Tag: Silence

Bad Press: Kotaku’s Owner Demands Removal of Article Criticizing Obnoxious Ads


How do you guarantee that something will gain traction on the internet? Try to silence it.

Kotaku today penned an editorial from the staff explaining to readers that ads are not at the discretion of the editorial team. More specifically, the editorial team has no input over the obnoxious automatically playing video ads with sound that are popping up on the website. The article dutifully pointed users to where they could complain to Kotaku’s parent company, G/O Media.

Had the story ended there, there wouldn’t be anything worth covering. G/O Media has since apparently ordered the article taken down, as the article is now gone and Jason Schreier posted on Twitter; “This article is no longer up. The staff of Kotaku did not remove it.”

In G/O Media’s attempt to silence the article, they have only ensured that a lot more people will be talking about it.

Blizzard’s Silence Mechanic Exposed As Automated


draenor

Blizzard recently introduced a new moderation system to World of Warcraft, one that promised to implement account-wide punishment for abusive chat once a player was reported by a sufficient number of people. The description of silencing, as shown below, states that punishment is inflicted “after investigation,” presumably by a live customer support staffer.

“Following the Legion pre-expansion, any player who is reported multiple times under the Spam or Abusive Chat categories will, after investigation, receive an account-wide silence penalty. While this penalty is active, the silenced player will find that their ability to chat with others is greatly limited.”

Twitch streamer Zach “Asmongold” recently decided to test Blizzard’s new silence system in World of Warcraft by typing one (emphasis on one) innocuous chat message (I love World of Warcraft) and having his raid group mass-report the comment as abusive. The account is muted within a minute. The accompanying email notes that the punishment will only be overturned if there is evidence that the account was compromised or for “other extenuating circumstances.”

A system where players can be muted (with each subsequent punishment lasting twice as long as the last) due to reports sounds ripe for brigading against unpopular opinions or merely mass trolling, leading to concern that the tool could wind up with players becoming victims of mob rule. Blizzard, in response, has assured that game masters will review each case:

This isn’t just an automated system, our Game Masters will review under the same rules they always have.

Only it is very clear that silences, at least in this case, are not being reviewed by a human. Asmongold’s email explicitly states that he has been punished with a full 24 hour silence. The account was not, as some people are stating, “squelched,” as the mute for squelching only lasts a few hours and Asmongold was silenced for the full 24 hours.

Blizzard has yet to make a statement either on their forums or otherwise.

https://www.twitch.tv/asmongold/v/79013153?t=19m00s

Blizzard Silencing Abusive World of Warcraft Players


draenor

Blizzard has unveiled new policies surrounding players using abusive language in World of Warcraft chat, primarily in how the game will deal with people who receive numerous reports.

Under Blizzard’s new system, players who are reported multiple times will receive an account-wide penalty. Silenced players will be unable to speak in most chat channels, cannot send mail, send party invitations, create calendar events, or send war game invitations and duel invitations.

Silenced players will still have access to whisper chat with friends/raids, create parties/raids, share quests, and talk in global chat when a moderator is present. Chat is restricted for 24 hours on first offense, with each subsequent action doubling that time with no maximum. The tenth silence on an account, for example, will last 12,288 hours or 512 days.

Silenced players are restricted on an account-wide basis.

(Source: World of Warcraft)