Devs - On Harassment

[Naxatilor Feluka]

Does anyone else see some people in global chat getting away with WAY too much?

There are some people that log in everyday just to try to make other people not want to play the game. I think that if the majority of veteran players believe it is in our best interest for our shard/game we should be able to vote people off. They can have a warning or whatever, and if they keep insisting on trolling like children, we should be able to permanently ban them [from our server.] and eventually, they will play by themselves, just like they claim to want to, when they spam unprovoked in global chat LOL U R OWNT QUIT UO U R BAD, followed by a slew of personal attacks that have nothing to do with the game, but rather the troll's personality disorder that developed when their mothers failed them.

- Making any kind of personal attack regarding real life should be made into an offense that reminds players that it is just a game. [suspensions or banns]

- Can we please get someone to watch the global chat for session, one day, to see how bad it has gotten?

I have seen new players/returning players attempt to pvp for the first time, and they just get trolled so hard they leave and do not come back.

 

[temu]

I've spent a lot of time on Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike, so I'm really numbed up to the trash talk that goes on. In fact, I almost kind of like it.

That being said, I agree that people take it too far in the MMORPG setting. Sometimes I get the feeling that UO players, and especially the ones involved in higher end pvp, actually dislike everyone they fight against. Which amazes me, because with our population decline you would think that everyone would be encouraging each other to pvp more and not driving away the few that don't "full time" it and want to have some casual fun.

Real life stuff needs to be left out in general chat. No bans from game, though. Text on screen shouldn't be grounds to ban from online games, ever (in my opinion). How about ban them from the chat channels?

 

[Picus of Napa]

Just go to a different channel.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Does anyone else see some people in global chat getting away with WAY too much?

already handled

HARASSMENT Procedure | Mythic Entertainment | Ultima Online 10 May 2011
By GM Acheren

Verbal Harassment is almost by definition a frustrating experience for those affected. Unfortunately we continue to see a few mistakes that turn many potentially valid harassment reports into situations we cannot assist with. As your glorious GM overlords we suggest following the steps below to avoid these problems:

Do not exchange insults or taunts with the harassing player. This is by far the most common mistake we see. If both parties are involved in harassment or the reporting player instigated the situation then it becomes mutual harassment and a GM will not intervene for either side.
Ask the player politely, by name, to stop. For example: "Please stop insulting me Acheren."
Stop talking to the player. You may also want to leave the area.
Add the player to your ignore list (In Options under Filter Options.)
Wait a few seconds and if the harassing player still does not stop then you should immediately report them. Do not wait more than a minute or two after this point to report them and do not log out of the game before reporting them. Open your Help menu, choose "Another player is harassing me", then pick "VERBAL HARASSMENT".
You will be prompted to enter some details about who and what you are reporting. Keep this short and to the point. For example: "Acheren will not stop calling my llamas fat".
Select the harassing player as a target. There are a number of ways to add targets, the most common methods are "Target Involved Players" which allows you to simply click on the character you wish to report and "Type Names of Involved Players" which allows you to type in the character name even if they are no longer online. You can always include a target, even if the other player has left the area or gone offline. This is the second most common mistake because with no target included the GM cannot see the chat logs and may not even be able to determine who exactly you are reporting. As a result the GM will not be able to investigate your report in any way and your petition will be closed.

Disruptive Behavior:

Be aware that in addition to the Verbal Harassment policy there is also a seperate Disruptive Behavior policy. Disruptive Behavior applies to the use of Vulgarity, Racism, and Objectionable Content in public chat channels such as the General channel. Unlike Verbal Harassment you do not need to ask players to stop or take any other additional steps prior to reporting this behavior. Unlike the default channels we do not tolerate the use of profanity in public chat channels so for Disruptive Behavior you may simply witness a player using vulgarity a few times in a public channel and skip straight to reporting them. For rather obvious reasons this means you should avoid responding to such players with more vulgarity in those same public chat channels lest you both end up in jail.

You may find a great deal of additional information on harassment in the following links:

What is Verbal Harassment

How Do You Report Harassment

Harassment Policy


Producer's Update | Mythic Entertainment | Ultima Online 27 May 2011
Player Abuse:
We are very aware of the escalating cases of abuse in the game over the last few months. We have had problems with our petitioning systems, and have been unable to receive or action some cases as quickly as we’d like to. As an answer our operations team working with CS has developed a new tool to allow our GMs and customer support reps not only to action faster, but to record activity better as well as a functionality to replace lost items. Expect to see the results of this new tool in the near future.

 

[Theo_GL]

This wouldn't be a problem if your number of 'ignored' players wasn't limited. I quickly fill up my list on GL.

Changing channels is not an option because General Chat is where everyone is located.

If I could ignore all the trash talkers - it wouldn't be so bad but when you fill up your ignore list - then its a problem.

Come to Great Lakes - UO's kindergarden shard. You can listen to 6 year olds insult each other more than play the game.

 

[Lady Storm]

already handled

HARASSMENT Procedure | Mythic Entertainment | Ultima Online 10 May 2011
By GM Acheren

Verbal Harassment is almost by definition a frustrating experience for those affected. Unfortunately we continue to see a few mistakes that turn many potentially valid harassment reports into situations we cannot assist with. As your glorious GM overlords we suggest following the steps below to avoid these problems:

Do not exchange insults or taunts with the harassing player. This is by far the most common mistake we see. If both parties are involved in harassment or the reporting player instigated the situation then it becomes mutual harassment and a GM will not intervene for either side.
Ask the player politely, by name, to stop. For example: "Please stop insulting me Acheren."
Stop talking to the player. You may also want to leave the area.
Add the player to your ignore list (In Options under Filter Options.)
Wait a few seconds and if the harassing player still does not stop then you should immediately report them. Do not wait more than a minute or two after this point to report them and do not log out of the game before reporting them. Open your Help menu, choose "Another player is harassing me", then pick "VERBAL HARASSMENT".
You will be prompted to enter some details about who and what you are reporting. Keep this short and to the point. For example: "Acheren will not stop calling my llamas fat".
Select the harassing player as a target. There are a number of ways to add targets, the most common methods are "Target Involved Players" which allows you to simply click on the character you wish to report and "Type Names of Involved Players" which allows you to type in the character name even if they are no longer online. You can always include a target, even if the other player has left the area or gone offline. This is the second most common mistake because with no target included the GM cannot see the chat logs and may not even be able to determine who exactly you are reporting. As a result the GM will not be able to investigate your report in any way and your petition will be closed.

Disruptive Behavior:

Be aware that in addition to the Verbal Harassment policy there is also a seperate Disruptive Behavior policy. Disruptive Behavior applies to the use of Vulgarity, Racism, and Objectionable Content in public chat channels such as the General channel. Unlike Verbal Harassment you do not need to ask players to stop or take any other additional steps prior to reporting this behavior. Unlike the default channels we do not tolerate the use of profanity in public chat channels so for Disruptive Behavior you may simply witness a player using vulgarity a few times in a public channel and skip straight to reporting them. For rather obvious reasons this means you should avoid responding to such players with more vulgarity in those same public chat channels lest you both end up in jail.

You may find a great deal of additional information on harassment in the following links:

What is Verbal Harassment

How Do You Report Harassment

Harassment Policy


Producer's Update | Mythic Entertainment | Ultima Online 27 May 2011
Player Abuse:
We are very aware of the escalating cases of abuse in the game over the last few months. We have had problems with our petitioning systems, and have been unable to receive or action some cases as quickly as we’d like to. As an answer our operations team working with CS has developed a new tool to allow our GMs and customer support reps not only to action faster, but to record activity better as well as a functionality to replace lost items. Expect to see the results of this new tool in the near future.

Well yes if you follow this to the letter a GM will step in and haul them away.... only thing is the party(s) whom is doing the trash talk have gotten so good at pushing buttons over the years that the skin of the average player has gotten thinner, yes some have developed a thougher hide and let it roll off their backs like well oiled iron clad ducks. But for the most part many cant sit by and let it happen and break the cardinal rule and blast the harrassing party back... hence the GM's let it go..... Its not just UO.... every game out there is having the same trouble... its how we as a parent let our children talk to others or ourselves talk to others thats the problem. The only one we can blame is us... record your familys conversation one night ... and then the next day listen as if it was someone else's home. You will be very much surprised how off the mark you have become. Its not how you were raised (well most of us who were lucky with good parents). Maybe we need to be those iron clad ducks but learn to fight it at the source. Our kids and friends, talk what you hear and really listen next time your kid gets on the phone or talks to his friends and family.... Being mad or angry at something is not a reason to change your tune... think before you open your mouth or type on the keyboard. How would it sound to you if you were the recipiant of whats about to go out... its eye opening.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Well yes if you follow this to the letter a GM will step in and haul them away.... only thing is the party(s) whom is doing the trash talk have gotten so good at pushing buttons over the years that the skin of the average player has gotten thinner, yes some have developed a thougher hide and let it roll off their backs like well oiled iron clad ducks. But for the most part many cant sit by and let it happen and break the cardinal rule and blast the harrassing party back... hence the GM's let it go..... Its not just UO.... every game out there is having the same trouble... its how we as a parent let our children talk to others or ourselves talk to others thats the problem. The only one we can blame is us... record your familys conversation one night ... and then the next day listen as if it was someone else's home. You will be very much surprised how off the mark you have become. Its not how you were raised (well most of us who were lucky with good parents). Maybe we need to be those iron clad ducks but learn to fight it at the source. Our kids and friends, talk what you hear and really listen next time your kid gets on the phone or talks to his friends and family.... Being mad or angry at something is not a reason to change your tune... think before you open your mouth or type on the keyboard. How would it sound to you if you were the recipiant of whats about to go out... its eye opening.

WHUAT??
*takes a critical hit for 40 points from a rambling wall-o-text*

Report / Ignore / move On ... that is all needs be agreed to ...
and you did that in the first line ...

the skin of the average player has gotten thinner
I disagree with that analogy ...
sounds suspiciously like some kind of an excuse: to Not report
which is what >the rules request that you do< (report the offensive behavior and >move on< )

My ignore list is full ...
and ALL those players are there at that time?
It would be IMPOSSIBLE to remove ONE and put the most recent in?

 

[5% Luck]

Dont get me wrong its not kool to trash talk but realy whats the problem in getting some real world experience in telling someone how it is. I mean If these kids dont get a chance to learn how to tell a person where to stick it what happens when as adults they have the real need to buck authority? Im sayin if they dont learn it here where else they gona learn it? in jail?

 

[Petra Fyde]

You don't buck authority by trash talking. You use reasoned and constructive arguments in polite formal language.
Procedure to follow: a) report it b) don't answer back, c) use ignore.

 

[Gilmour]

As messana posted recently, if you wish to stop herassment the worst thing you can do is react to it.

someone herassing you that you wish punishned? then:

1. Don't give back with herassments of your own. if this happens its a case of an eye for an eye and GMs become powerless. Keep in mind, someone herassing you, does not allow you to herass them.
2. Report with Char ID (The number in front in public chats)
3. Generelly do not not respond to anything they say. Ignore if possible is recommended.

Just go to a different channel.

^ as an alternative to ignoring them. but would like to point out that while it is a game and not alot should be taken serious. it is real people behind the monitors. people often forget this.

ask yourself.. would you say this if he was 7" 300lb standing in front of you? most commonly people are nice then.

as for the rules of conduct.. they can be shortened to 2 words = "Be Nice"

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

If you PvP at all, using ignore is not an option: You then can't see their spells when you are fighting them.

Ignore in General Chat has never worked for me. I always get the "cannot see user" message even when their name and chat number is still on the screen when I submit the ignore request. I suspect I am not the only one.

Going to a different channel is not a good option if they are doing it in the General channel because the General chat is supposed to be the one of general interest. Why should general interest chatters have to seek out refuge from those whose chat is not of general interest?

As to the general issue of paging....I have never once successfully paged a GM for harassment or anything of the kind. In fact on a few occasions I've gotten threatened by the GM for paging. Every once in awhile I'll get help with something not working properly, and for that I am grateful.

But for the most part I just figure it's better to not use the page option at all if I can help it.

-Galen's player

 

[Aurelius]

2. Report with Char ID (The number in front in public chats)

Never been able to get that to work, I get told that ID number player cannot be found, even though they are still spouting various obscenities in general chat..... Tried it three times over several months (it's pretty rare it gets bad enough to offend me, but sometimes it's WAY past reasonable to ask people to put up with a string of mindless obscenities, insults and racial/sexual slurs), got the same failure message every time (for different characters on each occasion), gave up trying.

 

[DenAlton036]

Dont get me wrong its not kool to trash talk but realy whats the problem in getting some real world experience in telling someone how it is. I mean If these kids dont get a chance to learn how to tell a person where to stick it what happens when as adults they have the real need to buck authority? Im sayin if they dont learn it here where else they gona learn it? in jail?

As a 40 year old parent of two, I can not believe I just read this... wow.

Also, as a parent, I just wish the chat filter worked, in the EC at least.

 

[Barry Gibb]

1. Don't give back with herassments of your own. if this happens its a case of an eye for an eye and GMs become powerless. Keep in mind, someone herassing you, does not allow you to herass them.
2. Report with Char ID (The number in front in public chats)
3. Generelly do not not respond to anything they say. Ignore if possible is recommended.

I also add this:
4. Remember who they are so you never help/buy/sell/rez them in the future.

I have a book in my bank box with their names.

Stayin Alive,

BG

 

[Farsight]

If you PvP at all, using ignore is not an option: You then can't see their spells when you are fighting them.

That's the big problem with ignore. I solved it by never going to Felucca so I wouldn't have to clear my ignore list after every EM event. But for those who live in Felucca, ignore=dead.

Reporting rarely yields results, but I couldn't tell you why (bad phrasing, lazy GMs, other issues?).

Not responding means that I don't have to deal with them, but they find other victims in GC who will respond, thus keeping the clutter up in the channel.

I learned quickly that the only way to not hear them in chat was to not go to chat at all (if you make another channel, they can find you). I only use GC for asking for stuff... thankfully, not everyone is as unforgiving of a badly implemented system as I am. Then I can still get answers to questions or other players for my spellweaver.

 

[Barry Gibb]

Dont get me wrong its not kool to trash talk but realy whats the problem in getting some real world experience in telling someone how it is. I mean If these kids dont get a chance to learn how to tell a person where to stick it what happens when as adults they have the real need to buck authority? Im sayin if they dont learn it here where else they gona learn it? in jail?

There is nothing "real world" about trash talking in a video game, when you can hide behind the Anonymity of the Internet. If anything, it falsely demonstrates that the behavior is acceptable, which will land them in deeper trouble (in the "real world").

Stayin Alive,

BG

 

[Barry Gibb]

How about ban them from the chat channels?

I am all for this.

Stayin Alive,

BG

 

[Picus of Napa]

I hardly ever see anyone other than the PvP crowd using gen chat. Sure there is the odd "level at brit" and "selling this useless item" but mostly it's a pvp thing. If the OP actually won a PvP battle or bothered to step into Fel they would see that this is a hugely important part of the whole scene. Someone stated that they don't understand why we say such things but it's because this small community is much tighter than all the others in this game. We have all been in the same guild at one point or another and most of us are all on the same ICQ listings. If not for the nit-picking the "event" would lose something that is hard to describe to those not willing to try.

Don't try and stick your whole be nice and get along hippie crap, it doesn't work and most of us don't want it. I'd rather see a night of "you suck newb" and "He just haxxored my game" than listening to a bunch of complainers whine about the latest MoB is just to hard or my poor pixel crap isn't worth 500 mil. You can make channels, I have never seen a channel for those looking to be nice....no one would join ya as this is the interwebz where every suburban kid is 50 cent.

 

[twoburntfouryou]

This wouldn't be a problem if your number of 'ignored' players wasn't limited. I quickly fill up my list on GL.

Changing channels is not an option because General Chat is where everyone is located.

If I could ignore all the trash talkers - it wouldn't be so bad but when you fill up your ignore list - then its a problem.

Come to Great Lakes - UO's kindergarden shard. You can listen to 6 year olds insult each other more than play the game.

Agree

 

[icm420]

A lot of it is due to having fought the same people for years. If you had been killing and getting killed by someone for literally years you tend to get excited about it.

Also sometimes you have to talk to get people to fight, these days there isn't a huge population of people playing UO, so there are a lot of times when fel seems pretty dead. If someone is imbuing for example and not out fighting, if you start running your mouth that person is more likely to think.. hey im missing a fight .. im going to go see what it's all about..

Faction fighting also gives people 20 minutes to sit around and talk, this is the main reason I do not play faction, I don't like to stop fighting I want to keep it going, I still don't understand that clear winner argument for factions...who cares about winning lets fight!

And of course there is also that feeling that someone just hates their life and needs to find some good from somewhere, and that often translates into talking in a video game where they get a feeling of superiority and are safe from anyone actually doing anything to them.

UO is pretty tame tho by most standards, FPS tend to have the most talk in my experience. But there are still those words that if you say them in UO you will get pulled into jail or banned or w/e.. everyone knows not to say them..

 

[DevilsOwn]

Picus, that's what I've never understood, the need for the trash-talkers to do it in General Chat rather than create a "Good PvP trash in here" channel

the devs should create a system... use a word from this list (one created by them) and you automatically go to the trash channel, and get stuck there..... General is the default channel and some of the stuff that goes on in there even I don't wanna see (and yes, been around the block a few)

 

[Capn Kranky]

er, no. just plain no. if someone wants to trash talk, let them go to the local bar or street corner and start it. lets see how long they can keep it up when a RL beatdown is imminent. school of hard knocks is good.

Fayled has it right ... follow the rules, report-ignore-move on. but one should NOT have to listen to that crap.

and people wonder why I don't use chat at all.

 

[Smoot]

these threads always end up the same...

But im wondering, why do players think it is their right to be i a certain chat?

I hated that uo came out with global chat at first, becuase part of what makes uo uo is interacting with the environments. Chat definitly took some of the "realism" out of the game.

Really, there are so many communication options in the game now that i dont know why this is an issue.
Vent/teamspeaks, regular overhead chat, personally created channels, defualt channels, alliance chat, guild chat.

If you're a parent whos concerned for their child, just tell your kid theyll be punished if caught in general chat, kinda like if they were caught sneaking into an r rated movie.

For personal use, i have no idea why players just Have to be in the One single chat option that they find fault with.

 

[Shinobi]

You will be prompted to enter some details about who and what you are reporting. Keep this short and to the point. For example: "Acheren will not stop calling my llamas fat".

...if this is considered harassment, then what goes on in general chat must be considered manslaughter.

 

[Heimi]

Dont get me wrong its not kool to trash talk but realy whats the problem in getting some real world experience in telling someone how it is. I mean If these kids dont get a chance to learn how to tell a person where to stick it what happens when as adults they have the real need to buck authority? Im sayin if they dont learn it here where else they gona learn it? in jail?

Either this is a joke or you are.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

these threads always end up the same...

yeah, falling on deaf ears. IMO, several have valid points where the 'HARASSMENT Procedure' isn't fixing the problem - why you think that thread is locked? so when people want to comment that it isn't working right, they can't - I'd say additional comments and questions should be PM'd directly

they made a statement about it, they're done, no more helpful advice. It is what it is
good luck & stay out of jail

 

[Longforge]

Dear Poster,

Seriously?

There are multitudes of options to avoid being "offended". Ignore is the main one and it shouldn't be a problem or rant beyond that... it's just that simple.

I value everyone that plays except for cheaters and hacks. I don't spend my days getting offended by other peoples behavior, espcially ones that are cussing and acting like clowns. Why? Well, why get offended and all upset about it. It has nothing to do with me, what Im doing or who I choose to hang around and have fun with. It's just that simple.

I come into game to relax, not play safety patrol and send in GM reports to get people suspended or banned. There's nothing cool about it, you aren't "getting anyone", you're just throwing up an inconvenience to them if action is taken.

We need all the paying players we can get. I dont play this game to determine who I want and who I dont want in it. If people cuss and smack talk so what. If it's that bad... go to the help channel or somewhere where your sensibilities arent bothered.

I find it mildly annoying, but its people... not AI bots. Im not here for happyland or crappyland. UO is great and you're free to do whatever floats your boat alone or with people who you choose.

Treat it like that and you'll be spending your valuable game time on accomplishing things and having fun rather than playing safety patrol to get "pixel punishment" on other people - which is entirely meaningless.

I do value your concern as a fellow player and respect how you feel about it, but just evaluate the waste of time that smack talkers are and enjoy this fun UO experience!

 

[Charin]

Aye we do have options and the main one is report them... problem is is anyone actually getting the reports...

 

[MalagAste]

This wouldn't be a problem if your number of 'ignored' players wasn't limited. I quickly fill up my list on GL.

Changing channels is not an option because General Chat is where everyone is located.

If I could ignore all the trash talkers - it wouldn't be so bad but when you fill up your ignore list - then its a problem.

Come to Great Lakes - UO's kindergarden shard. You can listen to 6 year olds insult each other more than play the game.

Agree

So do I. Galen would too.

The number of people I have on my ignore list just from doing EM events is getting out of control.

Why should I (The one who follows the ToS) have to suffer because others can't?

Why is it I have to go out of my way to avoid the kindergarten round-up and they be allowed to drive dozens of good players from the shard?

Sadly those on GL's who act like a pack of rabid dogs and infantile children have driven tons of decent players off of GL's either to other shards or even worse out of the game entirely.

I know several who have left because of certain players and 95% of those players who are responsible are in the SAME guild.

Which has brought me to where I am now... where I don't care to even log in much anymore. I am sick of hearing the BS, tired of seeing my friends quit and leave and fed up with the lack of Customer Service and nothing being done.

 

[Capt.E]

I'm not sure I understand this correctly. Why can't you ignore them again? PvP gets pretty heated sometimes, and the ability to communicate with the enemy guild is a new thing.

Many of the players on my shard choose to goat players into doing something dumb, or making them lose their cool. It's like in sports when you trash talk your opponent to get them out of their zone.

I realize alot of what is said is not the most intellectual of conversations, but it serves a purpose.

Finally, I live in the united states of america, I am free to say anything I choose to. You or the GMs or anyone else taking away my right to freedom of expression ultimatly diminishes all of our rights.

 

[Petra Fyde]

What I don't understand is, why don't the pvpers create a channel of their own, leaving the general chat for the chat of the general population of the shard?

 

[Aurelius]

Finally, I live in the united states of america, I am free to say anything I choose to. You or the GMs or anyone else taking away my right to freedom of expression ultimatly diminishes all of our rights.

Bull. The right of free speech is for expression of opinions without persecution by authorities or self-appointed judges in something called real life. It's a serious, important right people have died to achieve, and what it means should never be misused so appalingly by anyone able to think for a few seconds just how important that is. It's not an excuse to use someone else's servers and game client to insult and offend other people.

In UO, you agree to the ToS, and if that says control what you type, that is EXACTLY what should be enforced.

 

[puni666]

What I don't understand is, why don't the pvpers create a channel of their own, leaving the general chat for the chat of the general population of the shard?

Because it's general chat. PvP is generally the thing that gets people talking. That or the purchasing/selling of items. People keep their PvM talk to themselves because they don't want a mess of people around them taking supplies they're trying to get. That or no one will help them anyways. Or is this feature only suppose to be used for simulating high school hallway talk?

 

[fraidy cat]

I just raised this issue in another thread, and have to say it's one of the reasons I'm considering leaving this game.

People can spout off nonsense about not joining the channel, it's needed for PvP, etc., and that's exactly what it is: nonsense. It's called 'General Chat', not 'Continuously and Rudely Insult Anyone Who Says A Word In The Desperate Hopes They'll Come Fight Me' channel.

When players, especially newer ones, come into the game and go to general chat to ask a question, and are met with insults and trash talk without any type of answer to their question, it's a poor, poor reflection of this "community". If you're so desperate for a PvP fight, then maybe YOU should be creating a PvP Trash Talk channel for yourself, rather than HARRASSING AND ABUSING PLAYERS IN GENERAL CHAT IN YOUR DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO **** THEM OFF AND GET THEM TO COME FIGHT YOU!

It's disgusting the amount of profanity slung around in general chat, not to mention the vulgar and obscene topics (let's just throw out graphic and lurid descriptions of sex with barnyard animals for an example--been going on for a couple of weeks now on one shard), and this is the image the "community" and developers think is going to attract new players and keep them?

NONSENSE.

It truly is like being in a high school over-run by gangs of bullies--that's exactly what it sounds like, and I'm growing tired of it. I keep asking myself why in the hell I'm paying a monthly subscription for this. I love the game, I think it's great, but it's beginning to not be worth it anymore.

As a newer player myself (not even a year yet) I can safely say, due to nothing but the ridiculous childishness of those in general chat, you will NEVER see me participating in any kind of PvP now. Thought about it, was excited to try it, and now want nothing at all to do with it. If I wanted to play juvenile insulting games I'd have a brat of my own or be a teacher--I certainly don't need to pay for it monthly.

At this point in time the game is purely single player for me and, sadly, looks to remain this way judging from the lack of any kind of disciplinary action being taken by developers/producers to stop the trash-talk from dragging their game down into the gutter. It makes me laugh, actually, to see posts where people cry about how empty the game is, and how cool it used to be, and where did everybody go. I haven't even been around that long and I can tell you the answer to that one: They all got sick of listening to the ridiculously vulgar BS and decided to be done with it all. It's not game mechanics, or Trammel, or "neon-day-glo-weapons" that drove the majority of the player base away, it's THIS CRAP!

If you're truly concerned about a lack of new players, leaving General Chat the way it is now is DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO SCORE YOU ANY POINTS IN RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION!

 

[icm420]

I just raised this issue in another thread, and have to say it's one of the reasons I'm considering leaving this game.

People can spout off nonsense about not joining the channel, it's needed for PvP, etc., and that's exactly what it is: nonsense. It's called 'General Chat', not 'Continuously and Rudely Insult Anyone Who Says A Word In The Desperate Hopes They'll Come Fight Me' channel.

When players, especially newer ones, come into the game and go to general chat to ask a question, and are met with insults and trash talk without any type of answer to their question, it's a poor, poor reflection of this "community". If you're so desperate for a PvP fight, then maybe YOU should be creating a PvP Trash Talk channel for yourself, rather than HARRASSING AND ABUSING PLAYERS IN GENERAL CHAT IN YOUR DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO **** THEM OFF AND GET THEM TO COME FIGHT YOU!

It's disgusting the amount of profanity slung around in general chat, not to mention the vulgar and obscene topics (let's just throw out graphic and lurid descriptions of sex with barnyard animals for an example--been going on for a couple of weeks now on one shard), and this is the image the "community" and developers think is going to attract new players and keep them?

NONSENSE.

It truly is like being in a high school over-run by gangs of bullies--that's exactly what it sounds like, and I'm growing tired of it. I keep asking myself why in the hell I'm paying a monthly subscription for this. I love the game, I think it's great, but it's beginning to not be worth it anymore.

As a newer player myself (not even a year yet) I can safely say, due to nothing but the ridiculous childishness of those in general chat, you will NEVER see me participating in any kind of PvP now. Thought about it, was excited to try it, and now want nothing at all to do with it. If I wanted to play juvenile insulting games I'd have a brat of my own or be a teacher--I certainly don't need to pay for it monthly.

At this point in time the game is purely single player for me and, sadly, looks to remain this way judging from the lack of any kind of disciplinary action being taken by developers/producers to stop the trash-talk from dragging their game down into the gutter. It makes me laugh, actually, to see posts where people cry about how empty the game is, and how cool it used to be, and where did everybody go. I haven't even been around that long and I can tell you the answer to that one: They all got sick of listening to the ridiculously vulgar BS and decided to be done with it all. It's not game mechanics, or Trammel, or "neon-day-glo-weapons" that drove the majority of the player base away, it's THIS CRAP!

If you're truly concerned about a lack of new players, leaving General Chat the way it is now is DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO SCORE YOU ANY POINTS IN RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION!

Try Dungeons and Dragons Online, it has a great player base so far, people are nice as hell and try to help everyone out. There is a little pvp so you can still try that out if you want to. AND ITS FREE! You can pay them a monthly fee similar to UO and you get access to everything in the game but you don't have to pay. Also it blows UO, WoW, etc away in terms of pvm content. It really is a fun game and I have been playing it a lot more recently. It's story driven quests, so there is no collecting X rat tails or what ever WoW makes yah do. It's worth checking out if you enjoy party based monster killing and deep character customization...and it has decent graphics.

 

[DenAlton036]

well said fraidy...

 

[Viper09]

I just don't bother with general chat, in any game. Played WoW, their general chat in the big areas was so annoying, a lot like UO's. Unless you find yourself actually using gen chat, just get out of it until you need to be in it. Sure it's a couple extra buttons to push, but it's either that or let yourself be miserable.

 

[georox]

Finally, I live in the united states of america, I am free to say anything I choose to. You or the GMs or anyone else taking away my right to freedom of expression ultimatly diminishes all of our rights.

You don't have complete freedom of speech. You can get kicked out of places for saying things very easily, go try it. Also, you can get arrested in many areas for swearing in public or harassing people. Freedom of Speech is limited. Plus, Ultima Online is not a public government owned area. EA can terminate your subscription at any point in time for whatever whim they feel like doing it for. This includes things you say in-game.

Also, if you think you can say anything you choose to, slander and libel, look into those words.

 

[Larisa]

This is the NUMBER 1 reason I HATED when they put the global chat system in.

UO was my first MMO game I played..I LOVED it..the players were all older and more mature, sure in PvP people said random things but nothing nearly as bad as what I hear in the other game I play.

What I find amusing, at least in the other game I play, is that when someone runs out of *applicable* insults, they stoop to the next level..your mom...WHY do people do this?

Oh yeah? Well I'm gonna do such and such to your mom..

Or my favorite...when someone attacks me and I kill them? *Insert random explitive here* off you noob you suck...

Seriously? YOU attacked me, I kill you and IM the noob?

There is NOTHING that can be done about the *lower* IQ of the people that make such rude comments other then Report and ignore and hope the GM's do something about it.

MY motto..SS and report...and unfortunatly I have to do it quite often.

This *my pixals are better then your pixals* mentality really blows my mind

 

[DanteSignas]

World of Warcraft got it right when they used 2 factions against each other in PvP that do NOT speak the same language in game so the attempted trash talk looks like gibberish to the other side.

It's bad enough to get beat but folks rubbing it in and taunting you just make it not fun.

Especially when folks really seem to measure their self worth on how awesome of a killer they and/or their team are.


Another constructive suggestion would be to at least seperate the global into Fel and Tram so the pvpers can just talk amongst themselves.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

So do I. Galen would too.

The number of people I have on my ignore list just from doing EM events is getting out of control.

I have started to put them on ignore, then clear my list after the event, lest I run into them in Fel and am unable to see their spells.

How long I can keep that up I don't know.

However, solving the Global Chat issue won't solve the EM event harassment issue unfortunately.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Another constructive suggestion would be to at least seperate the global into Fel and Tram so the pvpers can just talk amongst themselves.

When they were beta testing the new chat system, this was how it was, as I recall.

A "General--Trammel" that was the default, and a "General--Felucca."

This was a lot better than how it is now, with only one General channel.

Under the older system, how it was in beta, you could always tell people "you know you're in the Trammel channel, right?" And most of the time they would sooner or later move to the Fel channel, realizing that to talk about Fel things in the Trammel channel was silly.

No, it wouldn't prevent active harassment, of course! But if it worked during the beta it would, I suspect, work at least much of the time in non-beta.

-Galen's player

 

[Tazar]

When they were beta testing the new chat system, this was how it was, as I recall.

A "General--Trammel" that was the default, and a "General--Felucca."

This was a lot better than how it is now, with only one General channel.

Under the older system, how it was in beta, you could always tell people "you know you're in the Trammel channel, right?" And most of the time they would sooner or later move to the Fel channel, realizing that to talk about Fel things in the Trammel channel was silly.

No, it wouldn't prevent active harassment, of course! But if it worked during the beta it would, I suspect, work at least much of the time in non-beta.

-Galen's player

That might have worked in Beta... but not on Prodo... we had it on all shards for a while, and the PVP smack-talkers refused to move. They'd rather have an audience to stroke their ego's (even though they look foolish to me).

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

That might have worked in Beta... but not on Prodo... we had it on all shards for a while, and the PVP smack-talkers refused to move. They'd rather have an audience to stroke their ego's (even though they look foolish to me).

Did we have it after beta?

I define beta as that period when it was on the production shards but it was still considered experimental.

Before they put in basic features like, a message when you entered and left.

Oh, quick general comment: Isn't it funny how much smack talkers can get away with but it seems they are controlling the use of swear words, handing out warnings even for words like **** which are heard now and again even on American television? (Since it'll be censored out, I mean the one that begins with s and means feces.)

-Galen's player

 

[Sevin0oo0]

World of Warcraft got it right when they used 2 factions against each other in PvP that do NOT speak the same language in game so the attempted trash talk looks like gibberish to the other side.

LOL, I like that! So PVP requires you to be in a faction? Not sure how a conversion to that would be taken in UO. So if you had a friend that was in the other one , the two of you couldn't talk in game? ha, since I have neither in-game friends nor do i PVP or use chat, I say let's do it!
Maybe factions lets them control balance w/o affecting non-pvp'rs? good idea
I almost started to say if they can't control what happens in the stuff they make, then they need to discontinue it - but then they'd have to shut down UO too

 

[Lady Michelle]

So do I. Galen would too.

The number of people I have on my ignore list just from doing EM events is getting out of control.

I have started to put them on ignore, then clear my list after the event, lest I run into them in Fel and am unable to see their spells.

How long I can keep that up I don't know.

However, solving the Global Chat issue won't solve the EM event harassment issue unfortunately.

-Galen's player

There is a very easy solution to this, and no one gets banned.
You grief or whatever at a EM event, and a EM or players have to page a GM. The GM puts you in jail til the event is over. Once the event is over the GM releases the griefer. Now this leaves it to the griefer to decide do they want to sit in jail, or enjoy the event like everyone else. Will call this timeout for bad behavior.

 

[georox]

There is a very easy solution to this, and no one gets banned.
You grief or whatever at a EM event, and a EM or players have to page a GM. The GM puts you in jail til the event is over. Once the event is over the GM releases the griefer. Now this leaves it to the griefer to decide do they want to sit in jail, or enjoy the event like everyone else. Will call this timeout for bad behavior.

But if someone is constantly causing problems at the events they should have more action taken against them than just jail. If a player is harassing people, spamming and in general causing problems during events constantly, they should have warnings/bans against their accounts. Trolling and harassing people should not be tolerated as highly as it currently is. I think some people take it too far on the other end too on wanting everybody punished, but as it stands the system is too lax.

Also, with how long it takes for a GM page to get a response right now, I don't think that is ideal. EMs either need more power to act themselves, or they need the ability to escalate pages to the top.

 

[Lady Michelle]

But if someone is constantly causing problems at the events they should have more action taken against them than just jail. If a player is harassing people, spamming and in general causing problems during events constantly, they should have warnings/bans against their accounts. Trolling and harassing people should not be tolerated as highly as it currently is. I think some people take it too far on the other end too on wanting everybody punished, but as it stands the system is too lax.

Also, with how long it takes for a GM page to get a response right now, I don't think that is ideal. EMs either need more power to act themselves, or they need the ability to escalate pages to the top.

The problem is nothing is being done to the ones who are constantly causing problems at these events. Maybe spending time in jail, and not being able to be at the event might change their tune.
A page comes in from a EM that should take property over others.

 

[Aurelius]

A page comes in from a EM that should take property over others.

Except the busiest person at any EM event is likely to be the EM themselves, so they are the person least able to take time out and page...

Defining the problems - pages from paying customers pointing at direct infringements of the ToS should be acted on promptly by the GM staff, reporting tools should work. Neither seems to be how things are at the moment, and that's how it's been for a long time. Given these issues still remain my conclusion can only be EA/Mythic either don't resource enough customer support, the people doing that support are not well enough trained to act in accordance with EA/Mythic's stated policy, or EA/Mythic are only paying lip service to the idea of enforcing their own ToS and pocketing the money they save from not doing the work properly.

Past experience suggests the third of those is what's going on.... and the best we can expect is someone saying "no excuses but customer services are not in my control" (which is nothing BUT an excuse for EA/Mythic continuing to get away with low quality and shoddy behaviour to their customers) - and it carrying on exactly as it is now.

 

[icm420]

UO is a Teen game now and not MA. I think that speaks for itself.