My pizza just went in the oven. I am so hungry. falls over
WOW (pardon the pun) â someone who actually is educated, literate and able to provide clarity on a subject so many get wrong.
Nice job.
Remember when you pretended that you were going to quit WoW after the allegations came out?
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Yeah, this new ToS is getting out of hand, just got suspended for a week and when shown what I said, not a single thing was targeted towards a single player, nothing derogatory or demeaning. Players are literally abusing this new system just to get other player suspended just because you said/did something in game that they didnât like, itâs getting way out of control at this point.
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Itâs not new. Itâs been the same ToS for 17 years. They just made it easier to read since clearly most people ignored it.
You got away with it for years.
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No. The rules in the the contract were always the rules. Marisol posted many, many times the original ToU from 2004, and they were in there back then.
People liked to pretend they didnât matter. They canât anymore.
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You are sadly mistaken, if itâs been the same for 17 years why Iâm am just not getting suspended for literally saying nothing to anyone? Go ahead, Iâll wait.
It does not have to be aimed at someone specifically. Profanity and other inappropriate language have never been allowed in WoW. Not even masked language.
Calling 2004
[/quote]
Original User Manual from 2004 https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/template_resource/LO0VQ46XB1281555957773363.pdf - which has the EULA at the end. It points to the requirements for accepting Terms of Use with the website for it. I selected the first archived Wayback Machine TOU for WoW from 2004. I have copied out the relevant sections for you. Yes, it included hateful names and speech.
https://web.archive.org/web/20041217101250/http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.shtml
- World of Warcraft Rules of Conduct.
As with all things, World of Warcraft is governed by certain rules of conduct that must be adhered to by all users of World of Warcraft. It is your responsibility to know, understand and abide by these rules of conduct. The following rules are not meant to be âexhaustive,â and Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to determine what conduct it considers to be outside the spirit of the game and to take such disciplinary measures as it sees fit. Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to add to or amend this list of rules at any time, and you are responsible for checking these Terms of Use for any newly amended or posted rules each time that you log on.
A. Rules Related to User Names.
Each user will select a user name for his or her character, or allow the World of Warcraft software to select the name for him or her. Additionally, users may form âguildsâ and such guilds will be required to choose a name for the guild. When you choose a user name, create a guild, or otherwise create a label that can be seen by other players of World of Warcraft, you must abide by the following guidelines as well as the rules of common decency. If Blizzard Entertainment, in its sole discretion, finds such a label to be offensive, it reserves the right to change the name, remove the label and corresponding chat room, and/or suspend your use of World of Warcraft.
In particular, you may not use:
Names of another person with the intent to impersonate that person;
Names which incorporate âswearâ words or which are otherwise offensive, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
Names subject to the rights of any other person without authorization;
Names of popular culture or media personalities;
Names that are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment or other companies);
Names of religious deities or figures;
Names of characters from Blizzard Entertainmentâs Warcraft products, including character names from the Warcraft series of novels; or
Names related to drugs, narcotics, or criminal activity, including references to drug substances; or
Name comprised of partial or complete sentences (e.g., âInyourfaceâ, âWelovebeefâ, etc);
Names comprised of pure gibberish (eg, âAsdfasdfâ, âJjxccmâ, âHvlldrmâ);
Names that refer to pop culture icons or personas (e.g. âBritneyspearsâ, âAustinpowersâ, âBatmanâ)
Names that utilize âLeetâ or âDudespeakâ (e.g., âRoflcopterâ, âxxnewbxxâ, âRoxxoryouâ)
Name that incorporate titles. The term âTitlesâ as used herein shall include ârankâ titles (e.g. , âCorporalTed,â or âGeneralVladâ) and/or fantasy titles (e.g., âKingMikeâ, âLordSanchezâ)
Additionally, you may not use a misspelling or an alternative spelling
to circumvent the name restrictions listed above, nor can you have a âfirstâ and âlastâ name that, when combined, violate the above name restrictions.
B. Rules Related to âChatâ and Interaction With Other Users.
Communicating with other Users and Blizzard Entertainment representatives is an integral part of World of Warcraft and is referred to in this document as âChat.â Your Chats may be subject to review, modification, and deletion without notice by Blizzard Entertainment. Additionally, you hereby acknowledge that Blizzard Entertainment is under no obligation to monitor Chat and you engage in Chat at your own risk. When engaging in Chat in World of Warcraft, or otherwise utilizing World of Warcraft, you may not:
(i) Transmit or post sexually explicit images or other content or language which in the sole discretion of Blizzard Entertainment is deemed to be offensive; nor shall you transmit any unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable content or language, nor may you use a misspelling or an alternative spelling
(ii) Carry out any action with a disruptive effect, such as cause the Chat screen to âscrollâ faster than other users are able to type to it, including setting up macros with large amounts of text that, when used, can have a disruptive effect on the normal flow of Chat;
(iii) Disrupt the normal flow of dialogue in Chat or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users, individuals or entities, including, but not limited to, posting âSpamâ messages on World of Warcraft (âSpamâ messages as used in this document include, but are not limited to, any effort to use a computer or other electronic device to post an unauthorized and/or unsolicited advertisement to World of Warcraft);
(iv) âSpamâ by posting or sending more than one unsolicited message or piece of mail to a single address or in a chat area;
(v) Communicate or post any userâs personal information in or on the World of Warcraft, or websites or forums related to World of Warcraft;
(vi) Use bots or other automated techniques to collect information or communicate or post any userâs personal information in or on World of Warcraft, or websites or forums related to World of Warcraft or Blizzard Entertainment
(vii) Harass, threaten, stalk, embarrass or cause distress, unwanted attention or discomfort to another user of World of Warcraft or other person or entity; or
(viii) Cheat during game play, including but not limited to modification of the game program files.
(ix) Participate in any action that, in the opinion of Blizzard Entertainment results in an authorized user of World of Warcraft being "scammed " or âdefraudedâ out of gold, weapons, armor, or any other items that he/she has earned through authorized game play in World of Warcraft.
Now can we please agree that these rules have always been in place for WoW and that updates may refine phrasing, but not core content? If anything the rules are more lax now than that were then.
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What kind of pizza is it? Toppings, crust?
Croissant crust with ham and pineapple.
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Youâre right. Someone just wants to justify their behavior and ignorance of the Code of Conduct cause they want to be clever/funny in their naming convention. I would feel bad, but willful ignorance is a deliberate behavior and not a coincidence.
While this is true, it is possible to maliciously use technicalities and vague wording to attack or hinder otherwise well meaning people who are not intentionally or realistically affected any reasonable person. The fact that those rules have been there since day 1 is not being contested.
What is, is how those rules are interpreted, written, and can be abused, and since it has been brought in the public eye due to a notification and agreement in anyone, and everyones face upon login.
The rules have been there from the start, but the abuse and gaming of the system has not been nearly as bad as it has recently. It was fine for its time, merely a disclaimer and a way for Blizzard to act without hesitation or dispute for actions, but its not the same internet, game, or playerbase as it was back then. Time, the circumstances, and Blizzard putting the rules on a pedestal with a spotlight on it, naturally has shown to far more people the ability of its abuse and manipulation then the unusual determined troll that combs through the Agreement to have an âjustificationâ for their reports.
For the TLDR, yes, the rules, have not changed. But their representation, the enforcement, the peopleâs perceptions and knowledge of said rules and their âLoopholes and vague technicalitiesâ certainly has. There CANâT be this much smoke without some sort of fire. This is far too controversial, far too intense of a topic, for just ONE side to be right, and the other totally wrong and paranoid.
A discussion, topic, conversation and concern for whats going on right now shouldnât merely be brushed aside and dismissed as âParanoidâ or âJust be nice and youâll be fine, stop making a stinkâ. That isnât respectful or fair. Just because you may not agree with it, or understand, doesnât mean someones feelings and right to express their concerns should be minimized or discredited.
I am talking about the rude, and aggressive people on the forums, and not you, in specific. As I have seen, you try to be civil in your communications, regardless if you agree with them or not.
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The issue is alot of people are contesting it hasnât been there since day one. Way too many people are convinced these rules are new and that the Social Contract is an enforceable document.
What is, is how those rules are interpreted, written, and can be abused, and since it has been brought in the public eye due to a notification and agreement in anyone, and everyones face upon login.
Honestly, the rules are still interpreted the same way. The problem the OP has isâŚ
now they are being enforced.
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Alot more people now know exactly what each and every rule is, including people who could abuse it to their advantage. The issue IS the trolls who abuse the system, more then anything else. Itâs why I personally feel the system is too abusable. I agree with, and strongly desire greater handling of bad conduct, I really want what its trying to do, to succeed. I think it really means well, and in some ways does well, I just also feel it has issues and flaws that hurt people that donât have it coming.
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Who cares if they âabuseâ the reporting. You wonât be actioned if you did nothing wrong. At most, you may get squelched if you are mass reported but that will be undone as soon as a GM reviews it.
This is true. Enforcement and perceptions have changed over time. Penalties have changed over time as well. They started out harsh, got more lenient, and are swinging back to the original format.
When the game released the only way to report was to make a ticket which many people did not do. Further, they had to remember to put the name, server, faction, chat channel, time off interaction, and nature of interaction in the ticket. Without that the mods could not find the log sections needed.
Then, if they did, they Suspended the person. Now, they DID suspend for basic profanity if reported, but it was rarely reported correctly. Still, people came to the forums to complain about it only to get reminded that the rules are the rules - and yes, they really meant no profanity.
Eventually we got right click report - and Squelch (lots of reports in a short time will auto squelch an account pending GM review - mostly for gold and website spammers). That attached all the proper info to the report - name, server, faction, chat channel, time, game location, game logs, chat logs. So when someone right click reported a GM had everything right there to determine if it was valid and if action would be taken.
That increased the number of reports because it was now in-game, and also made them accurate - logs were right there with no searching. It increased the number of people penalized because reports were now easier to do, and accurate.
Eventually in 2016 Blizz decided to try the Silence system for chat infractions (with Suspension still an option but less common). It removed someone from social functions but not from game. Penalties doubled every time. They hoped that curbed âtoxicâ chat but it did not.
So, a few months ago they went back to Suspensions as a more common chat penalty. All actual Suspensions or Silences are applied by a GM after review. It has caused some ruffled feathers from newer players, or those who donât remember old systems. So far, what I have seen on the CS forum, people who got suspended knew they broke the rules, they were just shocked to get a Suspension instead of a mild Silence.
The reminder of the rules went out with some updates to the right click system to add advertising, boosting, botting, etc to the options list.
Nothing earth shattering - but some people like to act like being polite to strangers in public chats/groups is somehow offensive or wrong. I am old and donât get that.
People complain about nearly anything, so I take it all with a sack of salt.
Edit - and I know some people are afraid of the âsquelchâ function. That requires many unique account reports in a short time. It does auto squelch pending GM review. Abuse of that, like a streamer telling people to report something that is not against the rules - can get the abuser suspended. As that streamer found out the hard way. There are people who like to advertise things - like boosts. They worry that they are going to get mass reported and squelched - which may be true. Even if permitted, if the server population feels it is spam Blizz will uphold it.
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See, we donât feel exactly the same on a topic, but you didnât insult me or brush aside my concern, you posted what you have seen, what you think, and how you feel. I respect that, and I thank you for being more professional and courteous then âWho cares, youâre wrongâ. I thank you for that.
I just I am worried over trolls attacking someone, with reports, that 99% of any reasonable person, wouldnât give a spec of care for. But as a technicality, ââSOMEONE could maybe perhaps feel that to them personally, it could upset themââ and so, the troll avoids a clap for âFraudulent reportingâ because you cannot prove their abuse, as they claim to âbe upset by the offensive and or disruptive conductâ and not really have to explain why.
I hope you all can see where I am going with this train of thought. Blizzard wants to show they mean business with dealing with harassment and people being jerks, with the controversy of the past, and their new log in notification agreement, and are just cracking down harder, to show they mean it. And so, trolls seeing that, get lightbulbs above their head, and report for the smallest technical offenses, once again, no one would care about realistically, and one of 2 things will usually happen. The GM knows its bogus, and takes off the squelch, but âcannotâ punish the reporter, as was stated, their feelings, cannot be proven.
And the other, far worse, if less likely outcome, the GM at that time feels personally, thats the key word there, âpersonallyâ, or they feel like they HAVE to apply the rules to the maximum amount of strict interpretation, and unreasonably action the account in question.
Those are my concerns, and others as well. I cannot speak for everyone, some are sad they canât be jerks, some are happy and think this is perfect. All I can say, is that for myself, and others on the forums, and in game, are concerned. And I thank you for being open minded and civil.
And thank you for reading my rambling novelesque replies. 
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How much profanity, or even just coarse language, did Thanos use during his time in the MCU?
It takes way more than one report for something like that to happen though. It takes many unique account reports - not just someone alt hopping. It would take a coordinated effort between many accounts to abuse the system.
Yes, a group of people could sit around and report any technical rule breaking. That would eventually show up on logs.
GMs have to follow the actual policies, not just their feelings. Policies are pretty cut and dry most of the time. Either the person was using profanity, insults, slurs, etc - or not. Duration is also not really just up to themâŚexactly. While the GM makes the call, it is based on the nature of the offense + past account history.
Blizzardâs policy is to educate, not make people as miserable as possible. They WANT people playing the game, not sitting out suspensions. If I want to be mercenary, every suspension costs them engagement metrics and risks losing a customer.
The balance is between having customers who pay, but also maintaining a good playing environment that retains players long term - and that may mean losing some paying customers to improve the overall game - even if it costs them subs in the short run.
Also keep in mind, Guilds are considered âat willâ environments as are private groups. The rules technically still apply, but Blizzard does not monitor in real time and is not as likely to action people for mild rule breaking in an âat willâ group. Players have the ability to leave that group at any time.
What Blizz is mostly trying to do is make the public chats and groups follow the rules.