I have too legendary characters, ( a life and balance). I don't know why but people are always cursing at each other, yelling at random people for no reason, joining fights just to flee, taking your traps and they are very low level. This game is meant to be fun not annoying me to death with peoples behavior! I usually stay quiet even though I have free chat becasue it is no use telling a child to behave on this game, grown ups are bad too. I was in triton avenue this week helping a niece of mine level and some guy started calling her all sorts of names because she has menu chat and hit a scarlet screamer with a wand blast. She did not do anything wrong he had no traps, no blades nothing on that screamer. I told him I am reporting you, that is my niece. Then I did and they took away free chat so I guess lots of people reported him like I did. Then, I was waiting for my niece to get new clothes and some guy with free chat was trying to get a kid to give him his password so he could give him a free subscription supposedly. I reported him too. As you level up you get rid of a lot of these people but I don't let my niece go on the game alone. If I'm not there with her, her dad is or his wife. Children should not get screamed at and cursed at by other people its bad enough that they know what the people are calling them. Plus, my niece is strong willed she wants to beat everything on her own, so when we play we just keep an eye on the people she is around so hopefully they don't pick on anyone. Another, problem is pvp. My brother and I do pvp together and we have had this exact thing happen many times to us. We join a 3v3 or a 4v4. We are working hard to level and one person on our team is telling the other side every move we make and just does nothing. So far, we have won anyway but that is so annoying to have happen when it does. We worked hard for our pvp badges. Like everyone else, why do they try cheating you out of it? Sorry just wizard city is a mess with people in it. I can't wait for my niece to get out of there and into a new world. But it still happens in every world at some time. I wish kingsisle would clean the game up more for the kids that play. :-D Another thing if your a low level they should block you from porting to people in other worlds. Most of the time your in a boss fight and some novice ports to someone and you know they are going to die but they do it anyway and want you to heal them. Stuff like that annoys me on this game really bad. Sorry needed to vent...
First of all let me point out that you have opted IN to the 18+ open chat. The chat you see is NOT the chat that a player under the age of 18 will see.
Your niece should have the appropriate level of chat for her age. If she is under the age of 13, she should have menu chat only. She will only see the words and phrases from the pre-chosen menu in the upper left of the screen. If she is between 13 and 18, she should have text chat only which is a very filtered set of words that are only game related.
You've done the right thing when it comes to reporting inappropriate chat and you've seen that we do remove chat privileges from players who cannot follow the rules.
Thank you for your concern. We put the power of reporting in the hands of every player. If you continue to see inappropriate behavior, please use the REPORT button. Each and every report is read by our support team, and acted upon.
Evaluate the level of chat that your niece has, and be aware that parental controls are available for adults to set the appropriate level of chat for the child. What you see is NOT necessarily what other players see..
I agree. As another adult player, who has many adult friends in game, we are appalled at the language and profanity. Many parents do not have a clue what chat level their children have. I have met 10 year olds with open chat. This morning I was minding my own business when four boys jumped on me and started making sexual remarks about what they were doing to me and what they were splashing on my face. This is not the first time this has occurred and frankly, I am sick and tired of King Ilse telling me I need to change realms or I need to put them on ignore. I deserve a safe play environment. I should not feel like the victim of a sexual assult. My friends and I reported them, and nothing changed.
I am a parent of a preteen girl. I play this game with her. She does not have open chat. For the amount of money I have spent on subscriptions and crowns since Sept 2008 you would think that someone would listen.
Please King Isle, as a parent I implore you, do something.
KingsIsle is not the parent of the child. If the parent won't take the time to monitor the child's internet, then it's the parent's fault if the child sees rude language. The tool to make KingsIsle chat-safe is in place by default. Every account starts out with menu chat only. Nobody can get open chat without having a credit card on file. Parental controls, protected by a parent password, dictate what level of chat each account gets. The report system is there, and KingsIsle does seem to discipline users of creative profanity.
Blocking more words won't get it done. It's too easy to use similar words to convey the same meaning or to capitalize a bad word within others. Reporting such people will usually lead to discipline, but the point is that it's nearly impossible to completely filter open chat without resorting to straight menu chat.
In my opinion, if the child circumvents the system, and the parents don't monitor the internet, then it isn't KingsIsle's fault if the child ends up with open chat.
The other issue raised is having a mole (somebody who is actually on the enemy's side or who acts that way out of spite) on your side in PvP. I don't see a way around this, unless KingsIsle wants to make it a reportable offense.
I agree. As another adult player, who has many adult friends in game, we are appalled at the language and profanity. Many parents do not have a clue what chat level their children have. I have met 10 year olds with open chat. This morning I was minding my own business when four boys jumped on me and started making sexual remarks about what they were doing to me and what they were splashing on my face. This is not the first time this has occurred and frankly, I am sick and tired of King Ilse telling me I need to change realms or I need to put them on ignore. I deserve a safe play environment. I should not feel like the victim of a sexual assult. My friends and I reported them, and nothing changed.
I am a parent of a preteen girl. I play this game with her. She does not have open chat. For the amount of money I have spent on subscriptions and crowns since Sept 2008 you would think that someone would listen.
Please King Isle, as a parent I implore you, do something.
What would you like them to do? The have already implemented the tools to remove this stuff from your gameplay. Switch to menu chat only if you don't like the comments or make sure others in your house have the same restrictions. Like others have noted, immature players will find ways around filters in the open chat, every time. KI will block those words, then others come on here and complain they can't have a conversation!! Even if those players are reported and banned; this is a free game and they will be back if they are determined (but it is still important to report). The only games I have seen that offer complete safety are the ones that only have menu chat. So if you are not willing to switch to that type of chat, then yes these ridiculous players will be stumbled upon. I don't like them just as much as you, but blaming KI for this is a bit unreasonable. They have to investigate each report and may not see the entire context or they can't stop the players from continuously making new free accounts. This is a social game that unfortunately allows players to hide behind an avatar for actions they wouldn't do in real life.
My recommendation is to switch to menu chat. Yes, you won't get to chat up with friends, but all those ridiculous conversations will 100% disappear. For those times I do need Open Chat, I stay away from the Commons, Old Town and Pet Pavilion. It's just too tempting for me to want to grab those young wizards by the ear and throw them into detention!!!!
I have 3 children playing this game as well as me. The two youngest are under 13 so they only have menu chat available, the oldest is above 13 so I let her have the next level up but not Open 18+. What troubles me is what they get past the filters in open chat when it is all supposed to be "game related". They mix and match pieces of acceptable words until they get a phrase or word to insult with.
Players running around "I need a boy" or "I need a girl". For what? One player got a female sexual orientation insult thru the filters at me because I would not donate any treasure cards to him.
I even ran across a player telling another player "the person he stole the account from was really noob, do you want to buy his account?" I reported him but there just isn't enough space to give details without sounding encryptive.
I do understand and appreciate that the staff goes thru hundreds and hundreds of false reports a day as well. (If someone is repeatedly doing this, do they get reprimanded?) Kids reporting someone because they beat them in a derby race or because an adult had the nerve to tell them to stop bypassing the filter. If you are reading the reports, and I am sure it is a pain staking job, then bravo. Chat privvies should be removed from a player if they abuse it.
I do understand and appreciate that the staff goes thru hundreds and hundreds of false reports a day as well. (If someone is repeatedly doing this, do they get reprimanded?) Kids reporting someone because they beat them in a derby race or because an adult had the nerve to tell them to stop bypassing the filter. If you are reading the reports, and I am sure it is a pain staking job, then bravo. Chat privvies should be removed from a player if they abuse it.
If a player repeatedly false reports other players, they do have their reporting privileges revoked, and in some cases, their account sanctioned.
If a player repeatedly 'swears around the filters' they do have their chat privileges revoked permanently.
If you see a player swearing around the filter, providing or soliciting personally identifiable information, or as in the case you stated, buying/selling accounts reporting is the best way to get our attention.
We put the power of moderation in the hands of all our players. It's all of you who keep Wizard101 safe for everyone.
We ask that you use the reporting feature to identify truly egregious behavior, such as creative profanity (swearing around the filters), solicitation of usernames/passwords, predatory threats, racist comments and other such actions as outlined in the Terms of Use. The old story of “the kid that cried wolf” has a lot of bearing in this situation and we trust that all reports received by players are valid and require support intervention.
When you report someone, or you are reported, a message is sent directly to Mr Lincoln that includes the chat logs of everything that was said before and after that report.
Mr Lincoln then reads the log and assess the situation. He determines how bad the offense was, looks up prior offenses for the reported individual, and based on that assessment he issues sanctions such as muting or banning and sends an email to the offending account (and the parent's account where applicable) explaining the violation and the sanctions.
If the report was falsely made, that is determined as well, and the player who made the false report is investigated as to whether or not they have made previous false reports. False reports are just a egregious as valid ones, and similar sanctions can be levied against repeat offenders of false reporting.
Everything that a player enters into the chat window is logged. These larger chat logs are also routinely checked for those infractions that are not reported.
i have been falsely reported twice and i do hope the moderators read the chat that occurred. but what the mods may not know is they report you for not adding them or giving them your mounts or pets or just because you won't gift them and they think you owe it to the game to give what ever they want.
i do think there should be more room to tell why you have reported some one and there should be a place in the you have been reported box for a rebuttle of the report and enough room why you are doing so. if KI wishes to use this idea then go for it. it can only help
Everyone has to pretty much realize, the way children are raised now a days, and the influential environment they are in for all of their growing lives, results in something like this.
Don't address Wizard101, address the parents on a national level, and practice what we preach.
I understand the frustration you feel. My report button is my best friend. I try very hard to use it responsibly. If there is a shadow of a doubt I don't report.
KI will know exactly what is going on. Prospector Zeke posted this up above;"When you report someone, or you are reported, a message is sent directly to Mr Lincoln that includes the chat logs of everything that was said before and after that report. ."
KI has done a good job. People will always find away around any filter. They only way to stop abuse is menu chat only.
I usually stay quiet even though I have free chat becasue it is no use telling a child to behave on this game, grown ups are bad too. I was in triton avenue this week helping a niece of mine level and some guy started calling her all sorts of names because she has menu chat and hit a scarlet screamer with a wand blast. She did not do anything wrong he had no traps, no blades nothing on that screamer. I told him I am reporting you, that is my niece. Then I did and they took away free chat so I guess lots of people reported him like I did. Then, I was waiting for my niece to get new clothes and some guy with free chat was trying to get a kid to give him his password so he could give him a free subscription supposedly. I reported him too. As you level up you get rid of a lot of these people but I don't let my niece go on the game alone. If I'm not there with her, her dad is or his wife. Children should not get screamed at and cursed at by other people its bad enough that they know what the people are calling them. Plus, my niece is strong willed she wants to beat everything on her own, so when we play we just keep an eye on the people she is around so hopefully they don't pick on anyone. Another, problem is pvp. My brother and I do pvp together and we have had this exact thing happen many times to us. We join a 3v3 or a 4v4. We are working hard to level and one person on our team is telling the other side every move we make and just does nothing. So far, we have won anyway but that is so annoying to have happen when it does. We worked hard for our pvp badges. Like everyone else, why do they try cheating you out of it? Sorry just wizard city is a mess with people in it. I can't wait for my niece to get out of there and into a new world. But it still happens in every world at some time. I wish kingsisle would clean the game up more for the kids that play. :-D Another thing if your a low level they should block you from porting to people in other worlds. Most of the time your in a boss fight and some novice ports to someone and you know they are going to die but they do it anyway and want you to heal them. Stuff like that annoys me on this game really bad. 
Sorry needed to vent...
