As a parent who both plays here and supports two young players I have to say I am increasingly disappointed in the language and bullying I continuously see in game. I feel for those under the age of 18 a valid ADULTS e-mail address should be included and be linked to the reports accumulated on that given account. When the child's account is reported a copy should automatically be sent to that e-mail account to make parents aware of their child's language and demeanor in game. I feel it would reduce the amount of inappropriate language, bullying, and sexual innuendo as well as help KI keep this kids game kid friendly.
I know options like menu chat are available however, they make communication overly restrictive. Filter chat which is what my children use however, can be misleading as a safe chat option because we all have seen cursing around the filter....it's not hard:) Please KI help us parents moderate our children's behavior on here and hold these kids responsible. We love your game, but the language lately is a little too rated R for our families taste:)
Yes, I agree. I had a very upsetting incident happen to me the other day, which involved a person making threats and chatting around the filter. The moderators of the forum declined to print my post, perhaps because it was too negative (I used no bad language, only euphemisms, and didn't blame KI in any way, but who knows). Anyway, my point was that although this happened to me, an adult, it could easily happen to my kid, or anyone's kid, who has filtered chat. This particular event also involved a demand for gifting--increasingly, I think these two bad behaviors (gifting demands and retaliatory bullying) go together. Anyway, thanks for your post.
Addendum to my previous post on this thread: my own thread (on the event I referred to) has appeared. Thanks, KI, for letting us discuss this problem--even if there are no easy solutions.
Until we, as a human species, grow up and evolve quite a bit more, this will never change.
Especially with the world's media, the way children are taught and raised, which then of course becomes 'contagious' and is taught and passed down through interaction in schools, etc. This includes parenting!
We as parents are rather full of ourselves. Once we have a child, we believe we have reached the pinnacle of evolution, knowledge, and wisdom. Because, it is OUR child! Not yours! Parents curse and act around children without prejudice. That simply passes down that behaviour to children. Even if parents don't think so. And don't get defensive, it is true. Children learn through example, and the majority of that comes from parents. Lets say not all parents, but enough to where, it all starts.
So.... yea. It may take a while. But until then, the only option I know of is ignore. I try to teach or pass down good ethics and behavior when I can (which even includes proper spelling), during communication with other wizards that I encounter. But, that of course does not work. If anything, that promotes bad behaviour and language even more than ever.
There really isn't a need to send an email to the parents to do something about it. If you report them for bad language, KI will mute them so they can never use open or filter chat for 10 years.
After the sanction.....then an email should be sent to the parents informing them of the action taken by KI. However, the issue is that KI only has one email on file, so unless the parents gave their own personal email for the account, they won't know about it.
There really isn't a need to send an email to the parents to do something about it. If you report them for bad language, KI will mute them so they can never use open or filter chat for 10 years.
After the sanction.....then an email should be sent to the parents informing them of the action taken by KI. However, the issue is that KI only has one email on file, so unless the parents gave their own personal email for the account, they won't know about it.
I agree and I doubt that the game will be around in ten years so all those muted players will have menu forever. Unless they ake another account
As a parent who both plays here and supports two young players I have to say I am increasingly disappointed in the language and bullying I continuously see in game. I feel for those under the age of 18 a valid ADULTS e-mail address should be included and be linked to the reports accumulated on that given account. When the child's account is reported a copy should automatically be sent to that e-mail account to make parents aware of their child's language and demeanor in game. I feel it would reduce the amount of inappropriate language, bullying, and sexual innuendo as well as help KI keep this kids game kid friendly.
I know options like menu chat are available however, they make communication overly restrictive. Filter chat which is what my children use however, can be misleading as a safe chat option because we all have seen cursing around the filter....it's not hard:-) Please KI help us parents moderate our children's behavior on here and hold these kids responsible. We love your game, but the language lately is a little too rated R for our families taste:-)
What about false reports would they be sent to the email adress as well? I would ask only this if your idea becomes real that only lagitament reports be notified. Some people might get the wrong idea and that their child did something inappropriate when it was just someone who wanted to get them and theirselves in trouble. P.S. People will always find a way around the filte, no matter how restrctivce it is.
If a valid parental e-mail was required for sign-up KI would absolutely have that e-mailed logged. As far as false reporting my idea was that just as KI e-mails us parents our crown order summary automatically a similar auto report for reported content in game would be forwarded. So if Jimmy asks Sue for a mount and she says No, and Jimmy then reports Sue her parents could see the convo just as KI can when looking into these reports. Sue would obviously be thanked by her parents for making the right choice and being polite....not punished. KI is already utilizing the technology when we make purchases so it's not a stretch to expand that to their reporting system.
While I agree us humans are in many ways products of our environment there are enough exceptions to that rule both positive and negative that lead me to believe a lot more than our upbringing influences how we treat others. Most parents while well intentioned work full time giving children a lot more freedom at a much younger age- no parent home=no harm no foul. However, to assume every parent of a rude child is absent or a poor example of the human species themselves isn't fair. I am sure many parents would use these e-mails to hone better playing etiquette in their own children. I also don't assume most of these children are actually that brazen in the real world.....we all know about cybertude. With no adult policing these kids and a group of their peers encouraging their sweet behavior it is easy to act out. They don't realize the written word is just as powerful as those spoken.
From what I see it is extremely rare KI actually mutes members.......extremely and I actually get that to a point. They don't have all day and a full army to chase down every report- it wouldn't be time or cost effective. But if KI opened a line of communication at home their workload would surely lessen and we would see kids learn how to communicate more effectively without cussing, name calling, and ganging up on each other:)
From what I see it is extremely rare KI actually mutes members.......
How would you even know? they have millions of players - really, millions - so how would you even know if players being muted is a rare occurance?
Every online game that allows player to player communication, and the rest of the Internet for that matter, opens itself up to the possability of being abused by people.
I ride the train where I live - if I had a dollar for every time I've heard someone using offesnive language in public... well, you get the point.
Do what KI have asked players to do - start using the report function. Only when offenders are reported using the apprpriate channels will a change happen.
My suggestion is that moderators walk around on the game. Like the previous messages said, maybe not directly, but young children play the game and the behavior WILL pass on to the children. We need moderators. Trusted ones. Level 30 Magus Life Wizard, Allison UnicornStone May the force be with you
See parents should link their accounts with the childs then if they do curse or do things they shouldn't, the parents will be informed via e-mail and if you get crowns for your child you can know who and when they buy things from the crown shop.
In my opinion, every person should Fully explore their setting controls & the options available when it concerns another player, as found in the friend window opened by the button in the upper left hand corner, or with the hotkey "f".
For example, if someone is saying things to me that I don't like, I click on them and then press the "ignore" button. Another example being that when it seems as though a realm is currently inhabited by those who use foul language consistently, I switch realms.
KI has created a great game for us, a beautiful world for us to play in. As opposed to policing that world, we have been given the tools necessary to shape our interaction options.
Ideally, it would be wonderful if everyone were well-behaved, polite and respectful of one another and one anothers assumed boundaries. Realistically this will never happen and while it would be awesome to have a program or setting in place which can effectively reduce this from happening, it would also effectively reduce communication between players in general, which would effectively reduce the amount of people playing the game, which would effectively reduce KI's ability to not only provide the game but also to maintain and upgrade it.
The tools we have available as individual players are sufficient to counteract poor behavior from other players.
Furthermore, while I've never been part of KI or had any work in MMOs, I have been a moderator for various forums and honestly, what I can tell you is that the energy required to deal with this sort of behavior would have taken up all of my time. All of it. 24/7. No human has that amount of energy. No company has the funding to hire the amount of people it would take to respond to every report to the reporters satisfaction.
Now, the reason why I bring up forums and moderators is because when a report is filed, someone is alerted to it. I'm sure they have their own program that they interact with.. chances are they have no interaction with the game itself in the way we do, so it is comparable to the way a forum works, with reported incidents.
I'm sure one person has quite a workload to go through. Reported incidents being just one of them, as these people are probably also responsible for bug reports, actual forum moderation (this one, right here) as well as technical support (as found in the help & support section) and they need to prioritize. Chances are the things I've listed is just a fraction of what these people actually do.
Simply put, and I intend absolutely no offense, chances are that while every report that is filed is given consideration, KI cannot afford exclusive babysitters without severely compromising other aspects of the game. Nor should they have to.
Last night, I was questing in DS with Vampy (my necro), and stopped off in WC to sell some stuff at the bazaar. As we made our way through Ravenwood, we happened upon a particularly foul-mouthed group of kids ( I could only assume they were kids, due to the immaturity of both context and conversation) who were taking turns swearing around the filter, like it was a game. One even said, and I quote: "it's fun to say swears".
Stop the press here, kids- did you just say that calling people names and teaching those words to the little ones is FUN?
So Vampy and I parked it right there, hung around for a bit, and laughed at the general immaturity of these people... and then reported every, single one of them. Only seconds later, this happened:
Kid #1: OMG, someone reported me! Kid #2: Bob*, you snitch! Kid #3: No, Sarah* did it! Kid #2: Aw, you ruined the game!
*names (and mad grammar skillz) have been changed to protect the perps.
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As they all stood there blaming each other, Vampy and I just giggled and switched realms, wondering if those kids' parents knew what they were up to.
L.S., transcended sorcerer and Vampire Val, the friendly necromancer.
