Big Brother hits WoW

[Jait]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/policy/harassment.shtml

What do you guys think?

Personally I'm all for the elimination of harassment, but this seems a little overboard.

Basically in WoW, there is no privacy?

[Jait]

Specifically

Illegal Drugs or Activities
This category includes both clear and masked discussions of:
Abusing illegal drugs
Performing illegal activities
If a player is found to have had such discussions, he/she will:
Be given a verbal warning

But a 12 year old can feel free to buy an Ale in-game?

I'm really confused to this policy.

I guess the substance and context of each conversation will be up to the GMs mood, just like in EQ?

I don't understand why they just can't stick to common-sense.

[Cryptin]

Extreme Sexuality/Violence
This category includes both clear and masked language which:
Refers to extreme and/or violent sexual acts
Refers to extremely violent real life actions
If a player is found to have used such language, he/she will:
Be temporarily suspended from the game
Likely be given a final warning; any further Terms of Service violations will result in permanent suspension
While these repercussions may seem harsh, we feel very strongly that this language has no place within Azeroth due to its extremely offensive nature.

I guess telling a friend in-game that your guild got ass-raped by uber mob "Lich King Arthas" can get you in trouble. heh I guess Blizz is making sure they are covering themselves.

[BalzWeiss]

Be realistic. Unless you start talking about drug abuse in depth on a public channel, no one will care. Even then, the punihsment is only a warning. The other rules governing speech seem very standard.

[Tuco]

Doesn't seem that harsh, and I believe cryptin is right, they are covering their asses.

My security guard friend doesn't kick skaters out of his building's parking lot because he thinks they're punks, he does it because if they break themselves playing around, it's his ass.

If some jewfag blaxican gets offended because I say 'punta barata, chico', it might not be me who gets offed, it will be blizzard, this little disclaimer means they do 'not' condone it, at least officially.

But I'm sure most of you know this disclaimer logic anyway, it's just their CYA documentation.

[Warrik]

I fail to see why this is a big deal.

Basically in WoW, there is no privacy?

If you want privacy, use IRC or IM, not an in game channel.

[kyo]

Give the option to ignore players.
Give the option for a bad word filter.

Racist remarks/spam/etc. should be looked into. Who seriously uses that crap when talking to people who aren't their friends anyway? Well, most of battle.net =\ anyyywaay.

If I call my guild mates a bunch of dumbasses in "say" or open chat, not "yell" and someone happens to run by and get offended at what I said, I don't want to get warned for that kinda stuff.. If that's the case, I'd be suspended in no time flat. If they go to those extremes this will be bad, but I'm willing to bet my pants they won't be that strict. Why they have the rule against curse words, and sex talk, is beyond me.. I thought most games had a filter for that type of stuff. Wouldn't it be their own fault for not having it on?

[Samus Aran]

You know, EQ did have a rule against bad language even with their filter.

But, I'm assuming/hoping that they won't monitor guild chat/chat channels/instanced raid areas. Because really, do we want to have to come up with clever work arounds for the system? Man, that guy just kicked out @$$... we got r4ped so hard it wasn't even fuc |(ing funny. But I bet it won't amount to more than a 'b.net kiddies, stop with the fucking racist comments' type thing.


edit: wtf happened to half of my post?

[Samus Aran]

Originally posted by Jait

Basically in WoW, there is no privacy?

I know. I'm pissed. No more in-game cybering.

[Sean]

Originally posted by Samus Aran
I know. I'm pissed. No more in-game cybering.

We'll always have IRC, Samus!

[Hyarth]

It is there and it is "extreme" because in this day and age it needs to be said. You can thank the dipshits who put a hot cup of coffee in their lap, scald their crotch and then sue the coffee maker for this type of stuff. "You should have known better" is no longer a valid reply, because nobody should know anything unless they're told explicitly what they should and shouldn't do (because using your brain is now optional.) I'm actually rather suprised they didn't have a "Harassment is not limited to the above description and we may expand our definitions of harassment without warning solely at our discretion."

The bottom line is don't be a jackass. The hitch is, don't guild anal retentive dorks who get bent out of shape over inappropriate comments. Everything is really just common sense, treat the strangers you meet with some modicum of respect and there won't be problems.

[Clericnon2boxed]

So using the word "rape" will be a bad thing ?

I hope they are relaxed on this word, its so common in EQ I cant see myself getting away from using it easily.

[Samus Aran]

Originally posted by Sean
We'll always have IRC, Samus!

It's not the same unless I can have your big Tauren codpiece full-screen, baby, but I'll get over it.

[Froofy-D]

I see nothing wrong with the policy, in fact I think MMOGs should be strict about annoying spammers. If you spam any of the aforementioned topics in broadcast channels you are a fucking moron and asking to be banned.

don't guild anal retentive dorks who get bent out of shape over inappropriate comments.

Exactly. I was in one EQ guild where you couldnt mention the word "rape" in any context in guild chat because the guild leader's girlfriend didn't like it (i.e. we got ass-raped by the upgraded Cazic Thule).

[Cuellar]

LOL...

Man guildchat in EQ would have sucked ass if you couldn't swear, talk about sex/rape/gaysex/cybersex, and if you couldn't rip one another to shreds. Then again, what about all the drunken druguse conversations and discussions like the one where our GM was all worried because he thought he knocked up his girlfriend.... ah the memories.

-Cuellar