Note: this conversation is from 2011, so I'm not updating my pic
 | Subject: inappropriate language
I am sad to say that your "filtering" system let the F word come through. Nothing like having my son come in to me and rattle off what a kid just said to him with the F word in it. Obviously, we don't use it in our home.
Why don't you have a feature where we can report abuse like Roblox does? I know we can disable chat, but that's not the issue...the issue is reporting abusive behavior. Is there a place to do this? My boys tell me that there isn't.
Thanks,
Mary Jo Elliott
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| Subject: banned from server too
I just sent an email regarding your filtering of filthy language not working. Well, when I went into tell the boys that I contacted you, they told me that the very person who used the F word also banned them from the server and they can never return to it. It was Medieval Space. My son's user name is bobby1155. Why is this allowed? It's basically bullying...foul language and being banned by the very person who violated rules?
Mary Jo Elliott
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 | If you are actually seeing common curse words in the chat then the filter has been turned off. To turn it on, click "Options", Select the "Advanced" tab, scroll down to the "Gui Options" section and check "Censor Chat". If it is some obfuscated version of the word, then there is nothing to be done except disabling the chat. It is not technologically possible to recognize all permutations of offensive words.
When you connect to a Blockland server, you are a guest on someone else's computer. They are in charge because it is their server. They can ban you if they want. You can join a different server or run your own server.
In my experience, younger children will inadvertently provoke other users. I highly recommend disabling the chat entirely.
Note: I made a slight mistake here not copy/pasting or linking the disable chat instructions.
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| The censor chat is enabled, and it was the correct spelling of the f word. I am highly disappointed that 1. an obviously profane word can get through a censored chat. 2. someone that used that word can then ban my son from a server. 3. you turn the tables and try to blame "the younger child" as provoking this behavior. 4. You really don't care.
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| > 1. an obviously profane word can get through a censored chat.
The in-game chat that appears on top of the game in the upper left corner is censored. Other forms of communication may not be. Really, global censorship of all language is not a realistic expectation. It's just isn't technologically feasible.
> 2. someone that used that word can then ban my son from a server.
Like I said before, it is their server. They run it the way they want. It sucks but that's the way it is. The only thing you can do is avoid them.
> 3. you turn the tables and try to blame "the younger child" as provoking this behavior.
I did say unintentionally provoke. When a child approaches a group of teenagers and attempts to tell them what to do (ie "don't use bad words") they instantly become the target of abuse. I'm not blaming anyone here, this is just what happens when heavily rule-conditioned children interact with teenagers.
> 4. You really don't care.
I do care, that is why I have responded. You are having a disproportionate reaction to someone typing a word. I am trying to help you temper it.
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Maybe I'm wrong but I thought I was being completely reasonable, which is a challenge when people are actively petitioning me to enact an authoritarian surveillance state. Somehow I am considered morally bankrupt for not monitoring everything their child reads or types. It's one of the more profoundly worrying and depressing phenomenons I've encountered in my Blockland career.
Oh, and this is a woman who makes candles and participates in revolutionary war re-enactments, so good luck explaining the limits of regex curse word filtering to her.
