Things Seem to be Getting out of Hand

[welden]

There are two conclusions we can take from this post.

1. Chat is bad. (Thought that was an obvious, there are many immature people and it clearly needs more moderation.)

2. The OP is a terrible grandparent. The game is rated Teen for a reason and I pity your children for how they were raised.

Edit: I also find it funny the OP is more worried about someone referencing male anatomy than having her grand children slice another fictional human being up with a sword. Man up and stop attempting to get Turbine to do your parenting for you.

You disgust me.

I believe you are being too judgmentally harsh to the OP!

There are far worse things a parent could do (or not do) that would be more in line with the tone of your response. Yes, this game is rated Teen (for violence and alcohol) but there are many non-violent elements that have been crafted into this game so a player (regardless their age ) doesn't really need to experience those elements while playing if they choose not to.

Even so, making a comparison between people's crude comments and the fictional violence we encounter while playing are NOT the same thing or even relevant. The fictional violence you reference is a game mechanic that (though dependent on our actions in the game) should not be considered indicative of our character (or lack of) in real life. However, the comments one may encounter in chat/these forums are more likely indicative of the disposition/character of the person(s) making the comments.

Would you not agree?

From my assessment of the OP's comments about his/her recent encounters ingame I should think would be something you would expect from any responsible parent/grandparent who has noticed a change in an activity that apparantly this particular person cared enough to share with his/her grandchildren (which in and of itself is a good thing, i.e., parents/grandparents spending time with their children/grandchildren).

Cannot the Internet (in particular Lotro) be a place to spend some meaningful time with one's family if properly monitored and done in moderation? Certainly, Turbine would hope so!

Welden

[Emerald_Fox]

When I play with My nephew he also was young. I made My own Kinship and invited him. We play in the same room. So I can watch what is type and what happen on the game. There no channels or anything link to Chats other then Fellowship.

But a Suggestion for you. Is Have your kids Play Wizard101. It more tuned with them. They dont let cusswords and such and not a bad game. If someone ask your age they get ... as text. If you say a cussword it .... If a word is miss spelled it .... Even if you ask if where you live and you answer California all they see is .... Sickos can not join that game and get a kid location or cuss or talk about things that are not kid friendly.

My point is this. There are online games that are Made for Children and there ways to keep children from Seeing stuff bad chat on a game.

It is your responsibility to safe Gaurd your Children.

I so agree with this polociy wizards 101 has on chat and i believe pirates of the caribbean online has the same policy. I play both games myself and chat on them as well and find you do not need any of the trash talk going round to have fun in a game. If only more people would realise that wed have much more fun in game.

And why let kids watch you play? Isint the game rated T for teen for violence chat and drinking refernces? Stuff like this should have been expected

[Digress]

The problem comes down to the way people are able to say things online that they would never say in person, because in person there are counter-measures in place to punish these offensive types (someone will smack them in the face, and they know it).

Online the counter measures need to exist - the "smack in the face" needs to come from proper GM moderation of chat channels - the smack in the face could be anything from temporary mutes right through to total account bans, depending on severity and frequency/reoccurrence of said offending.

So it comes down to lack of proper moderation, which is a failing of the staff/customer service here for its player base/community. People here online know they can get away with it, so they do. If the "smack in the face" existed here online like it does in person, then you'd see how quickly people learned to behave in online chat.

[sirwillow]

How do you report people who harass in /ooc chat?

I had this one guy openly admit he loves disturbing advice channel all day. Then starts talking perversly etc.

I right click, report as spam or do I need to open a ticket? If so, how do we open a ticket for harassment? All I see is a report for bugs in game.

Thanks !

If you are f2p then the "report as gold spammer" is the only option for you to use. Go ahead and use it as it will let the GM's know that there is a problem to look at.

if you're not f2p, then you can go to the Systems menu, choose the help option, and hit the New Ticket button. There are options there to report harrassment, naming violations, and the like. Chat violations like those mentioned here go under harassment.

[Halsy]

There's are 2 very good reasons why you can use the /ignore command and/or disable the channel. So please, spare us the 'Won't someone think of the children!?' garbage when the children shouldn't be playing or viewing these games. Now forgoing that this is the private property of a private company - and it actually falls more under the codicils of a quasi-public space - we can agree that living in a democracy means there are some things you're going to have to put up with that you don't like. I don't want to have police myself and worry about getting stepped on by some jackbooted thug that hates freedom just because I use a blue word or two in chat once in a while. So if you don't like what someone is saying, use /ignore, it's why it exist in the first place.

[lescastor]

why should the players have to turn off all the chat channels? That should be when you know that something needs to be done: when all the channels are filled with mindless dribble so that it actually drives new players away. GM's should step in to keep their game clean, they've done it plenty of times before, all they need is some dedicated game moderators. As I see it players pay 15 dollars a month to play the game, we're not volunteer sherriffs

[sirwillow]

There's are 2 very good reasons why you can use the /ignore command and/or disable the channel. So please, spare us the 'Won't someone think of the children!?' garbage when the children shouldn't be playing or viewing these games. Now forgoing that this is the private property of a private company - and it actually falls more under the codicils of a quasi-public space - we can agree that living in a democracy means there are some things you're going to have to put up with that you don't like. I don't want to have police myself and worry about getting stepped on by some jackbooted thug that hates freedom just because I use a blue word or two in chat once in a while. So if you don't like what someone is saying, use /ignore, it's why it exist in the first place.

Sorry, but you're wrong on a few points here.

First, this is not a "quasi-public" space. It's a wholly privately owned and operated area. It's Turbine's realms and they make the rules. You agreed to those rules when you signed in, and those included no "blue word"s, or other comments that Turbine deems inappropriate. Not you. Turbine.

You may have the freedom to talk like a foul mouthed, immature idiot in your home (and I'm not saying you do, just that you have that freedom), but this is not your home. You do not have the freedom here, or in many other places in society. Sorry if you don't like that, but it's the frank and honest truth.

As such, you have to abide by those rules. It doesn't matter whether you think they impose on your freedom. It doesn't matter if there is a chat filter or not. It doesn't matter what the game rating is. It doesn't matter if you think that children should be monitored. All of that is irrelevant.

It's Turbine's space, they dictate the rules, you agree to abide by them or you can be suspended/ muted/ banned, or have other actions taken against you. That's it, end of discussion, regardless of yours, mine, or anyone else's opinions. Sorry, but that's the straight facts.

And as such, here are Turbine's rules:
http://www.lotro.com/support/coc

3. You may not use or distribute sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive language (including, by way of example, but not limited to, ethnic slurs and religious epithets), content, character names, titles, descriptions, or in-game labels (including, by way of example, but not limited to, offensive or inappropriate guild names, pet names and inscriptions).

And yes, they have said that "four letter words", their derivatives, and attempts to say them without saying them all fall under that policy.

[sirwillow]

GM's should step in to keep their game clean, they've done it plenty of times before, all they need is some dedicated game moderators. As I see it players pay 15 dollars a month to play the game, we're not volunteer sherriffs

GM's can not be everywhere at once, monitoring everything at once. They do have other jobs to do in the game besides just sit and watch the chat channels all day. Jobs that keep them very busy. That's why the players have to let the GM's know when there is a problem, to come look at it and deal with it- because otherwise they're busy moving stuck players, dealing with personal harassment calls, bugs, and a host of other issues.

Calling 911 isn't being the local police, is it? Think of the /report as the same kind of thing as calling the cops to come deal with a situation.

[Dwarendele]

Unbelievable!

I wish i would have seen this post before I took the time to write my post about chat spamming and f2p - I wouldn't have bothered.

Things were different before F2P - we did have the occasional a-hole, (Hell i might have even said a nasty thing or two- we all have those days) but i never - EVER - not once in 3 years of playing, had anyone tell me to "Cry, Cry Noob!" when I asked a question in chat, nor have I had anyone intentionally mis-lead me or steer me in the wrong direction out of malice or mischief.

I dont care what happens in other games - I'm not interested in other games - I am only interested in what happens in this game - and only this game because of my love of the Tolkien universe - thats the only reason I'm here.

What is happening is out of hand - and the options for mitigating it is inadequate - I'm a Hero of Arda - not a hall monitor. If I blocked, ignored or reported every offense i would be spending all my valuable "play time" writing tickets If I hide the chats then not only do i miss out on potential sells or trades or fellowship opportunities but many "non offending" players get robbed of any advice or help that i could offer them. If I lighten up and roll with the situation then my chat box scrolls by so fast that i cant keep up with my legitimate conversations.

There seems to be no other option than enforcing an isolated OCC trash talking channel with harsh consequences to people who troll on other channels - anyone who thinks otherwise must be part of the trollers and spammers.

D.

[Bradd]

Think of the /report as the same kind of thing as calling the cops to come deal with a situation.

I think most people would be happy with that, if /report has any affect on the situation. When multiple people report obvious disruptive behavior, and it continues unabated, then people start getting fed up.

[Ayrolen]

I think most people would be happy with that, if /report has any affect on the situation. When multiple people report obvious disruptive behavior, and it continues unabated, then people start getting fed up.

lol. That doesn't sound any different than the Houston Police Department.

[Emerald_Fox]

Sounds like a lot of the cops here in N.Ireland. You report a breakin and it takles them near a week at times to come to your house just to dust for prints

[StormieLOTRO]

I think most people would be happy with that, if /report has any affect on the situation.

I ticketed someone for an offensive name last night. A few minutes later, the ticket was updated saying a GM was looking into it. A few minutes after that I saw the now-renamed idiot log off. I got no complaints about the speed or effectiveness of that GM action.

[Bradd]

I ticketed someone for an offensive name last night. A few minutes later, the ticket was updated saying a GM was looking into it. A few minutes after that I saw the now-renamed idiot log off. I got no complaints about the speed or effectiveness of that GM action.

That is great to hear. Hopefully, things will turn around if they continue to enforce their rules.

[ericlewis]

I logged in last night to help a friend. She asked that we meet in bree. While I had ooc and glff turned off local say is always there for you to read.

I can say honestly some of the filth that I saw included mentions of sex acts, and lots cussing. All of this from folks mostly in the 12-18 range right there at the bree south gate, and west gate. I can only imagine what was gieng said in glff and ooc.

I think its open season now days and since these folks dont perseist long in an area by the time you actually got a gm out there, they would have moved to a different area.

I got to say brandywine looked like goldshire in from wow, and barrens chat.

[Khementari]

Ya, it's getting pretty rank, even for the oldest daughter of a Nevada brothel-owner, like myself....

Bree-Brandywine last night, and on OOC they were discussing the merits of Arwen's oral talents and Aragorn's appreciation and whether elves had "techniques" - all of which might have been a tiny bit amusing in another venue and handled with more sophistication... but it wasn't and they didn't.

As I've said, Sauron is winning his "cultural offensive" since F2P, and the West is doomed. The Istari aren't cutting it anymore - we need an intervention by the Valar.

[grimshadow777]

Look there is nothing wrong with chat...only thing wrong are the numerous "church lady" types that have been infesting this game from day one. You people I would really like to see go...seriously. You are ruining the game by trying to drive people away who do not live up to your "holier than thou" standards. I love chat , it is entertaining and I like to see people talk no matter what it is....do I participate in their mindless banter? NO....but at least I know this game is alive and people are chatting. I don't care what they say..doesn't bother me

The thing I cannot stand is a church like atmostphere where it is quiet and nobody talking...that means the game is dead....no wait...that is just how you like it, right OP?

[cipher_nemo]

why should the players have to turn off all the chat channels? That should be when you know that something needs to be done: when all the channels are filled with mindless dribble so that it actually drives new players away.

Because that's what most players do in just about every single game if they want to completely avoid the chat spam. It's an MMO norm to have immature folk in the channels spewing crud until they get reported and handled by a GM/mod.

GM's should step in to keep their game clean, they've done it plenty of times before, all they need is some dedicated game moderators. As I see it players pay 15 dollars a month to play the game, we're not volunteer sherriffs

GMs work off of a ticket system. They don't read chat channels all day long as that would be impractical. When you put in a ticket and flag it as harassment is when a GM would address the situation, not before.

[cipher_nemo]

why should the players have to turn off all the chat channels? That should be when you know that something needs to be done: when all the channels are filled with mindless dribble so that it actually drives new players away.

Because that's what most players do in just about every single game if they want to completely avoid the chat spam. It's an MMO norm to have immature folk in the channels spewing crud until they get reported and handled by a GM/mod.

GM's should step in to keep their game clean, they've done it plenty of times before, all they need is some dedicated game moderators. As I see it players pay 15 dollars a month to play the game, we're not volunteer sherriffs

GMs work off of a ticket system. They don't read chat channels all day long as that would be impractical. Whenever you put in a ticket and flag it as harassment is when a GM would address the situation, not before.

[Bradd]

Look there is nothing wrong with chat...only thing wrong are the numerous "church lady" types that have been infesting this game from day one. You people I would really like to see go...seriously. You are ruining the game by trying to drive people away who do not live up to your "holier than thou" standards.

No one wants to drive everyone away. We only want to maintain the high standards of the community. LOTRO has been rated many times as having one of the best MMO communities. We would like to keep it that way.

So, do not think for a minute we want to drive away mature, respectful players that would be an asset to our community. We only want to make sure the community is not ruined by immature, rude, disruptive players (whether F2P, Premium, or VIP).

[gildhur]

Look there is nothing wrong with chat...only thing wrong are the numerous "church lady" types that have been infesting this game from day one. You people I would really like to see go...seriously. You are ruining the game by trying to drive people away who do not live up to your "holier than thou" standards. I love chat , it is entertaining and I like to see people talk no matter what it is....do I participate in their mindless banter? NO....but at least I know this game is alive and people are chatting. I don't care what they say..doesn't bother me

The thing I cannot stand is a church like atmostphere where it is quiet and nobody talking...that means the game is dead....no wait...that is just how you like it, right OP?

You should reacquaint yourself with the Community Guidelines and Code of Conduct. These are not player standards, they are Turbine's rules, and the rules that you agreed to follow when you clicked Accept and logged into the game.

[Mircea12345]

Look there is nothing wrong with chat...only thing wrong are the numerous "church lady" types that have been infesting this game from day one. You people I would really like to see go...seriously. You are ruining the game by trying to drive people away who do not live up to your "holier than thou" standards. I love chat , it is entertaining and I like to see people talk no matter what it is....do I participate in their mindless banter? NO....but at least I know this game is alive and people are chatting. I don't care what they say..doesn't bother me

The thing I cannot stand is a church like atmostphere where it is quiet and nobody talking...that means the game is dead....no wait...that is just how you like it, right OP?

What a bunch of garbage. Honey, I have no problem with the occasional swear word or talking, but talking about Arwen and Aragorns sex prowess in the most offensive terms possible is NOT acceptable.

Its time to grow up.

[cipher_nemo]

...only thing wrong are the numerous "church lady" (...) up to your "holier than thou" standards (...) The thing I cannot stand is a church like atmostphere (...)

We can certainly tell who was drug to church as a kid and now has psychological issues with it since they've been unable to comes to terms on that.

You don't like other people telling you how to chat in-game? Other people don't like you forcing your rampant profanity and sex talk on them. It goes both ways. Learn to respect public chat and people will learn to respect you.

This is a perfect example of why I have all public chat channels turned off in my filters. Because people like this think it's just fine to talk about any garbage in an MMO.

[Zeowyrm]

Because that's what most players do in just about every single game if they want to completely avoid the chat spam. It's an MMO norm to have immature folk in the channels spewing crud until they get reported and handled by a GM/mod.



GMs work off of a ticket system. They don't read chat channels all day long as that would be impractical. When you put in a ticket and flag it as harassment is when a GM would address the situation, not before.

This. A thousand times this. Hell, it's been said a few dozen times in this post alone. But the thing is, the people who aren't listening, and bring their own form of entitlement. Thus far you have the "chat anarchists" or the "prim and proper chatters". Both sides are loud and demanding their way, instead of just taking responsibility for themselves and doing something about it.

[Darmokk]

Had my first real incident since I started playing. Had to use a dictionary and apparently the word is insulting the target as a gay male.

Pretty funny given that I played a woman character. Except not funny. I don't pay my subscription to then have this happen to me at the hands of those who don't pay.