Guild Wars 2

Firstly, I want to point out that I don’t know either of these people involved. I’m posting this because I want you guys to share your thoughts on this matter, and possibly for a moderator to confirm/deny if this is appropriate conduct (for future reference). I realise that this topic could get out of hand, so please be sensitive about the topic at hand and explain your reasoning well.

I encountered a fierce “debate” this morning in map chat. It all started when a player posted a short question in German in map chat.

Another player then came along and said that this person should speak in English, and that he blocks everybody who doesn’t speak in English. He says that people who set their game client to English (which then includes you in the English language chat filter) should only speak English, because it’s rude to speak another language other than English. His explanation for this, in this example, was because speaking German excludes many people from the conversation, and that by applying your game (as a German speaker) to the English client removes your right to speak German in map chat.

(For those who don’t know, there is a chat filter which filters language depending on what language you choose to run your client in. People who apply a filter for English in the chat window only would only allow people using the client in English to show in their chat).

On one hand, I understand his reasoning. He chose the English filter so he didn’t have to see other languages, but because there are “loop-holes” in the system, he does. He also has the right to block anybody he sees fit.

However, imho I don’t think it’s appropriate to advertise that blocking (and discriminating) on the grounds of language is ok, or to tell somebody that speaking their native non-English language is rude.

Is it verbal abuse for somebody to tell another that they shall block you because of what language they speak?

Thoughts? Have you guys experienced any discrimination? What about your experiences of co-operation between speakers of different languages?

*EDIT: I’ve edited the title of the post to be more appropriate to the topic we’re discussing and the direction that it’s heading *

This is an interesting post. Personally I don’t mind if the person speaks any other language when they are in the english servers. I’ve ran a few dungeons with Asian players and they were really cool people (a bit hard to coordinate attacks but we got past the hard parts because they attempted to type in english and I was trying to be understanding of the fact that they would have broken english but we still lol’d and had good conversations). The thing with using your native language on the english serves is communication is a lot harder when people don’t understand the language. If the player prefers any other language that fine by me. I don’t block people for speaking spanish (I’m cuban) or any other language I just let them know that I can’t understand them :P .

But to the OP point I have seen some people be A**H**** to people because they type in another language.

Being on the NA servers we’ve generally only got English and bad English.

I made a game friend with a bloke who’s first language is Spanish. I think after a while he forgot about things and invited me to a group where everyone spoke Spanish…except me. After a few minutes of me speaking English to him and the others speaking Spanish to each other I said “thanks, cya guys” and left. Nobody was fussed.

I don’t why people get troubled by seeing people communicate in a language other than their own. Unless that’s it – seeing it rather than hearing it. It might get in the way of the brain concentrating on other chat a player is part of. Or something. I’m no expert.

Also, some people are jerks and don’t mind displaying it.

edit:and no, the guy wasn’t Zoso

Hmm…
I run my chat filter off becouse I find it important to see what others are saying even if it is on another language, sometimes I can guess what is said and it is even fun to sometimes look it up ^^

Anyway I am from sweden and there is no swedish client so ofcourse I am playing on an english client. I think that if you are playing on an english client you should therefore only speak english in chat if you don’t know for sure it is okay to speak other languages in that chat channel.

So for this one player to tell the other player to not speak German in chat is in my opinion not inappropriate even though this player will block or not since what He/she does is to inform of what’s right and wrong. Telling someone ‘I will block you’ is no offence as also in my opinion is to say ‘I wont listen to you anymore’. So again, if you play on an english Client speak english and if you play on a German client speak German, the language filter was made for a reason.
I don’t wanna come out rude or anything sorry if I did, it is just my opinion.

Gregori.5807:

I think its a kitten move to say that he’s going to block anyone who doesn’t speak English then give the person crap. Why bother saying it… just do it or use the chat filter. I don’t know if its discrimination but it is being a jerk.

I had a weird experience with racism when I was in Lion’s Arch. One of my character’s names gives away my race if you know what you’re looking for. I had said a couple of things in map chat while not on this character, when some guy fires up in map chat with a bunch of racism towards my race, which is not a common one.

Uhhh… that meant that he had to have taken note of my account name when I was on the character with the name that gave away my race, seen me talking in chat, hovered over my character’s name and seen my account name. Then let fly. Also, I don’t play that character often, but had the past couple of days.

Racism is racism, block the guy, which I did. What was a bit freaky is that he made the effort to remember my account name.

That’s absolutely appalling. Did you report the person as well? Sometimes I don’t get humanity.

zenleto.6179:

Gregori.5807:

~~my racism story~~.

That’s absolutely appalling. Did you report the person as well? Sometimes I don’t get humanity.

Yup. Probably more than me; a few people in chat were WTFing over this.

Edit: ok, that’s odd. My original post is gone but it… lives… on. The forum belched.

zenleto.6179:

Being on the NA servers we’ve generally only got English and bad English.

I made a game friend with a bloke who’s first language is Spanish. I think after a while he forgot about things and invited me to a group where everyone spoke Spanish…except me. After a few minutes of me speaking English to him and the others speaking Spanish to each other I said “thanks, cya guys” and left. Nobody was fussed.

I don’t why people get troubled by seeing people communicate in a language other than their own. Unless that’s it – seeing it rather than hearing it. It might get in the way of the brain concentrating on other chat a player is part of. Or something. I’m no expert.

Also, some people are jerks and don’t mind displaying it.

edit:and no, the guy wasn’t Zoso

NA has some quebecois players running around, most of them speak English though. I never minded it in chat, although i’ve seen people complain.

I think when you are playing an MMO, and want to interact with everyone in the map, you should at least try to speak English. Imagine every player in megaservers to speak their own language.

I’m Dutch myself, and I get spinal shivers when I see my mother language in the map chat. Because 99% of the map players will not understand it. Starting a Dutch guild would fix the issue of speaking bad English.

I think that common courtesy should say that speaking the native language (English in an American server, for example) is the thing to do, if possible. That’s just courtesy. But in NO way should it be mandatory. If you really get so uptight about someone speaking a different language, you’re going to have a really bad time on the internet. There are a lot of upsetting things in this world, and all of it ends up online. Just assume the speaker is not talking to you, because he/she probably isn’t, and move on with your life, and accept that other languages exist in this world.

On another note, if they speak poor English, don’t be a prick to them. They’re trying. And I can almost guarantee they speak your language better than you speak theirs.

Sometimes on low population hours, I see a lot of German in the map chat. To be honest, it does slightly bother me, because I’d like to understand what people are saying, and I’d like to help when people have questions. However, these people chose to play on German servers, that the megaserver crudely mixes in with other servers. Wouldn’t be right to demand a player playing on a localized server to communicate through another language, right?

I have a solution! Include google translate into map chat! This way everyone can be confused

munkiman.3068:

zenleto.6179:

Being on the NA servers we’ve generally only got English and bad English.

I made a game friend with a bloke who’s first language is Spanish. I think after a while he forgot about things and invited me to a group where everyone spoke Spanish…except me. After a few minutes of me speaking English to him and the others speaking Spanish to each other I said “thanks, cya guys” and left. Nobody was fussed.

I don’t why people get troubled by seeing people communicate in a language other than their own. Unless that’s it – seeing it rather than hearing it. It might get in the way of the brain concentrating on other chat a player is part of. Or something. I’m no expert.

Also, some people are jerks and don’t mind displaying it.

edit:and no, the guy wasn’t Zoso

NA has some quebecois players running around, most of them speak English though. I never minded it in chat, although i’ve seen people complain.

Yeah, I remember seeing this. Been a while. There would always be one or two people asking fairly nicely for them switch to English and then some jerk throwing abuse. My server used to have a fair sized Filipino guild that ended up transferring (or quitting en mass) and they used to get the same.

Basically it all comes down to being understood. If you speak spanish for example and are in the english server and everyone talks in english expect to be ignored or people not understanding you but thats about as far as it goes for me. I don’t think people should rage or anything just ignore it or block it. By blocking that person I don’t take it as an attack or anything its just the person doing the blocking doesn’t want to “listen” to you if your not speaking a language they understand.

Tuomir.1830:

Sometimes on low population hours, I see a lot of German in the map chat. To be honest, it does slightly bother me, because I’d like to understand what people are saying, and I’d like to help when people have questions. However, these people chose to play on German servers, that the megaserver crudely mixes in with other servers. Wouldn’t be right to demand a player playing on a localized server to communicate through another language, right?

Though in this case there is a chat filter that filters out language. Like if you play with an english client you wont see what German client players write if you have this filter checked. But in this case this German player is playing on an English client and want to communicate with his/her Germna client friends (If I got OP correct). This will make this players who only like english(Player A) to react on one player talking german(Player even though Player A has the chat filter checked.

In some other games I have heard that you can even get banned if you speak another language than english in an english server, it’s just rumor but I rather not speak Swedish in open chats just to be sure.

Just to add a few things to that you guys might like to comment/develop on:

-The guy arguing against the German-speaker has a somewhat valid point in saying that if she wanted to speak German, she should chose the German client.
However:
-Many non-English players prefer to play using the English client: often, Wiki pages are more filled-out in the English version and along with using guides (like Dulfy) it is useful to know what items/skills/places are called in English.
-Also, there are only English, French, German and Spanish clients. I’ve seen plenty of people using Slavic languages and Italian who wouldn’t be filtered out from the chat filter because there is no appropriate client language for them. Would this be a different conversation one of these languages were being used rather than the German?

-In this instance, I recall the German speaker saying that the reason why she asked the question in German in the first place was because she preferred to be on the receiving end of a German explanation, as she would be able to understand it better. She seemed to speak English pretty well. Her question, in this instance, was directed at the German community whereas other questions and conversations of hers might be more appropriate for the English community.

-Do you guys feel that an appropriate (and optional) language detection service in game would reduce these kinds of encounters?

I’m very interested in all of your responses, and agree with everything that has been said so far. English is by far the most effective way to communicate online and in-game but I’ve come to my personal conclusion that people shouldn’t rise against a Non-English speaker in the way that I mentioned in the original post. I think I’ve come to realise myself that my upset of what I saw happened was how the guy voiced his opinion, which may potentially inspire other players to follow his lead and block/harass them just because they’re not speaking English at that moment.

I’m French and I run the English client because I hate localized versions, with the filter off so I can see everything that’s spoken, and it’s not rare I’ll answer a question a French person asked in French. Where’s the harm?

As typical as this kind of thing is, I think it’s wrong and honestly pretty entitled. There’s a lot of reasons someone might have their client set to English even though it isn’t their own main language – maybe that language simply isn’t an option, or maybe they’re bad at English but use games in English as a way to practice it… To demand that people speak English only is making things extremely unwelcoming to a host of people.

I never understood that mindset personally. If I don’t understand then frankly it was not directed at me.
For those saying NA servers should only have english I would point out that for a large chunk of NA english is not the main language used. Even in the US there are several states that have more Spanish native speakers than English including California where the company is based.

jackaljag.8637:

I’m French and I run the English client because I hate localized versions, with the filter off so I can see everything that’s spoken, and it’s not rare I’ll answer a question a French person asked in French. Where’s the harm?

As typical as this kind of thing is, I think it’s wrong and honestly pretty entitled. There’s a lot of reasons someone might have their client set to English even though it isn’t their own main language – maybe that language simply isn’t an option, or maybe they’re bad at English but use games in English as a way to practice it… To demand that people speak English only is making things extremely unwelcoming to a host of people.

This is a really good point that nobody ever seems to think about. It’s easy to say speak English, but that doesn’t change the fact that you still have to learn it. And it doesn’t change the fact that the only way to really learn it is to immerse yourself in it.

In the end it’s a really dumb thing to get worked up over. You don’t understand the German? Ignore it. Block them if you feel like being that passive aggressive over your own sense of entitlement. It’s not that hard.

I’m not giving a single flying pig toward insults, discrimination or whatever else.
It only shows the level of stupidity of someone who’s unable to properly show his point of view.

Nevertheless there are many people who get offended by something that’s irrelevant or it’s a spoken truth – like history – and they go full kitten mode with tears falling like a waterfall.

Those people are of the same level as those who keep insulting for fun – same brain level I say.

Can’t even call them kids, since majority of those people are 18+.

People are people. Sometimes it’s the best to just ignore them, since their flood is a better brain cell killer than vodka.

A lot of people have choosen to play on German, French or Spain server because they
want to talk in their own language .. and some are maybe even not good in english.

So only because Mega-Server now mixes all those player wildly together on the maps
didn’t remove their right to talk in their own language.

If someone asks in German i answer in german .. if someone asks in english i answer in
english .. if its french or spain .. i look maybe if i have a clue what that could mean .. and irgnore it

Beldin.5498:

A lot of people have choosen to play on German, French or Spain server because they
want to talk in their own language .. and some are maybe even not good in english.

So only because Mega-Server now mixes all those player wildly together on the maps
didn’t remove their right to talk in their own language.

If someone asks in German i answer in german .. if someone asks in english i answer in
english .. if its french or spain .. i look maybe if i have a clue what that could mean .. and irgnore it

There is a filter for language client.

If my client is English and your is German, then we won’t see what we write in Map chat as long as we have filter turned on.

Most of the players have filter turned on – since they dunno that it does even exist.

And problem with it arise when a German using english client is spamming in german in map chat, and that ticks people off.

jackaljag.8637:

I’m French and I run the English client because I hate localized versions, with the filter off so I can see everything that’s spoken, and it’s not rare I’ll answer a question a French person asked in French. Where’s the harm?

As typical as this kind of thing is, I think it’s wrong and honestly pretty entitled. There’s a lot of reasons someone might have their client set to English even though it isn’t their own main language – maybe that language simply isn’t an option, or maybe they’re bad at English but use games in English as a way to practice it… To demand that people speak English only is making things extremely unwelcoming to a host of people.

I am from sweden, there is no sweedish client… If someone asks a question in swedish I usually /Wisper them the answer and also tell them that it is best to write in english on the map chat atleast. (Rarely happens but it has happened)

My thinking is that everyone can use whatever language(s) they like, no matter what their client is set to. You do have to accept that if you use a language that’s not officially supported or commonly used there’s a chance no one will understand you, but that’s up to you. (And not really applicable in this case since German is both widely understood and official supported by GW2.)

Obviously if you’re talking to a specific group or individual you need to use a language they understand.

The other side is that anyone can block anyone else for any reason at all. But there’s no reason to broadcast that in chat or demand that everyone else adherer’s to your personal rules, no matter what they are.

I need to mention Im not an active player atm due to a certain PvP map and other things.

I am german and I played with an English Client right from the start. (Pre-Release-weekend) So before Megaservers were introduced.

Now you might ask why.

Well one reason has already been mentioned, most of helping sites , guides etc etc are in English, that was in every MMO like this and will probably always be.

The second reason are translation errors, in some other MMOs I experienced translation errors that were that bad, that Skill descriptions in german were just wrong.
And ppl that played the german client, always thought the skill was useless or didnt work as intended or whatever, but the only thing that didnt work as intended was the translation.
Or another example the word power got translated into “Macht” and “Kraft” and depending on what skill or trait, it got just randomly translated. And some ppl got very confused with that, when depending were it appeared, the skill had a different name.

BUT I had still chosen to play on a German Server at release.

And then the Megaserver System got released, so my client was english, so I would have had to switch everytime.
And while most of the time I wrote English, sometimes I wrote german as well.

The fundamental flaw there is in the Mega-Server System, there were several German , French and English Servers.

Is the Server Population really THAT low, that fusing e.g. all german servers, the maps would still be empty?

people should block whatever they want to block. I used to block everyone speaking German in English maps before megaserver (overflows) and I am German. Just because I cannot stand German gaming lingo. I don´t mind people typing in their language, but I don´t have to see it either. I never blocked anyone because of using other languages beside German as they don´t annoy me. Discrimination is such a silly big word applied to the most banal things these days.

This is something introduced since the megaserver system. I think it would be a good idea to have some multy language chat channels, so everybody can decide for him self if they want other languages or only the english language on their chat. I usaly dont mind some other languages here and there, but quite frequently i’m in a megaserver zone where there are many spanish, French and german speakers (from the other language servers), and i dont now what they are talking about (except the german, thats easy to follow for a Dutch player). And still many (new) players dont know nothing about the system and dont understand. Recently had a spanish speaking player who didnt understand the english language and was under the assumption that i was on his spanish server, tried to help him with his questions, but it was near impossible. Personaly i think it would be the best if we had the zones back like in guildwars 1, with personal control over it, not a big fan of intelligent computer systems deciding whats best for you.

Anyone getting upset about languages needs to understand that…

the guy speaking that other language isn’t speaking to you.
the client filter and block function are there for you to use.
many people cannot speak any other language than their own.
and last, complaining in map chat about people using any other language will get you blocked and reported.

Anet have said repeatedly that no language is mandatory on any server.

Should never be an issue, most people will get more annoyed from other issues as people trolling in english or sexual stuff that usually pops up :P

munkiman.3068:

I have a solution! Include google translate into map chat! This way everyone can be confused

That reminds me of the original PSO Episode 1+2 for DC, PS, PC, Xbox, and Gamecube. There was an option that had preselected phrases that were translated into the native tongues that the user selected in their options to all users who saw it. Too bad, translation was never Sega’s strong suit.

why do people get upset about it in the first place? do you think they are saying naughty things about you? are you so ridiculously driven to help everyone that it gives you fits of rage knowing that you are potentially missing out on a chance to answer someone’s question?

To be honest, Megaservers need a tweak on EU servers full stop. I usually know just enough French and German to understand what people are saying and maybe even give them advice, but that’s it. I know everyone else will scale from only speaking their native language to multilingual. But when we have several instances of a zone, all of mixed languages, it does just feel like a mess. At the very least, keep up one instance of each of the supported languages (unless it’s the dead of night in an abandoned zone); and don’t just dump the leftovers in the English speaking one – let’s face it, that’s where the toxicity stems from.

I don’t want to discriminate, I don’t mind people speaking their own language and I actually usually prefer to play with random mainland European players than my fellow Englishmen (sorry, but the vocal amongst us can be quite pathetic sometimes…) – but it’s difficult to communicate and co-ordinate with people who you share no common language with. When we’ve got multiple instances of a zone up, please put more emphasis on language.

Still, at least it’s not as bad as Dota 2… Russians should stick to searching for Russian.

That’s a really interesting perspective, actually..

Personally I don’t care what language people choose to speak in. If they’re not speaking to me then they can use what ever language they please so long as they don’t continue trying to speak to me in a language I don’t understand after I’ve said “I don’t understand.” I see no reason to tell people not to speak in a language other than english however the perspective mentioned by OP isn’t something that had crossed my mind. If you’re playing on an english client I can understand that you would only want to see english and that the people using it should only speak english. However, it’s not like it harms anyone when people are speaking a different language, it’s not against any kind of religions, it’s not like it’s going to hurt your brain to see it in chat, I just don’t really understand the logic behind being upset about it.

Over all, I’d say he/she has the right to block whomever they please even if their reasoning for doing so is mildly ignorant. Stating that they block people who speak a different language or telling them they should only be speaking english is incredibly rude, though. He/she should have simply blocked and continued with what they were doing without making a scene over it.

Speak what ever language you want as long as you’re prepared for misunderstandings. If you’re using an english client and you aren’t fluent in or cannot at all speak english maybe you should reconsider your decision.

I have no problem with people speaking other languages and I only speak English. If you don’t like it you can block them, you don’t even have to announce you’re blocking them, just do it.

Unless you require some attention.

I wouldn’t really consider it “abuse”, but it’s still rude and unneeded. I wouldn’t feel an urge to take action against such a person, but I certainly would not hang out with them (and perhaps block them too)

I don’t care about most of chat regardless of language, so I really don’t see a need to
antagonize people over this kind of thing.

Of course, this reminds me of my battle.net days when they’d speak Korean and I sometimes would have old Windows 95 computers that just showed me gibberish. :p Why get so worked up anyways?

I don’t think that there is anything inherently wrong with someone on an English language server stating so if another player is conversing or posting in another language.

I also don’t think that there is anything wrong with stating that one intends to block another player’s chat.

How those two bits of information are communicated is what determines whether or not anything has been done wrong in my opinion.

I just don’t understand why you need to tell someone you’re going to block them. Could you explain why you need to tell them?

Just curious to be clear, not looking to antagonize (I know how some threads can get.)

I’m from the NA servers, so we usually only get English. But I don’t see what’s the fuss about with speaking a different language; as long as they’re not trying to insult people with it.

There might be cultural influence involved. The US has no official language. At best, some states have adopted English as the official language – but that does not mean it’s “English only.” The US gets a lot of cultural melting pot, especially near the borders.

At best, it’s polite to speak English so everyone can understand. But trying to enforce it or acting with ‘English supremacy’ is just as bad – probably even worse. Language is a part of culture, and on the internet, we got culture coming in from every direction of the world.

Being on EU I see this quite a lot. I don’t mind rly, I hated it without language filters in the first few days of megaserver because high population maps like LA or at teq event would often be almost entirely german/french, but now it’s usually just some guild recruitement ad or a short conversation. That’s all perfectly fine imo.

I wonder is there even an italian, russian or dutch client? I see those languages a lot more than german tbh, expecially since some WvW guilds on RoF are italian.

There are no Ita, Rus or Dutch client software, but yes the Ring of Fire has become something of an unofficial WvW server for Italian players. We have several Italian guilds who have some talented commanders, but most of them don’t speak English.

That doesn’t slow us down one little bit, because they are really good at basic map chat communication, while they lead their guild with TS.

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

There are no Ita, Rus or Dutch client software, but yes the Ring of Fire has become something of an unofficial WvW server for Italian players. We have several Italian guilds who have some talented commanders, but most of them don’t speak English.

That doesn’t slow us down one little bit, because they are really good at basic map chat communication, while they lead their guild with TS.

:P You won’t hear me complaining about them. ^^

IMO that makes the claim of that guy even more ridiculous, many other nationalities can’t even pick a client other than english. If the guy doesn’t want to see any other language he should probably transfer to an NA server.

I don’t block people for anything, but I find it isolating and rather rude to talk in another Language on the English servers most especially in guilds and Parties. I’ve had this happen to me a few times and It made me feel isolated from others because I couldn’t understand the language they were speaking and had no idea what they were talking about.

One time in a party though, they were going between English and Spanish… not realizing I could read/speak a good deal of Spanish myself they went on talking about ME. It was rude and that was a sad day and I think that’s a big reason why I dislike people speaking in a different language around me on an English server. I don’t know what they are saying and I can’t know every language there is.

Also, I don’t go into other languages and speak only English since I feel it is rude.

Paradox.1380:

I don’t block people for anything, but I find it isolating and rather rude to talk in another Language on the English servers most especially in guilds and Parties. I’ve had this happen to me a few times and It made me feel isolated from others because I couldn’t understand the language they were speaking and had no idea what they were talking about.

One time in a party though, they were going between English and Spanish… not realizing I could read/speak a good deal of Spanish myself they went on talking about ME. It was rude and that was a sad day and I think that’s a big reason why I dislike people speaking in a different language around me on an English server. I don’t know what they are saying and I can’t know every language there is.

Also, I don’t go into other languages and speak only English since I feel it is rude.

Well if you joined their party they should be able to speak their language and if they were talking about you and you felt uncomfortable you could always join another party. I did cof like 2 days ago and joined a asian guilds cof run and another random person. The other person didn’t like the 3 asian guild members speaking their language but they made the party and gave the option for anyone to join “if” they wanted to.

Uhm.. there’s no chat filter to filter other languages. There’s a Language option, to set the game’s text (and audio) to a certain language, you know.. NPC’s and the UI, those kinds of things. It has nothing to do with the chat and players communicating with eachother. I mean, you must be seriously limited in intellect to think otherwise..

What? Are the game using a dictionary to make sure what language you’re writing?

Sure, there are filtering mechanics involved in the Mega Server system and how that is structured, as it will try to place you together with your friends, your guild, and also players of your chosen language. But there’s no guarantees. It may be that there was no available overflow (read: instance) of the map, and as such, players of different languages were pooled together in order for the map to not feel deserted. Your selected server doesn’t matter as much these days.

I think it speaks spades of people feeling a need to understand everything other players are talking about however. You must have some serious insecurities in your life if you must read and understand every single bit of text that is written between other players. What, do these people think the players writing in a different language is talking about them? Why does it bother them? Let people write in a language you don’t understand if they want. You can start a different chat topic in your language if you want to socialize.

I’ve heard similar nonsense in the map chat before as well. One reason for the outcry was that if the player writing in a different language was asking a question, by not understanding said language, the outraged player would not be able to help them. Isn’t that more of a problem to the player asking a question over you not understanding it?

I’ll never understand players like this. A different language I can learn, players like this will forever escape my understanding.

I am in agreement.

To me, it doesn’t matter, I don’t even use the chat filter at all.

Only time when I think it’s better to speak english: map has majority of english speakers during coordinated group content or dungeon group advertised with “american flag”

If map where I’m in has majority of other language speakers during coordinated group content, I either try to do my best with minimum understanding of the chat or I try to get myself into another map copy with more english speaking players.

Other than that…

I did witness harassment by two english speaking players going all verbal abuse on player who spoke german. I did report those two for verbal abuse, I think, and I added those two into my block list tagged as “Harassment and Verbal Abuse”.
But this case happened shortly after the first Feat Pack.

So, yeah, some people are just the kind with a stick up in their butt…

I both agree and disagree. It’s true that the gaming community has a silent contract on speaking english or chinese. However, in countries like france they don’t teach english in schools by default. It’s an extra class they have to sign up for.

So while I agree english is a must for the community, if there’s no option to get a specific language-realm, then you can hardly blame the players. Before megaservers there were german and france servers (even a spanish one if I recall) but with the megaservers this became a big soup. Maybe the people who have [DE] or [FR] as their home server should still get their own instance, and guest the english servers when they wish or are able, too.

TLDR;
The community agrees speaking english is a must, but if there is no server choice, you can hardly blame the players.
Fix; restore at least the [DE] and [FR] servers, within the MS routines.

attachment to my previous post:

adding a lingual filter might be an option.
When you use a lot of german or french words you become tagged as a non-english speaker. You will then appear in chat only to people who have this filter on. this effect will not trigger in whisper, guild chat or party chat, only in /say, /yell, /map or /team
Go to chat settings to return your chat to public if you want to speak english again.

(couldn’t edit-add this to my previous post, kept getting an error the new message was blank and had to contain at least 15 characters)

I’m in agreement that the guy speaking in german was being rude, if you specifically set it so that you are in the english channel you should be speaking english

I do not mind if others peak in a different laguage so long as they ATTEMPT to speak English when it matters. I have seen those who flat out were insulting others in Spanish ( i speak Spanish) and another time in Brazilian (i speak enough of it to understand it) so those people promptly got their words translated and i never saw them again on the server. Simply put if you join an ENGLISH server please at least know some basic words so your not out casting yourself in dungeons and such.

I think the guy was being a jerk. Sure, he has the right to block whoever he wants to, but he should do it quietly and not make it the other players’ problem.

Quite frankly the sense of entitlement I have seen in map chat from English players is horrifying.

Sorry, random map person, you don’t have the right to dictate what language I communicate in. I paid just as much for the game as you did, and that means that if I want to communicate with others in public in English, Afrikaans, Dutch, German, French or Swahili, I can absolutely do that and you can go lurk in your monolingual Cave of Boredom forever and ever for all I care.

Just to bring this into RL terms, what that dude in map chat did was comparable to, in real life, coming up to someone who is having a conversation in German and saying “This is the US! Speak English or gtfo!”