Hi, is there a chance the social contract nagging reminder can be made optional? As rightfully noted before, I have already accepted exactly the same thing back when I agreed to the terms and conditions, and I genuinely don’t understand why do I have to do it again and again. I’d even be happy to an account-wide restriction on all of the in-game communication if the social contract is not accepted, similar to how free-to-play characters are limited in their communication (can’t yell, can’t whisper first, can’t post in channels, etc), until the social contract is accepted. I don’t even talk to anyone anymore, I let my runeblade do the talking. But unless I accept the social contract, I can’t even make the in-game change request suggestions, as that menu is available only after I login, and I can’t login until I accept that darn good boi vow that I already accepted when I read terms and conditions. Also is there a way to block all of the incoming in-game communication? As even now when I join random groups, I still get trash talkers in the instance chat and my ignore list is already at capacity so the ability to block all the incoming and outgoing communication instead of reading through the same thing again and again that doesn’t make any real difference would be appreciated.
There is no workaround. You accept it or you don’t. Don’t accept it and you don’t play, it’s pretty straightforward. You’re not accepting any new terms or rules, you’re acknowledging what has always been in place as well as that you’ve read the good suggested behaviors.
Vrak put it pretty clearly here:
You merely simply have to accept it again to continue playing, and it doesn’t return. At least not yet, and I accepted it on the first day it was there.
So what’s the problem?
If you’ve already accepted the terms of the contract in the ToS (which, as you say yourself, you have), then I don’t understand why the social contract should be seen as anything other than a confirmation that you remember having accepted those terms way back whenever it was. “Again and again” is also a bit of an overstatement, unless your game is bugged. I accepted it once and have never seen it again. I haven’t heard otherwise yet from anyone else.
Hmm… the social contract hasn’t come up again for me either.
Is your game client writing its own settings successfully? e.g. the WTF folder isn’t a read-only space, is it?
OP is saying they have a personal objection to accepting the contract. It’s just the usual drama that’s cropped up around it from certain people thinking they’re going to be forced to be nice to others.
You can use Parental Controls to mute in game communication.
Account Mute
Prevent the user of this account from viewing or participating in player-to-player communication. Muting will restrict text and voice chat, turn off Real ID, and disable all social features.
Currently I have agreeed, but unsubed to still play.
My issue is the making friends.
I can still talk in group as a free player.
I tank only and just make some gold to fly on the taxi …
Enjoy the game
Alt - Z
The top part of the social contract is just a suggestion. The part lower that is in the EULA has not changed and is still the rules.
I have no problem with accepting the changes to the Code of Conduct and EULA periodically, which are displayed before I can even type my username and password to login, but this mandatory social contract is a completely new thing and I’m worried this will set a precedent where I will have to accept something like that at every step of the way in-game, e.g. before joining for LFG queue, before joining a channel, before even submitting a /say message. I know it sounds absurd, but at this stage, it looks like this is where it is going and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. This pop-up is not there for making me merely acknowledge that the game community considers some behaviours “good”, it is forcing me to personally agree that these behaviours are “good”, which goes directly against my in-game character alignment. This is nothing other than a blatant attempt to force me into obedience and re-program my objectives from a Death Sowing machine into a Happy Tree Friend, and as a former Lich King’s pawn, I know exactly how it ends. And even in general, this social contract pop-up feels actively encroaching on my game mood, as when I already logged in to the character selection screen, which to me is an in-game screen, I get this spam handed to me, preventing me from not only entering a world but using other in-game support functionality, like making in-game suggestions. When I first saw this popup I honestly thought it was a virus from one of the add-ons that I’m using, but when I realised it’s a legit thing, I got concerned even more. This pop-up serves no real meaning, the ill-intentioned players will just click accept and forget all about it the moment they don’t get their way in-game, and those who group with them will endure the same abuse as they have since 2004. A single acknowledgement button instead of agreeing and decline selection would have been much more appropriate, but forcing me to agree to something that I have already agreed to during accepting T&C and EULA and then something extra without giving me a choice to forfeit a relevant functionality (in-game communication) if I don’t agree to it, is contradictory to the SAAS model that WoW is following. A product following the SAAS model would have gone: “Oh so you don’t want to be a nice talker? No communication functionality for you then. But you can still play.” And then there are a lot of PvP players who are quite the opposite of what you call friendly and nice to each other, as they will literally kill your character, often repeatedly, but as long as they don’t gloat about it, it’s totally fine. Does it mean if hypothetically I kill players in PvP combat and teabag them while spamming /rude emote I’m breaking the social contract? This whole thing opens a can of worms and confuses me to the point of not wanting to login in for fear of doing something that is now bannable, and at no point in the history of WoW, there has ever been such a minefield of hostile uncertainty coming not from the other players who you could always ignore and report, which hasn’t changed from being an effective deterrent since 2004, but from the game itself.
I’m sorry, but this is not a drama. This is about something much bigger. It’s a set of deeply concerning questions that have come up as a result of the latest changes this world has been subject to. It is not about being forced to be nice to others, because it will always fail against those who are determined not to be nice and will always find a way to be whatever the opposite of nice is. It’s about being forced to personally agree on what is nice and what isn’t, and in a very ambiguous means too. Even asking another person to reassess their perception of what is nice and what isn’t is disturbing enough, but preventing them from entering the world for the refusal of doing so is essentially labelling them guilty until proven innocent, which is incredibly invasive and personally demeaning. As an undead and a former slave to Lich King, being forced into obedience against your will and having your own personal recognition of what must be done and what mustn’t altered, you would recognise this pattern no other, and here you are writing this off as “drama”? I honestly hope this was caused by some personal drama that you are currently experiencing elsewhere, because alternatively, it is twice as insensitive coming from you, as if it was from someone who hasn’t been forced to unquestionably obey before.
Thank you. I think I will explore this option as I have never used it before. Ironic that I’d have to use it against myself in an attempt to filter out the toxicity that the social contract has failed to affect in any way. Hopefully, this will yield some results and I can recommend this option to my friends. I doubt they will laugh at me either now, unlike they surely would a decade ago. Because it seems that it really came to that, as people continue to shove an onus of fault onto others for being unable to handle the occasional hardships of genuine interactions while ignoring all the available tools to maintain their game experience pleasant instead of seeking to bend the world to their will.
it may have strived to look like one, but due to the inescapable nature of the pop-up box, this clearly falls under a different term: Instruction. Please see the difference between these definitions here: https ://thesaurus.plus/related/instruction/suggestion
Yes, and I have already agreed to it once when I accepted T&C. What is the reason for introducing this duplicate information in a separate window again and again instead of updating EULA like it was normally done in all the previous times a change has been made?
Hail, traveler, and welcome to the World of Warcraft! Azeroth is a living world full of people like you - other players with different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and histories who have all come together to play World of Warcraft. Every player deserves to have a world that they feel safe in, so please take a minute to read our Social Contract.
While in Azeroth, do your best to:
Connect with other players and make friends! Being courteous in group content can help you and your teammates have the best time possible. Sending a friendly hello message can help set your group up for success.
Play as a team with your fellow players - whether in dungeons, raids, battlegrounds, arenas, or out questing in the world. Do your best to support your team through your communication and behaviors so that you can all celebrate your success together.
Assist other players that you encounter in the world. Maybe they need some help defeating a tough monster, or maybe they could use a little healing!
Help answer questions others have in chat channels like General or Trade. We were all newbies once - one person offering some help can go a long way!
We recognize that the Internet is not always a safe haven. With that in mind, please note that the following behaviors are not accepted in Azeroth:
Hate speech, including negative comments that target another player’s identity, including aspects like race, gender, or ability
Harassment, threats, or abusive / derogatory language and behaviors
Spamming, advertising, or other disruptive behaviors
If you harm your fellow adventurers with any of the above behaviors, you are subject to punishment up to and including suspension of your account.
It’s a big world out there, with all sorts of people in it. So please try to be respectful of each other, and if you ever feel like somebody is acting against this code, please report those behaviors so that our team can look into it. Together, you can help us make the World of Warcraft a safe home away from home for everyone.
Note that it reads “Do your best to…” not “Do this or else”. The first half is literally suggestions of ways to make the game friendlier and less toxic. The second half is a reminder of behavior that won’t be tolerated because it makes the game more toxic
Yea, it still sounds like an instruction. If instead of
While in Azeroth, do your best to:
it read:
While in Azeroth, it is considered a good behaviour to:
and then as it currently reads, it would be much more inclusive and welcoming, rather than an outright demand to do my best this, and do my best that.
Small change, big difference, don’t you think?
Or just try reading the words as they are written, and stop trying to assign an implied subtext.
I’m sorry, but I’m not trying to assign an implied subtext. Being a Death Knight, I have an elevated sense of obtrusion detection, as I have been subject to it over a prolonged period of time by my former master, the Lich King, and I know one when I see one. This pop-up literally reads: “Do your best to:”. To me, this is an outright demand, an instruction, and an unambiguous command, directing me to do this, or else. Being a warlock, I would cautiously assume this is the kind of language you would use when interacting with your minions, as I would probably use with mine. However, player characters are not minions, yet it seems you would not object to being treated like one. Being undead and subject to Lich King’s will in the past, have you forgotten where does the road of unquestionable obedience lead?
I will agree with you on one point, and one point only - you do sound absurd.
That’s fine. At no point in time I have questioned your right to have your own opinion. I sincerely hope the feeling is mutual, and I can have mine.
I think my issue is now resolved. I have made my concerns clear
and I have a way forward
Thank you everyone for your contribution. Happy gaming!
Good grief…you’re going entirely too overboard.
Do you see where I copy and pasted Blue text up there? That is from the fingers of an employee of Blizzard. They say right there that the first part, that it is suggestion.
Everything else? Same thing you’ve always agreed to. It’s just driving it in as a reminder. The difference though now? They’re actually doing what they should have been doing all along and really nailing players for their toxicity. Do you know how many people we’ve had come crying here to CS about getting several day suspensions for chat violations and poor language and behavior - both in PvP and every other aspect?
And the majority of them start whining about “this is how it’s always been!”. Well, times are changing and players are really being held accountable. Vulgarity has no place in the game, nor does poor behavior towards other players.
You’re not going to get in trouble for PvP, but how you act - that is something you may have to watch or curb if you’re being overly antagonistic or jerkish. If someone is doing it to you? Then by all means report them so that they too can be held accountable.
But this is Blizzard’s decision and if you want to play their game, you must agree and abide by the same rules we all do. Players who blindly click and agree, then cry about not knowing the rules? They’re going to find out the hard way what it means to ignore the warning they were given when they get their e-mail telling them they’ve been sanctioned.
The OP has been around the block enough times to be aware that Blizzards goes out of their way to avoid micro-managing social interactions. It’s ok to be a jerk as long as the EULA isn’t broken.
However, with the new player reporting tools and processes, it is likely that there will be an uptick in the number of players reported for EULA violations by their peers.
The fact that the EULA popped up again when the new reporting tools,and processes were released indicates it’s a reminder to the player base of things they can be reported and sanctioned for, and things that they can report.
The first part of the document consists of suggestions of ways to avoid getting reported. It’s not a demand to not be a jerk, it indicates behaviors that tended to not escalated to EULA violations in the past and suggest them as a model.
There has been a significant number of threads created by people who blame a “new” EULA for being “unjustly” reported when, in fact, the EULA hasn’t change but the ability to report violations has had improvements.
I believe I’m repeating myself here:
How this “social contract” reads to me currently, is that it unambiguously places the entire PvP under a “poor behaviour” umbrella. None of the points listed under “suggestions” can be directly achieved via participating in any of the PvP activity types that I can think of, yet how the “suggestion” is worded, it gives off the false impression that if you engage in PvP and literally killing other player characters, you are ruining their game experience, because I will find it very hard to believe that they have entered the world to be playing as a ghost. Are PvP players going to be “nailed” now? What does it take to be “nailed”? I believe I’m repeating myself here:
I believe I’m repeating myself here:
The last time I have heard this was back at Acherus, when the Lich King was still in charge. So much time has passed. Yet I haven’t forgot the lesson I have learned from that time: to me, there is no difference between blindly agreeing and claiming not knowing the rules, and blindly agreeing without understanding the fine line between obtrusion and recommendation.
Good day to you. This thread is now going nowhere, and I’m going to mark it as Resolved. My point still stands though, and will hopefully be addressed in an upcoming version
Yes to that, and thank you for clearing that up. Its just that the first part of the social contract does not sound like a suggestion, or what it actually is, as I now understand, more of a pre-caution, and instead sounds like a demand. I would be happy if a small change was made
so that other players could avoid the confusion I have had in the future, so that it doesn’t trip their obtrusion detector, and instead is embraced by the community as a current standard and appreciated for being there as an early warning of the improved ability to report EULA violations. As for me, I have successfully voiced my concerns and had all of my current questions answered, so now I’m going to mark this thread as resolved.
Thank you everyone once again for your contribution.