Sharing a Bit about Support Actions

I think we've all see those threads that contain a comment about bad behavior in the game, and comments along the lines of "ArenaNet doesn't take action" or "NCsoft won't discipline accounts." So I wanted to share a bit about in-game moderation. I wanted to give you an illustration of how such statements are just not accurate and of how many team members are working, around the clock, to make sure the Guild Wars game world is a pleasant place to be.

This morning, I got an email with a screenshot that showed someone impersonating an NCsoft employee. I figured there was more to the case than that, and sure enough the email mentioned other issues of concern, like extreme player abuse, attempted scamming, etc. So I pulled the logs, and sure enough, there was a lot of really bad behavior in the half an hour surrounding the reported time and date:

• We had cursing.
• We had flaming with cursing.
• We had cursing in response to the flaming and cursing.
• We had racism, or comments about another culture that were demeaning and entirely inappropriate.
• We had attempted scams.
• We had impersonation of an NCsoft employee.
• We had a bunch of people who were so bad, it made me wince. And you could tell, from the logs, that a lot of players were very offended by what was going on (as they should be!).

At the same time that I was reviewing the screenshot and email, the Support Team was also checking out the matter. From our reviews, 11 accounts were actioned. That's right: In one district, in a period that spanned just half an hour, eleven (11!) people crossed the line and suffered the consequences with account blocks and, in one case, a very probable account ban.

Please know that we may not be everywhere, at any given time. But know that we are around, and we'll act if we see something bad going on. Know that we will take your reports seriously, for you can be our eyes and ears to the larger game world. And it is in all our best interests -- gamer, developer, publisher -- to make Guild Wars the best possible place to play.

So if you see bad behavior, send us a report. It's easy to remember: support.guildwars.com. It's a game world with people from all over the globe, and not all people are 100% nice and not all relationships are buttercups and rainbows. Sometimes there is a little warmth to an exchange. Sometimes someone slips and says something a little mean. Someone putting up a sales message in All Chat? That's not polite, but it's not actionable. Someone using a mildly offensive term? Well, personally I'd let it slide unless it was repeated. What I'm saying is that significant levels of abuse, swearing, antagonism, bad names, racism, and offensive sexual commentary should be reported.

Oh, I also need to say that action cannot always be taken instantly. A report submitted might take a while to research and process. Occasionally a report doesn't warrant action, and if that's the case, the player won't experience an account impact. If someone doesn't go "poof" because of administrative action, they could easily be blocked later, after the records are checked and the incident is confirmed.

Thanks for helping us out. With your help, we're on the case 24/7.

First off: THANK YOU! I am sure that many of us are not surprised at what you've written and are very grateful for the amount of time that you are all doubtless putting in. What do you mean, though, that you can't be everywhere at the same time?

As for the quote: I hope everyone keeps this in mind. These guys are working their behinds off for US. Yes, the company benefits but it takes a huge amount of effort to keep the game on its feet and to keep us happy (if that's possible!). Patience, in this case, really IS a virtue.

Thanks again, Gaile!

About time stupid 10yr olds gets whats coming to them, say bye bye to your $50, you ungreatgul radar drawers, and if there was anyway for me to help get rid of these people i would!

If people feel offended when others swear to them, why don't they just turn their chat filter to maximum? That's why its even there.. Also why do people even feel offended? They act like they've never swore before.

The chat is for EVERYONE's use, not just those of you who don't have a clue about the English language. Just because you and those that offend can't complete a sentence witho an explitive doesn't mean we have to put up with it. Profanity and rude/crude/immature behavior isn't what I paid my $70 for.

Uhhh...I don't just swear at people for no reason or say "Go that fking way". I swear to them if they do something stupid. Also if you don't like the swearing why don't you just filter it? "Wow, I don't like people swearing so i'll just put my filter as nothing..."

Action's taken because it's against the rules. It's really that simple. The rules themselves were made in the best interests of the majority of law-abiding players, who would like to go through the game with minimal hassle.

Support can only do so much, it's inevitable that someone with a ridiculous name or someone who offends even the most low of lowlives will pop up from time to time.

People need to remember, though, that the little check box that says "I agree" under the Agreement doesn't mean "I agree to play this game and break the rules." Once you sign that contract, you're putting yourself up for judgement against you if you infringe on any of the rules.

The best thing the community can do to support the team is to report the players and increase awareness among the community as to proper reaction to poor conduct, and what will come of it (or not come, if the offense isn't severe).

Wow, people actually read the agreements?!

They're supposed to.

Just because there's a chat filter, doesn't mean people can take advantage of it.

Thanks for the update, Gaile.

How many here have honestly read all of the agreements that come with your games? They all basically say the same things. And, as I do not plan to be extremely foul-mouthed, lewd, deceitful, or shady in the near future, I think I am safe

Well, you're not gonna be strung by your thumbs with your eyes nailed to the EULA. If you know what you are or aren't supposed to do more power to you--saves you a lot of time reading the same stuff over and over. My point was, the people who don't follow the rules need to read, and learn what they're not supposed to do before getting banned for it or complaining that the idea itself isn't fair.

Some people need a crusade. What else can I say.

But seriously, there are many, MANY more younger people playing this game who may not come from backgrounds where cursing is tolerated in the home, or experienced often. This game is a non-fee game, so naturally more people can get ahold of it and play it, namely younger people than say, a credit card requiring game.

My filter's on, but I still keep local chat off.

Why?

Because some people (read: many) who use such terms tend to think they're above the filter.

If they want to tell someone to ---- off, they'll tell them to g-r-i-s off. </gamefaq's>. Or Gr|$. or G R S I.

And then there's the cybering that's rarely, but still occasionally, going on in the competition arena waiting area. The hate speech, racial or otherwise. The violent threats.

These things don't belong in the game, and they're not permitted by the EULA either. There's no reason to excuse their behaviour at all.

We don't excuse 'em. We action 'em.

If you send a report from time to time, I guarantee we'll be happy to do our part to make the game world better.

I'd just like to personally say thanks to you and all the people at ANet and NCSoft that work hard on this game and the game world. Nothing will ever be all incense and peppermints, but your hard work is certainly appreciated by me, and many others in the community. As a teacher, I know how much a personal "thank you" can mean, especially when so many other people spout negatives. So thank you very much!

I do believe, that aNet is working very hard to improve gameplay and all, and that I'm thankful for.

On the other hand I sometimes feel left out when I get the usual "if you don't hear from us in 72 hours".

It makes me feel not take serious.
I would enjoy the one or the other: "Thanks to your report we baned account <account name>" from GW. Thanks for your help."

Believing that there's some entity doing good things for you is one thing.
Getting results or at least feedbacks from that entity is something else.

I also think that aNet would have to work less on that matter if users had more power to take care of abusive behavior themselves.

e.g. in a mission: someone using foul language, drawing offensive stuff on the minimap etc.:
Give that person a final warning and if it continues:
"good bye to you and good luck with the next team"
Kick.

I think EULA-abusers could learn over time and aNet would've to spend less time researching offenses like that.

Everybody wins.

Hi Gaile, that's good to hear.

I personally have one griefer experienced in UW that I'd want to report! What's the process of turning such people in?

Can't wait to see him banned. Win HoH.. us losers.. deliberately picked quest and wiped us, I'll see who's the loser

I have a question...
what about foreign languages? Right now i have people laugh in my face and keep on flaming me because they speak german or french and i guess turning them in won't do any good as you can't be translating all the time.
If the submitter translates it, there might be a chance he is making up fake versions as well. So how do you handle forein language reports?

As far as I've seen it, german names that are abusive, will not be rejected by the system.
In my recent support-request to rename one of my characters from "May" to "Mayweed" I included the complaint about an offensive name that contained the word "Arsch", which, translated in the most polite way would mean "behind" or "butt".

The only feedback I got so far is, that a character can't be renamed which (from my pov) contradicts the FAQ which sais something about characters with offensive names being blocked for a while, giving the user the opportunity to rename it themselves.

Thank you Gaile and Arenanet.
I appreciate your efforts to keep Guild Wars a civilized place.
Keep up the good work.

Wait what?? So there goes the whole point of the trade channel -_- Sure most of the spam is in the trade channel but we can all admit sometimes it isnt bearable in the standard chat. Anyways. thanks for the news! Alot of people here were saying " Oh we can so anything we want and if you dont like it, YOU can ignore us!" Anyone remember deathwing? Guess who's wrong now?! WOOHOO

With regards to the cursing/swearing/using inappropriate four-lettered words:

There is a chat filter for that sort of stuff for those who do not wish to hear it, but it's rediculous to mark such language as a disciplineable offense.

I've often used four-lettered variants of "Firetruck" or "Schmit", usually after dying close to a mission's completion or half my team dropping out because someone said "press alt-f4 to activate bonus map" mid-mission.

I agree, excessive swearing maliciously or cursing that's clearly targeting another player should be grounds for discipline, but a line should and would have to be drawn between the former and calsual swearing/cussing out of stylistic or impulsive will.

Yes, there is a filter, but the filter is only so smart. People can beat filters easily and they do all the time on purpose because they know you can filter them out and they think their tirade of swearing should be heard by you.

The position ANET has taken to remove bad elements from the game is something i give them alot of credit for. Many other games and companies seem to just turn a blind eye to the large majority of what goes on or takes far too long to invoke any kind of disciplinary action. The average player is typically fine game to game, but when you compare the extreemes, id say that guildwars doesnt dip nearly as low compared to many others that are pay to play based service schemes.

Unfortunatly, the last time i used this to submit a report, i was sent a reply stating i didnt have an active user account anymore. Strange though as my lineage account isnt active of course, but my guildwars account is fine... I havent tried to use this line of communication since.

Well, in that case, I'm sure purposeful bypassing of the filter is a reprehensible act, since it's a form of feature abuse.

pardon me for playing devil's advocate here: but stifling free speech is not going to make the game better

there are lot of very bad players who do incredibly stupid things to ruin one's day in Guild Wars. i'm not talking about "cursing", i'm talking about them playing the game itself in the stupidest way imaginable

in my view these people should expect and completely deserve to be cursed.

is anything being done to penalize them? them being those who play stupidly. and if not, why not? they are far worse for ruining one's experience than a cursing player is

furthermore, in my view it is extremely hypocritical to call a game Guild Wars and then say people can not curse or flame. in Wars , people get killed and all sorts of other atrocities happen. cursing or flaming etc. is just "small potatoes" compared to what Wars entail. hence a game with the word Wars in the title should have a prerequisite that people can say what ever they want to.

on a side note...will NCsoft ban accounts for 'whoring' the /bug command?

is this command still on?

I coulda sworn last night while doing Thunderhead Keep y'all were watching.

/bug uhm HELLO???
/bug ya...the mobs aren't coming
/bug can you like force them to come or something? I'm kinda bored
/bug is this thing on?
/bug oh snap I think they're coming
/bug I'm DYIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNG!!!!
/bug MAKE EM GO AWAY!!! MAKE THEM LEAVE
/bug thanks...i'm dead

There is no free speech. You don't even understand your own country's laws if you believe that you have "free speech". Your free speech is just as, or more, limited than those of many other countries. In particular, you have no contistutional protection in ANet's world.

Free speech is limited by slander and libel.
Free speech is limited by hate laws.
Free speech can land you in jail if it is threatening, if it might lead to uprising (inciting a riot), if it violates court gag orders, if it reveals sensitive information, if it violates certain privacy laws.

You don't have free speech - you just think you do.

Probably not the best venue for a political speech.

Gahhh. I just get tired of the "free speech" statements made by people who just don't get it. I admin on 6 servers for an FPS and we have rules about conduct and language, and nearly every day it seems like I end up having to explain to someone that since we pay for the server and host the players on it, we make the rules. No free speech protecton; it's our house, our rules. Same goes for ANet's game - you play by their rules or you don't play.

While I'm always down for a good political discussion - I don't take this as one (ok - maybe it could have been put a litle better) - but the info was correcvt and to the point.

People also don't understand that "free speech" has it's limits as to 8where* it is protected. You do not have the right to free speech in my house - if I don't like what you say, i have the right to kick you out. That same statement holds true in businesses, forum boards, and on-line games...

Also - with every right also comes responsibility. Just because you *can* say something doesn't mean that you *should* say it....

Dont' get me wrong, Epinephrine. I agree with you! When you're at my house, you will speak according to my rules or get out. It's kind of the same idea with game servers and such. People just don't get it. They use the "free speech" excuse to act like jerks wherever they go and assume that the rest of us just have to put up with it.

I totally agree. I moderate a forum and always get challenges to our rules, and accusations of being against free speech.

This isn't the market place, it is a privately owned site, so house rules do apply!

you're right, there is no free speech

i am not saying there is

nor am i disputing ANet's right to stifle free speech

my point is that for ANet to do that is morally wrong. even though they have the right to do so, they should not

Since when is ensuring that stuff done in something you own MORALLY WRONG?

Can you walk into a church and start swearing at people?
Can you walk into someone's house and just start berating them and threatening them?

I'm the admin on a few forums myself... it's a privatly own server, thus it's not PUBLIC, therefore they have every MORAL right to control it to allow ALL to have a good time there.

You can't walk down the street in public and just start verbally attacking people either. So why should you be able to do it on a private server?

Sheesh, there is nothing morally wrong with it. There is something morally wrong with people who try to self interperect 'free speach' to allow them to do anything they want to.

The fact that people feel compelled to t-y-p-e out foul language just kills me.

Of course the same could be said about speaking it I guess

My personal favorite are those that put spaces in the words to try and get around filters or whatever. What a complete waste of time

The censor's pretty thorough. It covers words separated by punctuation or spaces. You'd have to try pretty hard to bypass it, and if you do, then you're obviously trying to get in trouble.

In a private game, on a private server, in someone's private home, the only morals anyone has to follow are their own.