chat can be reported.
The person on the map chat being racist can be reported.
Commander saying "stay on my kitten “no kitten ” is once again joking and you’re seriously overreacting.

Wow, so I guess you’re saying that sometimes heteros just gonna het.

Mirta.5029:

The word gay in itself is not a swear word. And a lot of the times people are not trying to insult homosexual people, but rather use it in a “that sucks” kind of way. Remember that word meanings change often and fast, 50 years before “gay” used to mean “joyful”. As in “I’m having a very gay day”. Some of the remarks can be seen as insults, but not all that you point are actually wrong. To some of them, I think, that you’re reacting too sensitively.

I read everything that’s written. The talk about lesbians among sylvari is just how people joke.
“kitten that is gay” is how the word is most commonly used right now and like I’ve said most homosexuals do not see anything wrong with it, because it’s not directed at them or even used as an insult.
The person using the harsh word "starting with “fa” in the say chat can be reported.
The person on the map chat being racist can be reported.
Commander saying "stay on my kitten “no kitten ” is once again joking and you’re seriously overreacting.

I know ‘gay’ isn’t a swear word, and I do acknowledge that words change over time. Heck, I remember when I lived up north as a kid, and in our area there was an icecream truck that went around, and it was famous for its ‘golden gay time ice-creams’ (you might see the ice-cream cones in the supermarket or in a google search), at the time, obviously it meant ‘happy’.

My problem with the use of ’that’s so gay’ and comments similar to that, is that, while it may not be intended as an insult, when you hear those comments day in and day out, pretty much EVERY day, it starts to affect you. May not be today, or the next day, but eventually you get really sick of hearing it and it starts to be taken personally. Also, if those people want to use ‘gay’ instead of words like ‘stupid’, ‘bad’, or ‘wrong’, how hard is it for them to actually use the correct word? Is it movies/media that’s making people seem to think comments like ’that’s so gay’ and ‘HA! GAY!’ is ok? As clearly society is used to it :-/

Thanks for mentioning the comments that can be reportable – I didn’t know those two particular comments you mentioned could be, but as I understand it now by what you said, it was aimed at a particular player, thus making it reportable.

Zaoda.1653:

My problem with the use of ’that’s so gay’ and comments similar to that, is that, while it may not be intended as an insult, when you hear those comments day in and day out, pretty much EVERY day, it starts to affect you. May not be today, or the next day, but eventually you get really sick of hearing it and it starts to be taken personally. Also, if those people want to use ‘gay’ instead of words like ‘stupid’, ‘bad’, or ‘wrong’, how hard is it to actually use the correct word? Is it movies/media that’s making everyone seem to think this is ok? As clearly society is used to it :-/

That’s what I mean by language change. It should not affect you because it’s simply the way it changed. And no, it wouldn’t be more difficult to use a different word, however by now it’s simply very common to use that one. The same way that if you turn the clock back a few decades, I’m sure that some people were unhappy with changing word use and would rather it was used in a different way.

Tasty Pudding.3764:

Wow, so I guess you’re saying that sometimes heteros just gonna het.

Not every single person using a changed word is necessarily a heterosexual you know

Zaoda.1653:

Azure Fang.8605:

Sorry, but all I can say is request a better profanity filter, report censor bypasses, and move on. I hope this never gets implemented. It’s hard enough to communicate with a PUG when you find out two of them have filtered all but whisper or guild.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. For some reason I hadn’t had my profanity filter on, so I’ll put it on when I get back in game – thanks! That should eliminate some of the comments I get daily.

In terms of this suggestion being implemented, it would only be as an option for those who are more reserved or simply just want to be left alone by people. For me personally, I don’t think many would be using this block filter if they were in a group situation (like a dungeon for example) as they would be required to listen to those in their group – be it randoms, guildies, friends etc. so this wouldn’t really be helpful in those situations anyway.

Thanks for the comments and constructive criticism thus far people, I really appreciate it.

Problem is, it technically is already in and gets used way too often. All one has to do is create a chat tab that only shows /guild, switch to it, and done. This leads to my abovementioned PUG complaint. Adding additional ways to lock out communication, while serving the purpose of protecting those with thin skin (no offense, I just can’t think of a better descriptor at this time), would also serve to widen the communication disconnect that is already inherent to a filterable chat system.

Mirta.5029:

Zaoda.1653:

My problem with the use of ’that’s so gay’ and comments similar to that, is that, while it may not be intended as an insult, when you hear those comments day in and day out, pretty much EVERY day, it starts to affect you. May not be today, or the next day, but eventually you get really sick of hearing it and it starts to be taken personally. Also, if those people want to use ‘gay’ instead of words like ‘stupid’, ‘bad’, or ‘wrong’, how hard is it to actually use the correct word? Is it movies/media that’s making everyone seem to think this is ok? As clearly society is used to it :-/

That’s what I mean by language change. It should not affect you because it’s simply the way it changed. And no, it wouldn’t be more difficult to use a different word, however by now it’s simply very common to use that one. The same way that if you turn the clock back a few decades, I’m sure that some people were unhappy with changing word use and would rather it was used in a different way.

Tasty Pudding.3764:

Wow, so I guess you’re saying that sometimes heteros just gonna het.

Not every single person using a changed word is necessarily a heterosexual you know

You’re right, it shouldn’t affect me, but it does, and there’s nothing that will cause me to be unaffected by it. Most of the time I know the player just means ‘bad’, ‘stupid’ or ‘wrong’, and so I try not to take offense to it, but when it comes to a point where it has now, where it’s normal to say these things, that’s when it becomes a problem. Because many lives have been lost to comments just like those in the screenshot – so it does affect me.

It’s like if everyone went round saying ’that’s so hetty’ or ‘lol don’t be a breeder’, where ‘stupid’ was replaced with ‘hetty’ (hetty is another word for heterosexual – for those who don’t know) and ‘doosh’ was replaced with ‘breeder’ (breeder is a term sometimes used as a derogatory term for heterosexuals).

Words may have changed, but it doesn’t make it right, normal OR ok.

Zaoda.1653:

You’re right, it shouldn’t affect me, but it does, and there’s nothing that will cause me to be unaffected by it. Most of the time I know the player just means ‘bad’, ‘stupid’ or ‘wrong’, and so I try not to take offense to it, but when it comes to a point where it has now, where it’s normal to say these things, that’s when it becomes a problem. Because many lives have been lost to comments just like those in the screenshot – so it does affect me.

It’s like if everyone went round saying ’that’s so hetty’ or ‘lol don’t be a breeder’.

Words may have changed, but it doesn’t make it right, normal OR ok.

Well I am terribly sorry, because this will sound harsh, but you will have to live with it. You saying “this word personally offends me” to me sounds the same as “the colour blue worn by boys personally offends me because it used to be reserved solely for girls”, it’s a personal thing and in no way the fault of community. Are there things that personally offend me? Yes. To those close to me I tell them not to say or do certain things and they know. To the rest of society, though, why should they care? They don’t mean to offend, they’re not doing anything that is considered offensive, therefore I have no right to complain. Because everyone finds something offensive and if we went around being afraid to offend each other we would be extremely afraid to ever talk or gesture in any way shape or form.

Mirta.5029:

Zaoda.1653:

You’re right, it shouldn’t affect me, but it does, and there’s nothing that will cause me to be unaffected by it. Most of the time I know the player just means ‘bad’, ‘stupid’ or ‘wrong’, and so I try not to take offense to it, but when it comes to a point where it has now, where it’s normal to say these things, that’s when it becomes a problem. Because many lives have been lost to comments just like those in the screenshot – so it does affect me.

It’s like if everyone went round saying ’that’s so hetty’ or ‘lol don’t be a breeder’.

Words may have changed, but it doesn’t make it right, normal OR ok.

Well I am terribly sorry, because this will sound harsh, but you will have to live with it. You saying “this word personally offends me” to me sounds the same as “the colour blue worn by boys personally offends me because it used to be reserved solely for girls”, it’s a personal thing and in no way the fault of community. Are there things that personally offend me? Yes. To those close to me I tell them not to say or do certain things and they know. To the rest of society, though, why should they care? They don’t mean to offend, they’re not doing anything that is considered offensive, therefore I have no right to complain. Because everyone finds something offensive and if we went around being afraid to offend each other we would be extremely afraid to ever talk or gesture in any way shape or form.

These sorts of comments have caused many suicides though. You’re suggesting here that I should keep my opinions and comments to myself, not confront those in game being abusive/homophobic and/or racist, and just ‘live with it’ and stay silent? I’m sorry but I WILL have to agree to disagree with you there.

This might sound a little insensitive, but get over it. Did your parents not teach you about sticks and stones when you were a kid?

Here’s the solution: Every time someone says the word that really upsets you. Put them on block. Turn off map chat. Minimize your exposure to the world around you. You will NEVER be able to be completely free of it.

Nevermind, forget I even made this thread. Lock it please, it’s going nowhere but fights.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

You can edit your message box to show only Guild messages.

Like how everybody in the thread just completely ignored this.

Zaoda.1653:

These sorts of comments have caused many suicides though. You’re suggesting here that I should keep my opinions and comments to myself, not confront those in game being abusive/homophobic and/or racist, and just ‘live with it’ and stay silent? I’m sorry but I WILL have to agree to disagree with you there.

The thing is if they’re only using the word in a sense of “that’s gay” they’re not being abuse, homophobic or racist and you’re simply attacking them for no reason. Everyone goes trough life hearing a bunch of things and there’s probably no words that did not cause suicide in someone. Hell someone who knows that they can’t bring up a child, but knows that they will be forced to give birth probably suicided hearing “you’re pregnant” in their head. Does that mean that that phrase should be made illegal?
Do you think that all of us here had no problems in our lives and we’re somehow very different to you when it comes to feeling? We have simply just learned how to not be overly sensitive and that’s what everyone has to do at some point in their lives.

I am ‘overly sensitive’, need to ‘live with it’ and ‘get over it’. Got it. Thanks.

Just report idiots, block them, and be done with it. There’s no point in saying anything to people like that. Why bother with them? You can’t change stupid people.

I’m assuming you can’t see speech bubbles when you block people right? I’ve never tested it. I’ve pretty much just gotten used to ignoring speech bubbles, myself.

I really don’t think an option going as far as to auto block everyone else is a good idea. How would you meet new people? Not everyone’s like that. You can’t live in a bubble, man. There’s still some pretty cool people in this game.

Zaoda.1653:

Mirta.5029:

Zaoda.1653:

You’re right, it shouldn’t affect me, but it does, and there’s nothing that will cause me to be unaffected by it. Most of the time I know the player just means ‘bad’, ‘stupid’ or ‘wrong’, and so I try not to take offense to it, but when it comes to a point where it has now, where it’s normal to say these things, that’s when it becomes a problem. Because many lives have been lost to comments just like those in the screenshot – so it does affect me.

It’s like if everyone went round saying ’that’s so hetty’ or ‘lol don’t be a breeder’.

Words may have changed, but it doesn’t make it right, normal OR ok.

Well I am terribly sorry, because this will sound harsh, but you will have to live with it. You saying “this word personally offends me” to me sounds the same as “the colour blue worn by boys personally offends me because it used to be reserved solely for girls”, it’s a personal thing and in no way the fault of community. Are there things that personally offend me? Yes. To those close to me I tell them not to say or do certain things and they know. To the rest of society, though, why should they care? They don’t mean to offend, they’re not doing anything that is considered offensive, therefore I have no right to complain. Because everyone finds something offensive and if we went around being afraid to offend each other we would be extremely afraid to ever talk or gesture in any way shape or form.

These sorts of comments have caused many suicides though. You’re suggesting here that I should keep my opinions and comments to myself, not confront those in game being abusive/homophobic and/or racist, and just ‘live with it’ and stay silent? I’m sorry but I WILL have to agree to disagree with you there.

That argument is dangerous. Let me give a little perspective. I seriously dislike organized religion, but I personally have no problem seeing signs of it. However, my “social group” has been so forceful in their opinion that now it’s nearly a crime to voice a religious belief publicly when intelligence dictates that they should have just grown a thicker skin and let others have their own social values. Because one group believed one thing hard enough, they forced another group into isolation when they could have just as easily coexisted. And honestly, I miss grade school Christmas plays even if I dislike the holiday.

The tools to mitigate the issue already exist. Report, Ignore and Chat Customization. If you think someone is legitimately violating the code of conduct, report them. If you can’t take their spam or use of evolved (devolved?) language, add them to your ignore list. If you really want to self-isolate, create a chat panel that only supports channels you want to see. We don’t need more chat filters.

On a slightly related note, this very word was brought up not too long ago in a forceful ad campaign trying to reform its use by forcing others to conform to one group’s view on how it should be used. It featured a black woman dressed out as a stereotypical “butch lesbian” flipping a teenager’s physical description as an insult after he used “gay” as an insult in a conversation with a friend. The campaign was fought as being unnecessarily offensive, but also for the underlying issue of forcing one group’s values on another instead of addressing positive social and educational reform. Gay, in the past, meant happy. Then it was adopted as a pejorative for homosexuality. THEN it was adopted as a self descriptor. I can think of another such word that is to this day a hot topic of linguistic evolution in tye same fashion.

Slang, especially pejorative slang, will always exist. I’m a nerd. Proud of it. And I hear “nerd” used as an insult on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis, often to my face, just as I did in grade, middle, and high school. Is this offensive? Yes. Do I care? No. Do I make a scene? No. I just laugh internally, shake my head condescendingly at the person making a linguistic fool of himself in public, and go on with my day.

Blocking everyone except friends or guild members ruins the experience for people around you if they aren’t in one of the few groups that you can actually receive messages from. Since you block all communication from them you become incredibly difficult to work with.

If you really needed to tune out everything around you, then you can do what Smooth Penguin said.

The OP is right in saying that words can hurt. Words can even kill.

There are two different things going on here.

One is that people who attack other people personally should be banned from the game. Verbal attacks against other people should not be tolerated.

By the same token, there’s also the fact that there a certain sensitivity the comes from being bullied over a long period of time you can’t relate to unless you’ve been bullied yourself. There comes a point where each person who’s been bullied has to look at their life, their emotions, and ask themselves whether or not they’re going to continue to allow other people to get to them. Some people say this is growing a thick skin, but it’s not.

It’s taking control of your personal space. It’s taking control of your enjoyment of life. Whether something said is wrong or right, your need for people to respect you on any level is going to end in tears, because not all people are respectful. So you need to make a decision. To I allow these people to win, or I do I win myself by not giving them power.

I know I chose the second way.

Nage.1520:

The OP is right in saying that words can hurt. Words can even kill.

There are two different things going on here.

One is that people who attack other people personally should be banned from the game. Verbal attacks against other people should not be tolerated.

By the same token, there’s also the fact that there a certain sensitivity the comes from being bullied over a long period of time you can’t relate to unless you’ve been bullied yourself. There comes a point where each person who’s been bullied has to look at their life, their emotions, and ask themselves whether or not they’re going to continue to allow other people to get to them. Some people say this is growing a thick skin, but it’s not.

It’s taking control of your personal space. It’s taking control of your enjoyment of life. Whether something said is wrong or right, your need for people to respect you on any level is going to end in tears, because not all people are respectful. So you need to make a decision. To I allow these people to win, or I do I win myself by not giving them power.

I know I chose the second way.

The problem with the OP is he or she is not being targeted. The OP is how ever targeting other people because the OP feels they are either misusing a word or doing some thing they don’t like (eg. discussing music or personal opinions).

Every one has their own personal views. I can see nothing constructive coming from this thread and it feels like it is bait.

All this thread is going to devolved into is a mud slinging contest declaring those who don’t think the same way are racist, bigot, insensitive with threats of suicide to further portray themselves as the victim. Yeah, no.

Mirta.5029:

The word gay in itself is not a swear word. And a lot of the times people are not trying to insult homosexual people, but rather use it in a “that sucks” kind of way. Remember that word meanings change often and fast, 50 years before “gay” used to mean “joyful”. As in “I’m having a very gay day”. Some of the remarks can be seen as insults, but not all that you point are actually wrong. To some of them, I think, that you’re reacting too sensitively.

Is this how people really think? Once a term is used in a derogatory manner it doesn’t go back. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what word was used for ignorant, and it will always be a derogatory term now. The reasoning behind saying “that’s gay” instead of “that sucks” is because gay = something bad. There’s no other meaning besides it.

Simply put, it’s not politically correct.

Shanks.2907:

Mirta.5029:

The word gay in itself is not a swear word. And a lot of the times people are not trying to insult homosexual people, but rather use it in a “that sucks” kind of way. Remember that word meanings change often and fast, 50 years before “gay” used to mean “joyful”. As in “I’m having a very gay day”. Some of the remarks can be seen as insults, but not all that you point are actually wrong. To some of them, I think, that you’re reacting too sensitively.

Is this how people really think? Once a term is used in a derogatory manner it doesn’t go back. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what word was used for ignorant, and it will always be a derogatory term now. The reasoning behind saying “that’s gay” instead of “that sucks” is because gay = something bad. There’s no other meaning besides it.

Simply put, it’s not politically correct.

Half of the American-English language would cease to exist under that logic.

Zaoda.1653:

Mirta.5029:

Zaoda.1653:

You’re right, it shouldn’t affect me, but it does, and there’s nothing that will cause me to be unaffected by it. Most of the time I know the player just means ‘bad’, ‘stupid’ or ‘wrong’, and so I try not to take offense to it, but when it comes to a point where it has now, where it’s normal to say these things, that’s when it becomes a problem. Because many lives have been lost to comments just like those in the screenshot – so it does affect me.

It’s like if everyone went round saying ’that’s so hetty’ or ‘lol don’t be a breeder’.

Words may have changed, but it doesn’t make it right, normal OR ok.

Well I am terribly sorry, because this will sound harsh, but you will have to live with it. You saying “this word personally offends me” to me sounds the same as “the colour blue worn by boys personally offends me because it used to be reserved solely for girls”, it’s a personal thing and in no way the fault of community. Are there things that personally offend me? Yes. To those close to me I tell them not to say or do certain things and they know. To the rest of society, though, why should they care? They don’t mean to offend, they’re not doing anything that is considered offensive, therefore I have no right to complain. Because everyone finds something offensive and if we went around being afraid to offend each other we would be extremely afraid to ever talk or gesture in any way shape or form.

These sorts of comments have caused many suicides though. You’re suggesting here that I should keep my opinions and comments to myself, not confront those in game being abusive/homophobic and/or racist, and just ‘live with it’ and stay silent? I’m sorry but I WILL have to agree to disagree with you there.

To point out… you are not in fact, confronting those IN-game about being abusive/homophobic/racists. You OP is literally asking for a way to avoid hearing it, rather then confronting it.

Something that I would suggest that everyone learn, from a very young age, is how to ignore people. And not just a “block their phone number” or “put their chat on the ignore list”. I mean intellectually and wholeheartedly ignore people, even when they are in your face, yelling at you.

The reason why I say this is because critics and haters are never going to go away. So long as you do anything more than cave and be invisible, you will draw the ire of others. It will come from the strangest places and in the strangest ways (darn passive aggressives… just punch me already), and unless you learn to deal with them, then it will be the death of you. Whether you disregard someone for being evil, or pity someone for being stupid, or understand that it is for the best that ignorance and different views are allowed to be expressed, this is something that everyone should learn how to do.

Then comes the hardest part. If you find that you cannot ignore people, then you have to take a look inside yourself, and try to discover why. This is the hard part, because this requires someone to be objective about themselves, and often this reveals something about ourselves that we’d rather not know. For a personal example, the reason why I have issues with critics and dissenters is because I have a controlling personality, and see disagreement sometimes as insolence that requires my intervention before something goes wrong, and sometimes as deliberate malicious defiance. These, of course, aren’t good things, as I have seen these traits lead to decline of my family as a child (like father like son, unfortunately). Because of this, issues with critics, dissenters, or disagreements often becomes less about what they are doing, but about me restraining myself, and reminding myself that it is O.K. for someone to get the numbers of the zerkers change wrong, or that my neighbor smoking on his patio isn’t an act of war against me.

I can’t see how an option to filter chat can harm people who are not willing to use it…
You have my support.

Perhaps, if you had couched your suggestion in having the Invisible option to be more functional, rather than anything to do with chat filtering (you can already filter which chats you want to see), there would be a bit more support for the suggestion.

The Invisible option really doesn’t function very well, and if it had more options within it, I think everyone could be accepting of the feature. There are times I would like to be invisible to most, but not all. And other times, invisible to all (without someone else’s Friends list or Guild list showing which map I am in).

Maybe, it will be improved some day in a future Feature Patch. =)

I’m always amazed at the amount of people who think “gay means bad” is somehow not homophobic. Trying using the word “Jewish” to mean greedy or tight-fisted, and see how much support you get. (Illustrative example: ‘Stop being so Jewish, lend me some money.’) It’s exactly the same thing.

However, for the purposes of the OP, I feel like Block and Report should be sufficient.

You know, OP, it’s truly depressing how some people think they can just type and say anything like this. I admire you for posting this, and showing directly how it affects others, and trying to come up with a solution to negate it. I like your idea as a general QoL addition, but I just don’t like why you’ve had to come up with it in the first place.

During the Queensdale champion train the other day, I actually turned map chat off, because it was sexist and insulting. I’m sure the people posting the comments just thought they were with some kind of "in-crowd" and being all cool and stuff, but really it’s just pathetic. Thing was, I cut the map chat, but found it takes away the good map communication and co-ordination. In other words, I lost out on the game experience. So what to do? Am I supposed to report a group of people who are using sexist (or in the OP’s case, homophobic) language? Then it just looks like I’m serial spamming complaints. Should I screenshot, take their names and email support with a complaint after the fact? I don’t feel the report feature in-game accurately covers the offence, but there are chat logs that can be checked. Regardless, I ended up logging and feeling miserable for a spell afterwards.

What I do know, however, is that we shouldn’t have to put up with these attitudes from anyone. OP, it makes me sad and angry you feel your option is hiding. You shouldn’t have to hide, or filter things out. Those people who say the hateful things you’ve shown in your screenshot? They are the ones who should be invisible. They are the ones who should have to filter, be excluded. Not you.

How, in a game with a Code of Conduct where it explicitly states no verbal abuse, is this allowed?

EDIT:

1. While playing Guild Wars 2, you must respect the rights of others and their rights to play and enjoy the Game. To this end, you may not defraud, harass, threaten, embarrass or cause distress and/or unwanted attention to other players. This includes posting insulting, offensive, or abusive comments about players, repeatedly sending unwanted messages, reporting players maliciously, attacking a player based on race, sexual orientation, religion, heritage, etc. Hate speech is not tolerated.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/guild-wars-2-rules-of-conduct/

Good grief man… Have you even TRIED to use a filter on a new tab? Just make a channel which only shows guild chat and whispers with combat or NPCs too or whatever and you’re done. Instead you just come by and start a homosexual and racial defending debate for no reason.

xenophobia

Good luck OP. Hope you have a good guild and group of friends that can offer you understanding. I’m a cisgender straight male but I don’t like language of oppression in any form, whether it be racial slurs or slurs against the LGBT community or against people with disabilities. When people are real kitten-heads, I have a tab where have all but game messages unchecked. I have a guild tab that only includes /s, /g and whispers, and if I’m in WvW I put the map chat up since I’m more likely to hear instructions than ignorance.

But if you have sensitivity (thin skin, as some posters referred to it) You have to be sure to not put yourself in harm’s way on the days you feel you just can’t take it. It’s especially crucial if you suffer from depression or anxiety. I know where you’re coming from. I can be doing great or just gaming to get over a rough day and someone chimes in on /say or /map chat with some fresh hot ignorance. At your roughest times, it can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I mean some of us game to get away from IRL problems. But at the same time, some of those ignorant cusses would res you at the drop of a hat, and some of them will complement your armor and color scheme. A lot of times as well, some would stop saying such thoughtless things if they finally met and became friends with those of us in the LGBT community. You have to go through a lot of swine before you find those pearls though haha.

On another note, I think our blocking, online status and general visibility isn’t really all it could be in this game. When you log on, you have to manually set your presence to Invisible, but even then, friends and guild mates are notified of your presence before you can click that invisible option. And if you’ve blocked someone in your same guild, they can still see your chats in Guild chat as well as your current map location. We have some good options so far for communication, but not so much when it comes to keeping to oneself.

Edit: Also much love to Ceridwen for that heartfelt comment! It was looking grim in this thread for a moment, but I’m glad you reminded us of the way things should be. Hopefully ArenaNet can make the changes needed to help all of us who might share OP’s sentiments and perspective.

I think everyone can find some amusement in this: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/online_gaming

Zaoda.1653:

I am ‘overly sensitive’, need to ‘live with it’ and ‘get over it’. Got it. Thanks.

Well, you are, to be honest. Pretty much everything that Mirta said is true.
I would ask you: Why the hell do you care? But i know some people are more sensitive about such things than others.
But seriously, it’s a internet, you will always see comments that could offend you if you let it, anywhere. You don’t even know these people, you have never seen them. For all you know, they can be bunch of little spoiled kids or some sad people with no life or you know…. aliens!!! (joke)
Serisouly tho, just don’t waste your energy for people that want to insult you.
But like Mirta said, not everyone is necessary trying to insult with those words. It’s just a popular word for “describing” some things.
When i was a kid, some kids were using words they didn’t even like or understand, but you know it was cool to use them because it was “in” so they had to use it, so they were “cool” as well.

OP if you look here https://www.guildwars2.com/en/ on the first page down in the right corner you will see some signs in case you missed it also you have the option to turn the chat channels off.

I would love if they added this.
I have to see people use the term for physically forcing another person to have sex (term is censored) every single day. In WvW, when we win a fight, someone always inevitably screams R***
If they are particularly vile, they’ll go into graphic detail about it.
And 90% of the time, when I ask people not to use that word, and not to joke about it, I get told to stop being sensitive, ect.

In a public, anonymous sphere like this, vulnerable people are going to be exposed to all sorts of damaging language. There really needs to be a better system in place, not only to protect yourself from it and block it out, but to effectively report it.

serialkicker.5274:

Zaoda.1653:

I am ‘overly sensitive’, need to ‘live with it’ and ‘get over it’. Got it. Thanks.

I would ask you: Why the hell do you care? But i know some people are more sensitive about such things than others.
But seriously, it’s a internet, you will always see comments that could offend you if you let it, anywhere. You don’t even know these people, you have never seen them. For all

Well, you are, to be honest. Pretty much everything that Mirta said is true.
you know, they can be bunch of little spoiled kids or some sad people with no life or you know…. aliens!!! (joke)
Serisouly tho, just don’t waste your energy for people that want to insult you.
But like Mirta said, not everyone is necessary trying to insult with those words. It’s just a popular word for “describing” some things.
When i was a kid, some kids were using words they didn’t even like or understand, but you know it was cool to use them because it was “in” so they had to use it, so they were “cool” as well.

It doesn’t matter if someone is a little kid or pitiful in real life. It doesn’t matter that “words shouldn’t hurt you”. It doesn’t matter that “the interwebs are cruel”

The fact is, words DO hurt. And we’re only human. We have bad days. We feel pain—even when somebody doesn’t mean harm.
Maybe this is “the interwebs”, but behind the screen are real people. And real people can’t always choose whether or not they hurt.

Instead of teaching people “Don’t let words hurt you”, we should teach people “Don’t say words that hurt”

Looks like you forgot to post this on your echo chamber OP, its ok we all make mistakes!

https://www.tumblr.com

A word is never racist or homophobic or anything, its the intent that is. It is what you mean by saying it. Like if you dont want to swear in front of your kids and you start to use the word “radio”. You are still swearing, and after a while the kids will learn what you mean when saying “radio”.
As you would, if everybody started to use “radio” instead of gay. Would it still hurt?
By now everybody knows “kitten” mean emphazising something. Is it better to say “kitten you”, than something else?
It is all about context, intent and situations.
Something I had to learn as a kid, was that it was often MY choice to let someone ruin my day or not. I am me, and the only one that is me, why would I let some random idiot make me feel bad? Even more so if its just some who tries to sound cool because they think they have to? Poor them.

JoeytheHutt.1742:

A word is never racist or homophobic or anything, its the intent that is. It is what you mean by saying it. Like if you dont want to swear in front of your kids and you start to use the word “radio”. You are still swearing, and after a while the kids will learn what you mean when saying “radio”.
As you would, if everybody started to use “radio” instead of gay. Would it still hurt?
By now everybody knows “kitten” mean emphazising something. Is it better to say “kitten you”, than something else?
It is all about context, intent and situations.
Something I had to learn as a kid, was that it was often MY choice to let someone ruin my day or not. I am me, and the only one that is me, why would I let some random idiot make me feel bad? Even more so if its just some who tries to sound cool because they think they have to? Poor them.

Incorrect. It’s not the intent behind a statement, it’s how that statement is understood. Either subjectively or from the perspective of the proverbial reasonable person.

Now, your example misses the point. It’s not saying ‘X thing is gay’ that is offensive to LGBT people. It’s the implication that gay means bad. If people started saying ‘X thing is radio’ instead, that would be offensive to… radios. Which are inanimate objects, rather than people, so we really don’t care. For a better example, see my post above about ‘Jewish.’

As for choice to let someone ruin your day: this is a game, not the real world. What that means is there is no such thing as freedom of speech/expression – Anet can moderate anything at will. That’s why we can report people, because Anet wants their game environment not to be offensive to anyone. As such, if players are routinely using offensive language, those offended by the language have a valid concern, which isn’t going to be solved by people saying “Just get over it. It’s your own fault you let it get to you.”

Kumu Honua.2751:

A pastor at a church I once went to said something that lead me to a 5th suicide attempt. So yes, I am very well aware of the term ‘sticks and stones’, and quite frankly, it’s the worst lie this world has ever been told, because words can hurt just as much as physical pain.

If you have had 5 suicide attempts due to words then you my friend are simply a person who is not capable of playing online games. Your psyche is too fragile. You cannot and will not change people for the better. You have to have your own personal shield from the nonsense. That is the skill you need before you should play this game.

There are support groups that work on this skill.

Guild Wars 2

Platform: Windows PC

Rating Category:

Content Descriptors: Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence

ESRB has already told you what to expect. You chose to ignore that as well as not using the tools provided by ANET to limit your exposure.

Sorry, but this doesn’t justify bigotry. “Bigotry is OK because it’s a video game that many people play. You are too sensitive!” Ask ANet if bigoted comments are OK in public chat.

I do not agree with the OP’s suggestion, but those players should have all been banned permanently from the game. Hope they were reported, and that they no longer get a chance to spout their hate in the game (it’s NOT funny in the least.)

Telling others “your psyche is too fragile” is out of place, because you are not them. Basically you are saying that you are better than they are for having a “stronger” psyche-you are “equipped” to play online games, he/she is not. I bet even you would break in game with the right, negative trigger words.

And learn personality types-would help you a lot before judging people that are different than you. No personality is worse than each other, they are just different. Some people are almost like stone, some are “sensitive”, but both have their validity, and none is superior to each other.

Bigotry is, in any case, idiotic and unacceptable, whether you are sensitive or not.

Star Ace.5207:

Kumu Honua.2751:

A pastor at a church I once went to said something that lead me to a 5th suicide attempt. So yes, I am very well aware of the term ‘sticks and stones’, and quite frankly, it’s the worst lie this world has ever been told, because words can hurt just as much as physical pain.

If you have had 5 suicide attempts due to words then you my friend are simply a person who is not capable of playing online games. Your psyche is too fragile. You cannot and will not change people for the better. You have to have your own personal shield from the nonsense. That is the skill you need before you should play this game.

There are support groups that work on this skill.

Guild Wars 2

Platform: Windows PC

Rating Category:

Content Descriptors: Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence

ESRB has already told you what to expect. You chose to ignore that as well as not using the tools provided by ANET to limit your exposure.

Sorry, but this doesn’t justify bigotry. “Bigotry is OK because it’s a video game that many people play. You are too sensitive!” Ask ANet if bigoted comments are OK in public chat.

I do not agree with the OP’s suggestion, but those players should have all been banned permanently from the game. Hope they were reported, and that they no longer get a chance to spout their hate in the game (it’s NOT funny in the least.)

Telling others “your psyche is too fragile” is out of place, because you are not them. Basically you are saying that you are better than they are for having a “stronger” psyche-you are “equipped” to play online games, he/she is not. I bet even you would break in game with the right, negative trigger words.

And learn personality types-would help you a lot before judging people that are different than you. No personality is worse than each other, they are just different. Some people are almost like stone, some are “sensitive”, but both have their validity, and none is superior to each other.

Bigotry is, in any case, idiotic and unacceptable, whether you are sensitive or not.

“Don’t judge people!”

“Unless they do/act a way I don’t like!”

you cant have your cake and eat it too, if you want to accept all people… that means even those who use the word gay in any way they wish. You guys are just trying to push a leftest agenda under the guise of tolerance when its really just rampant hypocrisy.

Zepidel.5349:

“Don’t judge people!”

“Unless they do/act a way I don’t like!”

you cant have your cake and eat it too, if you want to accept all people… that means even those who use the word gay in any way they wish. You guys are just trying to push a leftest agenda under the guise of tolerance when its really just rampant hypocrisy.

Not entirely sure what “leftest agenda” means (and I’m pretty sure you couldn’t accurately define it either), so we’ll leave it aside as meaningless.

Pretty simple distinction: judging people on how they positively act is ok, judging them on who they are is not. Someone wants to make bigoted/offensive/intolerant statements, then yeah, we can judge that. Very different to judging someone on their gender, sexuality, race, ‘sensitivity,’ etc.

No hypocrisy there.

Up to some point i can understand what the OP is talking about, i repeatedly tende to snap when my family or my friends are making fun about me because i was bullied at school- i know that they are not serious about it… but it still hurts. After some year i managed to hide that, but i still feel personally offended…

On the other hand its a little bit weird to block everybody in a MMO, therefore i would suggest to stick to a modified chat box which only shows you Guild nd Group comments, and if anybody whispers at you angrily just block him.

I never saw so many people using the word gay in gw2 in my complete gametime, maybe this is something NA specific…

Zepidel.5349:

Star Ace.5207:

Kumu Honua.2751:

A pastor at a church I once went to said something that lead me to a 5th suicide attempt. So yes, I am very well aware of the term ‘sticks and stones’, and quite frankly, it’s the worst lie this world has ever been told, because words can hurt just as much as physical pain.

If you have had 5 suicide attempts due to words then you my friend are simply a person who is not capable of playing online games. Your psyche is too fragile. You cannot and will not change people for the better. You have to have your own personal shield from the nonsense. That is the skill you need before you should play this game.

There are support groups that work on this skill.

Guild Wars 2

Platform: Windows PC

Rating Category:

Content Descriptors: Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence

ESRB has already told you what to expect. You chose to ignore that as well as not using the tools provided by ANET to limit your exposure.

Sorry, but this doesn’t justify bigotry. “Bigotry is OK because it’s a video game that many people play. You are too sensitive!” Ask ANet if bigoted comments are OK in public chat.

I do not agree with the OP’s suggestion, but those players should have all been banned permanently from the game. Hope they were reported, and that they no longer get a chance to spout their hate in the game (it’s NOT funny in the least.)

Telling others “your psyche is too fragile” is out of place, because you are not them. Basically you are saying that you are better than they are for having a “stronger” psyche-you are “equipped” to play online games, he/she is not. I bet even you would break in game with the right, negative trigger words.

And learn personality types-would help you a lot before judging people that are different than you. No personality is worse than each other, they are just different. Some people are almost like stone, some are “sensitive”, but both have their validity, and none is superior to each other.

Bigotry is, in any case, idiotic and unacceptable, whether you are sensitive or not.

“Don’t judge people!”

“Unless they do/act a way I don’t like!”

you cant have your cake and eat it too, if you want to accept all people… that means even those who use the word gay in any way they wish. You guys are just trying to push a leftest agenda under the guise of tolerance when its really just rampant hypocrisy.

You know that’s not the way it works. One can be intolerant towards intolerance-that’s the only intolerance I accept, because it’s warranted. Has nothing to do with being judgmental, but more with being fair.

ANet is also “bigoted” against bigots in this game in their official statement. Guess they are being judgmental of people’s “freedom of speech?”