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Hurtful & Rude Chat Messages Can Still Go Through

AuthorMessage
Survivor
Jul 02, 2010
2
Lately, I have been playing Wizard101 and have noticed many hurtful comments being said, and I believe many of these words should come come up in red. In PVP matches, rude words such as "noob" pass through! This is a game intended for children, therefore chat on Wizard101 should be a positive experience. I wish for my children to spend their time on a safe, anti-bullying website- not on one that promotes such mean name-calling. I highly recommend that the chat is more closely-monitored for the safety and security of the Wizard101 community. If you do not believe me, hang out in the commons for a while, and see the hurtful things that people can get away with saying. If that is not enough, consider creating a fairly low-level wizard and put them in ranked PvP. You will immediately notice rude and negative comments being thrown your way. Restricting comments like "noob", "lose her", "lame", "you sok" and "shut op" will all encourage positive behavior in chatrooms and PVP matches. Rather than having many innocent wizards hurt and saddened, it is truly best to fix these urgent issues. I would like to thank you so much for your consideration and time, and hopefully my voice will be used to help the many victims of this matter, and to help Wizard101 become a better, safer environment for everyone equally to enjoy.

Sincerely, A Mom.

Astrologist
Aug 20, 2011
1077
Some words can hurt, I agree.

I think a "total chat lock" option around the PvP arena that you could toggle with a single button click would be ideal. Current options--and yes, we know what they are and don't need a flippant reply pointing them out--are simply not good enough. Ignore takes too much time and shouldn't be our responsibility. Blocking opponent chat doesn't do anything about bystanders and duplicate accounts who aren't in the duel circle.

Bottom line: We need more options. Our current controls are bad. Few chat offenders believe reporting will result in any punishment. Hall Monitors are barely existent. The only 100% way we have to make this game completely safe from mean kids is to revert to menu chat only... and that's absurd.

Survivor
Oct 23, 2011
7
I hope that I am not taken as inconsiderate, but bullying is something that can not be destroyed. It's done on web sites, schools, jobs, our government ect. It's about how you teach kids how to handle bullying, that will make a difference in how they handle this situation for the rest of their life.

I have ran into a lot of mean behavior in the spiral, but there are ways to deal with this. Unlike at school and work you do not have to be around the abuser. 1. You can port away. 2. Remove them from your friends list. 3. Ignore it (let them talk to their-self) 4. Turn free chat off (they can't hurt behind something they can't read) 5. Report them

Removing those words would only make room for more words to replace them. Not saying don't remove the words, but that will not fix the problem.

If kids are sensitive behind words like noob that hold no power except on Wizard 101 they have rough road ahead of them. It's no different than being called fresh fish during your freshman year in High School.

I agree there should be punishment for those who violate. Like the first time ban for a day. Next time ban for a month. Then do a six months ban, and so on.

Words are not the problem it's the people behind the words.

Survivor
Jan 18, 2011
21
https://www.wizard101.com/forum/headmasters-announcements/i-got-reported-28843

"What is NOT considered a Reportable Offense?
Because false reporting can be construed and/or used as harassment of other players, we’d like to take a moment to ensure you are aware of what does NOT fall under the category of a reportable offense:

...

“Being rude” (We’re sorry, we can’t enforce good manners. Use the ignore button liberally &/or change realms. It’s wholly up to you to choose to stay around someone that’s not nice to you.

..."

As it states in the report guidelines, Wizard101 can't regulate people's personalities. Sometimes you'll meet someone who's stuck-up, cruel, or maybe hurt, and they won't treat you as nicely as you'd prefer.

People will bypass the chat filters and make rude messages despite the regulation of the chat window. It's just part of human nature even when you see something negative.

;

Here is what you can do:

Report people that bypass the filter like people that say "as" for mature purposes.

Add people who are acting nasty to your ignore list. You can't see what ignored people type.

Leave the area. If they follow you just to harass you, you can likely report them for it.

Ask third parties for intervention. Other players usually don't support bullying or aggressive behaviour. They should come to your aid. I usually harass stuck-up people that start fights but I can't really help it (I have adhd and they make me rage). Not too many people troll Wizard101, they're very real.

Archon
Sep 17, 2012
4162
There's only so much you can shelter the kids. The vast majority of the offenders are the kids that are supposedly the ones being protected. If your kid is a young age and having problems, make them menu chat so they cannot see it. If it's you that just doesn't want to see it, close your chat window during the match and turn off the chat balloons. You cannot possibly filter all the creativity of childrens methods to bypass chat filters. If they want to say it, they will find a way to say it. Game filters are not a replacement for responsible parenting, supervision and limits on your children. The game has all the tools necessary to block unwanted chat already. It's really as simple as closing the chat window and balloons.

Explorer
Oct 02, 2012
97
I believe chat should not be allowed in pvp period except maybe between the players themselves but never the audience. I have heard it all in there. As a parent myself, my kid does not partake in bullying but she will also not let herself be bullied. She has no problem at all putting bullies in their place though. She even calls me a noob in the game sometimes but I know it is all in fun. I personally have no problem with that word as I use it to describe my lower characters. I do understand that something has to be done about the bullying in the game, as well as us parents need to instill enough self esteem into our children so it doesn't affect them cause there are bullies everywhere. One time I ported to my kid who was being bullied by two boys in the game. I told them to knock it off and when I said I was her parent, one of them said to me "I have a whole gang of teens and I'm not afraid to use them". Oh my Gosh I could not stop laughing, I had tears in my eyes. My child was laughing too. Needless to say it was no longer fun to bully us so they left after I said ROFL. Sometimes ya gotta put them in their place.

Defender
Oct 10, 2010
103
SomeAnony on Aug 6, 2014 wrote:
https://www.wizard101.com/forum/headmasters-announcements/i-got-reported-28843

"What is NOT considered a Reportable Offense?
Because false reporting can be construed and/or used as harassment of other players, we’d like to take a moment to ensure you are aware of what does NOT fall under the category of a reportable offense:

...

“Being rude” (We’re sorry, we can’t enforce good manners. Use the ignore button liberally &/or change realms. It’s wholly up to you to choose to stay around someone that’s not nice to you.

..."

As it states in the report guidelines, Wizard101 can't regulate people's personalities. Sometimes you'll meet someone who's stuck-up, cruel, or maybe hurt, and they won't treat you as nicely as you'd prefer.

People will bypass the chat filters and make rude messages despite the regulation of the chat window. It's just part of human nature even when you see something negative.

;

Here is what you can do:

Report people that bypass the filter like people that say "as" for mature purposes.

Add people who are acting nasty to your ignore list. You can't see what ignored people type.

Leave the area. If they follow you just to harass you, you can likely report them for it.

Ask third parties for intervention. Other players usually don't support bullying or aggressive behaviour. They should come to your aid. I usually harass stuck-up people that start fights but I can't really help it (I have adhd and they make me rage). Not too many people troll Wizard101, they're very real.
Someanony,

Your posting should be a sticky somewhere, as people need to understand what a game 13 rating is.
We have Hall Monitors, and we have the mute button, that is all this game really needs.
We have a Report button, which gets abused over and over, most of the time for non re-portable offenses.

I can't help but to feel sorry for those that are offended by the word Noob, or other mild terms.
I can laugh at such nonsense, as others should do, even the young should be taught to do so.
Or, learn how to defend themselves, that would be a talent that could be very helpful down the road.

I have been called almost every name that can get around the filters, but yet I am still unhurt.
I can still wake up the next day and grin at what was said, with no effect. I think others need
to learn this trait, or just start using the Ignore button.

Champion
Jul 13, 2013
412
talia1286 on Aug 5, 2014 wrote:
Lately, I have been playing Wizard101 and have noticed many hurtful comments being said, and I believe many of these words should come come up in red. In PVP matches, rude words such as "noob" pass through! This is a game intended for children, therefore chat on Wizard101 should be a positive experience. I wish for my children to spend their time on a safe, anti-bullying website- not on one that promotes such mean name-calling. I highly recommend that the chat is more closely-monitored for the safety and security of the Wizard101 community. If you do not believe me, hang out in the commons for a while, and see the hurtful things that people can get away with saying. If that is not enough, consider creating a fairly low-level wizard and put them in ranked PvP. You will immediately notice rude and negative comments being thrown your way. Restricting comments like "noob", "lose her", "lame", "you sok" and "shut op" will all encourage positive behavior in chatrooms and PVP matches. Rather than having many innocent wizards hurt and saddened, it is truly best to fix these urgent issues. I would like to thank you so much for your consideration and time, and hopefully my voice will be used to help the many victims of this matter, and to help Wizard101 become a better, safer environment for everyone equally to enjoy.

Sincerely, A Mom.
I have never seen noob. I tried to say it once and it bleeped it out. If you had filtered text chat, I do not know how you saw it. Weird things.....

Astrologist
Aug 20, 2011
1077
Dragoncloud888 on Aug 13, 2014 wrote:
I have never seen noob. I tried to say it once and it bleeped it out. If you had filtered text chat, I do not know how you saw it. Weird things.....
Actually, newb and noob are both allowed, because sometimes people can use those words without being hurtful.