Current News June 22, 2009
 

Important Update to Chat Moderation - June 22, 2009
http://a.disney.go.com/pirates/onlin...vider_line.gif
Starting June 26, 2009, we will add a feature that will detect if players use bad language and will automatically suspend your account if you continue to attempt using foul language. Pirates will be automatically warned two times:
http://a.disney.go.com/pirates/onlin...g1_autoban.JPG
Bad language of any kind is never acceptable in Pirates Online.
http://a.disney.go.com/pirates/onlin...g2_autoban.JPG
On the final warning -- your account will be automatically banned from the Caribbean. The length of time you are removed from the game depends on your account history. If you've had previous violations, you could be banned from the game permanently!
http://a.disney.go.com/pirates/onlin...g3_autoban.JPG

Now if we could get our linked accounts back, they could eliminate the cause of all the bad language. ;)

LOL I agree Nelly!

They're trying to get rid of us anyway they can, rather its us actually leaving, or getting suspended lol.

Good feature, now there's just the issue of educated swearing......

Well does seem like it would have been simpler to just filter out the words.
If you have an exact set of words you are looking for, why not just block them entirely?
The downside to that idea is that it stops everyone, including those that have poor attitudes when perhaps they would rather simply catch those with poor attitudes and get them off the system. If protection from these words is indeed the primary purpose, then this system seems like the hard way to deal with things, including increasing volume of calls to customer service over bans/suspensions.

All my pirate name show in Italics, can people get in trouble for that? I also have this thing with SOS where we ban each other with our names Banman, Bando he calls me I call him Sban or Obanion both are italics could that get us in trouble? This new update is going to be REALLY fun! I bet that Disney is going to enjoy those calls and emails.

At least on test, the red/italicized words do not set off the warnings displayed in the news post. It seems only the outright expletives themselves trip the warnings.

Let hope that remains in open.

What about words like "picture" and "drunk"? Will those also produce warnings? I've been banned over those two words before.

why would u be banned over the word picture? They need to read peoples sentences and not just ban over a word...

I think they might have people watching chats sometimes or maybe a system where if you say something in italic then they might look at it you for a little and then say your good/ I don't need to watch you anymore.

Does this mean I'll get banned just for using a typo?

If your typo turns into an expletive, then yes, you will get a warning. I did extensive testing on this one...ahem...Only the words your mother would wash your mouth out with soap for were caught by the in game warning system.

This is not saying you won't get email warnings and suspensions for other words or phrases Disney catches later on, however. I'm sure this new filter is not replacing the "old" way D did things. Passing personal info, bullying, and vulger language will still get you an email from them if they go through your chat log. It's just catching the outright swearing immediately.

Phew what a relief.

Alot of the words I type come out in red, so im hoping I dont get banned for my typoness :o

Lol good point, or if we actually got a useful update!

Anyway I think the filter system was fine the way it is and that we are more in need of NEW CONTENT than some lousy warning system. It seems to me POTCO is avoiding releasing new content by getting all these small useless things out.

well there is only one thing i can say with out getting banned from the forums
and that is im probably going to get banned from this sometime this month :degen:

I have not seen swearing so I don't see this is a big issue but maybe I don't hang out with the wrong crowd. All this will do those is force people to create subsitutes. I guess its milder but I'd rather as has been mentioned have a filter in place instead of censorship.

One of my friends was leveling to 40 and I told him to smile because I was going to take his picure. I guess I should have said 'screen shot', IDK, but that is what they quoted to me in my email.

Dumb dumb dumb

Are you really telling me that you got a warning for saying "picture". Is this how ridiculous Disney is going to become?

They are just hyper-paranoid about potential predators in a place where there are a lot of kids... so no numbers and nothing referring to email, addresses or locations. And sadly, they have good reason.

I tend to say note for email, snap for screenshot, and one can get creative saying other things...

I agree, Eliza. I have kids and want them to play safely.
However, if someone is reading the flagged comments, they should know if the ban is deserved or not. I have another pirate named Jag and another friend of mine accidentally typed an F instead of the J. I didn't see it as it was blocked. He stared apologizing and I said "For what??" and he told me he typed F instead of J. The next day he was banned for 24 hours because of it - CLEARLY an accident if the moderator had just read the next few lines.

For starters Disney has no right to put any filter on this game. the last time i checked the US Bill of Rights written in 1789 all US Citizens had the right to say what they want when they want and where they want. not to mention that their TOS is on go.com which is not controlled by disney, whence is illegal.

But you dont have a right to use profanity in a game where there are kids ;)

This is a misconception. You know those terms of service you agree to when you sign up? This basically gives up this right. Which really doesnt apply since its a 3rd party environment (Disneys), not a public one which would fall under the rights as defined in the Constitution, and the 1st Amendment. They have the right to refuse service to anyone, for whatever reason, its their house, their rules.

I do not like the new chat filter, I have not set it off yet.... I know what your basic foul language is, I do not know what POTCO foul language is. I hate chatting in fear that some thing will be picked up as foul language and I get banned, I do not curse or talk in any sort of erotic nature on POTCO but this filter I am sure is full of bugs. There are probably ways to get around it, and ways that it can freak out over nothing resulting in a ban. They are trying to eliminate any actual person having to review the chat logs so they can invest even less into the game. I am sure when the filter does bust me, and I know it will... it is going to be for some thing off the wall and crazy.

Disney is not infiltrating on our rights as Americans, the servers we chat on are their property... just like your home is your property. If a person comes into your home talking foul, you have every right to request them to leave and never allow them in your home again.... However some of us have probably put close to $100+ into Mickey's wallet over the last year or so and would like to be shown a little more respect from Disney than this. They could have just kept any swear words from being seen, and show up as arrr, problem solved; just keep a staff member on hand to do random chat log scans for any thing else.

:SkullBullet1:
Larence Tuppington

Still looking for a Chapter II Story Quest...

I don't see why so many are freaking out over this new chat filter. If you're not out-and-out swearing in the game, and never have, then it's not going to have an effect on you. Besides, you get a warning first, (two as a matter of fact) in game, that TELLS you what word was picked up by the filter. If you get a pop-up warning in the game, take a screenie. If the word caught by the filter was indeed NOT offensive, taken out of context, or just flat out a mistake by the filter, call Disney on it. It's what you would have done had you gotten a warning email from them anyways, right?

As Zep said, the "Freedom of Speech" is commonly mis-referred to and does not give one the right to say what they want anywhere they want. The 1st Amendment says Congress cannot make any law that prohibits freedom of speech or the peoples' right to assemble (among other items).

Also, yes, go.com is owned by Disney (technically owned by dig.com which is Disney Internet Group). Disney uses go.com for just about everything they own (e.g. PiratesOnline, ABC, ESPN, etc).

Totally agreed! Numbers and stuff just still show up in red - so unless you are really not smart and start saying words you shouldn't be saing the the "real world" anyway - there's no issue! :)

Yep, and yep :) go.com is a Disney controlled thing :D and - just like the rules for posting here on POF - you argreed to the terms (for for POTCO and here and POF) when you signed up - if you don't like the terms - don't sign up :)

I'm guilty of putting money into the wallet. This game for one and Disneyland this last spring and this coming January back to Disneyworld. Maybe Disneyland again at the end of March when I go back to Vegas for Monsterjam.

I don't have a problem with this set up as long as they don't restrict some words from being said that they think are offensive. I really don't think this is going to keep the foul mouths off the game as they are most of the time basic members and will just make another account.

And I have never even seen any actual cussing going on other than someone making reference to car horns and female dogs. (this is just a hint of what I actually did see in the chat log and yes I did report it right away when I did see it typed out the way it was)

Holy Moly
 

I hope this doesn't get me banned from the forums!
;-)

I agree with the filter, and I also wonder as do some others just "what" words are considered bad language? (The old George Carlin routine on "dirty words" explains the really well known ones.)
I also wonder how strident the filter will be in also detecting acronyms of euphemisms? For example, good ol' Jiminy Cricket will have to banned from POTCO. Why?
"Jiminy Cricket(s)!" was originally a polite expletive euphemism for Jesus Christ. The name of the character is a play on the exclamation (which itself was uttered in Pinocchio's immediate predecessor, 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). Another example occurs in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. When the group first enters the Wizard's chamber, they are startled by the Wizard's sudden thunder-and-lightning display, and Dorothy (Judy Garland) cries, "Oh! Oh! Jiminy Crickets!" Another time it is used is in the short 1938 cartoon starring Mickey Mouse "The Brave Little Tailor".
I'm just sayin'....
Be that as it may, on a related topic which others here have voiced, I understand the problem with numbers but does POTCO understand the problem this creates on the flip side? i.e.; One trying to explain to another player some basic game functions, or even normal conversational phrases -- "one day I will get to level 40", "it takes two to tango", "two's company but three's a crowd", and I suppose Abe Lincoln would have to just shut up: "Four score and seven years ago..."
:laughks2:

*AHEM*

1789: 220 years ago.

*220 years later..*

Look. if ya dont like their rules, dont play the game. if your complaining about the rules in a game which THEY DESIGNED FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, be my guest. but to have a rant about what you can and cant say in THEIR HOME, I gotta object. My words of wisdom?

Let it be.

I am curious, though. Are people's region of residence going to be taken into consideration? There are people on the game that are from Europe, Asia, and Australia and what might be profane language in the United States may not be in these other countries/regions.

For example, I'm from England (currently living in the United States) and there are many words and expressions that Americans find offensive that I don't, and vice versa. I quite often, because of my culture, use the expression "Bloody H**L." Its not uncommon for me to get scolded for my use of "H**L" despite that its not in the context that Americans seem to think it is.

Because I happen to use that expression, would I get a warning?

It may be helpful for a list of "banned" words to get published so that people can be aware that they are taboo ahead of time and not punished for typing them in chats.

I think you can refer to the word H*#$ in game ( I don't know about here though I done got a post edited for referring to in game guild names the board mods don't like), because I have seen a couple guild names with it in them.

But who can continue talking about the chat filter update when the excitement of the news of this weekends fire works show will no doubt be coming out within the next 48 hours? I can't wait lol....

:SkullBullet1:
Larence Tuppington

No commodore.... Hope they do :laughks2: Never know what Big D gots planed up there sleave!

By Disney's standards you would. They don't like anything "Non-G". In this case it could be anything considered profanity. Why the word ugly may not seem bad if you go around calling everyone in the game ugly, Disney can ban you.

I'm not quite sure how Disney checks things but I'm guessing they take into consideration two things when looking at our chat. A)How we used the word, and B)What the word was. If I were to say that an enemy skeleton was ugly and creepy, I probably wouldn't get a ban. Maybe not even a warning depending on who's reviewing my chat.

The phrase you said would probably get you a warning. Disney doesn't take into consideration cultural differences.
Ex.) If I were to use an inappropriate word that is used often in one country it still wouldn't be acceptable in-game.

Naming names however (naming guilds that are in game) is a different site guideline, and has nothing to do with wether we like or dislike a guild which is never an actual consideration.

The word hell is acceptable here on POF, it falls within PG guidelines as long as it is not used in an inappropriate, lude, or profane manner (ex. personal attacks).

From what i've seen on test, the filter itself appears to only trigger from the obviously inappropriate words, and I dont think hell is one of them (trying to remember what I saw tested). Common mispellings to circumvent filters seem to be left undetected as well. I would actually tell people they should relax, because at least now they should get a warning if they typo in a bad word or something instead of 3 days off no questions asked. Mistakes happen, id rather the computer misinterpret and growl at me, than get a suspension I have to call and straighten out with customer service.

Remember, the automatic chat filtering system is only designed to look for outright swear words. I think hell passed through the auto warning system on test, if I remember correctly.

BUT:
The chat filter algorithms that send your chat to a live reviewer are still in place. That is where they look not only at the words, but also the context.

Also, I got a warning months ago for using hell ingame. My entire chat entry was, "What the hell?" And I got a nice email telling me that I was in violation and that this is a warning, not a suspension. Also, I didn't even type hell, with two "L's", I typed heII, with two capital "I's". In chat, capital I's look the same as l's.

I was referring to the guild's name, not the guild and its members. :bookishfj7:

:SkullBullet1:
Larence Tuppington

May I please ask something?

Why can we use the word h*** but we can't use any historical names that refer to a horrible/bad time in history? I just don't understand how a historical name that isn't Non-PG isn't allowed but the "H" word is.

Can someone please clear this up for me?

Also, yes, the H word is allowed in in-game chat. That's just down right contradicting to their rules.

To put it simply, we only allow such language that could be found in POTC movies and games. (I.E. hell & damn)

-------

Back on the subject of the filters. While it will be good for those people who seem to insist on using a salty tongue, just like in Firecracker Sam's case there are just some things that should be looked upon in a case by case basis. For example, while hell is allowed in the game they should still keep a close eye on that, since it's only okay for the game in certain ways. For example, I wouldn't mind the word in an event where we were fighting skeletons and someone said something along the lines of them going back from whence they came, but in the event of someone down right attacking another user with the words it should check up in the filter. Maybe certain phrases using the words could be added to it, such as "go to hell" and such...

...of course, I guess that's what the report button is for.

Thanks. Much more clear now.

I think the filter is a good idea. If people are upset, I don't see why they have a right to be. When you sign up for Disney you sign up to their terms and guidelines.(I think I saw someone post something similar to this before) Besides, it will protect some of the younger players from any emotional pain that words may have caused them. Or anyone for that matter.

I wouldn't care if they allowed certain words or not. Although I think the E 10+ should probably be brought up to T for teen since we can use the word h*** in the game.

Even if i don't play anymore this will help alot. I can remember how it wasn't as good before where someone could say"water structure".