Racist comments need to stop

#0 - Feb. 7, 2010, 12:01 p.m.

I have been playing this game since it's inception back in 2004, and only just recently have I experienced a sudden surge of racism in the form of comments, jokes, and overall attitudes.

I'm not quite sure if you think it's funny, or if you were taught to behave this way, or perhaps you are twelve years old and somehow think that just because you sit behind a computer screen that you won't be held accountable for your actions. This morning turned out to be particularly bad in trade chat.

Not only did someone decide that it would be fun to tell racist jokes, 80% of the individuals in trade chat decided that it would be even more fun to join in. Sure I can /ignore, and I can leave the channel, but does that make the problem go away? Well, I suppose for me it does. But, what about the people that are in trade chat looking for an enchanter, or are looking for jewel-crafter? These people are there for legitimate reasons and now how to put up with this.

Now, I'm not a prude, and I can take a joke here and there, but when you introduce racism into the picture, that's where I draw the line. I will report you. I will screenshot you, and I will talk to a GM about every single person that decides they need to be an idiot. This kind of behavior is absolutely disgusting, and I think Blizzard really needs to step up and do something about it.

Until then, keep up with the jokes and comments because I will not stop until you're banned. To the rest of you that have to put up with it on a daily basis, just do what I do and report each incident. These people do not belong in this game.

I only hope that Blizzard will step up and take notice that there are some people that are sick and tired of these individuals ruining this game for the rest of us.

Vrakthris

#5 - Feb. 22, 2010, 4:30 a.m.

Q u o t e:
Please Blizzard, follow your policy and permantly ban these abusers!

We do follow our policy, Stazya, but it important to remember that our goal is to educate our players not simply close the account and move on.

Camon, we do address these violations if reported. Our response varies depending on the severity of the offense as well as what previous actions the account was penalized for. An example of how this system works can be found below.

Penalty Volcano
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20221

One of the biggest obstacles when it comes to these types of issues is apathy. We have many who simply don't care or understand that this is a Teen rated game and such language and subject matter is not appropriate. You also have the people who think that such language is appropriate trying to bully the ones who do not. They ridicule those who speak up or say they are going to report, they bring up the Mature Language filter or tell you to leave the channel if you don't like it.

A realm's chat environment is a direct reflection on what the realm, as a whole, is willing to tolerate.

If you believe the chat violates the Terms of Use that everyone agreed to abide by, report it. Don't shout out that the person is reported, that only serves to antagonize people and gets you in a flame war. Just click the Help Request option and open a petition.

Include the following information:

Name of the person (and the realm if this took place in a Cross Realm Battleground or instance)
The approximate time this took place, including the time zone if you could (i.e. PST, GMT, EST).
The channel this took place in (i.e. Trade, General, Yell).
If you can include the offending remark that will help in our investigation but it is not entirely needed.

If they return and continue to violate our Terms of Use, report them again. Be secure in the knowledge that if they are violating our policies they are working their way up the penalty volcano and if they do not learn their lesson they will find themselves with a bit of non-World of Warcraft time on their hands.

Be consistent, and be vigilant. If you are and others on your realm respond the same way it will get better. The worst thing you could possibly do is to shout "reported" and not report it. That gives the impression that the person was reported and nothing was done.

Thank you, Camon.