Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone! Zera here with a public service announcement… err reminder I guess.

If someone says something in chat you don’t like and you really don’t know how to cope (you have my pity… life is hard for everyone), there is always the handy dandy block feature. It works! It truly does work! There is no need for you to suffer while you game (I personally don’t understand the suffering, but hey to each his own).

I’m not justifying “offensive” chat or “victim blaming” (I’m using quotations because these things are entirely subjective), but let people be terrible. ArenaNet will deal with them accordingly. You just worry about enjoying your game. Block and keep playing.

You don’t have to leave a map. You don’t have to feel down. You don’t have to consider doing something sad. Simply block the person. You don’t even have to announce it in chat! Simply right-click the player’s name in chat and select ‘Block’. All your problems will be solved! It’s that easy! Use this life hack now and save yourself from an unpleasant game experience. Everyone deserves a peaceful chat. The more people you block, the more peaceful it will be for you.

Seriously, though, use the block feature. ArenaNet was smart enough to add the feature for a good reason. It literally makes the “offensive” player cease to exist in your game personally. You can thank me later.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

What? What is the point to this thread? Has there been an explosion of QQ threads of people saying mean things in map chat I missed?

Also, ArenaNet, you REALLY need to revise your kitten word swap feature (no I actually wrote kitten, not a so called obsenity). In this post I was saying that life is difficult on everyone, but used the word hard instead of difficult and your over-zealous censorship made my post seem offensive when it wasn’t at all. I had to change it to ‘hard for’. Please reconsider some of your censorship. It’s only offensive if you make it so, and you are making it offensive. Please stop making non-offensive words offensive.

I recommend limiting the word swap to actual vulgarities like kitten and kitten without including slang terms. IF a slang term is deemed offensive, THEN take the appropriate action against the poster (like an immediate temporary ban or something along those lines so they get the point). I get that you are trying to avoid the possibility of anyone ever being offended (it’s impossible, I’m afraid), but let’s stop splitting hairs here.

BrotherBelial.3094:

What? What is the point to this thread? Has there been an explosion of QQ threads of people saying mean things in map chat I missed?

No, not an explosion, but there was a post where it truly seemed like the OP had no idea that the feature existed. Given the recent influx of new players, I’m assuming a lot of them don’t know the feature even exists. This post was for them.

BrotherBelial.3094:

What? What is the point to this thread? Has there been an explosion of QQ threads of people saying mean things in map chat I missed?

Probably the thread from yesterday where someone said something to someone who got upset and had to leave map, etc etc etc. The point about blocking was made at that time but I guess the OP decided to make a brand new thread about it for anyone who didn’t read the other thread.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

BrotherBelial.3094:

What? What is the point to this thread? Has there been an explosion of QQ threads of people saying mean things in map chat I missed?

Probably the thread from yesterday where someone said something to someone who got upset and had to leave map, etc etc etc. The point about blocking was made at that time but I guess the OP decided to make a brand new thread about it for anyone who didn’t read the other thread.

Yes, I’m genuinely under the impression that many don’t know of the feature, so I’m just kindly reminding everyone.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

BrotherBelial.3094:

What? What is the point to this thread? Has there been an explosion of QQ threads of people saying mean things in map chat I missed?

Probably the thread from yesterday where someone said something to someone who got upset and had to leave map, etc etc etc. The point about blocking was made at that time but I guess the OP decided to make a brand new thread about it for anyone who didn’t read the other thread.

Yes, I’m genuinely under the impression that many don’t know of the feature, so I’m just kindly reminding everyone.

Ah right. I skip the “Someone was mean to me/said something that offends me in map chat” threads. There’s enough drama on my facebook feeds, don’t need to see them here.

Thanks again for the enlightenment.

So many awful parents …

It’s a nice feature, and an important one.

But lets make no mistake, the block feature is not the end all be all solution.
Much like the profanity filter is not a license to swear, the block feature is not carte blanche to be offensive as you like
“anyone who doesn’t want to hear it can just block me” to quote one particularly nasty player, spewing some of the worst hatred I’ve ever seen in a game.
He argue that the block feature gave him the right to say ANYTHING he wanted because anyone who didn’t want to hear it could just block him.

Each player, when they agree to the ToS, signs a contract saying they agree to follow the rules
For anyone who refuses to follow those rules ArenaNet is fully within their right to ban them, for any duration they see fit.

Your right to free speech does not apply here. That right is a legal protection from government censure, any owner of private property still has the right to tell you to leave, and owners of “private property” online (such as forums) have the right to delete any content they feel like, or declare any content they see fit as verboten.

So yes, block people when they are offensive.
But always make a point to report the incident.
Every time you turn a blind eye, you condone their actions, every time they get away with it it reinforces their belief that what they do is acceptable.

ArenaNet will investigate and evaluate whether the person was truly being offensive or whether the reporter was being overly sensitive (because that does happen as well) and take action or not accordingly.
They may not take action on one iffy report, but if each time the person says horrible things someone reports them its much more likely something will be done.
Maybe getting banned will teach them being nasty isn’t okay, maybe not, but doing nothing and condoning their actions sure isn’t going to help.

I wouldn’t say I condone their actions. I have a more apathetic stance on their behavior because it has absolutely no effect on me at all. These ‘abusive’ and ‘offensive’ players have no power over me and never will.

I think some people like to purposefully troll about this issue. Just a few days ago there was a thread about this from an account with no post history and he kept going on and on about it. But it only takes about two people to de rail silly threads like that to get it locked. Sometimes I feel like I’m playing Forum Wars 2. But it needs some new specilazations and raids or an expansion or I’ll lose interest.

ScribeTheMad.7614:

It’s a nice feature, and an important one.

But lets make no mistake, the block feature is not the end all be all solution.
Much like the profanity filter is not a license to swear, the block feature is not carte blanche to be offensive as you like
“anyone who doesn’t want to hear it can just block me” to quote one particularly nasty player, spewing some of the worst hatred I’ve ever seen in a game.
He argue that the block feature gave him the right to say ANYTHING he wanted because anyone who didn’t want to hear it could just block him.

Each player, when they agree to the ToS, signs a contract saying they agree to follow the rules
For anyone who refuses to follow those rules ArenaNet is fully within their right to ban them, for any duration they see fit.

Your right to free speech does not apply here. That right is a legal protection from government censure, any owner of private property still has the right to tell you to leave, and owners of “private property” online (such as forums) have the right to delete any content they feel like, or declare any content they see fit as verboten.

So yes, block people when they are offensive.
But always make a point to report the incident.
Every time you turn a blind eye, you condone their actions, every time they get away with it it reinforces their belief that what they do is acceptable.

ArenaNet will investigate and evaluate whether the person was truly being offensive or whether the reporter was being overly sensitive (because that does happen as well) and take action or not accordingly.
They may not take action on one iffy report, but if each time the person says horrible things someone reports them its much more likely something will be done.
Maybe getting banned will teach them being nasty isn’t okay, maybe not, but doing nothing and condoning their actions sure isn’t going to help.

ScribeTheMad.7614:

It’s a nice feature, and an important one.

But lets make no mistake, the block feature is not the end all be all solution.
Much like the profanity filter is not a license to swear, the block feature is not carte blanche to be offensive as you like
“anyone who doesn’t want to hear it can just block me” to quote one particularly nasty player, spewing some of the worst hatred I’ve ever seen in a game.
He argue that the block feature gave him the right to say ANYTHING he wanted because anyone who didn’t want to hear it could just block him.

Each player, when they agree to the ToS, signs a contract saying they agree to follow the rules
For anyone who refuses to follow those rules ArenaNet is fully within their right to ban them, for any duration they see fit.

Your right to free speech does not apply here. That right is a legal protection from government censure, any owner of private property still has the right to tell you to leave, and owners of “private property” online (such as forums) have the right to delete any content they feel like, or declare any content they see fit as verboten.

So yes, block people when they are offensive.
But always make a point to report the incident.
Every time you turn a blind eye, you condone their actions, every time they get away with it it reinforces their belief that what they do is acceptable.

ArenaNet will investigate and evaluate whether the person was truly being offensive or whether the reporter was being overly sensitive (because that does happen as well) and take action or not accordingly.
They may not take action on one iffy report, but if each time the person says horrible things someone reports them its much more likely something will be done.
Maybe getting banned will teach them being nasty isn’t okay, maybe not, but doing nothing and condoning their actions sure isn’t going to help.

Here, here. No system has to defend inclusions that corrupt that system, especially if those inclusions are paradoxes. How so many people can find so much meaning in nihilism is beyond me.

Hmm, the block function…

• It doesn’t block the sound of bellspammers
• It doesn’t prevent people from entering my lfg groups
• It doesn’t prevent people from following me around
• It doesn’t prevent people from knowing which map I’m on
• It doesn’t prevent people from being assigned to my team in PvP

Sounds pretty useless to me.

BunjiKugashira.9754:

Hmm, the block function…

• It doesn’t block the sound of bellspammers
• It doesn’t prevent people from entering my lfg groups
• It doesn’t prevent people from following me around
• It doesn’t prevent people from knowing which map I’m on
• It doesn’t prevent people from being assigned to my team in PvP

Sounds pretty useless to me.

It also isn’t linkable from people spamming chat with /emotes. If they’re nowhere nearby, you can’t target them to block them.

Block list is also limited in number. I could easily have a thousand people on my block list (I have high standards, shush), but instead, I have to routinely clean my block list manually. One at a time. If that person was banned, I’d never know, they’d just be offline forever, cluttering up my list.

So, yeah, passive-aggressive “reminder” to highlight a feature that’s lacking in usability and has a shoddy UI. Woo.