Chat box, good or bad?

[Gargantor]

Well, i guess i shall start with it then.
The only really kind of child-friendly game i play regularly is Ether Saga.
Its not advertised as child-friendly, but it seems like its the most safe game i see around.
At the start screen of the game, there are many options. The latest news, account information, manuals, settings, website, and support can be chosen. It indentifies the game version and warns the player if its not up to date (this would solve the problem when the players on WQ dont download the newest version and start complaining about the bugs, or it could prevent that such players play the MP who doesnt have that version where the update of the chat lexicon works)
As you see, the forum is easy to access from the start on. There is maybe not a list of rules, but there is a "support" button which guides the player to the page where they can open a ticket, and send it to the support team.
After we start the game, there is a window which informs the player about the newest updates. If there is a change, its announced there.
As for the ingame chat. Its not as safe as WQs chat, but inappropriate words are deleted upon posting. they come up as many "*". I dont see many inappropriate people there. even though the chat is not that restricted, i cant find any bad behavior. And as i said.. rude people are everywhere. I guess it could be because of the freedom, well you can say practically everything(i dont know but i heard the chats are recorded.. and stored to control them, and that there is a mod that oversees). There, the banning system is strong. You get banned for breaking the rules, and if you have question or dont agree with this, you can send a ticket.

Another game that started out as a "kids-game" is bitefight. okay dont ask,now its more for teens...but it started out as one!(okay a kind of violent game but im not bringing it up because of how the game has to be played) i just think their site is the most strict, and the inappropriate behavior is dealt with in a matter of seconds. People dont dare to do anything wrong. Most of them. As you not only get banned, but your username is written out on the website, as an example for others, and of course if you dont know why you got banned then you can see there why.
Oh, and there ia a report button ingame. So if someone wrote you something bad, you can report instantly.
I dont know but i thought about suggesting this... "thread of infamy" but decided against it because of the problems it would arise.. well i dont know. I tell you how it goes if you dont play that game.
Once someone gets a warning, is banned in the same time, the amount of bann depending on the rule they broke. Either your warned or banned, your username appears in a thread(infamy thread) with the reason what you did. Each warning/bann has its own topic, so if a mod changes something, its written there as reply.
lets see why i thought i would suggest it earlier:
1. people can see it easy, without messaging why they got banned.
2. The people who want to complain, actually cant because the reason is there.
3. as an example, and to show other players what you get once you go against the rules.
Why i decided against suggesting it:
1. parents can see it
2. maybe too strict, not WQ style...
I wanted to suggest it at the contest, but as you see it has a few drawbacks, so i didnt.

Another, only for children game would be a game in my country... its a forum based game but is quiet safe for kids. Its called "Állatnevelde", my little sister is playing there as well. The game is actually simple, you have to take care of animals. You have to feed it, bath it (well the most children are 6-13 years), and there is a chat. The surprise here is: totally free chat. no words taken out. you can say everything. The actual reason why there is absolutely no bad behavior is: there is always a moderator present, overseeing the chat. Or if there is none, the system automatically saves the chat. So what you said/wrote will be saved and stored(not on the players computer, but on the site and system of the gameowners). So if an inappropriate behavior occurs, and a mod is not present, they can and do read the chats after when they are on. So to say.. its really controlled and overseen game. If you do something wrong, you get banned, the time here(just with bitefight) depends on the rule you broke.

To sum it up: every child-friendly game i know is controlled closely, and every bad behavior is dealt with by temporary banning, you are informed about changes/updates ingame. There is a "report" button close if things get out of hand.

[Storm Breaker]

Cana, it's a good idea to see what other online games are doing. I mentioned my son playing online games with chats that are restricted, so I'll try to get some info for a few of them.

Webkinz: Obviously aimed specifically at kids. They have a phrased chat as well as something like our lexicon that allows you to type your own phrases with certain words, as well as certain cominations of words, restricted. Parents have to choose one or the other. Here's a link to their page explaining it: http://mci2.webkinz.com/parentarea/ If that doesnt' take you right there, just look for KinzChatPLUS. Right now my understanding of our own lexicon is that it doesn't allow certain words, but it doesn't monitor combinations of words. Webkinz uses the example of "boy" and "friend". Both are allowed separately but when typed in combination it's prohibited. That might be a helpful tool.

FusionFall: Kid oriented again, from the Cartoon Network. Seems to use the same type of filtering as Webkinz, including phrase filtering like I describe above. In addition anyone opening an account needs to put in a parent's email address. The parents get an email to activate the account and it details things like chat settings.

Club Penguin: Just checked this out and this chat allows both a phrased chat with categorized pop out menus as well as a "safe open chat" that is filtered similar to ours. Users have both options open to them at all times. I don't think it filters by phrase as well.

In all the online chat games my son plays, each offers a parents section where the parent can control chat settings. While I know some parents are just like "whatever" I know I read them and check in periodically on the settings. While I don't sit right there with him the whole time he plays, I do monitor it and I've never seen anything suggestive coming through.

Runescape: I've played this one pretty heavily, tho not so much recently, so I can't vouch for any changes. This one is not kid oriented...I know they have had a chat similar to ours, though I'm not sure if it also filters by phrase. There is an in-game report button that allows to report inappropriate behavior immediately. Also I think you have the capability of turning chat off or just ignoring certain players. There is also a quick chat system with phrases. Anyone under 13 can only chat using quick chat unless they have parent permission otherwise. Players who are reported for inappropriate chat behavior are muted but I don't know how quickly that happens. There are mods in every channel.

Hopefully something there helps!

[oxoDestinyoxo]

Horse isle: Not the best child game I've ever seen around, but just like some other games such as webkinz, it detects misspellings and certain combinations of words and runs them through a filter, which is some cases will delay your chat. What it does is it detects what people use to get around WQ's filter.

So if cat was a bad word for instance and someone typed CATe, C)oat A)ll T)hat, etc. It would run that through the filter and take a matter of seconds to a minute before giving you a message in your chat saying that what you typed broke the rules, what happens if you get 10 violations points and the reason it broke the rules such as profanity or adult content.

Of course some people did think oh I won't get vio points if I always say it was an accident, but theres a thing to all of it, inappropriate chats are collected by the server at midnight when the site closed down for a few minutes and sent out an email of that days report to an admin, who looked over each blocked chat and decided where to appoint violations.

While the chat filter was not the best and people did manage to say some not so bad words with a simple misspell, the system for reporting was fast, easy, and well, overall, affective.

There was a button in game under the players tab, it stated If someone had broken the rules: "Submit abuse report" and you would enter the players username and what rule they broke. I often typed a small summary such as "Going around the chat filter to swear." or "Causing mayhem"

[Miyaoka]

As a huge roleplay fan, I'm against removing the chatbox. Also, with my experience wirh phrased chats, it's difficult to convey any sort of personality and make friends (it feels like you're talking to a robot). I say the chat box should definitly stay.

I like some of the ideas suggested on here, like having a free chat with an in-game report button. Having the server save chats also sounds like a great idea, although I can see potential issues regarding the amount of required admins and server space.

[RoarOriole]

Wasn't expecting this to be unlocked. :p

In honesty, I can get where all of you guys are going. There are so many good and bad things that each option has. Should we be mute? Should we be robotic and have only certain, limited, and easily read gestures? Or should we remain free and let the people violating WQ rules continue their activities?

All of these questions are hard to swallow and concort about, but we have to think of something soon, and fast. Those who want a phrase chat normally want it safe. Those who want our chat now love to roleplay, and, those who would like absolutely NO chat and just options and gestures obviously can understand TEF REALLY WELL.

Unfortunately, not everyone shares our views...

...not everyone enjoys seeing MP abuse...[hopefully no one enjoys it :/]

...not everyone would be content with a safe, restricted chat...[I'd be content, but that's my own view]

...and not everyone can understand things like The Endless Forest...[it gets boring, there's no translations---I adore translations---and it can be confusing for many people---I know 35, including myself, that doesnt' understand it and probably never will <:/]

The best thing we can do is hope for a safer MP, no matter what the Development team chooses.

The only way we could possibly get what all of us want is a compromise, lots of time, and most of all money. Everything comes down to money. If there were some way that WolfQuest could make funding other than just donations from parents and companies along with the store, then there would be more ground for he team to explore in balancing out these problems.

Though there is also the slim, and I'm talking kerning slim [people who use Adobe Indesign and know all the terms would understand just how small I mean ], that all our issues would be solved if we could find out just how people are able to get words through the filter.

In honesty I've been working on guides for the game for when the User Guides board opens, so I have no hones ideas right now. All I know is something must be done. I just don't know what.

[Miyaoka]

Wasn't expecting this to be unlocked. :p

In honesty, I can get where all of you guys are going. There are so many good and bad things that each option has. Should we be mute? Should we be robotic and have only certain, limited, and easily read gestures? Or should we remain free and let the people violating WQ rules continue their activities?

All of these questions are hard to swallow and concort about, but we have to think of something soon, and fast. Those who want a phrase chat normally want it safe. Those who want our chat now love to roleplay, and, those who would like absolutely NO chat and just options and gestures obviously can understand TEF REALLY WELL.

Unfortunately, not everyone shares our views...

...not everyone enjoys seeing MP abuse...[hopefully no one enjoys it :/]

...not everyone would be content with a safe, restricted chat...[I'd be content, but that's my own view]

...and not everyone can understand things like The Endless Forest...[it gets boring, there's no translations---I adore translations---and it can be confusing for many people---I know 35, including myself, that doesnt' understand it and probably never will <:/]

The best thing we can do is hope for a safer MP, no matter what the Development team chooses.

The only way we could possibly get what all of us want is a compromise, lots of time, and most of all money. Everything comes down to money. If there were some way that WolfQuest could make funding other than just donations from parents and companies along with the store, then there would be more ground for he team to explore in balancing out these problems.

Though there is also the slim, and I'm talking kerning slim [people who use Adobe Indesign and know all the terms would understand just how small I mean ], that all our issues would be solved if we could find out just how people are able to get words through the filter.

In honesty I've been working on guides for the game for when the User Guides board opens, so I have no hones ideas right now. All I know is something must be done. I just don't know what.

It all comes down to the classic question: What matters more, freedom or security?

I personally value freedom more, but like Shusuke said, people are going to have different opinions.

[Sky Eclipse]

Been a while since I posted here...

I don't know of any other kids games that have already been listed above, as I don't really play much kids games anymore these days; I have other things to do, and WQ is already enough to satisfy my urge to play a game. :3

But I do have a suggestion... It's not exactly straight-forward about the chat box, but the results of it does root down to it. At least I would think so.

I'm an admin of my own forum, and I realize the format and everything does look very similar to the WQ forum, but it has totally different colors and styles, and I'm not using the same "forum hosting site" as WQ. By exploring the Administration Control Panel when I first made the forum, I saw you could ban IP addresses from joining the forum. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't each computer/laptop have one IP? Well, I was thinking... I'm not sure on what Cana does when she bans someone, but since I know the WQ forum is probably more advanced then my forum, but works in a slightly similar way, I was thinking that perhaps when Cana bans someone, you could ban them by their IP address. (unless you already do that) If people who are being banned or not being banned by their IP address, then I am suggesting this because I thought that if someone is banned by their IP address and not by their e-mail or anything else, that would mean that someone could make as many e-mail accounts as they want, and continue trying to register, but as long as they are on the same IP address, they can't make another account; Or in other words... They can't "ban-hop".
This may actually confuse people; Because if Cana was banning people by their e-mails, and then suddenly changes to banning IP addresses without saying anything, they might not know what's going on. Yes, they could also just go to another computer and register there (I think...), but that's exactly it; If they make another account with a different IP address, they are going to break the rules again, then the IP address is banned again, and etc, until that person can't continue to register with other IP addresses or computers/laptops.
And if they run out of more computers/laptops/IP addresses to use... They'll really be banned, and won't be able to ban-hop and continue breaking rules.
I'm not entirely sure if its possible to change a computer's IP address, but I just hope its not possible. If it even is possible, then there is the chance that (like I mentioned above) they will be confused on what's happening and then they don't know what to change to ban-hop. And even if they did know and if changing IP addresses is possible, then maybe they won't know how its done.
So basically, if banning changes to banning IP addresses instead, rule-breakers may get confused and won't know what to change, or how to change it to ban-hop. If they go on other computers and register there, they'll break the rules, get banned again, and so on until they have no other device that allows them the ban-hop.
And you may be wondering how this will help with people being inappropriate on the chat box. Well... See, everyone knows you need an account on the forum to play multiplayer; If they keep getting banned by their IP addresses, soon enough they won't have anything else to register on with a different IP, and then they can't ban-hop anymore. Which means, that if they can't ban-hop, they can't make another account to break the rules. So gradually, the amount of rule-breakers will decrease, and less and less inappropriate game/specific fur color/mate/etc games will appear.

I'm suggesting this only because I don't know what Cana does to ban someone, if its by their username or e-mail or whatever is, I'm not sure, so I'm suggesting it just in case. Of course this has downsides and good sides, but again, I'm suggesting it just in case. It may help, and it may not, but I'm suggesting it anyway.

[Gargantor]

Been a while since I posted here...

I don't know of any other kids games that have already been listed above, as I don't really play much kids games anymore these days; I have other things to do, and WQ is already enough to satisfy my urge to play a game. :3

But I do have a suggestion... It's not exactly straight-forward about the chat box, but the results of it does root down to it. At least I would think so.

I'm an admin of my own forum, and I realize the format and everything does look very similar to the WQ forum, but it has totally different colors and styles, and I'm not using the same "forum hosting site" as WQ. By exploring the Administration Control Panel when I first made the forum, I saw you could ban IP addresses from joining the forum. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't each computer/laptop have one IP? Well, I was thinking... I'm not sure on what Cana does when she bans someone, but since I know the WQ forum is probably more advanced then my forum, but works in a slightly similar way, I was thinking that perhaps when Cana bans someone, you could ban them by their IP address. (unless you already do that) If people who are being banned or not being banned by their IP address, then I am suggesting this because I thought that if someone is banned by their IP address and not by their e-mail or anything else, that would mean that someone could make as many e-mail accounts as they want, and continue trying to register, but as long as they are on the same IP address, they can't make another account; Or in other words... They can't "ban-hop".
This may actually confuse people; Because if Cana was banning people by their e-mails, and then suddenly changes to banning IP addresses without saying anything, they might not know what's going on. Yes, they could also just go to another computer and register there (I think...), but that's exactly it; If they make another account with a different IP address, they are going to break the rules again, then the IP address is banned again, and etc, until that person can't continue to register with other IP addresses or computers/laptops.
And if they run out of more computers/laptops/IP addresses to use... They'll really be banned, and won't be able to ban-hop and continue breaking rules.
I'm not entirely sure if its possible to change a computer's IP address, but I just hope its not possible. If it even is possible, then there is the chance that (like I mentioned above) they will be confused on what's happening and then they don't know what to change to ban-hop. And even if they did know and if changing IP addresses is possible, then maybe they won't know how its done.
So basically, if banning changes to banning IP addresses instead, rule-breakers may get confused and won't know what to change, or how to change it to ban-hop. If they go on other computers and register there, they'll break the rules, get banned again, and so on until they have no other device that allows them the ban-hop.
And you may be wondering how this will help with people being inappropriate on the chat box. Well... See, everyone knows you need an account on the forum to play multiplayer; If they keep getting banned by their IP addresses, soon enough they won't have anything else to register on with a different IP, and then they can't ban-hop anymore. Which means, that if they can't ban-hop, they can't make another account to break the rules. So gradually, the amount of rule-breakers will decrease, and less and less inappropriate game/specific fur color/mate/etc games will appear.

I'm suggesting this only because I don't know what Cana does to ban someone, if its by their username or e-mail or whatever is, I'm not sure, so I'm suggesting it just in case. Of course this has downsides and good sides, but again, I'm suggesting it just in case. It may help, and it may not, but I'm suggesting it anyway.

Actually the banning goes by IP address already from the start on.
They know exactly how easy it is to make a new email and register another account, so the IP is banned. This way this bann-hop is not possible. Yes, sadly there are computers on which you can change IP address, but thats really rare... depends on the internet-provider. Even thoough they dont like to change the IP every week, so they will have to stop, plus you have to give a reason. At least thats how it works in my country. Its not possible to change the IP just through the computer. The internet-provider has to change it.
And if you think about it.. if you have more than one PC in the house... all will have the same IP if they share the same connection. So no chance they can bann-hop this way.
Even if in other countries the IP change is easy... they will eventually get bored of registering every week.
I actually can tell sometimes who is registering from different IPs all the time. These are the ones who have weird numbers, simple letter-combinations (like: asdadra or 121jnke3). well they dont want to think of names all the time.
Maybe WQ shouldnt allow such weird combinations as names.

[oxoDestinyoxo]

Also IP address is short for Internet Protocol, meaning you can change it just by getting into your computers Dos window system and getting fancy with the codes in there. There is no way to ban by computer as theres no address or protocol on a computer itself, and banning by router protocols doesn't work because that would require contacting the routers owner because router protocols are private.

(Sorry if I made no sense just stating banning by IP's is not always a permanent action)

[Asheek]

Yeah, I was about to say lol. Changeing you're IP is possible and Im sure that the hard core trolls would do it.

[Gargantor]

Yeah, I was about to say lol. Changeing you're IP is possible and Im sure that the hard core trolls would do it.

In my country its not known. You can only change the IP via contacting the internet-provider. As our IP is mostly provided by them. Thats why on many cases many people here have the same IP. (i already had problems when i played games where you can only have one account. they bann the IP, and many times i got banned because of this ) Here its not a problem, you just send a ticket and they remove the bann if your internet-provider gives the okay for the game-developers, that this is really the case. But in games of other countries i was wondering why they dont accept my explanation Seems like your IP is not provided by your internet-provider... now thats sad... in this case.

[Adalae]

Cana does IP ban some users on the forums, I've seen it happen sometimes. However I can think of at least 1 person that used a proxy (which is what you can use to change your IP address) to get back on the forums and had multiple accounts. Luckily some of the WQ members traced the accounts, got a "confession" and got the person banned (:

So yes, Cana does IP ban and it is very possible to change your IP address.

[Snickers]

you know, im one of the older WQ players, i miss the goold ol days of AM where i could say almost any word. ive noticed now, that when some one comes in saying that phrase, "i need a..." their age group is that of 12-15. (usually the chat im in asks age irl, dont know why its just my luck i suppose.) moving on, ive tried and tried to get others i know from my school to join, but once they hear of the chat filter they say they have their own rp site and would rather have me join there. ive gone once, and it had to be the best realistic wolf pack rp ive ever done. my friend made a comment when she had to go, she said, "see what happens when a site doesnt let abusers win?" so it gave me the idea of having the filter based on age. i see this is already up for discussion so i figure id help make it come to be.

WQ already has multiple chat filters up. true, its only because some of us are both lucky enough that our comp didnt mess up or they were smart enough to not update. with me, i get bad computers and have to re-download WQ often. and each time i get to play, which isnt much, theres always another ban on words. but, if a friend in a chat has crashed and comes back, my filter allows me "we be" but ive seen ??? and ??? ???, meaning the filters that allowed "wb" and "w b" are still in play. so if WQ can find a way to control how many filters are up, my thoughts are a possiblility.

A majority of those who play WQ now are young and the lack of words they can use may not frustrate them as much as it does the older players of WQ, but within 2 years time these young WQ players will want the use of certain words back. i doutbt WQ can have the multiple chat filters up in time for me, that is if they agree to try out this idea of age based filters, but im ok with that. ive enjoyed the last 2 years of WQ sure, and its about time i find another game because of my age. but if something like the age filter isnt put into play soon, WQ will lose many more players, cuz of the filter. and id hate to see this epic game lose play because of abusers. (if anyone was offended by what ive said, sorry that wasnt my goal, my goal is to try and help WQ out and help us players keep some freedom in the filter.)

[Alex the wizard]

It all comes down to the classic question: What matters more, freedom or security?

I personally value freedom more, but like Shusuke said, people are going to have different opinions.

i agree, freedom is more imported to me. But people are gonna have different opinions.
My friend asked me to join this site, and I have. I love it here and spend most of my time on the form. But people like my friend, (I say again) play multi-player. The only way they can talk, communicate, is by the games.

If the chat box was removed less and less and maybe even more less would join the site, play the game, and even ask to have their accounts removed.

I agree, (if people think I don't) that we have a problem about the chat. A big problem, matter of fact, but my question is: According to all of our opinions, will the (I'm not sure what their called) remove, make a phrase box, or keep the chat box?

[Dostluk]

Well, I agree the abuse is too much bad. I think like this: If the user register in the community only to play online, they could at least read the rules, to know what is or not allowed in MP.

It all comes down to the classic question: What matters more, freedom or security?

I personally value freedom more, but like Shusuke said, people are going to have different opinions.

Well, at my opinion, both freedom and security are very important. Freedom is important for all, all of we are right to have different opinions, but is better when or opinion is not abusive for anyone else, respect at others, then we have security.