#0 - Nov. 3, 2006, 1:51 a.m.
These words were no doubt spoken without the vaguest concept of a virtual world where elves, undead, and magic inhabit. But virtual or not, and magical it may be, the world of Warcraft is a collection of real people, and thus a society to which these words apply. As such, the punishment for the expression of thought should not only be frowned upon, but fought against with unequalled vigor.
The purpose of this post is to confront Blizzard’s current policies regarding language.
It has come to my attention that you can be banned for guild-chat comments, raid comments, and even private channel chit-chat should the language become too worrisome. I reviewed Blizzard’s policy, and came across this:
To help prevent the harassment of other players, we have implemented an array of in-game tools that players can use to help protect themselves from such abuse.
• The Ignore command: By typing /ignore (character name) the player will no longer hear any form of standard chat from the character name being ignored.
• The Profanity Filter: By default, all inappropriate words in our profanity database will be filtered. They will appear on screen as jumbled characters. Example: &*@#$
Now, with these tools in place, how exactly is a person supposed to become a repeat offender, thus warranting a suspension? I’m perplexed as to understand how someone who is either being filtered or ignored can possibly offend someone else. The case must be that the offended refuses to utilize these tools, and would rather anonymously /report, than address any issues he/she is having. I don’t blame them at all. Why, wouldn’t it be nice to accuse someone in this country of America of a crime, and hide behind the scenes while a punishment is doled out? Oh that’s right!
My good friend the 6th amendment told me:
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”
Perhaps there was some logic surrounding this policy? I don’t know, I didn’t write it, I just work here. I think what they are trying to avoid is the situations that I see cropping up within my own circle of friends – a state of fear. I have to filter myself in order to avoid the possible suspensions, where is the /command for that, Blizzard? I’m offended by anonymous /reporters, where is my protection against that?
Perhaps with the removal of anonymous /reporting, people would have to do the unthinkable and address their issues within their social circles as an adult, or actually talk to their offenders. Crazy I know.
Yes, this post is a response to bans that have happened within my circle of friends. Yes, those events are the fuel for this post. And yes, I enjoy being a foul-mouthed pig when I please.
-Deeb
