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Discussing the NoSwear filter on Official Servers

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by bunnie, Jan 26, 2018.

?

Good change?

  1. yes

    8 vote(s)
    25.8%

  2. no

    19 vote(s)
    61.3%

  3. unsure

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
Mods: Hella, Lieber, Reudh, toffie0
  1. bunnie

    bunnie Haxor Tester

    Messages:
    1,319
    Recently, an anti-swearing filter was turned on on the official servers. This prevents people from swearing and insulting - changes words like "fuck" into "flip", "nigger" into "friend", etc etc.

    What do you people think about it? This surely will maybe reduce the salt and toxicity, but on the other hand, I don't think it should've been server-side. You always had an option to turn that filter on client-side. Also, it hurts to not be able to use "rek" (it changes it into "hug" ::(:). Plus you still can probably use the same swear words with double the letters. :rektlord:

    Thoughts?
     
    bunnie, Jan 26, 2018
    #1
    bru-jaz, Didgedy, joshua12131415 and 3 others like this.
  2. epsilon

    epsilon Assonist THD Team Forum Moderator Donator Tester
    1. Gather Oceania
    2. KAG World Cup 2018

    Messages:
    506
    How long ago did this happen?
     
    epsilon, Jan 27, 2018
    #2
  3. blackjoker77777

    blackjoker77777 Haxor Tester
    1. Zen Laboratories

    Messages:
    441
    I really wouldn't want my young brother/sister to be exposed to some kind of words, that I'd have to figure out how to explain to them, nor would I want them to use these. (I believe no one would like to be in such position). So I'm partially with that decision but..
    I suppose having it turned on server-side was meant to make sure new users [who still have to figure out how to manually activate the filter] manage to play without getting affected (offended, exposed, used to, ..). Yet since it doesn't seem fair for those willing to play with no filter on, I would suggest having the filter turned on by default (client-side) when you first install the game as an alternative solution.
    I mean if that was the case, new players wouldn't complain, and regular ones have the choice to uncheck it (or check it back) by will.
    ^ This sentence flipped up my brain..
     
    blackjoker77777, Jan 27, 2018
    #3
    bru-jaz, joshua12131415, Biurza and 3 others like this.
  4. Furai

    Furai THD Team THD Team Administrator

    Messages:
    3,124
    d47w6lclf5xy.jpg

    And on a serious note - it was @Geti's call. I don't like idea of any enforced filters. That won't fix broken community. I wish we could but it's rooted in way too deep.

    Another idea would be to have client side opt-in filterm, that you can turn on/off in options, and a pop-up in-game, that has don't ask me again option to tick, whenever there's excessive swearing in game, asking you if you'd like to enable the filter.

    But from the other hand - official servers should be more kid's friendly, as this those are usually the servers where kids come first.
     
    Furai, Jan 27, 2018
    #4
    Noburu, bru-jaz, Clev and 2 others like this.
  5. EhRa

    EhRa Ooooooof Staff Alumni Donator
    1. KRPG

    Messages:
    810
    Yes to the more racist terms, other words probably not. Leave the others for the optional chat filter.
     
    EhRa, Jan 27, 2018
    #5
    joshua12131415 and epsilon like this.
  6. Cruxiat

    Cruxiat Haxor Tester
    1. Gather Oceania
    2. KAG World Cup 2018

    Messages:
    116
    there's a lot of stuff that isn't even censored; racial slurs, homophobic ones etc. which makes me feel like at least make the filter consistent before imposing it on the official servers.
     
    Cruxiat, Jan 28, 2018
    #6
  7. Didgedy

    Didgedy Arsonist

    Messages:
    82
    Didn't we already have a **** chat filter in place client-side?
     
    Didgedy, Jan 28, 2018
    #7
  8. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

    Messages:
    3,730
    I'm quite amused at the amount of salt and bile this has dredged up from the "thick skin" brigade.

    Yes, we already had/have this client-side. It's the same filter, it'd just enabled on the official servers currently. This is partly an experiment, partly in response to increased verbal toxicity, and partly cause I'm happy to take away an avenue for trolling on officials, or at the very least make the trolls jump through a few more hoops.

    I had a guy with a nazi anime avatar and an edgy name tell me he wanted to play less as a result, so I guess it's working.

    As for what prompted the change - it was suggested and discussed on discord; many of the same issues were raised as here, but I decided to try it.

    Many swears and slurs are regional and context sensitive, but I agree the filter is definitely not perfect. Any filter like this is doomed to be imperfect due to the complexity and subjectivity of natural language. That said, if there are any big standout words not caught by the filter, feel free to raise an issue on github (or better, submit a pull request with a suitable substitution).

    This was (and remains) the case, but I'd personally prefer the officials to be more of a safe default than everyone's personal playground where you can choose if you swear or not. The chat filter softens the effect of someone raging in the chat, complicates some forms of trolling, sends a message about what kind of behaviour is and isn't tolerated, while having no effect on gameplay.
     
    Geti, Jan 29, 2018
    #8
    joshua12131415, bunnie and Biurza like this.
  9. Biurza

    Biurza E X T R A T H I C C Staff Alumni Donator
    1. MIST
    2. Active Forum Users

    Messages:
    245
    Looks like we've finally got rid of Galen.
     
    Biurza, Jan 29, 2018
    #9
    AmestriStephen, PUNK123, Didgedy and 6 others like this.
  10. Galen

    Galen Haxor Staff Alumni Donator

    Messages:
    1,262
    Looks like you can't read, m8.
     
    Galen, Jan 29, 2018
    #10
  11. Didgedy

    Didgedy Arsonist

    Messages:
    82
    Can I ask: Is this really a problem?
    I see the occasional f*** or b****, more often noob/newbie, but I have rarely seen extensive targeted harassment in chat, apart from a few players (some guy nicknamed Hans Smooth was a regular example of this on EU, but he regularly got votekicked after a few minutes of his flaming), most of the harassment I've noted is between veteran players engaging in shit-talking each other for fun.

    The mods present on official servers usually do a good job muting players who take it too far, and I doubt many people actually mind players occasionally calling someone a d***-faced n*****-f***** when mods aren't present.

    Lastly, I am quite certain that Bunnie (or someone equally attractive) will probably make chat-filterless server which would result in the playerbase getting split into 2 groups, probably children and other soft creatures, and shit-talking veteran players. This might, IMO, end up being a good thing, as it usually is pretty hard for a new player to get into his game if he constantly keeps getting ''rekt''.
     
    Didgedy, Jan 29, 2018
    #11
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  12. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

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    If it ends up being that contentious, and has a visible negative effect on both core and incoming players, we'll happily revert the change; it's easy to do at any time if needed.

    Mods are indeed present and are the right tool for handling excessive flaming and harassment, but this change simply adds some friction to the act of flaming in the first place.

    Honestly, I imagine most folks will grumble a little that they're being "censored unfairly" and then realise it doesn't affect them much and get on with playing.
     
    Geti, Jan 30, 2018
    #12
  13. Clev

    Clev Resident Stoner Staff Alumni Donator Tester

    Messages:
    106
    Is it not set up to where the filter is automatically enabled when you first start the game? Cause I feel like that would be the best way to fix this, mostly because the younger playerbase probably wouldn't turn it off unless they wanted to hear the swear words.
     
    Clev, Jan 30, 2018
    #13
    bru-jaz likes this.
  14. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

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    3,730
    It already is (I've mentioned it a few times this thread) - this is not to protect the kids so much as discourage the trolls and send a message that we'd rather more friendly communication.

    If there was support for categories in the noswears filter I'd probably have opted to omit most swears and just filter the racial/homophobic stuff, but there's not, and I'm not really bothered that it filters out people saying fuck, honestly.
     
    Geti, Jan 30, 2018
    #14
    Clev likes this.
  15. Didgedy

    Didgedy Arsonist

    Messages:
    82
    As an Eastern European, I feel personally attacked by your desire to eliminate a third of our vocabulary.
     
    Didgedy, Jan 30, 2018
    #15
    Clev, Biurza and bunnie like this.
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