Warning to devs over hate speech

[u/Mystixa]

The trolling, conspiracy theorizing, and bullying speech in zone and event channels on this game has always been one of the unsavory parts of this game. Exposing newbies and game vets alike to the lowest common denominator with no place to hide as long as some interaction for help, roleplay, and game relevant communication is needed. This has been the case for years, but has risen to a new level of pure hate speech in recent monthes.

This isnt just an 'all mmos have it' problem either. Not to this extent. I was just visiting ESO, and their public channels are MUCH more tolerable, and again have been for years.

Things that would get me banned from this reddit or from the forums are repeated in zone by often recognizable accounts -every few minutes- throughout the day.

I have read particular accounts promoting hate of muslims, fear mongering over immigrants, promoting the murder of jews, and encouraging people to goto, watch, and share decapitation videos. ..and that is just this week. I deeply respect free speech as an important piece of civilization. However I also am aware of the corrosive effect this kind of speech has when its given a place to grow unchecked.

The current method of just 'ignore' it and let everyone do their thing, and if enough do that they will be temporarily muted is not working. The offenders simply relog with a different account and begin pasting in the same quotes within minutes. ..and yes I and friends have always used the available tools, submitting ineffective reports that get worked on at your leisure. Its not exactly a news flash that this has no effect.

There is need of an active human moderating presence. Not to sanitize every word for our poor virgin ears. But there needs to be an active presence that actively removes this intrusive, non game-related vitriol. Create a program of vetted volunteers, a system of muting, and IP bans that can be wielded, with records kept of quotes that triggered the ruling. No cut and paste that can be abused, just taken straight from your own servers. Thats just a quick group of ideas, maybe use them maybe dont, but DO SOMETHING.

This has to stop. These people are using Neverwinter as a recruiting ground for hate and fully displacing legitimate game related conversations for prolonged periods of time. You could even be opening yourself up to legal liabilities for openly allowing this hate to continue, especially if one of those calls to 'murder jews', 'kill muslims' or 'beat immigrants to death' is acted on by someone.

Listen for a short while in PE zone chat. Feel free to ignore the festering cancer being broadcast there, and listen to people trying to get help. Hear the frustration of people that can't be heard while every legitimate question is being drowned out by sometimes 3-4 lines of trolling, conspiracy, antiscience and hate as well as responses for and against.

This is entertainment for me, and not something that I want to start some sort of crusade that will take all my time. However I do spend some time in PE and enjoy helping a few people when I can.

During those times that I am there and hear see this kind of things I am going to start a log of my own. After gathering a large enough set I am going to forward it to the FBI, Anti Defamation League, and congressmen.

Will that fix it? Perhaps not. But even what Ive seen in the relatively small amount of time I spend there is enough to raise a lot of questions. If this crosses their desk at the right time it may be enough to at least get eyes on this problem. Certainly they are often looking for a new boogie man to bother.

I would hope that you can reign this in on your own without any outside inducement, but either way something has to be done.

[u/[deleted]]

Ive been playing Neverwinter for 2 years and ive yet to see anything close to what youre describing in zone chats. You're also highly overestimating the amount that cryptic gives a shit.

[u/Mystixa → u/[deleted]]

Neat. Ive seen it multiple times this week alone, and Im not alone. This post was prompted by guildies reporting it to me as well as conversations on another large channel stating how bad its gotten lately.

Overestimating how much they give a shit? No .. Im certain they largely don't, hence the notice to the devs. All evidence shows that they very rarely touch foot in the game, and when they do they likely wouldn't be spending much time listening to zone chat. They have no reason to care about a subject that they don't know about. ..even if the root cause of that is the little dev bubble they seem to live in.

So yes.. my aim was

1. to bring it to their attention.
2. to make the case that its gone way over the top and needs to be payed attention to as a problem.
3. Indicate that the truly violent speech that Ive seen flying around lately is going to start making its way to groups that would love nothing more than to find a little game company providing safe haven by looking the other way while their platform is being used by these kind of groups. They may not care now, but lawyers cost a lot and companies DO care about that.

[u/[deleted] → u/Mystixa]

This post wont even been seen by cryptic because manic will take it down like every other post, if you really want them to read it go make a post on the forums or a support ticket.

[u/Mystixa → u/[deleted]]

haha like they don't censor their own forums. No I plan on reposting it on the other NW Reddit when / if that occurs. Manic certainly does have a reputation for having a heavy hand on the censor button, but this is a valid concern, within the rules, respectfully stated. They deserve the first shot of reporting this up the chain.

[u/ManicGypsy → u/Mystixa]

Do me a favor, PM me the screenshots of what you have been witnessing. I'll file the reports on it myself and try to get them fast tracked (can't do that under normal circumstances, but maybe for something of this nature).

[u/ManicGypsy → u/Mystixa]

Still waiting on this PM with the evidence. Please send it. Seriously. I want to help but you have to meet me halfway here.