Mar 29 2004, 5:03 pm
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Siientx
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Do not cover it with *, usually people figure the word out, so why did you even cover it in the beginning?
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Don't have police men, people are eventually going to shoot each other, so why even hire them to begin with?
~Kujila | |
People are smarter than computers. Computers can do calculations faster, but as far as reasoning goes they can compete. If someone wants to swear they'll figure out ways to get around a filter. For example, lets see what can be done with the word "word". "word" is four letters long, but nonoffensive enough for this discussion.
WoRD (ok, so won't test based on capitalization) lalaWORDlala (ok, so we'll search inside of words too) W O R D (ok, we'll search across words) WRD (ok, we'll search for misspellings) WWWWOOOOOORRRRDDDDDDD (and we'll account for multiple instances of each letter) \/\/0RD (O is a zero...we'll search for alternate lettering W..O..RD (ok...umm...we'll search to see if the swear spans different words?) W(enter)O(enter)R(enter)D(enter) (we'll search multiple lines, then retroactively censor?) "DROW backwards" (we'll...umm...censor it backwards too) and I could probably go on for a while. My point is that a filter won't solve your swearing problems. However, that doesn't mean its not a useful tool. Most people won't automatically do some weird version of a swear (maybe they'll misspell it, but thats usually not on purpse) but rather they'll type it normally. If they see it censored then they might try to get around the censoring mechanism. However, the important thing is that they now know that swearing isn't allowed. Perhaps on top of censoring the message, you can send them a message that tells them swearing isn't allowed. If they at this point try to get around the censorship mechanism, ban them. They're obviously trying to break your rules. If they are specifically told a word isn't allowed through censorship, and then try to get it through they aren't the type of person you want playing your game. If they won't listen to one rule they probably won't listen to any. They'll be the type to exploit bugs and such. By censoring swears and banning people who use them anyways, you are able to just punish the people who are blatantly disobeying the rules. Somone who didn't read through the rules file, or who simply forgets won't be punished because they'll see their message was censored and then they'll realize. Make a simple mechanism. If someone tries to get around the mechanism you don't want them in your game. Its how I'd go about it. | |
I have to agree with someone else on this (forget who and don't want to scan the posts again):
Give players the option to make their own filters. It works wonders in chatters. For the truely offensive and generally harassing players, give an ignore command. All text from the ignored person will be, well, ignored. The point is, put the power in the player's hands. This will reduce the strain on your staff and filter out most of the stupid problems. Of course, there will always be things people do that can't use a catch-all, even one the players define. This IS what the staff should focus on, among their other duties. Overt harassment (sexual or otherwise), obvious attempts to get around filters and be obnoxious, etc. You make a default filter setting that players can change if they want to. This way, parents aren't as concerned. The problem isn't that there are ways around filters and that you can make the words through creative text usage. The problem stems primarily from parents who see unfiltered foul language and pull their kids. Seeing "shut the **** up, Bob" is not as big a problem to parents as it is without the filter. The logic being that if a person sees that and deduces what it means, then they already know what the word is and didn't learn it from this source. And there-in lies the key: you are not the SOURCE of the child learning the foul language. With filters, you can say "there is no explicit use of foul language here. **** is not a dirty word, it's a string of four asterix. Your son obviously picked up the language somewhere else". Where as without the filter you cannot claim such. Regardless<font size=1>(happy Spuzz? :P)</font>, filters will not solve the problem, only lessen it. If people still find it offensive, they won't play. If it's a pay service, this could be a problem. Hence putting the power to them to solve the issue with ignores and filters of their own making. If they find something offensive, it's because they did not set up the proper safe-guards. | |
A) Irregardless isn't considered a legitimate word. ;-)
B) Be sure that when you use the asterisks, you're using all asterisks and not just replacing a couple letters. Changing one letter in the dreaded F word into an asterisk doesn't really change anything (especially if that letter is one of the two letters which make the hard consonant sound, or the letter that makes the vowel). For example: "I couldn't really ***** give a flying ***** about how many ***** ***** there are in the ***** world today." You can tell it's offensive by its context, but it's not at all offensive in its wording. Personally, I don't much appreciate the "dumbing down" of swear words into less offensive equivalents. Usually it results in people scoffing at the filter's childishness (oh, the irony) and either deliberately attempting to circumvent it or starting to spout off all of the foul language they know in order to see which ones the filter doesn't trap. When you have asterisks which completely eliminate the words, it makes it clear that the words are not desired, and while some trolls will still attempt to circumvent the filter, very few of those trolls can circumvent a banning. | |
I dunno, I kinda like the piratey filter that changes "asl" to "Ahoy! From which port do ye hail, and how many years are upon ye?" It's funny.
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I like those word replacement filters too - replacing the F-word with something like "taff" makes people laugh and defuses the situation a bit (at least on the receiving end). And if someone gets even angrier because their words are being filtered like that, then they're not really someone you want in the game anyway. Whereas just wiping the word out with asterisks is like authority stepping in (which can REALLY annoy people) and can still offend the recipient because they know what the sender meant to say.
Other types of word replacement are nice to have too, like Garthor's "asl" example. If you say "lol" in Puzzle Pirates, it converts it into an emote, like this: Crispy laughs. That prevents the cheesy acronyms from spoiling the roleplaying atmosphere, but doesn't get in the way of the people who aren't there to roleplay. | |
Garthor wrote:
I dunno, I kinda like the piratey filter that changes "asl" to "Ahoy! From which port do ye hail, and how many years are upon ye?" It's funny. cool idea- never thought of it that way... must jot that down for future use! | |
What starts with "F" and ends with "uck"?
Firetruck, of course! I like to take the path of replacing the swear word with a word that doesn't mean anything like the swear word. "Oh F-word" becomes "Oh carrots!". Sure, people will get around it, but those people should be punished. Don't have a 24/7 Moderator watching the text panel. In all my games I have a log for all speech. The next day I briefly look it over and check for "hackers" and "freezers" and people disobeying the rules. They get a warning, then a mute, and then a ban. YAAAAAY CARROTS AND FIRETRUCKS! | |
Personally, I don't much appreciate the "dumbing down" of swear words into less offensive equivalents. This is a thousand times a greater sin if you ever so much as think about using the word "frell". | |
nick.cash wrote:
Personally, I don't much appreciate the "dumbing down" of swear words into less offensive equivalents. Not a fan of Farscape are we? Still, the idea behind "frell" is a good one. Our culture has a set of words that it deems as "offensive" and/or "vulgar" for one reason or another. Generally, it has to do with the sound of the word. Take that knowledge, and apply some world building skills, and voila! Your game has it's own set of vulgarities that only apply to the fictional world in which you are playing. The F word becomes "Frell" or something not so blatantly ripped off. You maintain the feeling behind the words and remove any offensivness to the real world. At the same time, you promote immersion into the game world, which encourages role playing. | |
Spuzzum wrote:
A) Irregardless isn't considered a legitimate word. ;-) For a long time, neither was "ain't" :P I use words in forums that I use in real life, it adds personality to my posts. Now, if I were to go around saying "'t'ain't nothin' to 'cern yourself wit'", then I could see cause for correction :P | |
I thought reguardless ment like not to reguard, or care about. wouldn't irreguardless mean the same thing? or would it be to reguard it, or to care about it?
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The problem is that by the laws of the language and word building, irregardless is a double-negative (ir and less). It basically basically means "without a lack of regard".
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