BLANK OUT ABBUSIVE LANGUAGE

[Bolbs]

I see abusive language way too often on this site.

It saddens me as I know a lot of kids go on it, including one of my friends 9 yr old son. It is very inappropriate for him or any other child to be reading some of the language I've seen.

I think the site should blank out any bad language left in games or in f/b. If ppl want to start hurling abbuse at each other let them do it in the Flame Wars forum.

[lord voldemort]

if u see abuse outside of flames...report it...
words like f*ck are blanked...
sex idk
shit idk
c*nt isnt
but yer..if u see abuse outside of flames report it in cheat and abuse or pm a mod.
also its not the sites responsibility to look after kiddies and what they see on the net...

[Optimus Prime]

As far as I know, the site does not currently intend to protect children from the language that is seen. If a parent does not want their children to see something like that then perhaps a 9 year old should not be freely roaming the internet. For the most part, outside of the Flame Wars Forum, this site is pretty tame in comparison to the language found across the internet as well as life in general.

I hear far worse language in real life on a more frequent basis than I do here at Conquer Club.

[lord voldemort]

As far as I know, the site does not currently intend to protect children from the language that is seen. If a parent does not want their children to see something like that then perhaps a 9 year old should not be freely roaming the internet. For the most part, outside of the Flame Wars Forum, this site is pretty tame in comparison to the language found across the internet as well as life in general.

I hear far worse language in real life on a more frequent basis than I do here at Conquer Club.

qft

[apey]

Are you kidding I know nine year olds with dirtier mouths than truckers
there parents should pay closer attention to where they are going on the net

[Kemmler]

I agree, and some of the characters really aren't very nice here sometimes if they lose a game

[Optimus Prime]

I agree, and some of the characters really aren't very nice here sometimes if they lose a game

That's why there is an ignore list. If their language gets out of hand, place them on your ignore list and all the comments they have already made in game chat will disappear and you will not be able to see any future ones.

[demon7896]

or you don't go onto the forum, get premium, and only play private games with your son and other people

[GwumpyKJBear]

I reported feedback I have seen that was both offensive and explicit and was told that if it wasn't on my feedback page then it doesn't matter.

[Hrvat]

I see abusive language way too often on this site.

It saddens me as I know a lot of kids go on it, including one of my friends 9 yr old son. It is very inappropriate for him or any other child to be reading some of the language I've seen.

I think the site should blank out any bad language left in games or in f/b. If ppl want to start hurling abbuse at each other let them do it in the Flame Wars forum.

a) 9 years old who has not heard or used bad language? My son was in Private Christian School in his last 4 years... and the language during school lunch... wow... most inappropriate, bad, sexual references, and that is just primary children...
b) I hope 9 year old is not surfing without a responsible adult supervising at all times
c) large number of users on this site are under 25's, large portion are children... and from what I have seen... guess where much of bad language comes from?

1) I know nine year olds with dirtier mouths than truckers

2) parents should pay a very close attention to where they are going and what they are doing on the net
3) Children should never be left unsupervised on the net

[PLAYER57832]

As a parent of boys 1-20, I fully agree with Hvat's response. But I want to add that in my experience, the worst abusers ARE kids themselves. And, let's get real. Not everyone has the same values. I would far rather have them "sow their oats" in a RELATIVELY safe place like this (nowhere really is safe) than many other places. Mostly, I find if I don't swear, others don't (with a couple of exceptions due to translations/ cultural unfamiliarity -- fairly obvious when it happens).

Beyond the above suggestions about private games, look for folks with high positive feedback or obvious signs of maturity (mention of kids is usually a decent clue .... ) and you usually won't have to deal with language. If you do ... the ignore list works.

[hulmey]

Hmmm OP. Maybe the language issue shouldnt be for just kids. Why should i have to put up with someone telling me to f*uck off!?!? I dont pay premium to be told to f off!

Take a leaf out of poker sites. You cant swear. The words are blanked out. Is this really such a hard thing to do? Even if you get a free forum the administrator is able to blnak out any word he wishes to! Would this be so hard for CC to do?

[Hrvat]

I have no problem with blanking out the words...
However, I have also seen that swearing still goes on. Words are altered just enough to pass the filters/blocks, and wonderful 4letter words are still present, and are clearly recognizable. They are spelled slightly differently, but are still swear words...
eg. to quote hulmey: "someone telling me to f*uck off!?!? I dont pay premium to be told to f*off! "
If someone is going to be rude and obnoxious, no filter/block is going to stop them from their enjoyment.
Let's face it, there are people on every site, whose primarily purpose is to be rude, obnoxious and a pain in the....

There is only 1 way to protect children, and that is:
Children should never be left unsupervised on the net

[TheScarecrow]

by all means blank out the words... but like Hrvat says there wont be much point to it.

about 5 years ago i played Runescape and players instead of saying the word that rhymes with duck they would say fuak, fu?k, or i saw at one stage fcuk.

Blank out the words? GOOD LUCK!

[hulmey]

blank out words and the n the 3 strike rule....First time caught swearing = warning.

2nd time one month chat ban and third time would be a permanent ban! That would solve the problem quite nicley i think!

[Dancing Mustard]

LET'S HAVE AN OPTION THAT BLANKS OUT OBNOXIOUS ALL-CAPS THREAD TITLES AND BODY TEXT TOO. I THINK THAT PEOPLE WHO TYPE IN CAPS TO GET THEIR PRECIOUS LITTLE THREADS NOTICED ARE AS MUCH OF A PLAGUE ON THIS FORUM, AND EQUALLY DESERVING OF CENSORSHIP, AS THOSE THAT LIKE TO SAY FU[size=0].[/size]CK A LOT.

DOES THE ORIGINAL POSTER AGREE?

[hulmey]

hmmmm dancing if you read the orginal posters post correctly, then you will see that he is referring to games and not the forums!

[size=0]Thought i might clue you in a little before you start driveling![/size]

[grunion]

I agree with the OP and the twisted logic in the responses here don't address the issue.

Yes, some nine year olds know how to swear.
Yes, it is not Conquer Club's responsibility to protect children from abuse.
Yes, some people can get around some filters by using misspellings, alternate spellings and other means.

But I think it would make all our experience better if there was at least an option to have an obscenity filter. We come here to play a strategy game and if some immature people want to use vulgarity to make up for their in-game shortcomings it would be nice if we didn't have to deal with it. I started playing R*sk when I was nine and would have loved a site like this. I confess that I was shocked then by a lot of the adult language that I heard. I grew up in the streets of the Bronx and believe me, was no blushing flower but I knew even then that there were better ways to express yourself. No reason to have the simple urge to play a strategy game ruined by a few immature people that can't think of more creative ways to express their frustration than by using the F-word. It would be nice if Conquer Club could help make this a better site by giving us his option.

[PLAYER57832]

I, too find swearing immature and annoying, but aren't their more serious issues. The thing to do is teach your children not to use that language and to point out the effect the language REALLY has on folks hearing it -- that is, it mostly just shows the immaturity and poor vocabulary of the user. Trying to "protect" them often just backfires ... makes the language all that more illuring. Instead, point out that intelligent folks have enough vocabulary to use other words. An educated person can cut someone far more effectively without using "bad" language, if that is your desire. Adn the truly skilled can do so without even the appearance of real negativity. (little old ladies are often quite good at this .. : )...) I was always taught that free speech allows idiots to be seen for what they really are.

One other issue -- some words are not "bad" in one language, but are in another -- G*d, sh*t are prime examples. There are words in American vernaculare that are similarly not too negative here, but considered very bad elsewhere. This, too, is good to point out as a matter of education in a global world. Seeing it from others helps us to be more cautious about language foibles on our end. It is good for kids to know they don't have to be intentionally bad in order to be taken that way ... and to use due caution.

[AAFitz]

There will always be an element of this on games like this... its nearly unavoidable, but I do hope in the future, there can be a separate area of the site, with an option to join a game and possibly even a forum where no vulgarity is alowed.

Technically it wouldnt be hard to implement... It would be like tournament games, but labeled "Non yelling, screaming, and swearing" games, or whatever where parents could be less worried about that kind of behavior. Unfortunately, it has a risk factor to it, because right now younger children can play with anonyminty, unless they use the chat feature, whereas if there was an entire section reserved, it would potentially be more dangerous.

As it stands now, the management asks parents to monitor their games, and will never accept any responsibility for them, as they clearly can not and should not. But as the site expands, as it seems to daily, I imagine something like this would be helpful. Its a great game for learning. For a simple concept, it encompasses many aspects from basic math, probability, logic, human politics and very much psychology in general. Personally, though, from what ive seen in here, I think parents should monitor young children very carefully. For the time being, it really is set up for ....i hesitate to use this word....mature players....

However perhaps a quick stop gap, would be to just disable all chat and forum posts as an option, so all the player could see was the numbers themselves and would just be able to play the game... to be honest, its so simple It really should be done. The feedback would also have to be invisible too, because not being able to see chat and respond, would sometimes cause some issues.

[Bolbs]

I'm glad a lot of ppl agree with me. I originally only made the point about young children being exposed to the vulgarity of some of the bad language, but you are quite right in that why should anyone have to put up with it. I just go on this site to have fun and never start swearing or abusing anyone, so why should I have to put up with it?

As ppl have correctly pointed out there are ways round sites with a swear block, but personally if I see something that looks like a swear word it doesn't have the same negative impact as the correctly spelt swear word.

Just so you know, the reason I started the post was because of game 1431910. Me my friend and his son were quite happily playing, and then one of the guys came out with the c word. I made the point to him about kids going on the site and then he announced that he was one of those kids.

I believe a game website should be safe for all the family to log onto without having to worry about whether it has adult content. I believe it is up to CC to try and reduce the bad language on this site, as is the responsibly of every game based website.

[Kemmler]

Too true, instead of swearing people should just invite the other to the flame wars lol

[insomniacdude]

I frequently swear in my the game chat and forums because it is how I speak regularly. It's not against any rules (outside of the feedback) so I don't have to worry about it. Most of the time, people either don't notice, don't care, or don't comment about it if they do notice or care. There have been a handful of instances in games where, if somebody does happen to take offense to my vulgarities, they ask me to stop. They have always (so far) asked me nicely, so I appreciate their honesty and their morals (which just happens to be against cursing) so I try to be more conscious of what I say. And I know that for many of the people on the site, they are a lot like me.

The moral of the story: if somebody is saying something you find offensive, chances are they simply don't...but they might understand if you do. Just ask them to cut it out and they probably won't mind obliging.

Take a leaf out of poker sites. You cant swear. The words are blanked out. Is this really such a hard thing to do? Even if you get a free forum the administrator is able to blnak out any word he wishes to! Would this be so hard for CC to do?

From a technical standpoint, it's very easy. It's included with the forum software and it's easy to access. However, it does provide more work and challenge for the CC administration and staff, because they have to be on the constant lookout for infringement upon the rules. There will be many more complaints from people who believe that the staff don't do a through enough job. There will be more arguments on what words should and should-not be allowed through the filter.

At the end of the day, it's easier to leave that up to the people who are worried about it. It's not the responsibilities of the staff to ensure the place is safe for your kids. If YOU have the problem, YOU take the responsibility. Either let your kid on to the site under your supervision, or don't let him on. It's not Lack's responsibility to raise your kid.

[Blitzaholic]

I see abusive language way too often on this site.

It saddens me as I know a lot of kids go on it, including one of my friends 9 yr old son. It is very inappropriate for him or any other child to be reading some of the language I've seen.

I think the site should blank out any bad language left in games or in f/b. If ppl want to start hurling abbuse at each other let them do it in the Flame Wars forum.

its been brought up before and they report they are liberal an will allow the language, but i think there is a limit, not sure where that invisible line is yet

[PLAYER57832]

Why? Again, I personally dislike foul language and put folks who use it on my ignore list (though I won't neg someone for it), but what does it really matter if others like to swear at each other. As for seeing it in the feedback -- just don't pay too much attention. Some folks need outlets. I would far rather see them get out a bit of aggression in swearing than employ it elsewhere.

As for the kids -- SUPERVISE them -- and accept that they live in the real world. Use it as an example. Point out how truly dumb it makes these folks look, that intelligent individuals have a lot more creativity. They will follow YOUR example not that of some individuals they don't evne know who happen to play a game. Or are you really suggesting your children are so fragile as to be harmed by seeing a single bad word? If os, well you must live on an island (a true island or one you created through isolation) .... and that has its own issues.