Will there be Censorship?

ArchivedUser

Will there be Censorship like in WOW, where if I named a character Lamphade, my account would be suspended for a week?  Or will this be a NO Censorship game, like Steam games now are?

I don't personally want Censorship, because you can't make real funny jokes, the best part of MMORPG. It takes the Fun out of Funny.

ArchivedUser

There shouldn't be censorship to a point.  If it's outright racist or what have you then the person should get a spanking for being an idiot.  Not a suspension or anything, just a forced name change, a stern talking to, and a warning.

ArchivedUser

Don't break the immersion of the game for the sake of a stupid joke.  If you want this to turn out better than the other mmos out there, then you, as a player, needs to take some personal responsibility to make that happen.

ArchivedUser

There should be censorship to a point. If its like XXX69Lulz cool joke man. But if its something like Nigg3r then yea you should sensor it. I've seen names like the latter make it into games and i've reported them.

ArchivedUser

Review the community guidelines and if its doesnt break those then best bet is youre safe

ArchivedUser

Well, most of the time when games get altered or censored is for localization purposes.  Ashes is being developed in America for a western market, so from the ground up how Intrepid wants Ashes to be perceived is going to be how it launches in the west, the only content censorship will be in Asia etc.  I personally I hope they aim for M rating but a T rating may work too.
Regarding usernames and character names, epithets and profanity are generally not allowed in any MMO, with strictness varying by the dev.  So expect usernames to be censored... what the hell could lampshade mean?  (gonna have to google to get hip with the kids).  Cheeky usernames are often funny, and it's the censorship that actually makes them creative.

ArchivedUser

M rating goes too far for a mmo like this. I think T is pretty good bet

ArchivedUser

Well honestly if somebody will have a very offensive/racist etc. name then maybe

ArchivedUser

If you are asking about censorship, you are probably already thinking about doing something you ought not to.

ArchivedUser

Steven seems like a very reasonable designer and draws influence from older games. These clues tell me there will be a common sense approach to censorship. Will anything go? No. But I think Intrepid will still give us enough latitude to enjoy the game without triggering people too much. 

ArchivedUser

I actually feel like StarCraft 2 handled censorship very well. Keep straight up curse words out of names, but let people be creative if they really want to get around that. Then make chat censorship a setting. If the setting is on, replace curse words with either asterisks (*) or symbols ($*@#), which ever the programmer prefers.  

ArchivedUser

Needs to be up to a point for very obvious reasons I would argue.

ArchivedUser

No matter what steps are taken there will always be idiots, gold farmers and general pains in the A$$.  Just because there is a new game doesn't make people act any differently.  There should be some level of censorship.  If your argument is free speech, go into a movie theater and scream fire and see how far that gets you.  :-)

ArchivedUser

Lex1961 said:

No matter what steps are taken there will always be idiots, gold farmers and general pains in the A$$.  Just because there is a new game doesn't make people act any differently.  There should be some level of censorship. 

 If your argument is free speech, go into a movie theater and scream fire and see how far that gets you.  :-)

I love how many people do not understand what 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech

Really means

I give you a Gold Star, you certainly do

ArchivedUser

Lex1961 said:

No matter what steps are taken there will always be idiots, gold farmers and general pains in the A$$.  Just because there is a new game doesn't make people act any differently.  There should be some level of censorship.  If your argument is free speech, go into a movie theater and scream fire and see how far that gets you.  :-)

Well, If you went into a movie theather while you have the name of "Fire" I'd imagine you'd turn out alright provided you aren't lit ablaze.

Common sense is the most important part.  and Too often goldsellers and jerks alike push that line by circumventing whatever rules are in place just for the attention.

In a game like Ashes, goldsellers need to be particularly watched out for.

ArchivedUser

Glowingwren said:

Lex1961 said:

No matter what steps are taken there will always be idiots, gold farmers and general pains in the A$$.  Just because there is a new game doesn't make people act any differently.  There should be some level of censorship.  If your argument is free speech, go into a movie theater and scream fire and see how far that gets you.  :-)

Well, If you went into a movie theather while you have the name of "Fire" I'd imagine you'd turn out alright provided you aren't lit ablaze.

Common sense is the most important part.  and Too often goldsellers and jerks alike push that line by circumventing whatever rules are in place just for the attention.

In a game like Ashes, goldsellers need to be particularly watched out for.

In the past few years I feel like they've stopped with those sorts of names in favor of "names" that look like they let a cat walk on their keyboard. Names like sospuffystudirHj seem to be more the trend anymore. And yes, I agree. Goldsellers need to be rooted out early and often. They may well kill this game if we let them.

ArchivedUser

Free to do what you want one is, free from the consequences one is not. Go into a crowded theater and say your name is "Fire" and you may get some raised eyebrows and eye rolls, but scream "fire" and the owner can have you arrested for trying to cause a stampede. Congressman Honey Badger is not allowed to keep people from using character names for bad jokes, but Steven is allowed to not let someone name a character something offensive.

Off hand I'd like if there was a license extra that players who got the license could have exposure to M content while those that don't or can't can still have a safely T experience.

ArchivedUser

I love Neverwinter Online.  The word “got” is censored.  No I didn’t typo, the actual word “got” is censored.  I never figured out why.  You can’t turn off the filter either, not on Xbox at least.  It’s insane.  Some days you would think I’m cursing like a drunk sailor from all the innocuous words being filtered out.  Sometimes I can’t tell what people are talking about, and nobody is saying actual profanity.

I hope AoC isn’t like that.  And I hope I can at least turn it off.  I’m a 41-year-old father of two kids, I don’t need my virgin eyes defended.

ArchivedUser

I have always enjoyed the option to turn on the silly filter and insert my own stupid curse words in place of the symbols in the chat.

Them: %&%$ you, $%&!

Me: Tipple you, barrister!

Breaks up the monotony while crafting.

ArchivedUser

We in the western world, particularly the United States, live in a place where people and social doctrine are increasingly more sensitive and quick to not only offend but also to be offended.

We also live in a world where children will steal a parents credit card, buy a game with insane blood and violence and the parent will see an anatomical word come across the screen and then scream, curse out/threaten to sue the game developer or other players for ruining their child and for being irresponsible. 

Certain names and combinations will be censored. My hope falls in line with @Dragnon in that they will find something that is fair and reasonable and hopefully also falls along the M rating line instead of T. 

The concept of adding cosmetic add-ons that allow you to see and unfilter more profane/sexual/non-politically/socially correct content and speech is interesting. I kinda feel like it should be reversed in that if you can't handle it you have an option to filter it for a small fee but this also seems like it can be abused no matter which direction it's taken from. Perhaps put it behind a parental-lock function? 

ArchivedUser

Raeyik said:

We also live in a world where children will steal a parents credit card, buy a game with insane blood and violence and the parent will see an anatomical word come across the screen and then scream, curse out/threaten to sue the game developer or other players for ruining their child and for being irresponsible. 

When did this situation ever happen?!

ArchivedUser

@Atama I wasn't able to find anything particularly that outrageous but I did find plenty of articles about parent blaming gaming companies for children racking up their credit cards and I also found articles about parents blaming communities and games for their childrens real life actions.

So yes, I did sensationalize it but you wouldn't believe half the stuff I hear from my clients regarding children and who is responsible (or not) for their actions here in MA. It's quite insane and so the scenario I painted really isn't far fetched at all - at least here. 

ArchivedUser

Raeyik said:

@Atama I wasn't able to find anything particularly that outrageous but I did find plenty of articles about parent blaming gaming companies for children racking up their credit cards and I also found articles about parents blaming communities and games for their childrens real life actions.

So yes, I did sensationalize it but you wouldn't believe half the stuff I hear from my clients regarding children and who is responsible (or not) for their actions here in MA. It's quite insane and so the scenario I painted really isn't far fetched at all - at least here. 

Video games are a common scapegoat, it used to be television that was blamed and before that it was comic books back in the 50s.  There’s always something to point at, either as a convenient way to channel parental fears or as an excuse for a child’s poor behavior.

Usually it’s just noise though.  We have the ESRB and if AoC stays within the bounds of its rating and doesn’t push the envelope in regards to what it’s displaying (and I doubt IS has “shock value” as a goal) there shouldn’t be much controversy.

ArchivedUser

Pretty sure it was a pure troll post. New account created Aug 10th. Made one discussion about how would he as StopItJew be able to name his characters Lampshade, and then never active on forums again.

ArchivedUser

SaintJ said:

That would be a huge waist xD

You’d need an enormous belt.

ArchivedUser

Atama said:

SaintJ said:

That would be a huge waist xD

You’d need an enormous belt.

I saw that too, but figured since it was spelled that way twice, must be some inside joke that I am not privy to.

ArchivedUser

Never been big fun of automatic censoring (chat) usually its more trouble than its worth and who doesn't enjoy some spicy bants?