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Rudeness/Attitudes of Players...

AuthorMessage
Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
In regard to this issue, I have a question for KI that I would like to have answered by staff.

Over the last couple of times that I have been in Wu realm, I am seeing some stating that they are only being muted for just a matter of DAYS. Why it this?

Illuminator
Oct 22, 2011
1304
Have you/anyone else noticed the large number of "Wizard City Protector" badges visible in the Commons lately? Is it a clever means of identification, or is it painful irony?

I may have seen one early in the evening last night. I haven't noticed otherwise, because people are so grouped together that all the names/titles get bundled together, and I concentrate on the chat box.

They DO immediately accuse their "friends" of reporting them. Is it that they really don't trust one another, or is it that they are so group-centric that they don't even notice the people around them? Either way, this is a sad thing; to distrust friends and/or to simply not notice the other people sharing a space, both point to the sorts of behaviors they are modeling from IRL.

I don't think they notice the people around them. I think they believe no one else notices what they're saying, thinking it stays within the 'group'.

It's not just in the commons anymore. I was playing around the spiral yesterday and was harassed by two male wizards for no reason other than me being a female. They were both obviously adolescents with open chat when they clearly shouldn't have open chat.

Oh, I realize it's not just in the Commons. I was in Bartleby tree, getting ready to go through the Spiral door, when I witnessed an extreme RACIST comment. OMG! I couldn't believe what I saw.

... my young balance got away clean. My storm (lvl 53) was tagged for a spy last night. lol But no big deal. She was doing a lot of spinning and moved around quite a bit and never spoke to anyone so as far as they know I was AFK a lot. Getting behind a building helps keep you out of sight as well. lol

I too, was tagged for a spy with one of my wizards (Archmage Balance), so I switched to my L20 Myth wizard, and no one gave me a second thought. I made sure NOT to have a mount, as I knew I would not be noticed that way, either.

The best way to report them is to just sit in wu for about, eh, two minutes, depending on how fast they are chatting, then go home. Then, you just scroll through your chat box and report the bad things. This way, you run no risk of false reporting.

That's a great idea, and I'll start implementing it today. The chat box goes so fast sometimes, it's really hard to keep up.

All in all, as parents, grandparents, caregivers and responsible players of this game, we need to hold ourselves accountable for our own language within the game and watch out for others who are too immature to be conscious of their own actions and choices of words, and do something to raise their awareness, like reporting them, so that they will learn to curb their language choices and think twice before trying to defeat the chat filters that K.I. has put in place to protect everyone.

This IS a family game, not a venue for folks to swear and make derogatory and insulting statements to others. K.I. has a Terms of Use for that reason, and everyone needs to adhere to that - EVERYONE!


Absolutely!

Yes sadly i have had to report a few myself. I don't like to but my son plays this game and as a father i don't want him seeing these things. Am sure am not alone on that one. However i also think Ki needs to update there safeguard as kids have found work a rounds to the chat filters. Am not trying by any means to talk bad about KI just saying the chat filters need to be updated.

I don't like to report, but unfortunately, it's a necessity these days. Unfortunately, some of these kids/young adults, think that having someone report them is a game and that nothing will come of it. Little do they know (or care), that many of us take our precious family game seriously, and want to protect it for ourselves as well as for our children.

KI has done so much to make this game as family friendly as possible. Unfortunately, chat filters can only do so much, because the offenders will always find a way around it. BUT, if we keep reporting, KI might be able to adjust the filters to include certain combination of letters or words.

Last night in Wu, there was a group of ADULTS talking about drugs. You can't actually type the word "drugs" (but those with open chat can see it). They were openly talking about 'supplying', 'dealing', 'smoking', 'rolling', 'getting high", in their conversations. I knew they were adults, because they were talking about their spouses and children. Among them was a 12 year old wizard (a girl). Here they were, talking freely about drugs and talking to her at the same time. OMG! Not only did I report them, but I had to say SOMETHING. I told them "this is a family game, please stop talking about that". I didn't want to get myself in trouble for using the drug name, so that was the best I could come up with. Once someone saw that I stepped up, they made a similar comment to them. The adults finally stopped talking about drugs, did not swear, and appeared to have logged out of the game (I did check the other Wu realms, just in case).

Bad behavior from kids is bad enough, but when you throw allegedly responsible adults into the equation, then we have real problems.


Archon
Feb 07, 2011
3175
queenlybluebean wrote:
QueQueg, I think it's interesting that you noticed the reaction of reported wizards. They DO immediately accuse their "friends" of reporting them.


It's true~ one time, in Ravenwood, my legendary necro and I once happened upon a foul-mouthed group of kids. They were taking turns cursing around the filter, and one of them even said "it's fun to say swears". Right... So I reported them, and it didn't take long for them to jump all over each other, start blaming the members of their clique for "ruining the game". In the meantime, I just giggled to myself and ported away... they had no idea. :)

After following this thread for a while, I think I'll join in patrolling Wu realm... I'll post my experiences here afterward, unless said experiences slurp any and all IQ from my brain.

Happy trails,

El Veeb
Wizard City Protector :)

Survivor
May 21, 2012
32
This is now spreading to other realms, guess they figure they can move and not be found. My normal realm is Scarecrow, which was quite a nice, peaceful realm. Now I am seeing a lot of this going on in both the commons area and also the shopping district.

I have spent a lot of time reporting in just the last few days, now today I seen someone bragging that they have been reported many times over the time they have been playing and nothing has ever been done. And they even suggested to others standing around that if they want to cuss or anything else to wait until the area is less populated, later in the night.

I do honestly think it is about time for some of the game employees to step up and don a low level wizard and see what is going on in their "Family Friendly" safe for kids game.

Survivor
Feb 19, 2012
4
I have to agree with all of you who have had run-ins with people who seem to have nothing better to do than to irritate, harrass, or bother others. I too am a parent (my daughter is 4 so she watches me play from time to time.) and am VERY offended when I see someone using that kind of language. I do my best to report players when I can, but as it has been said before, "there are over 25 million player in the great spiral".
The next thing that really gets my goat and offends me is when other players just run right in and become part of the fight I am in. They don't ask or anything. I know there are times when players get caught by mobs. That is different. I don't know if it is just me, but I always make sure I ask before I join a fight that is already started. I try to be respectful to others in this game as much as I possibly can. I too am getting to the point where I no longer want to play this game due to the rudeness, bad language, slurs, and and abusiveness.
It just seems like these kids are able to do whatever they want with absolutely no consequences. We as the community and KI need to really get these issues under control. Because if not, this paying customer is gone. I refuse to be cussed at and disrespected while playing a game that is marketed as a "Family Game". I get enough attempts at disrespect by my own kids.

Survivor
Sep 01, 2009
4
First, I apologize that someone would say something like that to your daughter. The rudeness of some people never ceases to amaze me. Second, I'd like to applaud all of you who have been monitoring the commons. Wu realm usually has such terrible language that I usually avoid it all together but someone does have to make a stand in order to make a difference. My sisters and I have decided to spend some time in realm Wu to report those who use foul language. Anyway, thanks to all those who have devoted some time to monitoring the commons and we hope to see you there!

~ Fiona, Tavia, and Tabitha

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
@Qbb, I have seen a couple of badges "Wizard City Protector" in the commons since I have been taking a couple of my wizards there. Having an ID would help us to know each other for this purpose. Unfortunately, my 2 youngest that I have been using don't have that badge yet. One is level 5 and the other is lvl 8. As QueQueg and I have already been tagged as spies on our higher level wizards. But this in itself is strange because I have seen lvl 80's just sitting around also although they are not in any of the chatting groups. Oh well. Hopefully, they are there for the same reasons we are.

Vonawesome1, and the rest of you that are joining in this battle to clean up a game we all love so much for ourselves and kids/grandkids/nieces and nephews, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.

@Drgnluver1, my normal realm is Scarecrow as well and occasionally, I do see this happening there as well. I do agree that it probably does get worse later in the night and I used to play later, but with a 32 month old grandson currently in my care, I am too tired to stay up much after 10 central time. I hope that some of those watching this topic and posting here are in the later time zones and can take some time to check into the commons after us central and eastern time zones are out for the night.

I agree that it would be nice to have a couple of KI staff to join us at least one or two nights a week, but they would also need to NOT SHOW their KI badges during the time they were there. And yes, they do need to be a low level.

I have also noticed as someone else mentioned, that there seemed to be less of the inappropriate language over the weekend, but as was stated, those players may have been elsewhere and not in the game.

I did do some "Realm Surfing" on my storm wizard last night before logging off and noticed some of the language popping up in Wraith and Vampire. I did report them of course. I found 1 in another realm, but don't remember exactly which one. But Wraith and Vampire may realms we might want to keep an eye on. And some of us may want to check into the school towers in Wu every now and then. I did see some talking about moving to the Life tower last night.

The majority of the realms I surfed last night were really quiet even though there were players in them. Most were just running from one area to another and playing as they should be and not congregating in the commons for chat sessions. The upper realms are almost impossible to get into at anytime until really late at night so if anyone watching this topic is in the upper half of the realms, Please help in those areas as well. Just do check now and then to see what is going on in the commons where most congregate.
With enough of us watching we may not be able to completely stop it, but we can make a BIG difference.

Illuminator
Oct 22, 2011
1304
I'm sure KI is backlogged with all the reports we've been making. I've tried to be very careful with what I'm reporting and make sure I had the right person.

I've noticed that there are 'gray' areas. What I mean by that is, there are types of conversations that I wasn't 100% sure could be reported, but I felt should be reported. I didn't, because I don't want to get in trouble for false reports. Hence, the gray area.

I've read and re-read the Terms of Use. Definitely some gray area as to what WE would believe should be reported, but KI may not deem it reportable.

Hmm. Maybe I'll contact KI directly and give them some of the types of conversations I have questions about, and try to get an answer.

The people in Wu realm do realize that "KI" is watching. I heard that conversation last night among several offenders. There was a lot of talk about people getting 'muted' and 'banned'. It did seem to be a little bit quieter there last night.

One thing that concerns me, is when people say "I need a girl/boy". Not just that, but others I saw last night really concerned me ..... "I need a mom/dad", and "I need a son/daughter".

These could be completely innocent comments, however, who's to say if there is something predatory behind it? It makes my skin crawl.

There was one person last night in Wu that 'claimed' they were with KI, and that conversations were being recorded, and that some of the other wizards were going to get 'sued' and 'taken to court'. I ran over to that group, to the person that claimed they were with KI. They did NOT have the KI badge. Plus, I reported this wizard more than once for swearing! She was threatening everyone, including those that reported her.

Just to let everyone know, I do play in the afternoon and very late evening Pacific time. So when you Central and Eastern time zones are sleeping, I'm still around the Spiral, doing my duty to save 'humanity' from itself.

Survivor
Oct 08, 2011
17
I see everyone's point of view in this case. It's rough having young children around these types of people. The only thing I reject out of all this is the reporting idea. KI clearly states in the reporting section of the rules that no reported person for rudeness will be considered as an actual report. I suggest going to a less crowded server and stay out of the commons area (as suggested). Stick your quests. Maybe teach your (grand)child/children that there are going to be bad people out there but don't be influenced by their actions. This is just my suggestion.

Delver
Apr 10, 2010
286
Kelseywizard,
That's all well and good, but what you suggest still allows the one's who are saying these foul things to continue on. What we who are monitoring The Coomons are doing to trying to clean up the smut that seems to be dominating this particular realm especially.

I'm certain that the concerned parents and grandparents (let us not forget the aunts and uncles) are telling the younger kids to avoid this particular realm. Granted, they most likely have filtered chat and cannot see what all the concern is about, but that still doesn't mean the cursing ones shouldn't be reported anyway.

I too feel the "I need a girl/boy/mom/dad" is almost an invitation for that person to either take advantage of a gullible person, or vice versa. But there will be those who feel they HAVE to have a boyfriend/girlfriend in the game.

Survivor
Jan 19, 2009
8
This is sadly a very common dilema. Usually however I have noticed it towards specifics - Life Wizards and - Storm Wizards, we both get hit pretty hard with harsh comments and judgement, *sigh* If only even online this wouldn't happen. I have to say be the bigger person because what people say about you isn't you nor is it true. Hopefully :D

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
QueQueg wrote:
I'm sure KI is backlogged with all the reports we've been making. I've tried to be very careful with what I'm reporting and make sure I had the right person.

I've noticed that there are 'gray' areas. What I mean by that is, there are types of conversations that I wasn't 100% sure could be reported, but I felt should be reported. I didn't, because I don't want to get in trouble for false reports. Hence, the gray area.

I've read and re-read the Terms of Use. Definitely some gray area as to what WE would believe should be reported, but KI may not deem it reportable.

Hmm. Maybe I'll contact KI directly and give them some of the types of conversations I have questions about, and try to get an answer.

The people in Wu realm do realize that "KI" is watching. I heard that conversation last night among several offenders. There was a lot of talk about people getting 'muted' and 'banned'. It did seem to be a little bit quieter there last night.

One thing that concerns me, is when people say "I need a girl/boy". Not just that, but others I saw last night really concerned me ..... "I need a mom/dad", and "I need a son/daughter".

These could be completely innocent comments, however, who's to say if there is something predatory behind it? It makes my skin crawl.

There was one person last night in Wu that 'claimed' they were with KI, and that conversations were being recorded, and that some of the other wizards were going to get 'sued' and 'taken to court'. I ran over to that group, to the person that claimed they were with KI. They did NOT have the KI badge. Plus, I reported this wizard more than once for swearing! She was threatening everyone, including those that reported her.

Just to let everyone know, I do play in the afternoon and very late evening Pacific time. So when you Central and Eastern time zones are sleeping, I'm still around the Spiral, doing my duty to save 'humanity' from itself.


Like you I have also seen some comments using first letters only that kind of leaves things out in the open a little that I am not sure what to do about those. There was another topic regarding "reporting" but for some reason, I can find it. But, to get to the point, I did as KI to give us an answer in regard to those that are starting to use just a group of letters. Even though it does not take a genius to figure out what is meant by it, the problem is still there.

QueQueg, once again it appears, we were both there at the same time. I was in and out of Wu several times yesterday on different wizards. I have some gardening going on most of my wizards, so it was nothing to pop into the commons to see what was going on. I do remember seeing one player making threats against others, but was not close enough to pin point who it was. The night before, there was a guy claiming that his uncle worked for KI but that did not stop me from reporting him a few times. And like you I have also seen the "I need boy/girl-----mom/dad, and I have also seen one that the wizard appears to be male but saying they need a guy." This stuff should not be in the game and I hesitated on mentioning it here. (Moderator can edit if not allowed)

The last wizard I took to Wu last night was my newest one that is now a level 6 fire. I had been in the commons with her for quite a while and it was fairly quiet so I decided to take her to her next quest to be picked up in Old Town. Needless to say in the process of running back and forth for that quest, I spent some time in the Shopping District in Wu1. I had to look around and make sure I had not sent my wizard back to the commons. The language was as appalling as what we have been seeing in the commons. There were some comment made against 10 year olds that I will not repeat here, but the language escalated to just the type of comments that Bettysue02 started this thread on. I did report several within just a few minutes and some of them 2 or more times.

I do know that some of them moved into Colossus Blvd, but the wizard I was running can't go there yet. There is also some of this spilling over into Ravenwood in Wu1. They are starting to spread out more, but we can still make a difference by reporting them anywhere, anytime we see it. My hope is that the ones that have been reported multiple times will be muted for an indefinite period of time so that we will have a chance to clean it up even more.

I also go to the game in the afternoon and will be there till time to fix dinner then back again after dinner.

I would also like to thank an un-named member for joining our ranks in this quest we have set out on. I say un-named because I will leave it to him to make his presence known and I actually found him there by accident.

So Thank you Wolf

Fallon WinterLeaf/Trans Theurgist

These wizards are my lowest ones that will be in the commons the most.
Fallon Winter_______x2
Fallon Emerald_______x2


Mastermind
Feb 29, 2012
323
Well I had the misfortune of ending up in the Wu commons last night after a WW run (yay my robe!) and porting to help a friend.
The conversations there really made me sad to be honest. Simulated adult activities, etc. I only report for swearing. I don't think the other activities were really reportable events either so I just leave it as I report for swearing.
I did notice that when I went in to dye my new robe there was a bunch of people in the dye shop not dying clothes. Did not stick around to watch.
I am all for a live and let live atmosphere. I only report for things my kids would see on their daily trek around WC. I can imagine that it gets worse at houses, but to me, that is out of sight, out of mind.
For that I prevent my kids from going to other wizards houses.


Armiger
May 10, 2010
2080
goldendragon18 wrote:
In regard to this issue, I have a question for KI that I would like to have answered by staff.

Over the last couple of times that I have been in Wu realm, I am seeing some stating that they are only being muted for just a matter of DAYS. Why it this?


Just because I am a viscious Wolf here on the Message Boards and have a character named Wolf in the game, does not mean I wont do my part to keep the game safe for kids and it is not something that needs to be kept a secret, or like I have a reputation to protect.

I don't mind joining the ranks and helping keep our community safe and clean. We should all do our parts.

I did, however, want to address this post specifically. I know a lot of teens do things without thinking, especially around friends. They try and act mature and cool, thinking cursing and saying mean things, etc is cool. I give out warnings before I report. This is my preference, as everyone has their own. If it continues, then I will by all means, submit a report.

I have even had some claim that Reporters are lame snitches, to which I replied, "Actually, we are parents that want to keep this game safe for kids". I got no back talk or grief from this comment.

Which is why, I agree that for first time offenders, a couple day mute is Ideal, especially if it is not a huge offense. I mean, some things would be totally out of line and unexceptable, but I generally think we all have good in us and people deserve a second chance.

So, I agree, with KI, it depends on the circumstances on what penalties are envolked. If it continues to happen, then I can see those permanent mutes being handed out, but, as a reminder, nobody is perfect, we should all remember that.

Archon
Feb 07, 2011
3175
Tonight, I was unfortunate enough to end up in Wu 2. Saw a few spammers, nothing major... and then, I moved to Wu 1. To sum it up... I'm glad I'm not a parent; if I were, I'd probably pass out.

I didn't bother hiding. In fact, I just stood there- in plain view of most of these people, obnoxious mount and all- and made like I was AFK. Of course, I LOL'ed at the fact that there was no bad language when I arrived... but then, they brought out the big guns. I ended up reporting so many people, that I just couldn't help but laugh when they started saying things like, "who reported me?" or "I got reported again".

So, the Commons is safer than it was... for now. That said, I think my eyes threw up a little in the process.

-El Veeb

Mastermind
Jun 23, 2010
345
darthjt wrote:
goldendragon18 wrote:
In regard to this issue, I have a question for KI that I would like to have answered by staff.

Over the last couple of times that I have been in Wu realm, I am seeing some stating that they are only being muted for just a matter of DAYS. Why it this?


Just because I am a viscious Wolf here on the Message Boards and have a character named Wolf in the game, does not mean I wont do my part to keep the game safe for kids and it is not something that needs to be kept a secret, or like I have a reputation to protect.

I don't mind joining the ranks and helping keep our community safe and clean. We should all do our parts.

I did, however, want to address this post specifically. I know a lot of teens do things without thinking, especially around friends. They try and act mature and cool, thinking cursing and saying mean things, etc is cool. I give out warnings before I report. This is my preference, as everyone has their own. If it continues, then I will by all means, submit a report.

I have even had some claim that Reporters are lame snitches, to which I replied, "Actually, we are parents that want to keep this game safe for kids". I got no back talk or grief from this comment.

Which is why, I agree that for first time offenders, a couple day mute is Ideal, especially if it is not a huge offense. I mean, some things would be totally out of line and unexceptable, but I generally think we all have good in us and people deserve a second chance.

So, I agree, with KI, it depends on the circumstances on what penalties are envolked. If it continues to happen, then I can see those permanent mutes being handed out, but, as a reminder, nobody is perfect, we should all remember that.


Nice post Darth.

I saw a post from Professor Greyrose and she said in a nutshell that KI likes to give people second chances. I agree with that. Many folks do things without thought or to look "cool."

I went to say "Hello" to my dear friend and accidentally left off a letter. My friend promptly cracked up and I was worried for days I would be muted. Needless to say HI is now my preferred greeting. I don't swear in game and rarely swear in real life. That was one worthy of a second chance.

I hate when I see people stating they have had 2, 3 or 4 accounts muted. One gal followed up that with, "This account was just unmuted." as she cussed away. Those are the folks that make me see red. The serial offenders. They are the problem that needs attention. I don't know how you stop them effectively. Perhaps they need to pay for the privilege of chatting. At some point one would think it would get to expensive to get unmuted.

Megan


Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
darthjt wrote:
goldendragon18 wrote:
In regard to this issue, I have a question for KI that I would like to have answered by staff.

Over the last couple of times that I have been in Wu realm, I am seeing some stating that they are only being muted for just a matter of DAYS. Why it this?


Just because I am a viscious Wolf here on the Message Boards and have a character named Wolf in the game, does not mean I wont do my part to keep the game safe for kids and it is not something that needs to be kept a secret, or like I have a reputation to protect.

I don't mind joining the ranks and helping keep our community safe and clean. We should all do our parts.

I did, however, want to address this post specifically. I know a lot of teens do things without thinking, especially around friends. They try and act mature and cool, thinking cursing and saying mean things, etc is cool. I give out warnings before I report. This is my preference, as everyone has their own. If it continues, then I will by all means, submit a report.

I have even had some claim that Reporters are lame snitches, to which I replied, "Actually, we are parents that want to keep this game safe for kids". I got no back talk or grief from this comment.

Which is why, I agree that for first time offenders, a couple day mute is Ideal, especially if it is not a huge offense. I mean, some things would be totally out of line and unexceptable, but I generally think we all have good in us and people deserve a second chance.

So, I agree, with KI, it depends on the circumstances on what penalties are envolked. If it continues to happen, then I can see those permanent mutes being handed out, but, as a reminder, nobody is perfect, we should all remember that.


Darthjt, I purposely don't name members I find in the game without their permission. There are some that don't want to be named so therefore, I leave that up to them to make their presence known. But I do thank you anyway for joining this quest to help clean up the game.

As for the question I posted, the reason for it is that I have seen several stating they had previously been muted for a certain number of days but then they are right back doing the same thing again. I don't mind this for first time offenders as long as they learn the first time that it is not tolerated. But when they come right back committing the same offense, in my opinion, the mute time needs to be made a little more drastic based on the offense of course. As some of us have already seen there are a few that once they have been reported they come off with a string of profanity worse than what they were reported for. If you watch close enough, after a few days you will see these same players right back in the commons. Some of them take a little more care in what they chat, but some don't.

I have in the past also given warnings only to have it turned on me. But I would rather have them attack me instead of a child. I realize that a lot of teens think it is cool to use this type of language, but I would also hope they learn that not using it shows more maturity. The unfortunate part of this is that not all of them are young players. There are adults committing these offenses as well. They are also discussing various drugs and alcohol. I made a stop in the Life tower last night before I logged out and the main issue there was alcohol. Mostly beer and wine. As for the approximate ages of this group, hard to say. Some had open chat and others filtered. Knowing that some parents are giving their kids open chat does make it a little difficult depending on the topics of discussion. I don't like seeing one player asking another to lay down with them. That sends the wrong signals in my book but unfortunately, it is a very grey area.

Now we are running into those that have already been muted for a short time and returning to the game with more creative ways to say certain words. Last night I saw the following 2 phrases which in themselves are not reportable and I didn't just for that reason. They are "she tea its" and "a salt rye full". As for actual swear words, I am seeing less in the commons, at least for now. Some have switched from using the words to just certain letters or even to a foreign language, ie: spanish for one. I do know that some are moving to other areas or to their homes. I just hope they realize that even by doing this, their chat is still logged and KI can look at it at anytime and still pass out sanctions. If we can keep the public areas clean for our kids/grandkids, etc., then we are at least making headway.

I will continue to watch and report when needed. I don't appreciate the language in real life and I definitely don't like it in this game. I do have wizards in different areas of WC including a Trans Life. This way when I am checking my gardens I can also do some time watching. These wizards aren't questing at the moment anyway due to the excessive lag in their questing areas and won't until school starts again in the fall. They are farming for some reagents and will watch those areas as well.

Survivor
Jul 25, 2009
2
Muted :( I hear these things but I can't talk back. I have to use menu chat and say That wasn't nice! but they laugh at me :(. I wish I can just reply something clever so they would stop it. (They like to follow me just because I look as if I have text chat but uses menu chat.) I already asked kingsisle to unmute me. I am waiting for reply. Besides that, I tend to ignore and stay away from those people. Turns out, they have nothing better to do! Many of those nice ones are doing their quests and running around so I don't tend to meet someone mean when questing.

Hero
Jan 24, 2010
705
You wizards are simply wonderful! Thank you so much for taking on this obligation. As a parental unit and a wizard, I am so grateful to know that there are others who care about our game, and who want to keep it safe for kids.

My littlest one just got text chat, as a reward for language acquisition and as a means of further development of language skills. We have such fun whisper chatting with each other in game, and I just love it when he asks me to spell a new word for him to use. It's amazing to see him learning so speedily and with great pleasure. He just asked me to log in to the Spiral so we can chat :)

I have been hyper vigilant about the wee one's text chat conversations with other wizards. Several times, I have watched him say "HI" to another wizard and start a nice conversation. There are some really kind kids out there, children with good hearts and good manners. I try to remember that these kids likely represent the majority of wizards in the Spiral. The tricksters are few, and they can be rooted out by our joint efforts.

Again, I applaud and thank you for pitching in and helping teach the tweens and teens (and some adults) the values of decency and respect. And thank you for helping me to protect my children in this, our favorite game.

I'll see you in Wu,

Qbb


Illuminator
Oct 22, 2011
1304
I agree, goldendragon, that we were probably there at the same time.

I hit the areas with both of my Archmage wizards. I also made rounds in the Shopping District, Dye Shop, Ravenwood, and all of the school towers. I did notice yesterday, when I was changing the name of one of my pets, that there were a huge number of people just hanging out in the Dye Shop. Of course, just about everyone was fighting and/or swearing, so I reported as many as I could of the ones that were swearing.

I used my lower level wizards to hang out in the Commons, and hit a other areas there, as well as a few other realms.

I wish those of us who are trying to keep the Spiral 'clean' could contact each other privately, so we could tag-team the different areas, and know that someone else is there to help. If anyone has ideas, please let me know!

Explorer
Jul 31, 2011
95
I have been in WU for the last week or so, I have never in my life seen such filth on a "family/kid" game in all my life. It has been as bad as one of the old Yahoo chat rooms!

I have noticed a couple new trends with the entire WU realm.... the wizards who enjoy the sex talk, the profanity, violence and general again TOS/TOU are all hanging out in the Dye Shop in WU. (A lot of play rape in there, it gets very nauseating) So I have been running between the commons, Shopping District and Dye Shop in WU reporting as needed.

ANOTHER trend is profanity is newer creative ways, like just the first letter of whatever swear word in a string.

LAST trend is increased number of "parties" in the school towers in Ravenwood. Walked into the Life tower (I am a life student afterall) and was promptly met with a group of wizards in a simulated Orgy.

I have my own guide, if someone says a version of the "f" word I report right away, same with rape and suicide talk. If it is obvious and clear what they are speaking of, I report.
BUT when it comes to common swearing I give a wizard one chance, on their second string of profanities I report. Violent racism I also report on if it continues or gets out of hand.

I have also seen sexism as well as anti-religious specific hate talk.... but only report if it gets too violently themed.

Most of the people do not take reporting seriously... one girl was egging on her reporter today (was me), counting off how many times she was reported after she talked of raping a wizard in the corner of the dye shop over and over and then saying strings of profanities over and over etc etc. She thought it was funny, said she has been reported over 10 times on that wizard in a day and never has gotten muted.

A group of us were in the commons recently, a wizard was talking of killing himself... also was profanity filled... I believe a few of us reported him, his wizard was then muted... he left, created a new wizard and came back to tell everyone what happened and then continued his talk but in a less obvious way... making reporting too much in the grey area.

I believe if enough wizards become diligent with reporting obvious breeches in the TOS/TOU in time Wizard101 will be cleaned up... or at least the message will get out that NOT all wizards101 turn a blind eye.

Geographer
Nov 26, 2011
860
Heh. I get you there. One day on my magus ice, I was in my battle gear and then some girl walks over and says: "You have ugh lay shoes and hat". Well, that was just plain rude. Then she started to bully my other ice, and started to be even more rude. Sorry about your daughter.

Jessica SparkleGem lvl 70 ice
Jasmine FireBlade lvl 76 fire
Jasmine IceFlame lvl 31 ice

Survivor
Sep 23, 2010
42
I spent a little time in wu realm commons today and you all are right it is out of control there. The cursing is back and forth, fast and furious in a stream of profanity. I attempted to report only the worst of it, hoping that KI will look at the whole log and decide for themselves the worst offenders. It seems that when one finds themselves reported they do brag about how many times it has happened and that they are not being held accountable. I realize
that because I have open chat and am an adult I should be not so offended by language but it seems too bad this cant be stopped. I would like to know how many of these kids actually get muted because there are still plenty of them out there getting away with it. What is the point of having rules and filters if there is no consequences. Just saying,
Mackenzie Moonrider, 80 life
Mackenzie Stormcaster, 80 storm
Mackenzie Battle Caster 80 balance
Mackenzie Fire Stalker 80 fire

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
Qbb, there are more joining us. I met 2 more in the game last night and friended both on my lvl 34 myth.

But I am going to have to let that wiz set for a little while. She became well known as a reporter in a very short time in the fire tower last night and I thank Darthjt for being in the game and coming to my aid. I tried Darthjt's approach again for the first time in a long time and warned everyone to stop with the foul and the most disgusting language I have heard to date.

@Webkinsadam8, since you have been muted, I do hope that for whatever the reason, you have at least learned that the game is more fun when it is clean. Talking back to many of these offenders won't do any good. You can do 1 of 2 things. 1....Warn them to stop which gives you away right off the bat. or 2........DO NOT say anything to identify yourself and just report. I am sure everyone here will welcome you to our ranks if you get your chat back, but do follow the rules please.

@Mom2mykidzcrcj, glad to see you on this topic. lol. A totally accidental slip and understandable. I have caught myself a couple of times when typing "Hello" and luckily corrected before sending. Like you I think many of us are seeing people bragging about having account muted but they are right back with a new one as fast as they can get it created and continuing with their barrage of profanity or waiting a few days for one to be unmuted and coming back and doing it again. You might just have a good idea to get unmuted. If it costs them to be unmuted, sooner or later, it will get too expensive. There has to be some way to get this problem under control to the point that they will get the idea, it won't be tolerated.

@Vonawesome1. Most of the time I don't bother to hide either. It is kind of fun in a way to see them asking who reported or I got reported again. Sometimes they will start screaming "FALSE REPORT, I DID NOT DO ANYTHING". Yeah right! lol. The chat flows so fast that it is hard to keep up with it. I saw someone a few days ago on this topic I believe, say they watch for a few minutes then port to their home and scroll back through to make the reports. I did do that one evening because it was so fast, I could not click on the offender even after scrolling back to their name.

@Pods1973, there are some things that are in a "grey area" but if you are not sure, then don't report. Although some of this is so disgusting to find in this game, it is better to not make a report that may be considered as false. There is such a fine line that it is hard not to cross it until KI updates the ToU for ingame, we will just have to be careful.

@Jennm2203, most of us have seen the same things you discribe here. They are getting very creative and that makes it harder. Changing a letter here or there we can still report as going around the filters. But when they are using perfectly innocent words that make absolutely no sense, it is best to skip it even though we know what they are saying. Most is not that hard to figure out. I am glad to see that more of us are also keeping an ear on the other areas they are migrating to. As for the parties in the towers, I have also been keeping an ear in that area, and found a really disgusting one last night. Thankfully, Darthjt was able to help.

@JackandTurbo, I think I saw one of your Mackenzies a couple of days ago. Many of us agree that the sanctions are being ignored by a large number of the offenders. You would think after a timeor two they would get the idea and stop with the profanity and vulgarity in the game. At this point I am so glad that my grandson and great nephew are not currently playing and won't until I let their parents know that things have changed in the game.

@Darthjt, you are right that the phrase " a salt rye full" is not in any way cursing. It was however a threat against another player. Although I did not report this phrase as I didn't the other one either. I can't in good conscious report totally innocent words even though I know what they mean. I won't put myself on the line for false reporting.

@QueQueg
I wish those of us who are trying to keep the Spiral 'clean' could contact each other privately, so we could tag-team the different areas, and know that someone else is there to help. If anyone has ideas, please let me know!


I agree. Since we don't have any way of to pm on this site, our only other option would be Central.

Delver
Apr 10, 2010
286
I just had one of my storm wizards from my other account in one of the towers in Ravenwood. It would seem that some of the foulness has moved to the towers in Wu Realm. The chat was moving too fast for me to get a good handle on most of the nastiness. My eye hand coordination isn't up to keeping up with it!

Most of it seemed to be coming from a couple girls. I can't begin to repeat (NOT that I'd even want to, for that matter!) what they were saying. Insults were flying and they didn't seem to care. They were enjoying their cat fight. Pity I couldn't do like I would in real life and throw a pan of cold water on them to get them to stop.

It seems to go by spurts. Sometimes the Commons is full of the "little darlings" and then a few minutes later, nearly empty. They may be in Ravenwood or better yet, one of the towers. The Life tower appears to be a favorite for now. So maybe the towers are places we adult monitors need to check every once in a while.