With a blocklist or filter that uses alphanumeric pattern matching, it's near-impossible to block l337sp34k. Thanks to all the character sets out there, the variations are almost limitless. But, there are commercial filters that use regexp or other robust (and usually proprietary) pattern matching that can do it. Basically, they map all the weird leet characters to the letters they're intended to represent, and that is what's passed through the filter. Others just go nuclear and block any string containing any funky characters. Pretty much the only thing that foils those are leetspeakers with really poor spelling skills.
Wow. I found another one by accident, and apparently player names aren't subject to that filter. I was searching islands and found one called Major_A**hole, (without the asterisks, of course). So I mentioned this to my guild, and later in the conversation someone tried to say "Well, I guess DIck van Dyke won't be playing this game any time soon" Apparently the last word of DIck's name is a no-no in chat.
Yeah, that's one of the words that can't be blocked without affecting conversation/player names. Although why Dick Cheney would want to play PP is beyond me.
The best chat profanity filter I've seen was in a hockey pool group. When someone entered in a homophobic word it was replaced when posted with messages like " hey guy, your muscles look huge" or "my hair looks very pretty today". It was hilarious!
Got to love this admin /dev team.... They are ok with getting a cuss filled email from users, heck They ask user to send it...bravo
If you're on a PC and using Firefox or chrome then there are add-one that do this for you. If not...well I wonder how many people are at work or are underage in here? On another note, if you have a problem in your guild with someone using profanity frequently, and you want it to stop, talk to them or remove them. AtariGeneration merely states in our about section that we are an 18+ guild.
The list can also be used on the forums, so if they decide to use it in-game, it may also be added here.
No kidding! I'm pretty sure sending Chris that list sets the world record for the most profanity hurled at an Admin that didn't result in a ban. note: There were 185 terms on it.
Too funny .... I salute you good sir, drinks on me What??!?. Captaintau not crying about getting raided by bigger players in a post lol shocked.
Yep, it's hilarious. Move along now. I need to use this thread in the future. Can't very well do that if a flame war breaks out and it gets closed
Personally, i dont think there should be any filtering at all in guild chat. Guilds should be able to be responsible for deciding what is acceptable for their own guild and what isnt. I completely agree with filtering in global/public chat, albeit is a futile exercise, but guild chat is not public
In a perfect world, there shouldn't be filtering, but when minors are involved, that changes things. Even though kids under 13 aren't supposed to enter chat, of course some lie about their age and do it anyway. If a family-friendly game (which this is) encouraged "anything goes" chat by turning a blind eye, they'd quickly find themselves slapped with million-dollar fines, lawsuits, or even being shut down. It has happened. Many times. This is because, even if you say the guild is responsible for their own content, the guild is a non-entity. Ultimately, Midoki and Rovio are responsible for everything.
Hate to bring up the game that shall not be mentioned, but there is no filtering in clan chat there and no legal problems as a result. They have a 13+ rule too. I'm sure their terms of service etc. has them covered, along with midokis. If you want kids in your guild, then let them in and police the chat. If you want to be able to communicate as an adult, then stipulate 18+ in the guild description. Sure, kids lie, but you can spot them a mile away. As has been rightly communicated, filters are very difficult to balance, block innocuous words or two word when paired together, and given they can easily be circumvented, the frustration far outweighs any perceived benefit.
