Why Do We Even Have Chat Rules?

[Theophyla 7]

Hey there,

These so called "Chat Rules" that are on the forums under the "Chat" tab. They aren't even enforced anymore, no one follows them and GMs let constant trolling and harassment go on for hours. This game is based off community, and we sure as hell don't have one. I quote...

"2) You may not harass (sexually or otherwise), verbally abuse, threaten, berate anyone.

3) You may not use sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive language. This includes workarounds, symbols, links, misspelling, or graphical substitutes." (Wurm Online Forums, Chat Section)

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/chat/

There is constant harassment of players, constant verbal abusing of players and even instances where players are wishing each other to die in real life. This is a GAME, you don't wish someone to die in real life. That is absolutely pathetic. I would bet, a good portion of the players have left this game because of the lack of Community. The lack of authority in the community, and the lack of a helpful and caring community. This is a community of trolls, we are supposed to have a older player base .. But the older playerbase is worse then the younger ones. Atleast some of the younger ones are respectful and helpful and just generally looking for a good time, they don't intend to be annoying when they ask questions. But the so called "Older" player base intentionally troll, they intentionally harass and they intentionally abuse people. They know the consequences of their actions and they know exactly what they are doing.

If you'd like to see some trolling and harassment without GM supervision, watch this post. Watch the Epic Kingdoms chat for a few hours and it'll surely be there. There is no authority in this game, there is no supervision and this community has gone to absolutely ######. And its the reason why many people are leaving this game. World of Warcraft has a better community than this game, and that is saying a hell of a lot because it is filled with annoying children. Sorry about my little rant, but had to get that off my chest. The community is what drives people away from this game.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Theophyla

[san_tropez 394]

I only see shitslinging in Freedom global. What kingdom do you play in?

Edited October 27, 2012 by san_tropez

[Theophyla 7]

Well this topic is specifically about the overall Epic community. But Freedom also has its "shitslinging" quite often aswell.

[san_tropez 394]

Hots global doesn't churn out death threats other than slaying of in game avatars. There is "trolling" but most is bound within interaction in the game, like killing, raiding or stealing, typically on the home server.

What kingdom do you play in btw? I could imagine JK had a busy chat with their higher amount of players

Edited October 27, 2012 by san_tropez

[Theophyla 7]

The definition of troll...

"In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, , or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response" (Google Definitions)

Trolling is considered verbal abuse, and; harmful, hateful and offensive in certain situations according to the Wurm Online Chat Rules. Overall light trolling may not be offensive and that such, but 99% of the trolling in this game turns into excessive trolling and crosses the border into harassment. I know JK Global always tends to have this, I'm not sure of other chats and such. I've only really seen two instances of real life death threats in this game which I find pathetic.

@ San - I play with JK.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Theophyla

[Guest Docterchese]

The reason why we have chat rules is to protect players. If you don't believe that rules are being fully enforced then you should speak either to Enki (acting Head GM) or Wossoo (PR Manager,) they can both be messaged on these forums.

Wurm, like the majority of online communities, takes the safety and security of its players very seriously. When reported, preferably via PM to a staff member or through a /support call, we will look into issues as soon as possible.

I can appreciate that you are angry and frustrated, however, rant threads don't do Wurm any favours. Directly contacting an appropriate staff member can solve problems far quicker than waiting for one to find your thread!

Thanks,

Docterchese

[Theophyla 7]

Hey there Chese,

I appreciate the comment and your concern. This issue has been going on for years I've been playing Wurm on and off, constant trolling and harassment of players and on Epic. Its from a specific group of players. A group of... "Bad Apples" if you wish to accept that saying. I'll contact a member of the staff and speak to him or her about the issue, appreciate it.

[Judicator 539]

Thats just how frustrated and passive agressive people on freedom are. Epic chat is always clean, and the second anyone even mentions a euphemism for drugs they get a warning.

Edit: at least for hots. other kingdoms are lame anyway.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Judicator

[Theophyla 7]

You apparently are not apart of the JK Kingdom if you think Epic chat is always clean.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Theophyla

[Judicator 539]

Yea just hots i guess.

[Bachus 462]

I am from freedom and when I read this post I thought you were talking about freedom. lol

There have always been a few trolls around but they have gotten worse lately, used to be everyone ignored them and they went away but now there are enough of them to feed each other and keep going.

I miss Sme who had the talent to subtely change the subject without warnings and get the chat back on track with entertaiining anecdotes or troll the trolls into submission. This method worked because a troll considers a warning or mute as a win, while being shot down a loss and embarrassment wich is the worse thing for a troll.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Bachus

[Theophyla 7]

I am from freedom and when I read this post I thought you were talking about freedom. lol

There have always been a few trolls around but they have gotten worse lately, used to be everyone ignored them and they went away but now there are enough of them to feed each other and keep going.

I miss Sme who had the talent to subtely change the subject without warnings and get the chat back on track with entaining anecdotes or troll the trolls into submission. This method worked because a troll considers a warning or mute as a win, while being shot down a loss and embarrassment wich is the worse thing for a troll.

I'm glad someone else notices the horrible community. Freedom and Epic both have a horrible community, a few has turned into many and some bad apples has turned into a large amount and this is pushing players away. I witnessed two players state that after there premium runs out, they'll be leaving the game because of the community. Chat isn't be enforced anymore, only really drug references... When player harassment and trolling goes on. Nothing is done about it.

[atazs 965]

Its epic... What do you expect? Also i really like how you blame the whole community and judge it from epic...

[Theophyla 7]

I blame the bad apples of the community, Ive been on Freedom and Epic and both have there bad apples which have been growing and growing.

[Judicator 539]

t

I'm glad someone else notices the horrible community. Freedom and Epic both have a horrible community, a few has turned into many and some bad apples has turned into a large amount and this is pushing players away. I witnessed two players state that after there premium runs out, they'll be leaving the game because of the community. Chat isn't be enforced anymore, only really drug references... When player harassment and trolling goes on. Nothing is done about it.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Judicator

[Mojo 2,095]

As a player, I've never been given death threats or anything really over the top. This game is unique, you gain trust and respect in the community, growing friendships and relationships with players throughout the years. It takes time to make these bonds, which can sometime take seconds to completely destroy. When someone does something to ruin your gaming experience, you usually hold a grudge, its a human emotion and is completely normal. Wurm might be a game, but its a very big time investment. I know if someone wastes my time and effort, I would be severely disappointed with them - I won't repeat my mistake, its my game experience too.

My kingdom mates have berated me and have made fun of me for years being apart of the staff. Do I care? No, I enjoy it and could care less about what people say over the internet. I've muted my friends and enemies alike, I have no bias, I only follow the guidelines that were entrusted to me.

Your post has a bunch of generalizations that really isn't true; you should really PM Enki or Oracle with your concerns. We don't need to see you complaining how the community sucks when it really doesn't. I've been JK for a few months on Epic and have never had to mute one person for insulting or trolling others.

There aren't "witchhunts" in Wurm towards players, usually when a community is angry or outraged at someone, they have a reason or two. (From my experience)

[Theophyla 7]

Thank you for the post Ezalor,

Ignore is the best future in this game and I use it well. A lot of people do, and turning off Kingdom chat aswell helps very much. I've already contacted Enki, so I will restrain myself from posting on this thread anymore as I'll deal with the issues through the staff. Enjoy.

@ Judicator - Ofcourse, a very valid point.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Theophyla

[EliasTheCrimson 348]

It is a community game, but it's still on the Internet. Even with chat moderation you need to grow some skin lest you'll find yourself offended wherever you turn. The worst thing is that by vocally complaining you're contributing to the bad atmosphere you claim the community to have. I see the chat rules enforced just as frequently as they aren't. Whenever they're around they do their job, but we could definitely do with more (and I think we're getting more?).

[Keldun 335]

The problem here is that most of Epic simply doesn't have any CMs online most of the time. It's also why /support tickets barely ever get answered.

[Mojo 2,095]

The problem here is that most of Epic simply doesn't have any CMs online most of the time. It's also why /support tickets barely ever get answered.

[Aeris 3,752]

If you see rulebreaking going on in the chat, type /support and state your complaint. It's possible that something's going on which is stealing the attention from the moderators but if you report it they can deal with it when they have time to look at their messages

[MrGARY 12,421]

I would like to get your source to that information, or are you pulling that out of no where?

I swear, people complain about too many CAs and CMs then turn around and complain that there are none around ~ We're around, just sometimes we have a real life to cater to. Elevation and Serenity has had many CMs/CAs online from my experience and most calls are forwarded or answered right away....

Sadly he is correct about Desertion at least, I've already brought it up with Enki but we have no more active chat mods.

[Keldun 335]

I would like to get your source to that information, or are you pulling that out of no where?

I swear, people complain about too many CAs and CMs then turn around and complain that there are none around ~ We're around, just sometimes we have a real life to cater to. Elevation and Serenity has had many CMs/CAs online from my experience and most calls are forwarded or answered right away....

Sorry if I pulled the wrong string, it's just I see a lot of epic players complain about not getting any help and GMs saying they'll come around eventually, just wait a couple hours. The situation is bad enough that most of them give the advice to not even bother with /support, but try IRC or forum PM instead.

It also seems that every Kingdom needs it's own CM for every Server? That wouldn't make the situation any easier.

When people complain about the number of CA and CM they usually do so on Freedom and also because they don't really understand that CAs are not necessarily CMs.

[Theophyla 7]

I appreciate the help guys ! Reported it to Enki and ill make sure to support it next time ! Have a good one folks

[Enki 6,940]

I know the amount of available moderators is low on Epic, but the biggest problem faced has been a few recent chat agitators attempting to take advantage of the low mod count on epic. They will not be allowed to get away with it. Should you be offended by a chat rule violator, simply send a /support and the lines stated, they will be confirmed and the chat violator dealt with.