Religion and Politics in Public Channels: Please Make It End! [Archive]

Aldelbert

02-16-2009, 08:41 AM

Nearly every morning and afternoon on Antonia Bayle, certain individuals who will remain nameless, start up the exact same religious and politic arguements on the dime. The channel becomes immediately hostile with lots of flaming although self-censored as both sides have been /reported and /petitioned for cursing in a public channel. They bully and boss around anyone else who asks them to take it to tells or to a private channel. They claim that the level chats are public and they can discuss whatever topic they please in it and if they don't like it to ignore all of them. This is basically impossible as they always rope in someone dumb enough to spread the flaming and they constantly switch alts/characters to spread their beliefs.I've become all too used to turning off the 1-9 public chat channels upon the arrivial of these incosiderate folks who force their topic onto the channel. Normally, I'm open to whatever people want to discuss but these two topics provide the most flamebaiting and hateful discussions I've seen. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.

Loolee

02-16-2009, 10:24 AM

If its the same individuals all the time, then I'd put them on ignore. Personally, I generally don't follow the lvl chat channels unless my guild and friends chat is quiet or I am looking for a group. The insipidness of the conversations in there seem to slowly melt IQ points away and I cannot afford the loss.

StaticLex

02-16-2009, 11:34 AM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>People like you never cease to amaze me. You sign up to play a massive MULTIPLAYER online game and then proceed to whine about the conversation content. If you don't like what you are hearing, make like real life and do what you have to do to leave the area.And no, I don't play on AB.

stgninja

02-16-2009, 11:41 AM

<cite>Loolee wrote:</cite><blockquote>If its the same individuals all the time, then I'd put them on ignore.</blockquote>^^^ This/ignore is one of the best commands tbh and its always worked fine for me.

feldon30

02-16-2009, 03:07 PM

The nonsense and chaos of level 70-79 chat is subscription money well spent. The ignorance and arrogance of people in these chat channels provides endless entertainment. If it truly bothers you, I'd suggest developing a sense of humor and/or using /ignore.

Zarador

02-16-2009, 03:14 PM

<cite>StaticLex wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>People like you never cease to amaze me. You sign up to play a massive MULTIPLAYER online game and then proceed to whine about the conversation content. If you don't like what you are hearing, make like real life and do what you have to do to leave the area.And no, I don't play on AB.</blockquote>So basically, in real life, if you go to see a movie in a Cinema, you have no problem at all if the people next to you start discussing politics and religion during the movie? I mean after all, if you wanted privacy, you would wait for it to come out and watch it on DvD or On-Demand? How about a nice restaurant where the people next to you are having a loud conversation? You did go out to a public place so the loud mouth discussing his hemorrhoid operation should be quite welcome.It's a fantasy game where many people choose to leave real life behind them for a few hours. This is just like the argument on foul language in public channels. Part of being an adult is knowing what conversations are appropriate for your current enviornment.Funny thing is, we actually have local bars in our area that will politely ask you to leave if you engage in a heated political or religeous conversation. Take it to the side and discuss all you like. Take it public and your asking for trouble.

PeterJohn

02-16-2009, 03:34 PM

/ignore does not work!!!Here is why: I refuse to put everyone who responds to the flames on /ignore as well. If there is an instigator that I put on /ignore, I still have to listen to all the responses to the flame from all the folks in the channel. 99% of those folks I do not want to put on /ignore.Here is an actual (well, made up) chat log from yesterday:<ul><li>Player1 tells Level_30-39, "50 templar LFG"</li><li>Player2 tells Level_30-39, "35 bruiser LFG"</li><li>(silence)</li><li>Player3 tells Level_30-39, "Shut up you imbecile, God doesn't believe that!"</li><li>(silence)</li><li>Player4 tells Level_30-39, "Just put the guy on ignore already, jeez!"</li><li>(silence)</li><li>Player3 tells Level_30-39, "No, that would be your mother, you dummy."</li><li>Player1 tells Level_30-39, "I hate when you start these flames, Player5."</li></ul>

simpwrx02

02-16-2009, 04:17 PM

<cite>feldon30 wrote:</cite><blockquote>The nonsense and chaos of level 70-79 chat is subscription money well spent. The ignorance and arrogance of people in these chat channels provides endless entertainment. If it truly bothers you, I'd suggest developing a sense of humor and/or using /ignore.</blockquote>QFEIt is so true. Had one of the biggest idiots on ignore on Blackburrow, but only seeing one side of these gems of conversations left me wanting to see the full blown idiocy. SO of course I un-ignored them and had more entertainment.

de lori

02-16-2009, 05:25 PM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>U mean like in communist Russia?

Aldelbert

02-16-2009, 05:43 PM

<blockquote><cite>StaticLex wrote:</cite>So basically, in real life, if you go to see a movie in a Cinema, you have no problem at all if the people next to you start discussing politics and religion during the movie? I mean after all, if you wanted privacy, you would wait for it to come out and watch it on DvD or On-Demand? How about a nice restaurant where the people next to you are having a loud conversation? You did go out to a public place so the loud mouth discussing his hemorrhoid operation should be quite welcome.It's a fantasy game where many people choose to leave real life behind them for a few hours. This is just like the argument on foul language in public channels. Part of being an adult is knowing what conversations are appropriate for your current enviornment.Funny thing is, we actually have local bars in our area that will politely ask you to leave if you engage in a heated political or religeous conversation. Take it to the side and discuss all you like. Take it public and your asking for trouble.</blockquote>This is exactly what I mean. People on this board can be repremanded and have threads locked for flamebaiting and essentially having a heated arguement which there is nothing equal in the game itself.And no de lorian, not like communist Russia. There's already a number of activities that you're refrained from discussing in the chat channels and on this board as this is a PG-13 setting.

Xisi

02-16-2009, 07:02 PM

What's so particularly horrible to see religion and politics in public channels? I mean why are you even bothered if you don't care. Why do you care even the channels have flameware going on if you don't participate? I don't care if the people sitting next to me are discussing about religion or politics since they have every right to discuss and I have no business to poke in their conversation. It's absurd to suggest that they should be removed simply because of the topic. Are you going to suggest that any TV stations should stop talking about politics and religion since they are more public than any other channels, media...I thoroughly enjoy public debate on those issues since it gives me insight from different perspectives and try to understand their stance. There are some less intelligent discussion but they are also entertaining to certain degree. Never underestimate the intelligence of your fellow citizens.

DngrMou

02-16-2009, 07:21 PM

<cite>Loolee wrote:</cite><blockquote>If its the same individuals all the time, then I'd put them on ignore. Personally, I generally don't follow the lvl chat channels unless my guild and friends chat is quiet or I am looking for a group. The insipidness of the conversations in there seem to slowly melt IQ points away and I cannot afford the loss.</blockquote>I'm convinced, with a little work, I could get a decent flame war going in 1-9 over the benefits of corrugated vs smooth paperclips.

StaticLex

02-16-2009, 07:42 PM

<cite>Zarador wrote:</cite><blockquote>So basically, in real life, if you go to see a movie in a Cinema, you have no problem at all if the people next to you start discussing politics and religion during the movie? I mean after all, if you wanted privacy, you would wait for it to come out and watch it on DvD or On-Demand? How about a nice restaurant where the people next to you are having a loud conversation? You did go out to a public place so the loud mouth discussing his hemorrhoid operation should be quite welcome.</blockquote>1.) Talking in a movie theater is against the rules of the movie theater itself. Not only that, but it wouldn't matter if the people were discussing a cookbook, automobile mufflers, OR politics and religion, it would still be poor form and likely to catch a warning from an usher. Discussing politics and religion in EQ2 is NOT against any rule.2.) The problem people have with politics and religion is the nature of the subject, not how loudly they talk about it. There is obviously no volume control for text, so trying to compare it to some guy who is talking loudly about his butt problems is stupid and utterly fails to make your point.It's a fantasy game where many people choose to leave real life behind them for a few hours.Good grief I am so tired of hearing this trite excuse to justify censoring other people. Until there is some rule in the EULA that says not to discuss specific topics, stop trying to impose your playstyle on the rest of the people in the game.

StaticLex

02-16-2009, 07:43 PM

<cite>Lenova@Permafrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>What's so particularly horrible to see religion and politics in public channels? I mean why are you even bothered if you don't care. Why do you care even the channels have flameware going on if you don't participate? </blockquote>Careful with this logic or some people's heads might explode. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" />

Solzak

02-17-2009, 10:15 AM

I understand the problem - the public level channels are made for people to group, get help, etc. And these flame wars make that all but impossible. Add to that the fact that lvl_1-9 channel is being used by juat about everyone of any level trying to goup up, because anyone on any alt can see that channel.But I have to agree that outlawing any kind of speech outside of patently vulgar or illegal is way too restrictive, not to mention impossible. Can you imagine the number of people SoE would have to employ to watch every public channel on Every server? A computer program can't handle it - they aren't smart enough to tell flame wars from a long, staid discussion on the new Hate changes, or the guy in Everfrost who just can't find that stupid blue shard and everyone and their brother is trying to help.Laugh at them. Yell at your computer screen. Or ignore them, in whatever fashion you choose. But restrict them? Not just impossible, its wrong. LOL - I can't even give examples of WHY its wrong, because those would start a flame war. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" />

Seidhkona

02-17-2009, 10:21 AM

If a channel is filled at times with stupid dreck you don't want to see, just shut that channel off. Contact people on your friends list or in-guild to build groups while the stupidity reigns.And /ignore the most egregious offenders.

liveja

02-17-2009, 10:50 AM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>Except that, AFAIK, there's no way for SOE to do this.Personally, I prefer to simply turn the channel off entirely if it's getting too stupid.

Zhadowsee

02-17-2009, 10:50 AM

MMOs are not the place to find quality conversation.

Loolee

02-17-2009, 10:57 AM

<cite>Flaye@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>Except that, AFAIK, there's no way for SOE to do this.Personally, I prefer to simply turn the channel off entirely if it's getting too stupid.</blockquote>No there is not, but courteous members of the potentially offensive conversation can say:/1-9 Hey, this conversation is getting a bit heated and I'm sure not everyone wants to hear us pontificate when they are trying to have fun, lets take it to a less crowded channel. How about /join politichat ?Of course, people who spout off about politics are generally not very courteous anyway.

liveja

02-17-2009, 11:07 AM

<cite>Loolee wrote:</cite><blockquote>/1-9 Hey, this conversation is getting a bit heated and I'm sure not everyone wants to hear us pontificate when they are trying to have fun, lets take it to a less crowded channel. How about /join politichat ?.</blockquote>Sadly, that common sense invitation would get lost in the slog of "your mom!!!1" & what-not. Even if it didn't, "polichat" isn't the wide-open Total Drama Island that the level chat channels are, & everyone wants to be where the party is.

Loolee

02-17-2009, 11:10 AM

<cite>Flaye@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Loolee wrote:</cite><blockquote>/1-9 Hey, this conversation is getting a bit heated and I'm sure not everyone wants to hear us pontificate when they are trying to have fun, lets take it to a less crowded channel. How about /join politichat ?.</blockquote>Sadly, that common sense invitation would get lost in the slog of "your mom!!!1" & what-not. Even if it didn't, "polichat" isn't the wide-open Total Drama Island that the level chat channels are, & everyone wants to be where the party is.</blockquote>Very true, idiots love an audience.

Rijacki

02-17-2009, 12:21 PM

<cite>Loolee wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Flaye@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Loolee wrote:</cite><blockquote>/1-9 Hey, this conversation is getting a bit heated and I'm sure not everyone wants to hear us pontificate when they are trying to have fun, lets take it to a less crowded channel. How about /join politichat ?.</blockquote>Sadly, that common sense invitation would get lost in the slog of "your mom!!!1" & what-not. Even if it didn't, "polichat" isn't the wide-open Total Drama Island that the level chat channels are, & everyone wants to be where the party is.</blockquote>Very true, idiots love an audience.</blockquote>That's the sole reason they start those flame fests, for the audience.

Spritelady

02-17-2009, 12:25 PM

Here's a great idea!If you don't like what is said in channels and it seems to annoy you since you want privacy (in a MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER online role play game) TURN OFF THE CHANNELS!Problem solved, have a nice day!<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/908627bbe5e9f6a080977db8c365caff.gif" border="0" />

Dareena

02-17-2009, 12:38 PM

The only thing is that the main purpose (at least on LDL) is for new players to ask ignorant questions in 1-9. These people tend to be newer to the game and are unintentionally clueless. Yet despite the lack of readily available supply of information, they gather the courage and post their uneducated questions for everyone to see. For self concious people, that's an impressive feat.That's why I keep the 1-9 channel on. I remember what it's like to be new to this game. But when people go off on tangents that clog the entire chat channel, all of the genuine "newbie" questions are buried in that landslide of garbage. Because while you're mentally tuning the channel out, you're likely to miss seeing the one line of text hidden within 20-30 lines of nothing.Or we could just turn off the "barrens chat" channel. But if we do that, then all of those poor new players are going to be left out to dry. Just how long would you play a game that gave you very little guideance and no one answered your questions? I don't know about the rest of you, but I would likely because frustrated. And if they do get that turned off on EQ2 so early on, just how long will they stay until they move on to a more user friendly game? Probably not very long at all.

liveja

02-17-2009, 12:45 PM

<cite>Dareena@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>The only thing is that the main purpose (at least on LDL) is for new players to ask ignorant questions in 1-9. These people tend to be newer to the game and are unintentionally clueless. Yet despite the lack of readily available supply of information, they gather the courage and post their uneducated questions for everyone to see. For self concious people, that's an impressive feat.That's why I keep the 1-9 channel on. I remember what it's like to be new to this game. But when people go off on tangents that clog the entire chat channel, all of the genuine "newbie" questions are buried in that landslide of garbage. Because while you're mentally tuning the channel out, you're likely to miss seeing the one line of text hidden within 20-30 lines of nothing.Or we could just turn off the "barrens chat" channel. But if we do that, then all of those poor new players are going to be left out to dry. Just how long would you play a game that gave you very little guideance and no one answered your questions? I don't know about the rest of you, but I would likely because frustrated. And if they do get that turned off on EQ2 so early on, just how long will they stay until they move on to a more user friendly game? Probably not very long at all.</blockquote>IOW, what you do is simply ignore the dreck as best you can, & soldier on trying to help the new players who occasionally have questions.Because, in reality, there's nothing that SOE can do about it. As I've said many times before, in many other contexts: the GAME is not broken -- the PLAYERS are, & SOE has no patch for broken players.

Vain

02-17-2009, 12:45 PM

We all have our own built-in /ignore function - our brain is able to rapidly determine what is and isn't useful information (especially when it is in the form of text) and process only that which we feel to be pertinent.The movie/restaurant analogies are not equivalent to the MMORPG world. It is more like a newspaper (or a magazine). You purchase a newspaper/magazine subscription, you begin reading it, your brain scans the content and determines that there are some articles which you would like to read (eg. How much weight has Jessica Simpson gained?) and those that you do not want to read (eg. Catepillar CEO contradicts Obama) and you move on with the paper/magazine.I mean, you could write scathing letters to the editor outlining your rage and contempt for those articles that annoy you and demand the newspaper/magazine eliminate them from their content but, chances are, your angst will "fall on deaf ears" (or "blind eyes" in this case).

Daysy

02-17-2009, 12:55 PM

If these were real discussions about political or religious matters, most people wouldn't mind. The problem is that those are just the quasi-topics chosen for their annoyance value, and the "conversations" are not started with any intention of sharing ideas or exchanging viewpoints, but simply to be a nuisance to the population in general. Why should the majority have to deprive themselves of the use of the channels, and why should newcomers to Norrath be deprived of help from those people, just so that a few attention-seekers can get their daily jollies? It's obvious that the intention is purely to cause harassment and, on those grounds, Sony should take action.

liveja

02-17-2009, 01:00 PM

<cite>Daysy wrote:</cite><blockquote>Sony should take action.</blockquote>Such as? The only thing I can think of, off-hand, would be live moderators on every chat channel.Note that I'm not saying there shouldn't be, just that I can't think of any other way to effectively "take action", & that kind of action would cost SOE more money then it feels is necessary. If that wasn't the case, I think SOE would have done exactly that by now; it's not like this "issue" hasn't existed for as long as MMOs have.

Loolee

02-17-2009, 01:06 PM

<cite>Daysy wrote:</cite><blockquote>If these were real discussions about political or religious matters, most people wouldn't mind. The problem is that those are just the quasi-topics chosen for their annoyance value, and the "conversations" are not started with any intention of sharing ideas or exchanging viewpoints, but simply to be a nuisance to the population in general. Why should the majority have to deprive themselves of the use of the channels, and why should newcomers to Norrath be deprived of help from those people, just so that a few attention-seekers can get their daily jollies? It's obvious that the intention is purely to cause harassment and, on those grounds, Sony should take action.</blockquote>Sounds like a very fine line is being drawn here and I'm sure SoE isn't keen on making more work for themselves on this distinction. If you think that people are harassing others, then it is within your rights to /report and /petition them, but I wouldn't expect SoE to do a great deal about it.

Zarador

02-17-2009, 01:07 PM

<cite>Spritelady wrote:</cite><blockquote>Here's a great idea!If you don't like what is said in channels and it seems to annoy you since you want privacy (in a MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER online role play game) TURN OFF THE CHANNELS!Problem solved, have a nice day!<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/908627bbe5e9f6a080977db8c365caff.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>Since your going to use the massive multi-player part as a defense for acting rude in channels, then be sure and demand that they adhere to the role play part as well. (and no, I don't actually expect many to role play at all).Ironically, we see it all the time in public.<ul><li>The guy who has to use the cell phone while taking the time of the sales clerk in the store or holding up the line. Just because you can use it almost anywhere does not mean you should use it everywhere.</li><li>The guy in the cinema who finds it necessary to tell you what's going to happen next since he saw the movie or read the book. Worse yet, he has a cell phone and is so important he has to let everyone know it.</li><li>The guy who is yelling at his kids in the restaurant because their not behaving well in public (go figure).</li></ul>Rude is rude. People should not have to ignor you or step away from the conversations in chat to get away from some selfish person who never learned how to play with others. Since your rebuttle was that it's a "Massive Multi-Player" game, then perhaps people should learn to realize that the chat channel was designed to enhance the game play, not to be a soap box for every village idiot to spout their dribble.

liveja

02-17-2009, 01:14 PM

<cite>Zarador wrote:</cite><blockquote>Rude is rude.</blockquote>This entire thread is useless -- seriously! -- until the day that SOE can patch "rude" out of the game.I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting for that GU.

Daysy

02-17-2009, 01:34 PM

<cite>Flaye@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>The only thing I can think of, off-hand, would be live moderators on every chat channel.</blockquote>Ideal as that would be, it's impractical. However, as Aldelbert said in the original post, it's not just an occasional occurrence, it's something that happens frequently and if Sony is at all concerned about this type of behaviour and its effect on the population, I should imagine they could spare a few manhours for it to receive attention.

Zarador

02-17-2009, 01:51 PM

<cite>Flaye@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Zarador wrote:</cite><blockquote>Rude is rude.</blockquote>This entire thread is useless -- seriously! -- until the day that SOE can patch "rude" out of the game.I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting for that GU.</blockquote>Could not agree with you more Flaye!My point was simply to say it's rude, plain and simple. People need to stop making excuses as to why being rude is acceptable and just, as you did, call it what it is. Rude!

liveja

02-17-2009, 01:56 PM

<cite>Daysy wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Flaye@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>The only thing I can think of, off-hand, would be live moderators on every chat channel.</blockquote>Ideal as that would be, it's impractical. However, as Aldelbert said in the original post, it's not just an occasional occurrence, it's something that happens frequently and if Sony is at all concerned about this type of behaviour and its effect on the population, I should imagine they could spare a few manhours for it to receive attention.</blockquote>My apologies, but I'm confused. The only "ideal" solution, as you say, is "impractical", so I'm not sure what SOE can do with just "a few man hours." The problem is far more complex than it would take to solve with "just a few man hours", & the fact that this issue has lasted for as long as MMOs have, with pretty much no real enforcement by any MMO company I can think of, tells me that it's nowhere near as huge an issue as people make it out to be.

interstellarmatter

02-17-2009, 02:09 PM

Some guy had his spell macro texts displayed on 1-9 chat the other day. Others spam DPS parses. Religion, politics..it's like the wild west in 1-9. <shrug> I leave it off but my spouse has it on right next to me. If someone goes over the top, I'll report them. Otherwise, ignore is your best friend. If someone is asking a newbie question, I never respond to them in the 1-9. I immediately take up their question in private tells.Not much that SOE can do except respond to reports of people who go overboard.

Armawk

02-17-2009, 07:32 PM

Given that Antonia Bayle is a roleplaying server, and given that level chat channels are not OOC channels, then such real world discussions are out of place there. go to an OOC channel for that. Of course its never going to happen, but honestly it ought to. Non RP servers however cannot expect that.

Lethe5683

02-18-2009, 11:23 AM

Nerphon

02-18-2009, 12:07 PM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>I've become all too used to turning off the 1-9 public chat channels upon the arrivial of these incosiderate folks who force their topic onto the channel.</blockquote>How long have you been between the levels of 1 and 9 for? it shouldnt be that hard lol. Just level up a few times and leave the channel! :-p

Nerphon

02-18-2009, 12:10 PM

Sprin

02-18-2009, 01:33 PM

<cite>DngrMouse wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm convinced, with a little work, I could get a decent flame war going in 1-9 over the benefits of corrugated vs smooth paperclips.</blockquote>Seriously,If anyone honestly believes that smooth paperclips are even remotely as effective and efficient as corrugated paperclips, they need to L2Clip TBH... corrugated clips are so OP compared to smooth ones.... i dont see how this can be argued TBH... so there can't be a "decent" flame war on such an obviously one-sided argument...

liveja

02-18-2009, 01:35 PM

<cite>Ironfyst@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>DngrMouse wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm convinced, with a little work, I could get a decent flame war going in 1-9 over the benefits of corrugated vs smooth paperclips.</blockquote>Seriously,If anyone honestly believes that smooth paperclips are even remotely as effective and efficient as corrugated paperclips, they need to L2Clip TBH... corrugated clips are so OP compared to smooth ones.... i dont see how this can be argued TBH... so there can't be a "decent" flame war on such an obviously one-sided argument...</blockquote>People who prefer corrugated paper clips are the ones who need to L2Clip ... corrugation is just a crutch to assist unskilled n00bz.Anyone who thinks otherwise is a deluded tool of anti-American eco-terrorists.

Oakum

02-18-2009, 01:48 PM

<cite>shaunfletcher wrote:</cite><blockquote>Given that Antonia Bayle is a roleplaying server, and given that level chat channels are not OOC channels, then such real world discussions are out of place there. go to an OOC channel for that. Of course its never going to happen, but honestly it ought to. Non RP servers however cannot expect that.</blockquote>The in channel flame wars makes me miss the original Faydark server. There the LVL channels were used to ask questions and help each other out, lfg,link HQ competion rewards/fabled drops for well meant grats, ect. There were discussions on how to do things with different opinions but they very rarely went to the flame wars that Befallens lvl chats have.I have some guildies who formed their guild to give it a try. They told me how they were flamed over their choice of guild name. Where is the helpfulness in that?Thats why I pretty much abandoned lvl chats unless looking for masters, groups, or group members. Its on the same window as my guild and its tabbed over to guild chat/tells most of the time.There is no solution like people said, SOE can't fix childishness from players.

Sprin

02-18-2009, 01:52 PM

<cite>Flaye@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Ironfyst@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>DngrMouse wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm convinced, with a little work, I could get a decent flame war going in 1-9 over the benefits of corrugated vs smooth paperclips.</blockquote>Seriously,If anyone honestly believes that smooth paperclips are even remotely as effective and efficient as corrugated paperclips, they need to L2Clip TBH... corrugated clips are so OP compared to smooth ones.... i dont see how this can be argued TBH... so there can't be a "decent" flame war on such an obviously one-sided argument...</blockquote>People who prefer corrugated paper clips are the ones who need to L2Clip ... corrugation is just a crutch to assist unskilled n00bz.Anyone who thinks otherwise is a deluded tool of anti-American eco-terrorists.</blockquote>Thats like saying that people that use electricity or a color television, or the wheel, or any technological advancement that has evolved over the years from that of cave-man-esque status (smooth paperclip) to that of advanced technological design (corrugated) is "n00b"... its called evolution, and advancement in society... i would say people still using a Tape player in their car is a n00b, not the person using the MP3 player... wouldnt you? thus goes for smooth vs corrugated paperclips... smooth is old and outdated... people still using those are ancient and need a good swift boot in the rear to knock them into reality... that smooth is out and corrugated is the new wave of the future...

Thunndar316

02-18-2009, 04:37 PM

I get my popcorn out, and watch the idiots go at it

Nerphon

02-18-2009, 05:29 PM

One thing that would help is lock out level channels once you pass that level.

Azekah1

02-18-2009, 06:16 PM

My favorite, is EVERY time God is mentioned...someone says..."there is no god"lol and then a flame war starts about wether god exists or not...Its a vicious cycle...rather funny though, if you don't let it bother you.But tbh, I leave 0-9 open because a lot of groups lfm there.

Wulfgr

02-18-2009, 06:26 PM

<cite>Charayne@Kithicor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>U mean like in communist Russia?</blockquote>In soviet Russia Religion discusses you!

Valdaglerion

02-18-2009, 07:32 PM

Firstly, I tend to agree the channel chat (especially 1-9) has gotten out of control. That said, I dont think there is anything SOE can do to censor the conversation topics nor do I think it should be their responsibility to do so. If it was added to the EULA it would be enough to get rid of reported offenders /shrug.My thoughts:<ol><li>1-9 has become the defact GENERAL chat channel. I think this is the result of alt-itis as every toon gets access to it so regardless of what group you are forming, etc people always drop LFM statements here to try and snag higher level players currently on alts for PUGS.</li><li>level channels I THOUGHT was supposed to be specific topics relegated to the level being requested (groups, quests, questions, etc) but I believe the channels need to be set account wide. If you have multiple toons you should be able to view any channel up to your highest level toon at any time. Perhaps this would get rid of the general usage for 1-9.</li><li>I find many new players are discouraged by the bashing they take in 1-9 for asking noob questions when the fact is, they are asking in the appropriate channel. Further, they have no idea what Maidens is but its being advertised in level 1-9 chat so they respond and get blasted with comments like "It's not a zone you need to worry about noob" or "If you have to ask you dont need to go there" or "78+ duh" none of which is helpful to a newer player or a returning one. Wonder how many decide the game is full of jerks before they really get into it?</li></ol>

Armawk

02-18-2009, 08:17 PM

<cite>Lethe5683 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>shaunfletcher wrote:</cite><blockquote>Given that Antonia Bayle is a roleplaying server, and given that level chat channels are not OOC channels, then such real world discussions are out of place there. go to an OOC channel for that. Of course its never going to happen, but honestly it ought to. Non RP servers however cannot expect that.</blockquote>I think anything besides /g, /gu, /s, /sh is OOC.</blockquote>That is the reality yes. I did say its never going to happen.

Azekah1

02-18-2009, 10:12 PM

<cite>Leapoltis@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Charayne@Kithicor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>U mean like in communist Russia?</blockquote>In soviet Russia Religion discusses you!</blockquote>rofl....!

Giral

02-19-2009, 03:47 AM

if it is religious or political Discussions in the chat channel , then there is no reason to censor that just becuase you personaly dont care , or want to hear about politics or religion. i probably wouldnt want to hear it either, but if it was a good debate then even if i dont like the subject matter i might end up reading it and probably end up participating in it against my better judegment lol .if it is religious/political Spam to just start flame wars with then yes some people might report the repeat offenders, most wont care or will just ignore the chat tho becuase they havent logged on to worry about what is happening in chat channel's or if some people feathers are being ruffled by immature pricks with nothing better to do.

revren

02-19-2009, 06:10 AM

Hey HeyOh No some one is talking abuot something i do not like , lets ban it... How do you peple live in the real world , do you just carry around alot of cotton? I keep Lvl 1-9 open for alot of reasons, and atleast on perma most of the newb questions get answered , there may be a sarcastic answer here and there , but i tihnk in general people send tells to the people, I know that i have multiple times. People are gonna talk about what they want, it is just better to get over it , and start using the good old ignore function.However, about the whole imersion/Role Playing argument, last time i was in a midevil fantasy world, i could only talk to the people i could see , back before cell phones you could not send a personal tell hal;f way across Norath , oh the good old days.Welcome HomeRev

Eddes

02-19-2009, 09:18 AM

<cite>DngrMouse wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Loolee wrote:</cite><blockquote>If its the same individuals all the time, then I'd put them on ignore. Personally, I generally don't follow the lvl chat channels unless my guild and friends chat is quiet or I am looking for a group. The insipidness of the conversations in there seem to slowly melt IQ points away and I cannot afford the loss.</blockquote>I'm convinced, with a little work, I could get a decent flame war going in 1-9 over the benefits of corrugated vs smooth paperclips.</blockquote>LOL! agreed!

Mytilma

02-19-2009, 09:22 AM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>Nearly every morning and afternoon on Antonia Bayle, certain individuals who will remain nameless, start up the exact same religious and politic arguements on the dime. The channel becomes immediately hostile with lots of flaming although self-censored as both sides have been /reported and /petitioned for cursing in a public channel. They bully and boss around anyone else who asks them to take it to tells or to a private channel. They claim that the level chats are public and they can discuss whatever topic they please in it and if they don't like it to ignore all of them. This is basically impossible as they always rope in someone dumb enough to spread the flaming and they constantly switch alts/characters to spread their beliefs.I've become all too used to turning off the 1-9 public chat channels upon the arrivial of these incosiderate folks who force their topic onto the channel. Normally, I'm open to whatever people want to discuss but these two topics provide the most flamebaiting and hateful discussions I've seen. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>I have an alt on AB and believe me I have a reason to lump together /shout, /auction, /ooc and all level x-y channels to a special tab called "spam" and bury it under all others. Not missing them so far, and thinking of removing them alltogether.

feldon30

02-19-2009, 11:04 AM

This topic is a dead horse. Let's discuss how immature 70-79 chat is.

Lethe5683

02-19-2009, 01:42 PM

<cite>Azekah1 wrote:</cite><blockquote>My favorite, is EVERY time God is mentioned...someone says..."there is no god"</blockquote>That would be me. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" />

Zarador

02-19-2009, 02:11 PM

I think were missing a golden opportunity here:<ol><li>Create an in-game channel called "NGD Non-Game Discussion"</li><li>Allow the text to be in different colors by ranking. </li><li>Rankings are based on how made /ignore lists you made it on in the past 6 months prior to the channel being established.</li></ol><ul><li>Plain Text: Your here because like a bad car wreck, you just can't look away.</li><li>Bold Text: You enjoy engaging in debates, your anoyingly right to the trolls in channel.</li><li>Blue Text: After a long night of partying and no coffee, you decided to jump into the debates.</li><li>Yellow Text: Pick a topic and I'll argue the exact opposite, even if I agree, till everyone is sick of me.</li><li>Red Text: No one in real life will talk to me, so I logged in here to enlighten you all with my wit and wisdom.</li><li>Invisible text: Because every server has that one special person that no one should ever be subjected to. Of course, that person would not know their text is invisible and as an experiment of what to do with the server data collected, a new AI would randomly provide replies that only they could see to simulate a conversation. To make it simple, it would reply 90% of the time with "Shut the bleep up!" or "Go Play WoW!"</li></ul>

Lethe5683

02-19-2009, 02:13 PM

<cite>Zarador wrote:</cite><blockquote>I think were missing a golden opportunity here:<ol><li>Create an in-game channel called "NGD Non-Game Discussion"</li><li>Allow the text to be in different colors by ranking. </li><li>Rankings are based on how made /ignore lists you made it on in the past 6 months prior to the channel being established.</li></ol><ul><li>Plain Text: Your here because like a bad car wreck, you just can't look away.</li><li>Bold Text: You enjoy engaging in debates, your anoyingly right to the trolls in channel.</li><li>Blue Text: After a long night of partying and no coffee, you decided to jump into the debates.</li><li>Yellow Text: Pick a topic and I'll argue the exact opposite, even if I agree, till everyone is sick of me.</li><li>Red Text: No one in real life will talk to me, so I logged in here to enlighten you all with my wit and wisdom.</li><li>Invisible text: Because every server has that one special person that no one should ever be subjected to. Of course, that person would not know their text is invisible and as an experiment of what to do with the server data collected, a new AI would randomly provide replies that only they could see to simulate a conversation. To make it simple, it would reply 90% of the time with "Shut the bleep up!" or "Go Play WoW!"</li></ul></blockquote>lol

LadyMist

02-19-2009, 08:59 PM

I can't believe you made a thread about this. Can I make one about not letting people talk about Chuck Norris or what they do at home when not in game?

greenmantle

02-19-2009, 09:05 PM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>Nearly every morning and afternoon on Antonia Bayle, certain individuals who will remain nameless, start up the exact same religious and politic arguements on the dime. I've become all too used to turning off the 1-9 public chat channels upon the arrivial of these incosiderate folks who force their topic onto the channel. Normally, I'm open to whatever people want to discuss but these two topics provide the most flamebaiting and hateful discussions I've seen. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote><h2><a name="What"></a>What Is A Troll?</h2>The term derives from "trolling", a style of fishing which involves trailing bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The troll posts a message, often in response to an honest question, that is intended to upset, disrupt or simply insult the group.Usually, it will fail, as the troll rarely bothers to match the tone or style of the group, and usually its ignorance shows.<a href="http://www.flayme.com/troll/#What">http://www.flayme.com/troll/#What</a>Dont feed the trolls eventually they go some where they get more attention.

sleepyjack

03-05-2009, 03:15 AM

As a player on AB, I know exactly what you mean. 1-9 is totally out of control and people take the religion/politics discussion topics to extremes every day multiple times per day.The channel can be useful sometimes for info, but for the most part I stay out of it now as it's just so much useless spam, same with 70-79.

Jaklin

03-05-2009, 04:43 AM

haha this reminds me of 1-9 on runnyeye, when someone says a certain named mob is up. You can guarantee someone will come back with "solo it". There probably thinking they are original and are LOL IRL, the rest of the 1-9 are thinking "What an Idiot"

Craaz

03-05-2009, 09:14 AM

I should RaR Alderbert for this inane comment.Most important though is his inability to understand the social aspects of mmo gaming, the anonymous nature of the discussion, and the ability for one to interact in a forum where ideas are challenged and debated.Every time I walk into my neighborhood coffee shop, I hear at least two emotional-hardcore late-teens talking about some pseudo intellectual crap they've regurgitated from Keith Olberman. Do you see me walking up to the clerk asking him/her/bigender to ask those kids to shut their faces? No Alderbert. No you do not sir.That is all.

Azekah1

03-05-2009, 11:29 AM

/Dave: Oh my god, I just lost 20 plat?!?/Haterforlife: God is dead/Oblivous: Uh, there is no God./Happygolucky: You guys are stupid, God exists, how do you think you got here!?!/Scientist: Uh, we EVOLVED/Potsmoker: Yea, apes and $hi#/Sad: God killed my dog/Religious: If you deny God, you deny yourself.../Antireligious: If I deny God, I free myself!/Pissedoff: OMG S.T.F.U. YOU F'N EXPLITIVES!!!!!!!!

Lexli

03-05-2009, 12:42 PM

<cite>LadyMist wrote:</cite><blockquote>I can't believe you made a thread about this. Can I make one about not letting people talk about Chuck Norris or what they do at home when not in game?</blockquote>Chuck Norris is a noob, and as such uses smooth paperclips.

Sunlei

03-05-2009, 01:02 PM

jaguarjp

03-05-2009, 02:28 PM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>Nearly every morning and afternoon on Antonia Bayle, certain individuals who will remain nameless, start up the exact same religious and politic arguements on the dime. The channel becomes immediately hostile with lots of flaming although self-censored as both sides have been /reported and /petitioned for cursing in a public channel. They bully and boss around anyone else who asks them to take it to tells or to a private channel. They claim that the level chats are public and they can discuss whatever topic they please in it and if they don't like it to ignore all of them. This is basically impossible as they always rope in someone dumb enough to spread the flaming and they constantly switch alts/characters to spread their beliefs.I've become all too used to turning off the 1-9 public chat channels upon the arrivial of these incosiderate folks who force their topic onto the channel. Normally, I'm open to whatever people want to discuss but these two topics provide the most flamebaiting and hateful discussions I've seen. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>My personal strategy was to leave all level chat channels, until I got to 80. I stayed in the 80 channel. Am I missing out on beneficial stuff? Potentially. However, it saves me the agony of reading mind-rotting drivel. Although I'm not the type of person to get upset when people start discussing "sensitive" subjects. Really, I just found the level chat distracting, most of the time, so I turned it off. I'm there to run my toon around, questing and what not, and less so for the social aspect.

therodge

03-05-2009, 05:06 PM

Honestly i am fairly civil in chat channels i make a note not to swear or soy anything blatently offensive, but i can tell you i would quit this game the second they announced their ridding me of my in channel drama, i mean lets face it their is nothing on tv at 3 am and eq2 makes it so much easier to bear with being a night owl

A.Tyndiel

03-05-2009, 05:47 PM

<cite>Graef@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote>I should RaR Alderbert for this inane comment.Most important though is his inability to understand the social aspects of mmo gaming, the anonymous nature of the discussion, and the ability for one to interact in a forum where ideas are challenged and debated.Every time I walk into my neighborhood coffee shop, I hear at least two emotional-hardcore late-teens talking about some pseudo intellectual crap they've regurgitated from Keith Olberman. Do you see me walking up to the clerk asking him/her/bigender to ask those kids to shut their faces? No Alderbert. No you do not sir.That is all.</blockquote>Hence the nature of level chat, someone drops a key igniter...like say the Olberman comment above...and it then turns into something like the following:"Well, consider yourself lucky, those kids couldve been wasting their time regurgitating some demented, pseudo maniacal, hate speech ridden, sewer dribble from Bill Oreilly, Shawn Hannity, or Rush Limbaugh. Or would that not have bothered you as much?"Next thing you know, level chat becomes a political chat battleground. So much for fantasy game immersion. Im all for free speech and all that crap, but I also believe theres a time and a place for everything. If your so fixated on politics, there are plenty of appropriate political chats running at any given time, elsewhere on the net. People dont pay to play this game to be exposed to your real life personal beliefs and angsts. Regardless of your POV.

03-06-2009, 08:31 AM

<cite>Aldelbert wrote:</cite><blockquote>Nearly every morning and afternoon on Antonia Bayle, certain individuals who will remain nameless, start up the exact same religious and politic arguements on the dime. The channel becomes immediately hostile with lots of flaming although self-censored as both sides have been /reported and /petitioned for cursing in a public channel. They bully and boss around anyone else who asks them to take it to tells or to a private channel. They claim that the level chats are public and they can discuss whatever topic they please in it and if they don't like it to ignore all of them. This is basically impossible as they always rope in someone dumb enough to spread the flaming and they constantly switch alts/characters to spread their beliefs.I've become all too used to turning off the 1-9 public chat channels upon the arrivial of these incosiderate folks who force their topic onto the channel. Normally, I'm open to whatever people want to discuss but these two topics provide the most flamebaiting and hateful discussions I've seen. I'd love it to see the discussion of politics and religion restricted to /tells, group chat, and more private means of conversation.</blockquote>I play on AB and I know exactly what you mean Aldelbert. I regularly have to turn off L70-79 chat because of the immature behaviour. It would not be so bad if the debates were well thought out and interesting, but 9 times out of 10 they are people saying stuff to get a rise out of someone else. very immature, as you say there is no need to name names, as we know who the main culprets are. These sorts of individuals want the attention, its a shame that other people don't realise this and refuse to take the bait they put out....I wish there is something that could be done, but unless they are being offensive then theres not a lot SoE can do i guess. Its a shame that these people can't see how immature they are. As people have suggested all we can do really is use the Ignore function or turn off level chat.

Bran

03-06-2009, 02:57 PM

Here I go again with one of my simple responses. My chat box is a little one, off to the left side of my screen. When I'm not doing something I watch it and am amused by the conversations. When a conversation starts that makes my blood pressure begin to inch up I .... (drum roll)... go adventure. Travelling the land, watching for bad guys and dangers like cliffs or those little question marks on the ground, or actually fighting something takes my eyes away from that little box on the left. It's almost as if I /ignore the entire chat channel, but without doing it. CHEERS for ....me!!!

03-06-2009, 04:22 PM

<cite>Makr@Mistmoore wrote:</cite><blockquote>Here I go again with one of my simple responses. My chat box is a little one, off to the left side of my screen. When I'm not doing something I watch it and am amused by the conversations. When a conversation starts that makes my blood pressure begin to inch up I .... (drum roll)... go adventure. Travelling the land, watching for bad guys and dangers like cliffs or those little question marks on the ground, or actually fighting something takes my eyes away from that little box on the left. It's almost as if I /ignore the entire chat channel, but without doing it. CHEERS for ....me!!! </blockquote>I basically do same/similar type of thing. The main exception is I have gotten good at ignoring whole channels with-out having to actually turn them off. I blame this on when I played EQ1/WoW/EQ2/etc.. /shrug at times i do have them turned off because I am simply not even interested in anything that could possibly be said there because I am already busy with <group/raid/guild/etc>.Anyways I am really glad to see these sort of threads.. You want to know why? it really is simple if this is all that folks can whine about then this game is really a good game.. Ooh didn't see that comming. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />