The Silence Penalty

[Pann]

You should learn to listen more, try to understand others and speak please. Just my advice. Because you keep saying the same things as if you have a good point to make here and I'm sorry to tell you this about you are not making a good argument for your cause at all, period.

The very fact that players have always had tools to avoid the kind of speech that the current report system and the policy surrounding tries to nullify (poorly), completely destroys any argument folks like yourself have made here.

I mean, whether or not you realize it (and I'm assuming you don't because you literally keep saying the same things in here) in all of your posts but especially the last several here you just laid out very clearly why the report system and this new policy change is completely pointless nonsense because it does not at all eliminate any sort of rude or douchey behavior in game, it will simply filter out the speech of people you don't like if and only when they use certain words, and furthermore ONLY when you or other people decide to report them.

Meaning people in your guild who do the same fucking thing to people that you report random people for are of course just going to keep doing it and you have to be a complete idiot if you think any of us does not realize that you all have homies in game who do the same things, but you don't report them because they're your friends. That's just human nature.

Shall I continue?

Let me be a little more clear, any of you that think this is some awesome new thing that's going to improve this game is wrong. And you're going to continue being wrong. There have been very simple tools that players could use to avoid all of these issues surrounding this policy change as long as this game has existed.

Seems to me it would be far easier to just give players the ability to create their own safe space in game, you know like they already did 12 years ago, when they made this game.

My advice? Stop being so concerned with pointless drama. You may not realize it but you actually come off as an incredibly negative person who wouldn't be any fun to play with.

But it is not completely pointless. It will either teach the more unpleasant players to be more respectful towards others or it will take away their ability to be interact with them. And let's be honest if it was a pointless as you say you'd have nothing to fear and would not be making all these outlandish claims in a desperate attempt to convince people that it will not work.

[Evilfish]

But it is not completely pointless. It will either teach the more unpleasant players to be more respectful towards others or it will take away their ability to be interact with them. And let's be honest if it was a pointless as you say you'd have nothing to fear and would not be making all these outlandish claims in a desperate attempt to convince people that it will not work.

It is pointless. It's just a tool for pricks to take out their frustrations on other players who may or may not deserve it. I'm gonna laugh my ass of when guys like you are gonna end up being investigated cause you pissed off a multiboxer.

[Pann]

It is pointless. It's just a tool for pricks to take out their frustrations on other players who may or may not deserve it. I'm gonna laugh my ass of when guys like you are gonna end up being investigated cause you pissed off a multiboxer.

The pricks are already taking their frustrations out on other players that is why this system is being introduced. To be honest I have not seen a multi-boxer for years and if I were to find myself being investigated I am sure that Blizzard would find no reason to take any action against be. However I think there is a pretty good chance that no-one will be able to hear your laughter.

[Shakou]

The pricks are already taking their frustrations out on other players that is why this system is being introduced. To be honest I have not seen a multi-boxer for years and if I were to find myself being investigated I am sure that Blizzard would find no reason to take any action against be. However I think there is a pretty good chance that no-one will be able to hear your laughter.

Oh the irony that you call people pricks and want to report others for doing the same sort of things.



Reported. /Thread

[Evilfish]

The pricks are already taking their frustrations out on other players that is why this system is being introduced. To be honest I have not seen a multi-boxer for years and if I were to find myself being investigated I am sure that Blizzard would find no reason to take any action against be. However I think there is a pretty good chance that no-one will be able to hear your laughter.

And those pricks could be reported through the old fashioned way and they'd get punished appropriately by being banned. But I suppose Blizzard noticed that people who get banned don't pay their subs to be unable to log in game so they invented this crap to placate over-sensitive brats and still get a sub fee from the punished.

I love how you fucking people are already putting a Sheriff star on your chest so excited by the prospect of the social justice you can inflict onto people YOU think deserve it but this will backfire and maybe you may not be smart enough to remember my words but in the event you do, when it backfires, think of me laughing.

[Pann]

And those pricks could be reported through the old fashioned way and they'd get punished appropriately by being banned. But I suppose Blizzard noticed that people who get banned don't pay their subs to be unable to log in game so they invented this crap to placate over-sensitive brats and still get a sub fee from the punished.

I love how you fucking people are already putting a Sheriff star on your chest so excited by the prospect of the social justice you can inflict onto people YOU think deserve it but this will backfire and maybe you may not be smart enough to remember my words but in the event you do, when it backfires, think of me laughing.

You're right, they could and obviously Blizzard has deemed the old fashioned system to be unsuitable with dealing with them.

Blizzard the ones who will decide the punishment, it is entirely possible that that will decide that a report requires no action. This system is already working well in HotS and Overwatch so why do you think it will backfire in WoW?

[zaino]

i should be allowed to shitpost in trade chat if i want to

[Shakou]

You're right, they could and obviously Blizzard has deemed the old fashioned system to be unsuitable with dealing with them.

Blizzard the ones who will decide the punishment, it is entirely possible that that will decide that a report requires no action. This system is already working well in HotS and Overwatch so why do you think it will backfire in WoW?

Wow, you realld ust don't stop and think to consider you actually don't know what you're talking about when you don't know what you're talking about do you?

For the last time:

THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW SYSTEM. IT IS ABOUT A CHANGE IN POLICY FROM BANNING PLAYERS FROM THE GAME FOR CHAT VIOLATIONS TO SIMPLY SILENCING THEM FROM CHAT. THEY ARE NOT IN FACT CHANGING ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR CURRENT REPORT SYSTEM OTHER THAN HIRING MORE PEOPLE TO READ THROUGH REPORTS AND SUCH, ALL OF THE REPORTS WILL CONTINUE TO BE AS THEY CURRENTLY ARE 100% PLAYERS GENERATED AND THEREFORE OPEN TO HUMAN FALLIBILITY, SUCH AS GROUPS OF FRIENDS MASS REPORTING ONLY CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS THEY DON'T LIKE FOR BEHAVIOR THEY THEMSELF AND/OR THEIR FRIENDS AND GUILDIES ENGAGE IN.

Also no this does not work in HOTS or Overwatch, and those games do not even have this type of system at all they have a completely automated system that auto silences players after a certain amount of reports have been generated.

You sir actually have no idea what you are talking about at all. Thank you, have a nice day.

- - - Updated - - -

FURTHERMORE, more than likely the actual reason for this change more than anything, is because Blizzard came to their senses and realized it was a really extremely bad idea to ban players for what very well could have just been several instances of extremely minor use of language they have red flagged.

Anyways I'm going to go take a shower and burn my clothes because for all sorts of reasons this discussion reminds me of The Crying Game.

[Evilfish]

You're right, they could and obviously Blizzard has deemed the old fashioned system to be unsuitable with dealing with them.

Blizzard the ones who will decide the punishment, it is entirely possible that that will decide that a report requires no action. This system is already working well in HotS and Overwatch so why do you think it will backfire in WoW?

Well see, that's where I consider it unfair. When pubescent Timmy gets angry cause his pimples are making him look ugly and gets a problem with some random player who said "SHIT" which made pubescent Timmy gets even angrier and reports this bloke, furthermore asks other people to report him as well and they do, cause they are all really angry like pubescent Timmy, the Blizz worker looks over the chat and notices the person that's being reported is in fact not violating any of the boundaries set up by Blizz themselves and closes the report. Pubescent Timmy does not face any consequences and continues to do the same to other players hoping that he will eventually hit the jackpot and inflict some harm upon someone.

I say it would be fair if pubescent Timmy receives the punishment he was trying to inflict on a person who was innocent. And the rest of his friends as well. That is what I call fair. False claims should end up putting the ball-gag in the mouth of the accuser.

[Pann]

Well see, that's where I consider it unfair. When pubescent Timmy gets angry cause his pimples are making him look ugly and gets a problem with some random player who said "SHIT" which made pubescent Timmy gets even angrier and reports this bloke, furthermore asks other people to report him as well and they do, cause they are all really angry like pubescent Timmy, the Blizz worker looks over the chat and notices the person that's being reported is in fact not violating any of the boundaries set up by Blizz themselves and closes the report. Pubescent Timmy does not face any consequences and continues to do the same to other players hoping that he will eventually hit the jackpot and inflict some harm upon someone.

I say it would be fair if pubescent Timmy receives the punishment he was trying to inflict on a person who was innocent. And the rest of his friends as well. That is what I call fair. False claims should end up putting the ball-gag in the mouth of the accuser.

Why would others do as Timmy says? Plus wouldn't there be a chat record of Timmy asking people to maliciously report someone? Making it even easier for the GM(s) to see that the report is baseless.

I have seen screen shots where players have told in no uncertain terms to stop wasting GM time or face a ban so why do you think that abuse of the report system will carry no penalty?

[manypillars]

You know, I wonder if they'll do us the favor of also greatly increasing the number of people we can have on ignore too. I tend to report people who use SGI and hit me more than once with their spam as I change characters. While I wouldn't mind them getting silenced, it's probably better if I could have the account wide ignore actually work and have it bumped up to 250 or more slots. Then I could accommodate both the SGI spammers trying to convince people to join their crap guilds and the people I never want to see in LFD again without silencing people who even at their worst usually don't deserve a silence for ticking me off.

[Evilfish]

Why would others do as Timmy says? Plus wouldn't there be a chat record of Timmy asking people to maliciously report someone? Making it even easier for the GM(s) to see that the report is baseless.

I have seen screen shots where players have told in no uncertain terms to stop wasting GM time or face a ban so why do you think that abuse of the report system will carry no penalty?

Because people are assholes. Already some are jerking off at the prospect of having someone silenced. That's why they'll listen to Timmy. Some kind of moronic social justice desire to punish like we see all across social media.

And the point wasn't that the person in question would get silenced without breaking the rules, even if that may happen given the human error margin, the point was that the system may be abused by others because as far as we know there are no consequences to reporting players wrongly and encouraging others to do the same.

[Pann]

Because people are assholes. Already some are jerking off at the prospect of having someone silenced. That's why they'll listen to Timmy. Some kind of moronic social justice desire to punish like we see all across social media.

And the point wasn't that the person in question would get silenced without breaking the rules, even if that may happen given the human error margin, the point was that the system may be abused by others because as far as we know there are no consequences to reporting players wrongly and encouraging others to do the same.

And? So what? As long as Blizzard see that their reports are without merit and no action is taken against you, why do you care? If they want to waste their time making up false reports that is theirs and Blizzard's business and it is up to Blizzard to take whatever action they deem appropriate.

[Kinjin]

I think it's disingenuous at best. They aren't going to do anything about actual toxic actions, only speech. That tells me they don't really care about their player base, just the public perception that they are "doing something". They were sure to keep their money grub on by not banning folks, just silencing them. Which is a pretty good indication of where their true concern for the player actual lies. There is no reason to think it won't be completely automated and the only review that will occur is when someone actually disputes the punishment. I certainly don't believe each report will be evaluated. Especially since they completely lied about the same type of system in another one of their games. "But they are telling the truth this time." Right. There will always be folks who believe whatever they are told. Their favorite logical fallacy is the Appeal to Authority. "But But... Blizzard said so". Don't waste your breath trying to convince them otherwise. They will learn or not, but either way they aren't worth wasting your time on.

There seem to be many people that think this is the end all be all, and they are about to get Powah! and their hero moment. That trigger finger just itching to hit the report button. I think are you going to be disappointed by the end result. This system only makes the world quieter, with no change in actual behavior. I'm sure some people think I must be one of those just destined to be perma-silenced. This is going to come as a shock to you, but just because my opinion is different from yours doesn't mean I must be a terrible person, who is terrible to others. The reality is I actually doubt I would even notice if I had received a penalty until I tried to mail something to an alt. I rarely even speak in a channel other than guild chat and even not much then. I'm usually out doing my own thing or helping a guildie on a mount run, achievement or something. I simply don't care enough to bother somebodies pixel I don't even know. But while I may be relatively quiet, I do enjoy watching other people speak in various channels. I think it would be sad to see wow chat as dead and devoid of life as the rest of the game.

The only reason I shared my opinion was because I don't think this tool is going to be effective for it's stated purpose. I see it being used as another thing griefers will use against you. Similar to how the group kick feature is today. It will do more harm than good. Sure it will catch some of the really bad folks that need something done about them. But they already have systems in place to deal with that they barely use to take action now. That's Blizzards fault, not the players. I would rather they use the money and resources for this "tool" on actually investigating and doing something about people who were being terrible to others by their actual actions. But doing something to achieve making the game less toxic takes time and resources. They have never been willing to incur that cost. They have actively refused to hold players accountable for toxic actions since day one. This tool won't fix a toxic playerbase.

[Deleted]

Am I the only one that honestly doesn't care?

If you rarely speak in public chat (general, trade, PUG ...) and the moment you actually do speak sometimes ( either to tell a newbie something, you ask for something in general, whatever), but you do so in a normal way, without shouting or being an unpleasant person, does this affect you in any way? Nope, not at all.

So this change in policy. Meh.

Funny to see 33 pages of heated discussion here ...

[Evilfish]

And? So what? As long as Blizzard see that their reports are without merit and no action is taken against you, why do you care? If they want to waste their time making up false reports that is theirs and Blizzard's business and it is up to Blizzard to take whatever action they deem appropriate.

Because it's not solving anything aside giving Blizzard the opportunity to keep charging people that should be banned, but mostly because it's not fair, in fact it's just allowing assholes that deserve a ban to get away with saying and doing shit. The asshole that does break the rules and should be banned gets to keep playing and the asshole that reports players out of spite which is a clear form of harassment has no action taken against him. Because people are biased and will not report their buddies for things they would report others. Because it always falls to interpretation and opinion and IMPORTANT FACTS the facts are absent.

I had one of my guild mates reported by some fucking shitbag and banned for 24 hours for talking like a black man using his dark skinned avatar and the irony is, HE IS A BLACK MAN! But he got banned anyway because no one bothered to check the entire conversation, not the shitbag reporting and not the Blizz employee who banned him. Fair? No. The only "mistake" we made was not keeping the conversation in party chat which we shouldn't have to aviod out of fear of being policed by some self-appointed speech witch hunter who was lucky enough to have his report sent to a superficial employee. I have personally seen people driving themselves into a righteous frenzy by taking things out of context so they could get offended, I don't know if the people who were reported were punished but I know they were being reported and the people reporting were asking others to do the same based on their interpretation of the subject they were policing. So please don't give me that shit about what do I care because I know for a fact there's a possibility to get silenced for no good reason, the only difference is it will be easier now.

But why do you care? You already have an ignore which works, and a report system which works, barely. Why do you need this so much? The better question would be, why is this turning you on so much?

Someone who breaks the rules should be banned. Someone who abuses the rules should be banned. The decision should not be made superficially. That is fair and that is the only form of "justice" that should exist. Not this social justice jackoff material that is the silence system.

[Durandir]

1 step closer to a F2P game >_>

[Pann]

Because it's not solving anything aside giving Blizzard the opportunity to keep charging people that should be banned, but mostly because it's not fair, in fact it's just allowing assholes that deserve a ban to get away with saying and doing shit. The asshole that does break the rules and should be banned gets to keep playing and the asshole that reports players out of spite which is a clear form of harassment has no action taken against him. Because people are biased and will not report their buddies for things they would report others. Because it always falls to interpretation and opinion and IMPORTANT FACTS the facts are absent.

I had one of my guild mates reported by some fucking shitbag and banned for 24 hours for talking like a black man using his dark skinned avatar and the irony is, HE IS A BLACK MAN! But he got banned anyway because no one bothered to check the entire conversation, not the shitbag reporting and not the Blizz employee who banned him. Fair? No. The only "mistake" we made was not keeping the conversation in party chat which we shouldn't have to aviod out of fear of being policed by some self-appointed speech witch hunter who was lucky enough to have his report sent to a superficial employee. I have personally seen people driving themselves into a righteous frenzy by taking things out of context so they could get offended, I don't know if the people who were reported were punished but I know they were being reported and the people reporting were asking others to do the same based on their interpretation of the subject they were policing. So please don't give me that shit about what do I care because I know for a fact there's a possibility to get silenced for no good reason, the only difference is it will be easier now.

But why do you care? You already have an ignore which works, and a report system which works, barely. Why do you need this so much? The better question would be, why is this turning you on so much?

Someone who breaks the rules should be banned. Someone who abuses the rules should be banned. The decision should not be made superficially. That is fair and that is the only form of "justice" that should exist. Not this social justice jackoff material that is the silence system.

You have no idea what will happen to those that try to abuse the system. And it doesn't fall to interpretation it falls to Blizzard's rules.

You're friend got banned for breaking the rules his skin colour has nothing to do with it. As you correctly stated the solution was to keep the conversation within a private group yet despite knowing this it was ignored and your friend paid the price. If you get silenced it will because you, no-one else, broke the rules.

I don't really. It will make no difference to how I play the game. It is Blizzard that thinks this is necessary. I wouldn't call that a better question, more a creepy question.

Right and this system is merely an extension of that principle. If you don't break the rules you will not be silenced.

[Hurwyn]

Delicate porcelain skinned players unable to figure out how to use the /ignore fuction, Blizzard resorts to heavy handed tactics that are prone to abuse.

More news at 11.

Sounds like somebody's sore that they won't be able to project onto random WoW players anymore. D'aww, I'm sowwy. Maybe join a gym or a karate class.

[Evilfish]

You have no idea what will happen to those that try to abuse the system. And it doesn't fall to interpretation it falls to Blizzard's rules.

You're friend got banned for breaking the rules his skin colour has nothing to do with it. As you correctly stated the solution was to keep the conversation within a private group yet despite knowing this it was ignored and your friend paid the price. If you get silenced it will because you, no-one else, broke the rules.

I don't really. It will make no difference to how I play the game. It is Blizzard that thinks this is necessary. I wouldn't call that a better question, more a creepy question.

Right and this system is merely an extension of that principle. If you don't break the rules you will not be silenced.

What rules did my friend break? Please explain that one to me.