The Profanity Filter

[Blyaunte]

 

Considering that the new "Profanity" filter is going into effect today, I'd appreciate some comments from those of you here, in particular but not limited to those of you who are currently moderators, as to what course of action I should take with respect to the situations that will arise now that Jagex has removed the only filter that some players ever had.

 

As a woman, and in particular a woman of colour, I tend to draw certain unwanted comments aimed at me which are directed at both my gender and my race.

 

Prior to the invention of this new filter – certain individuals (who are now and shall remain on my ignore list) have always managed to find ways to circumvent the filter and make sexist, sexually degrading and racially oriented remarks towards me.

 

Yes, I realize that *that* is what the "filter" and the "ignore" button are all about. <.<

 

Nonetheless, this new "Profanity" filter is going to very likely open an entirely new "can of worms". If I toggle the Profanity filter off, I suspect that the filter will"star out" the likely racially derogatory and sexist remarks which could possibly be aimed at me.

 

If I toggle the filter on, then the sexist, sexually degrading and racist remarks will likely "show up" in the chat.

 

Question:

 

Should I even bother to report it?

[Mercifull]

While profanity is allowed... racism and sexism is not. Report away, I will still continue to...

[guitar_god_2007]

I shall always leave my filter off, i would rather see what people say to me, about me or around me. I know there are words that get censored out that are not of a bad nature but can seem wrong. So i'd rather see what they were saying.

 

In my opinion being able to use words you hear in day to day life (for most of us) on a teenage+ based game will always seem handy. But saying that i shall still report/Ignore/printscreen for mod if anything over the top is said. Already today i have seen people having very explicit convocation at the grand exchange (i.e hearing what they would do to each other) that i would never like to see or hear again. Them i reported.

 

I see it like this, if it truly offends you then use the report abuse button and ignore list. If not and just slightly winds you up leave the player(s) on your ignore for up to 24 hours, and delete after. 9 times out of 10 the people who are very vocal with there language are player that never stick to one world. So chances are you would never see again.

 

These are just my thoughts, I know others feel strongly with there views and i'd never say they were wrong.

[SirTommy2005]

You already know its coming to you, whats the difference of seeing it.

[Noxx]

If you take anything said over the internet (and especially on a game) personally then LOL.

Really? They are probably ignorant 13 year olds. I really can't beleive anyone would take something like that to heart.

[Overdoziz]

Don't like 'bad' words? Turn the filter on.

You don't mind? Turn it off.

Report people who are offensive.

 

/thread

[Mercifull]

If you take anything said over the internet (and especially on a game) personally then LOL.

Really? They are probably ignorant 13 year olds. I really can't beleive anyone would take something like that to heart.

Blyaunte is far from 1 3 year ol;d pfft!

[Freakyhair]

are you saying your a coloured woman in real life and that you emulate this when playing runescape? why are you a man in your signature that is white.. edit (your not lol)

i didnt even know people are racist towards characters in game lol! im not black irl but my char is cos it looks cool with bandos, but ive never had any racist comments lol!

surely unless your going round saying 'ohh im a coloured woman irl' you wont get abuse, and abuse for being a woman?? wtf!!! ive been a woman char aswell and id say i was a girl to anyone who asks, (made like 30m off it rofl), n i never got abuse for being a woman lol! like i always assume that girl characters are guys irl, because thats usually the way.

 

i honestly cant beleive that you get sexist racist commments lol!! anyway if thats an issue change your character, its not meant to look liek you irl. the whole point of this game is role playing, be whoever looks cool.

 

im actually laughing so hard at the thought of racism in rs. its kind of your own fault, u must declare your coloured because never have i had a conversation were people ask what colour u are, maybe what country u come from, but im educated guessing u dont come from africa. (i mean its harsh thers racism yeah, but i dont even no why u care its just 13 years olds.. everyones racist an homophbic and ginger hating etc at that age..

 

i think this is a wicked update, i hate not being able to swear or say feltching ROFL!

i dont see why u shud be able to report people for what they say anyway, unless they admit to botting or rw trading, u cant report people in real life that say stuff u dont like, and u cant put them on the ignore list either.

 

basically, id say suck it up if this update bothers u.

 

it actually makes people who dont wanna see swearing, less likely to..

[Blyaunte]

If you take anything said over the internet (and especially on a game) personally then LOL.

Really? They are probably ignorant 13 year olds. I really can't beleive anyone would take something like that to heart.

 

Let me guess -- you're a white male, with no children ...

[Mercifull]

Don't like 'bad' words? Turn the filter on.

You don't mind? Turn it off.

Report people who are offensive.

 

/thread

Bad words can be used legitimately. Why should I turn on a filter which not only blocks "bad" words used in context but also regular dictionary words just because they or a part of it looks/sound like a possible swear? I stand by that the main 4 letter swear should still be blocked.

[ReapMe]

I've been dropping f bombs on every noob I see.

[Blyaunte]

are you saying your a coloured woman in real life and that you emulate this when playing runescape? why are you a man in your signature that is white..

 

I think someone needs glasses ... :unsure:

 

My previous signature was this:

 

 

Prior to that it was:

 

[Bladewing]

Don't like 'bad' words? Turn the filter on.

You don't mind? Turn it off.

Report people who are offensive.

 

/thread

Bad words can be used legitimately. Why should I turn on a filter which not only blocks "bad" words used in context but also regular dictionary words just because they or a part of it looks/sound like a possible swear? I stand by that the main 4 letter swear should still be blocked.

then leave your filter on

 

ain't hard, folks.

[Freakyhair]

If you take anything said over the internet (and especially on a game) personally then LOL.

Really? They are probably ignorant 13 year olds. I really can't beleive anyone would take something like that to heart.

 

Let me guess -- you're a white male, with no children ...

 

 

lol what if i get abuse for being british eh? i dont care, surely you know people are racist. hells man, jus cos im white doesnt mean i dont get racism aswell. it happens, some people care about what colour u are, who cares. same goes for rippinmg on women, man that is AGGGE old, if you cant take that then fair..

 

anyway like i said, if it bothers u then either turn the filter off or change ur character.

 

also, surely even if u hav the filter on youll still see the insults, u just wont no excactly what theyre saying lol. but i stil dont beleive that you get that mucha buse, cos, like i said, ive been a black woman char and never had anything at all.

[Blyaunte]

Don't like 'bad' words? Turn the filter on.

You don't mind? Turn it off.

Report people who are offensive.

 

/thread

Bad words can be used legitimately. Why should I turn on a filter which not only blocks "bad" words used in context but also regular dictionary words just because they or a part of it looks/sound like a possible swear? I stand by that the main 4 letter swear should still be blocked.

then leave your filter on

 

ain't hard, folks.

 

The question isn't whether or not to leave the filter on/off -- the question is whether or not I should report someone for saying: "[Perform a sexually degrading act on me, you female individual product of inter-racial heritage] ..."

<_<

[Freakyhair]

I've been dropping f bombs on every noob I see.

 

yeah i just edited that lol!

 

but can u reply to the rest of what is said please, because i am properlly confused. :)

[DarkDude]

If someone posts something offensive (not just swear words) then you can report it as you used to be able to. Nothing has changed there.

 

Also, for someone who doesn't like receiving abuse based on sex and race you sure do like stereotyping people, hypocritical much?

[Noxx]

If you take anything said over the internet (and especially on a game) personally then LOL.

Really? They are probably ignorant 13 year olds. I really can't beleive anyone would take something like that to heart.

 

Let me guess -- you're a white male, with no children ...

Can't see how me having or not having children has anything to do with this, but alright. But you would be spot on. I might however add that i a South African and soon as people ask me where i am from my aswer is responded to with "OMFG you're AFRICAN?" Yeah it's annoying that people think there are only black people in Africa. But at the end of the day, you are black, i am white, and kids are [bleep]ed up. You really should not be taking things seriously. I can't understand why you would (unless you're shy of who you are).

[guitar_god_2007]

[Hide=Freakyhair]

are you saying your a coloured woman in real life and that you emulate this when playing runescape? why are you a man in your signature that is white..

i didnt even know people are racist towards characters in game lol! im not black irl but my char is cos it looks cool with bandos, but ive never had any racist comments lol!

surely unless your going round saying 'ohh im a coloured woman irl' you wont get abuse, and abuse for being a woman?? wtf!!! ive been a woman char aswell and id say i was a girl to anyone who asks, (made like 30m off it rofl) like i always assume that girl characters are guys irl, because thats usually the way.

 

i honestly cant beleive that you get sexist racist commments lol!! anyway if thats an issue change your character, its not meant to look liek you irl. the whole point of this game is role playing, be whoever looks cool.

 

im actually laughing so hard at the thought of racism in rs. its your own fault if you declare your coloured because never have i had a conversation were people ask what colour u are, maybe what country u come from, but im educated guessing u dont come from africa.

 

i think this is a wicked update, i hate not being able to swear or say feltching ROFL!

i dont see why u shud be able to report people for what they say anyway, unless they admit to botting or rw trading, u cant report people in real life that say stuff u dont like, and u cant put them on the ignore list either.

 

basically, id say suck it up if this update bothers u.

 

it actually makes people who dont wanna see swearing, less likely to..

[/hide]

 

I know this wasn't aimed at me in any way shape or form, however i did want to pull you up on a few things...

1 - You can clearly see in the signature its a black female

2 - What if she feels strongly about her color of skin and sexuality, and wanted to show it in Rs?? "be whoever looks cool" you said? how do you know she doesn't find that Cool?

3 - I'm sure you know full well that Africa is not the only place that people with different color skins are from? I'm sure you Educated enough to realize that no matter where you are in the world you will never find a country with simply one color, one race or one ethnicity.

4 - And as for examples you used in relevant's to real life, you can get arrested and charged for offensive and racist remarks. So in a sense u can report them. Just with a phone and not with a big red button.

[Bladewing]

sexism and racism, or discrimination of any kind are not allowed

 

so yes you can report them

 

however i wouldn't waste my time if i were in your shoes

[BBK]

Theres a big difference between swearing in some situations ('oh [cabbage] I just died'), which wouldn't be reportable, and directing disgusting things at a person, which defineatly would. Just because the filter is togglable doesn't mean people can get away with saying anything they like. Previously the rules said that if something was blocked by the filter you shouldn't report it, mainly because if you did jagex would see stars in the evidence and wouldn't even know themselves what the person said.

With this update it's more likely that if you report something that was starred out jagex will now know exactly what they said, so for example if they're saying horrible things about a persons race or whatever, it's definetly worth reporting even if it is starred out. I would rather turn the filter off so I know exactly what people are saying around me, I'm an adult and I can handle a few swear words lol, if used in a non malicious way.

Anyone remember when 'damn' was censored? So if you saw 'oh ****' you didnt know if they were swearing or just saying something that was stupidly blocked, that's why I'll always have the filter off. 'urs' as in yours was another stupid one blocked for a long time. So what I'm saying is this can be a good and bad thing, depending on the maturity of the person.

[Freakyhair]

[Hide=Freakyhair]

are you saying your a coloured woman in real life and that you emulate this when playing runescape? why are you a man in your signature that is white..

i didnt even know people are racist towards characters in game lol! im not black irl but my char is cos it looks cool with bandos, but ive never had any racist comments lol!

surely unless your going round saying 'ohh im a coloured woman irl' you wont get abuse, and abuse for being a woman?? wtf!!! ive been a woman char aswell and id say i was a girl to anyone who asks, (made like 30m off it rofl) like i always assume that girl characters are guys irl, because thats usually the way.

 

i honestly cant beleive that you get sexist racist commments lol!! anyway if thats an issue change your character, its not meant to look liek you irl. the whole point of this game is role playing, be whoever looks cool.

 

im actually laughing so hard at the thought of racism in rs. its your own fault if you declare your coloured because never have i had a conversation were people ask what colour u are, maybe what country u come from, but im educated guessing u dont come from africa.

 

i think this is a wicked update, i hate not being able to swear or say feltching ROFL!

i dont see why u shud be able to report people for what they say anyway, unless they admit to botting or rw trading, u cant report people in real life that say stuff u dont like, and u cant put them on the ignore list either.

 

basically, id say suck it up if this update bothers u.

 

it actually makes people who dont wanna see swearing, less likely to..

[/hide]

 

I know this wasn't aimed at me in any way shape or form, however i did want to pull you up on a few things...

1 - You can clearly see in the signature its a black female

2 - What if she feels strongly about her color of skin and sexuality, and wanted to show it in Rs?? "be whoever looks cool" you said? how do you know she doesn't find that Cool?

3 - I'm sure you know full well that Africa is not the only place that people with different color skins are from? I'm sure you Educated enough to realize that no matter where you are in the world you will never find a country with simply one color, one race or one ethnicity.

4 - And as for examples you used in relevant's to real life, you can get arrested and charged for offensive and racist remarks. So in a sense u can report them. Just with a phone and not with a big red button.

 

1 - yeah i no lol, edited it.

2 - so? i was black and a woman in the game and i got no abuse.

3 - obv, but unless u said u wer from ethiopia or zimbabwe then you wouldnt assume someones blacka nd it wouldnt pop up.

eg.

person 1: where are u from??

person 2: england

person 1: are u black, white, asian, indian, arab etc etc.

 

no that wouldnt happen. this might happen

 

person 1:where are u from???

person 2: mali

person 1: (assumes theyre black)

 

how could u ,misconstrue what i said that badly eh?

 

4 - yeah then report them, whatever. and yeah, but in real life u dont get arrested for that. because u dont phone the police on someone calling u white trash rofl!!

 

Hell i dont get how u get racist abuse because i dont and ive been black ingame for 3/4 years ffs!

x

[rthensley]

I will leave my filter turned off and report EVERYONE who makes offensive remarks.

 

IMHO, this "update" is a step backward.

[stan18]

are you saying your a coloured woman in real life and that you emulate this when playing runescape? why are you a man in your signature that is white.. edit (your not lol)

i didnt even know people are racist towards characters in game lol! im not black irl but my char is cos it looks cool with bandos, but ive never had any racist comments lol!

surely unless your going round saying 'ohh im a coloured woman irl' you wont get abuse, and abuse for being a woman?? wtf!!! ive been a woman char aswell and id say i was a girl to anyone who asks, (made like 30m off it rofl), n i never got abuse for being a woman lol! like i always assume that girl characters are guys irl, because thats usually the way.

 

i honestly cant beleive that you get sexist racist commments lol!! anyway if thats an issue change your character, its not meant to look liek you irl. the whole point of this game is role playing, be whoever looks cool.

 

im actually laughing so hard at the thought of racism in rs. its kind of your own fault, u must declare your coloured because never have i had a conversation were people ask what colour u are, maybe what country u come from, but im educated guessing u dont come from africa. (i mean its harsh thers racism yeah, but i dont even no why u care its just 13 years olds.. everyones racist an homophbic and ginger hating etc at that age..

 

i think this is a wicked update, i hate not being able to swear or say feltching ROFL!

i dont see why u shud be able to report people for what they say anyway, unless they admit to botting or rw trading, u cant report people in real life that say stuff u dont like, and u cant put them on the ignore list either.

 

basically, id say suck it up if this update bothers u.

 

it actually makes people who dont wanna see swearing, less likely to..

 

You should see what people say more often, then.

 

I personally do not get any comments (i am the most generic looking character, ever) but I see racist comments about dark colored characters all the time. Even in the crowded as balls living rock caverns, people make fun of bots by calling them nerds. But if the bot is dark? A whole new can of worms.

 

 

 

 

 

The issue I have with the profanity filter is not the words being accessible, but the now widened scope of responsibility placed on the younger-generation players on being responsible for their actions. As mentioned earlier, the game consists of a lot of 13-year-old players ignorant players, but it seems like the emphasis on that aspect of ignorance is one in which the ignorance preceded playing runescape; that is, the 13-year old was ignorant and then began playing runescape, so his/her ignorant actions in the game are not a result of circumstances around playing runescape, but that of things in real life, say a bad household, the 13-year-old being dumb, poor parenting, etc.

 

It is not fair to make that assumption, however. The development of social skills and interpersonal relations depend on the frequency and type of all interactions that are experienced, and the interaction between players in a medium that does not give the threat of retaliation or personal responsibility further encourages that type of interaction. Because the 13-year-old period (puberty, middle school, high school) is a prime time for the development of aspects of self, especially pride and self esteem, interactions that lead to increases in those self-feelings will be sought out. That is, this is why 13-year olds are ignorant and offensive on the internet - They do it because it makes them feel better, and they won't get in trouble. While the development of self is an important aspect of growing up, development with which there is no retaliation encourages the development of an attitude that finds criticism in anything, and to say that being ignorant is just a "phase" is ignorant of the importance of social interaction during this developmental period. Rather, encouraging this behavior is encouraging it for the rest of their life, and this take-no-responsibility attitude eventually clashes when social standards change as the child grows up.

 

Because there is no policing factor to say, "no, this is a morally reprehensible thing to do" on the internet (in real life, you'd have your parents scold you or teach you otherwise), the only way to avoid this type of interaction is to not have it at all. While jagex has no obligation to have the filter, it is socially irresponsible to allow this type of behavior to occur.

[Blyaunte]

If you take anything said over the internet (and especially on a game) personally then LOL.

Really? They are probably ignorant 13 year olds. I really can't beleive anyone would take something like that to heart.

 

Let me guess -- you're a white male, with no children ...

Can't see how me having or not having children has anything to do with this, but alright. But you would be spot on. I might however add that i a South African and soon as people ask me where i am from my aswer is responded to with "OMFG you're AFRICAN?" Yeah it's annoying that people think there are only black people in Africa. But at the end of the day, you are black, i am white, and kids are [bleep]ed up. You really should not be taking things seriously. I can't understand why you would (unless you're shy of who you are).

 

"Mom why did that person just ask you to [perform a sexual act upon him] and call you a [name related to the pigment of your skin]?" :unsure: