Episode 2.5 Update- Phrased chat option

[Zethra]

What about a free chat?
The Host should be able to choose this option, too. And children younger than 14 (or whatever) can't enter the game.
Also it will give players from other nations the chance to communicate with each other on their languages. WQ is played all over the would, not only in USA or England.

Well, the Phrase Chat is only an option. Hosters are able to choose if they want to use the phrase chat or not, so you'd still have the ability of a free chat aswell.

Hello, all. I figured it was about time to give you a bigger update on episode 2.5, now that we've made a big decision. Since we created multiplayer, we've always had the idea to potentially add a phrased/canned chat system to increase internet safety and decrease the problems of people being inappropriate. So we decided to finally add this system as a chat option in 2.5. We're planning on allowing multiplayer hosts will have the option to host a game with a lexicon chat, phrased chat, or no chat. Again, at this time, this is the host's choice, not a requirement. We realize not everyone will use this option, and in fact, it could be that no one uses this option. But it will be nice to have as something available for people who are worried about internet safety.

Source: http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46914

[Adalae]

I am loving this idea, Cana, and I'm glad it's being implemented in the game. Thank you for giving us users this option!

[Amber 13]

Hey, just a suggestion: we should be able to have more than one phrase in the chat box, like a series of phrases. like this:

Hello! Let's go for the bull elk!

(i see that this might be impolite as a greeting to someone just entering. bad example. *facepalm*)

Hello! How are you today? Would you like to hunt?

(i didnt read the posts a lot. i only read through the whole begining of the first post and the greeting/general/hunting list. i skimmed the rest of the post.)

anyway, u get my drift, right?
-Stone

[savanna911]

games/play


lets play follow the leader!

lets play a game!

your the leader!

hunting\eating:


eat up my friends its fresh

lets get the bull hes alone

come on pack lets hunt!

look the bull elk has more
meat lets eat that!


best friends:

your my bff!

hello friend!

you want to be friends?

come on best friend!

best friends don't lie to best friends






i couldn't think of more so, THATS ALL!!

[jaguartail]

Thanks for deciding to add in-game rules and phrased chat/no chat options, this will almost certainly reduce inappropriateness.

[LilyAnnet]

sorrys but ive got a question and i think its not very good to get this post on, but im just curious...

Why dont WQ do a chat like this istead the word filter, it just stops words that are not very good(etc. bad words, sex stuff) and just let the whole alphabet go through?

it works on all the games here, and its not very hard work; If you say a bad word, you get kicked out of chat or somekind of device about stop talking for thrity seconds etc.

or just get a warning about it.

Sorry if this reply is not very good for this post im just curious

[Swifty]

I believe that the chat lexicon is about the closest you can get to what your thinking of. If the whole alphabet could got through, people to write unpleasant things by spelling them out. With this new ability to choose your chat, you can personal decide how safe you want your chat to be.

Hope that answered your question.

[Adalae]

sorrys but ive got a question and i think its not very good to get this post on, but im just curious...

Why dont WQ do a chat like this istead the word filter, it just stops words that are not very good(etc. bad words, sex stuff) and just let the whole alphabet go through?

it works on all the games here, and its not very hard work; If you say a bad word, you get kicked out of chat or somekind of device about stop talking for thrity seconds etc.

or just get a warning about it.

Sorry if this reply is not very good for this post im just curious

Judging by how difficult it has been to prevent people from saying even simple words, and how easy it is for people to creatively try to spell inappropriate words that should not be allowed in the game, a lexicon system, though flawed, works much better than a ‘ban list’ of words you can’t type.

There is almost an infinite number of ways to work around a standard chat filter system, which is why wolfquest uses a list of words you can say as opposed to a list of words you can’t. If you need a concrete example, we’ve tried to remove mating from multiplayer games, because of the inappropriate behavior that has come along with multiplayer mating. So we banned the word mate in chat names. Then we banned about 10 other ways to say the word mate. And we’ve been banning mating-related words every lexicon update ever since. And yet some mating-related words are still getting through the chat filtration system. Even some words that supposedly are banned from the lexicon are still getting through, so we will be sticking with the lexicon rather than trying to think of every creative way to type every imaginable inappropriate word and hope that the filter actually works. If you'd prefer to say words that are not in the lexicon, I'd recommend chatting via PM on the forums with the people you're playing with, or as others have said, use another chatting site or device.

Besides, this was created to be an educational game. Though it has evolved into something more than that, our main goal, and the goal of the organizations who fund the game, is to increase an understanding and appreciation of wolves and the way they live. Though we do include some words in our now 6,000+ word lexicon that have nothing to do with wolves, we did not intend the multiplayer chat to be like a chat room. We originally created the chat to facilitate multiplayer gameplay, not so you can talk about your favorite video games, what you're going to eat for supper, or where you live. Many times, we have considered making multiplayer chats just a list of 100 or so phrases you can choose from, but as long as we're able to monitor these chats, we figure a limited list in our lexicon of words is preferable to most players. If you would like to be able to chat more freely, please use another message or chat program.

"Why can't you just ban words and skip the lexicon?"; http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=39817

[sasukefan101]

when will it come out?

[Koa]

when will it come out?

There is no exact/estimated release date quite yet.

[Thandi]

What? How could I miss all these new posts?

Anyways, I love this idea a lot. This will be awesome for people who just want to have an appropriate game and not be bombarded with bad players. I really support this option and I hope that Cana will add it in.

[Masika]

I have a couple of suggestions for the Phrased chat c:

Greetings
Hi everyone!
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Good evening.

General Responses
Alright.
Not bad.
Doing good.
Bored.
True.
False.
I don't mind.

Questions
How's it going?
What are you going?
Where are you?

Exclamations
Hurray!
Wow!

Hunting/eating
Where is the scent?
There isn't much meat on this carcass.
Let's follow the ravens, they'll lead us to a carcass!

Exploring
I wonder where this came from.

Friends
You are a great friend!
I'll add you to my friend list on the WolfQuest forums.
I've never had a friend like you!
I'm glad I met you!
You'll always be my friend!
We're friends, right?

Games
Play again?
Ready or not, here I come!

Partings
See you tomorrow!
Take care!
Have a nice day!
Thanks for joining us!

[WQ Coordinator]

Alright, I think we have plenty of suggestions- thanks, everyone! (And thanks to the moderator(s) who actually kept up with the suggestions and posted them on the first post.) Keep in mind, we only have a limited space to put these suggestions in, so we're leaning toward having 10 categories with 10 phrases in each category. So while it's nice to have specific and random words, they may not be the best idea if it means we can't say something else that's more relevant.

So now's the time to discuss. Can anyone give any reasonings as to why they think a phrase already listed should or should not be part of this phrased chat? If you still have more suggestions, you can add them, but we definitely have more than enough at this point.

[Gargantor]

What about a free chat?
The Host should be able to choose this option, too. And children younger than 14 (or whatever) can't enter the game.
Also it will give players from other nations the chance to communicate with each other on their languages. WQ is played all over the would, not only in USA or England.

ppl would lie about their age to get the free chat.
i like the idea to put the phrased chat as an option... maybe when opening a chat, it could be set as default when setting up a chat. This way parents and teachers cant say that their child/students didnt see the option.

[-x-Zaroque-x-]

Phrased chat? Thats a good idea, hopefuly other people might agree. I shall have to look up some more words for the chat system if all goes well.