Guild Wars 2

at one time or another we all came into contact with the “your message has been suppressed due to excessive messaging” line, it ends alot of good conversatons in map chat early and i think it has had a bigger impact on this game than many of us have bothered to consider. most map chats are dead, the maps are full, but chat is quiet and i think thats a real missed opportunity. so i think we should do away with this map chat suppression anti spam thing and just let individual people handle their own chat

reasons why map chat suppression is bad
1. it fosters a culture of silence and less interesting gameplay
gw2 is much MUCH quieter than other mmo, you might think thats a good thing but i say that everything, the public banter, the outspoken confused noobs, and yes even the map chat arguments all add a spice and variety to my play time that helps me get lost in what im doing and make it feel less grindy, u all wonder why gw2 feels so grindy? what are you guys not doing in this mmo that you are usually doing in others? TALKING. it also encourages you to be quieter even when your not in map chat, party chat in this game is quieter than usual because gw2 has a culture of silence and we are all used to it.
2. it damages our ability to coordinate
sure you can say use vent or tell every1 to use /say chat but sometimes when your the only commander in wvw and its tournament season….u gata spam that chat, u gata spam it good, and the players WANT you to spam it, thats the sad thing nobody asked for this suppression, it hurts the listener and the talker
3. it encourages less patience and more kicking even when out of map chat
remember that culture of silence thing? well it carries over to party chat, so when your dungeoning and the group is used to not being free to banter as much as they want in map chat, that is a habit that carries over to party chat and they will choose actions over words because of that, our community is worse off for the suppression of a way to communicate.
BUT WAIT…..THE SPAM SUPPRESSION PROTECTS US FROM…..
1"but i dont want to hear trolls"
there shall always be trolls, and thats ok cuz u shall always have a block button, lets be honest most of you dont wait for spam filter to catch trolls anyways u block them first….so this is not a valid complaint since it wundt affect you anyways
2"have u heard of spamadan the jewel of istan? i dont want another one of those"
spamadan was full of chat for TRADING, we have a trading post that fixes this problem so that will never happen in gw2
3"what about bots? i dont want bots to fill up the game without the chat filter"
this in no way shape or form will incentivize bots, most bots spam your wisper chat anyways, even if they do it in map chat they will get reported by even more people and banned even faster…..again u still have a block button
4"what if alot of people are flaming at once and i cant block them all"
if your block list is full i think that speaks more to your failures as a person than whats wrong with everyone else…..i guess u can always turn off map chat for a little while?
SOLUTIONS
1. just remove spam filter for everyone, quick easy and with only positive results…for most
2. add a spam filter option so we can turn it on and off ourselves, this puts the chat burden on the individual to choose rather than the server as a whole, that way i can talk to everyone and everyone can see me talk but for people who want to turn their spam filters up to maximum my chat will stop showing up after a while and they just wont see it, but everyone else still will.

I’m not sure if I agree that the spam filter is the cause of map chat being dead, but I do agree that the suppression system should be more lenient. Not only for map chat, but for mail and LFG also.

I agree that the filter is too restrictive also, and for no real gain that I can see. If someone is spamming map chat, well that’s what block is for. I’ve hit the filter a few times when pinging waypoints for others and I knew it’s been a problem for commanders all this time. It’s been complained about enough though that ANet knows and obviously doesn’t agree.

more mapchat be fun, but with the all the people just blocking for nothing nowadays it is useless to lift any/change anything with the chat. I literally NEVER gotten an excessive chatting message. And i can type pretty fast.
Stop spam the same thing 5 times over and you be fine… Because thats when the filter kicks in.

mcwurth.2081:

more mapchat be fun, but with the all the people just blocking for nothing nowadays it is useless to lift any/change anything with the chat. I literally NEVER gotten an excessive chatting message. And i can type pretty fast.
Stop spam the same thing 5 times over and you be fine… Because thats when the filter kicks in.

Sorry, but you are mistaken. It is enough if the same person writes several lines without anyone writing something inbetween. Also similarity of messages (e.g. all messages containing WP codes) is enough for the filter to kick in.

I’ve got a message block every single time I made event calls in Dry Top after two full runs, sometimes earlier if there was little else going on in map chat. I always altered the format of my event calls so the text doesn’t look the same, but it didn’t really help much.

That’s something that should not happen, especially with more and more maps being added to the game where coordination of some sort is required.

I also know of commanders that got message blocks for normal commanding, e.g. when they are asking for a timer in WvW repeatedly. Same goes for people giving wall/gate status in map/team chat.

Rayti.6531:

mcwurth.2081:

more mapchat be fun, but with the all the people just blocking for nothing nowadays it is useless to lift any/change anything with the chat. I literally NEVER gotten an excessive chatting message. And i can type pretty fast.
Stop spam the same thing 5 times over and you be fine… Because thats when the filter kicks in.

Sorry, but you are mistaken. It is enough if the same person writes several lines without anyone writing something inbetween. Also similarity of messages (e.g. all messages containing WP codes) is enough for the filter to kick in.

I’ve got a message block every single time I made event calls in Dry Top after two full runs, sometimes earlier if there was little else going on in map chat. I always altered the format of my event calls so the text doesn’t look the same, but it didn’t really help much.

That’s something that should not happen, especially with more and more maps being added to the game where coordination of some sort is required.

I also know of commanders that got message blocks for normal commanding, e.g. when they are asking for a timer in WvW repeatedly. Same goes for people giving wall/gate status in map/team chat.

That might be the case but I never have encountered this. I log in each day and sometimes just to talk with some friends, not even playing the game itself. and as said 5 or 6 sentences without filter kicking in (or more at times) is for me normal. like I said I never encountered it, compared to GW “1” where it was much much more apparant

well regardless of how the chat filter works i think we can all agree its a problem?

Agreed; just the other night I was CMDing whilst being on the flame ram pressing 1 or trying to as fast as I could, had to reply in like 5 quick lines and the 6th one got suppressed.

It’s annoying and very inconvenient.

Zephyra.4709:

Agreed; just the other night I was CMDing whilst being on the flame ram pressing 1 or trying to as fast as I could, had to reply in like 5 quick lines and the 6th one got suppressed.

It’s annoying and very inconvenient.

i mean they could at the very least warn us if its about to happen

It’s a severe problem for commanding PugTeq since I almost always get suppressed halfway, and there isn’t integrated VoIP with the Squad function.

its like an entire thread of consensus here they should recongize how in aggreement the community is and do something

Altair.8402:

I’m not sure if I agree that the spam filter is the cause of map chat being dead, but I do agree that the suppression system should be more lenient. Not only for map chat, but for mail and LFG also.

no i dont think its the soul cause of map chat bieng quiet but it certainly contributes

So…do you like do that for all your threads? respond to an older message as soon as it drops off the front page?

On topic: Ive been hit with this once or twice, while i was spamming waypoints, but ive never had it happen otherwise, even when im RPing.

I’d replace the excessive chat filter with a different system.

I can’t remember which MMO. It might even have been this one… But I remember one where if enough people blocked your chat, you got zone muted for a while.

Now mix this with a system where the default method of blocking someone’s chat only lasts 1 hour. A permanent block would require clicking some ‘are you sure’ box, but the one hour one could be done with as simple as a right click on some lone of chat.
- And then add to this that, if you chat block someone, you end up leaving the party they are in.

Then you can just tweak up or down how many people it takes to get muted in a zone, and for how long that muting lasts.

The idea here is to flip the system.

Presently the excessive chat filter is passive – it just happens.
My idea would make it active – it only happens if enough other people on the zone with you find you that bad…

And the switch to temp-blocking is so that people aren’t afraid to use this for worrying that they’ll block somebody forever who was just ‘having a bad day’ that one day. Or because sometimes you just want to quite down the chatter from that one group while you focus on something and listen to the rest of the map – but don’t want it permanent.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

Message suppression is an attempt by ANet to prevent gold seller spam. Of course, gold sellers have figured out how to bypass the spam filter. It is also billed, seemingly, as protecting us from random players spamming whatever. However, it also limits players in many situations.

Now, the thing is, government is the arbiter of what transpires in public venues. GW2, being a private venue, is at the mercy of the owners of that venue. If ANet determines that player freedom has to suffer, then we have two choices. Either we swallow their rules, or go elsewhere.

Now, if enough players cared about the limitations on player freedom, then the negative impact to ANet profits caused by a massive boycott might mean that relaxing the strictures would be a better choice for ANet. Unfortunately, I don’t see an internet gaming community as cohesive enough to produce that kind of pressure.

Kichwas.7152:

I’d replace the excessive chat filter with a different system.

I can’t remember which MMO. It might even have been this one… But I remember one where if enough people blocked your chat, you got zone muted for a while.

Now mix this with a system where the default method of blocking someone’s chat only lasts 1 hour. A permanent block would require clicking some ‘are you sure’ box, but the one hour one could be done with as simple as a right click on some lone of chat.
- And then add to this that, if you chat block someone, you end up leaving the party they are in.

Then you can just tweak up or down how many people it takes to get muted in a zone, and for how long that muting lasts.

honestly this (or anything said here really) would be a perfect fix, its so simple yet it has such a big impact on the way we play, anet should really hurry up and do something

The idea here is to flip the system.

Presently the excessive chat filter is passive – it just happens.
My idea would make it active – it only happens if enough other people on the zone with you find you that bad…

And the switch to temp-blocking is so that people aren’t afraid to use this for worrying that they’ll block somebody forever who was just ‘having a bad day’ that one day. Or because sometimes you just want to quite down the chatter from that one group while you focus on something and listen to the rest of the map – but don’t want it permanent.

I’ve only been hit with the “Your Message Was Suppressed” thing a couple of times- only when advertising for a party in say chat “lfm 2/5” or whatever. I hold conversations in chat often, but have never had a problem there.

I don’t think that there should be any reduction in how much it takes for the suppression to kick in. Think how much chat wouldn’t be suppressed with a more lenient filter- it could make it more difficult to chat.

If you’re getting hit with the “excessive messaging” thing too often, change how you type. I tend to type in long full sentences instead of many short fragments, so perhaps that’s how I avoid it and how many of you get hit by it. I understand that this is difficult when commanding, but I know that a lot of commanders use TS and have a buddy type out stuff in chat and are able to take a little more time over it.

It’s easy to say considering I don’t get hit by it often, but I don’t see a problem with the filter. I find seeing repeated short fragments of sentences annoying anyway as it clogs up chat fast, I don’t want a more lenient chat filter because I don’t want to see more of it than I have to-

Just keep reporting the problem as a bug ingame… The excessive messaging thing really needs to be reworked…

yea its incredibly fustrating

Kichwas.7152:

I’d replace the excessive chat filter with a different system.

…where if enough people blocked your chat, you got zone muted for a while.

…where the default method of blocking someone’s chat only lasts 1 hour. A permanent block would require clicking some ‘are you sure’ box,

The idea here is to flip the system.
…make it active – it only happens if enough other people on the zone with you find you that bad…

I like this idea

Except it is going to be a lot trickier than it seems.

• If the triggers are too generous, then we’ll see more gold selling messages in a shorter period of time.
• If they are too sensitive, we’ll see small groups organize to troll individuals.

It’s still s a great concept for ANet to explore. Maybe they could combine the current passive system (automatic triggers for certain types of messaging) and an active one based on how many players block.

i cant trust that method because gw2 seems to have alot of people who are trigger happy with the block button….i mean they block u for small talk for crying out loud

Duke Nukem.6783:

i cant trust that method because gw2 seems to have alot of people who are trigger happy with the block button….i mean they block u for small talk for crying out loud

People block you for stuff they deem block worthy. On the contrary, my experience is that most people are way to lenient when it comes to blocking and will only do so if they really feel like they have to.

If your experience with this is different, you might have been unlucky, or your opinion from what is block worthy greatly differs from other peoples.

Duke Nukem.6783:

its like an entire thread of consensus here they should recongize how in aggreement the community is and do something

At this point in the thread, a whole 7 people have agreed with you, and you jump to the assumption that there is some sort of consensus, as if those 7 people represent the entire community, and Anet should do something about it because of those 7 people agreeing with you.

Wow, that is some major, over the top optimism.

Fwiw, I have never had a problem with what you’re talking about, and I have been playing since 2 months after release. (and I talk a lot in game)

Well it seems to do it when you repeat something 3 times.

So if you get a res, don’t say ty 3 times.

I alternate between ty, thx, thanks.

im sure thats how it works but there are other guidelines too azala, and should we really need to set so many rules for ourselves? they should just change it

Teon.5168:

Duke Nukem.6783:

its like an entire thread of consensus here they should recongize how in aggreement the community is and do something

At this point in the thread, a whole 7 people have agreed with you, and you jump to the assumption that there is some sort of consensus, as if those 7 people represent the entire community, and Anet should do something about it because of those 7 people agreeing with you.

Wow, that is some major, over the top optimism.

Fwiw, I have never had a problem with what you’re talking about, and I have been playing since 2 months after release. (and I talk a lot in game)

every1 has either aggreed or had their own suggestion along the same lines (which implies aggreement) they dont literally need to say i aggree. also your the first person who flat out has never had a problem with this and who knows maybe your just being argumentative.

Duke Nukem.6783:

every1 has either aggreed or had their own suggestion along the same lines (which implies aggreement) they dont literally need to say i aggree. also your the first person who flat out has never had a problem with this and who knows maybe your just being argumentative.

You are quite wrong, there are a few here who have said its not a problem at all. Teon is correct, the forums represent a small portion of the player base and by far and away are among the loudest of them. Those 7 do not count for much. I dont think its a problem, Teon doesnt, IndigoSundown doesnt(or doesnt appear to), Azala doesnt, Crimson Cloud doesnt. So we must not count, do we?

Duke Nukem.6783:

who knows maybe your just being argumentative.

Um, that in itself is argumentative.

It hardly matters if everyone supports the idea or not, since the only people who matter work at ANet and we won’t find out their thoughts unless they change the chat filter. It might turn out to be not worth their time. It might turn out to be too difficult to tune so that it is equally effective with the status quo, yet be less painful for players who aren’t actually spamming.

In other words, let’s try to stick with discussing the merits, agreeing to disagree as appropriate. The OP doesn’t need to convince everyone.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Kichwas.7152:

I’d replace the excessive chat filter with a different system.

…where if enough people blocked your chat, you got zone muted for a while.

…where the default method of blocking someone’s chat only lasts 1 hour. A permanent block would require clicking some ‘are you sure’ box,

The idea here is to flip the system.
…make it active – it only happens if enough other people on the zone with you find you that bad…

I like this idea

Except it is going to be a lot trickier than it seems.

• If the triggers are too generous, then we’ll see more gold selling messages in a shorter period of time.
• If they are too sensitive, we’ll see small groups organize to troll individuals.

It’s still s a great concept for ANet to explore. Maybe they could combine the current passive system (automatic triggers for certain types of messaging) and an active one based on how many players block.

Cryptic built a similar functionality into its game system. It was abused mercilessly by players. Never give players more power over other players’ experience than you absolutely have to. It is always going to be abused, guaranteed.

Been playing everyday since headstart. Encountered chat suppression exactly once. Have had plenty of lengthy conversations in map chat without any issues. That one time where I got suppressed was during one of the season one episodes. Forgot which one but it took place in Kessex Hills. There wasn’t any issue when I was typing out my responses + links but as soon as I started using just links the suppression kicked in within 3 replies.

Conclusion? Suppression is not an issue unless the contents of your messages content nothing but links or you keep repeating the same thing over and over. Those conditions would not impact having actual conversations in map chat therefore it has nothing to do with map chat being quiet.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Kichwas.7152:

I’d replace the excessive chat filter with a different system.

…where if enough people blocked your chat, you got zone muted for a while.

…where the default method of blocking someone’s chat only lasts 1 hour. A permanent block would require clicking some ‘are you sure’ box,

The idea here is to flip the system.
…make it active – it only happens if enough other people on the zone with you find you that bad…

I like this idea

Except it is going to be a lot trickier than it seems.

• If the triggers are too generous, then we’ll see more gold selling messages in a shorter period of time.
• If they are too sensitive, we’ll see small groups organize to troll individuals.

It’s still s a great concept for ANet to explore. Maybe they could combine the current passive system (automatic triggers for certain types of messaging) and an active one based on how many players block.

Cryptic built a similar functionality into its game system. It was abused mercilessly by players. Never give players more power over other players’ experience than you absolutely have to. It is always going to be abused, guaranteed.

This. Players can be as**** and will find ways to harass other players. Every developer needs to be very careful how far they open the cookie jar.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Kichwas.7152:

I’d replace the excessive chat filter with a different system.

…where if enough people blocked your chat, you got zone muted for a while.

…where the default method of blocking someone’s chat only lasts 1 hour. A permanent block would require clicking some ‘are you sure’ box,

The idea here is to flip the system.
…make it active – it only happens if enough other people on the zone with you find you that bad…

I like this idea

Except it is going to be a lot trickier than it seems.

• If the triggers are too generous, then we’ll see more gold selling messages in a shorter period of time.
• If they are too sensitive, we’ll see small groups organize to troll individuals.

It’s still s a great concept for ANet to explore. Maybe they could combine the current passive system (automatic triggers for certain types of messaging) and an active one based on how many players block.

Cryptic built a similar functionality into its game system. It was abused mercilessly by players. Never give players more power over other players’ experience than you absolutely have to. It is always going to be abused, guaranteed.

Sure, that’s why I said implementation would be tricky.

Still, the current suppression hinders leaders in WvW, Dry Top, and potentially in the new zones to be added in HoT. (I’ve never encountered a situation in which an active conversation was hindered.)

So maybe this idea of active suppression is too costly to implement in order to address an issue that might be resolved by tweaking the current passive filter.