Comments on: Wizard 101: How to Insult People and Circumvent the Filter http://www.voxexmachina.com/review/wizard-101-how-to-insult-people-and-circumvent-the-filter/ Video Games Have A Voice Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:58:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: io http://www.voxexmachina.com/review/wizard-101-how-to-insult-people-and-circumvent-the-filter/#comment-114 io Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:22:46 +0000 http://www.voxexmachina.com/?p=187#comment-114 @ JB Good COPPA my ass: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.shtm Read it and weep. COPPA requires an operator like KingIsle to get parental consent before allowing children to use chat, and that's all. Since Wizard101 is a pay service now, it can function like all the other pay services for children: use parental credit card information to verify their identity and make them click through consent. Any company allowing children under 13 to access a site who does not demand this consent with verification is in violation of the law. KingIsle's choice to implement a white list filter (rather than a black list filter, or no filter at all) has nothing to do with COPPA. As for your comment "one wonders if you are a parent" -- it's irrelevant and offensive; maybe Helvetica is a parent who uses a very different parenting style than you imagine. Maybe *you* aren't a parent. But, it doesn't matter. One needn't have a child to discuss how the our shared society deals with children. Further you say: "the part of the parent becomes too burdensome to bear". And I call bullshit. Parenting *is* a burden to great to bear from day one. White list chat filters give parents a false sense of security, the illusion that the burden has lessened, but it hasn't. No amount of security will keep children absolutely safe. I believe that supervising your children and teaching them to think before they act -- to consider the possible danger in every situation -- is the only way to give them a fighting chance. Having a child means accepting the burden of knowing that your child is not invulnerable and immortal. That's life. @ JB Good

COPPA my ass: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.shtm

Read it and weep. COPPA requires an operator like KingIsle to get parental consent before allowing children to use chat, and that’s all. Since Wizard101 is a pay service now, it can function like all the other pay services for children: use parental credit card information to verify their identity and make them click through consent. Any company allowing children under 13 to access a site who does not demand this consent with verification is in violation of the law. KingIsle’s choice to implement a white list filter (rather than a black list filter, or no filter at all) has nothing to do with COPPA.

As for your comment “one wonders if you are a parent” — it’s irrelevant and offensive; maybe Helvetica is a parent who uses a very different parenting style than you imagine. Maybe *you* aren’t a parent. But, it doesn’t matter. One needn’t have a child to discuss how the our shared society deals with children.

Further you say: “the part of the parent becomes too burdensome to bear”. And I call bullshit. Parenting *is* a burden to great to bear from day one. White list chat filters give parents a false sense of security, the illusion that the burden has lessened, but it hasn’t. No amount of security will keep children absolutely safe. I believe that supervising your children and teaching them to think before they act — to consider the possible danger in every situation — is the only way to give them a fighting chance. Having a child means accepting the burden of knowing that your child is not invulnerable and immortal. That’s life.

]]> By: BorakOBummer http://www.voxexmachina.com/review/wizard-101-how-to-insult-people-and-circumvent-the-filter/#comment-113 BorakOBummer Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:42:22 +0000 http://www.voxexmachina.com/?p=187#comment-113 "As of this posting the KingsIsle filter blocks the word “censorship.” good sheet Al “As of this posting the KingsIsle filter blocks the word “censorship.”

good sheet
Al

]]> By: JB Good http://www.voxexmachina.com/review/wizard-101-how-to-insult-people-and-circumvent-the-filter/#comment-110 JB Good Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:33:01 +0000 http://www.voxexmachina.com/?p=187#comment-110 Interesting point of view, but one wonders if you are a parent. Sure, the parent needs to provide oversight and control over their child's game play. But if you make everything open-ended, the amount of effort on the part of the parent becomes too burdensome to bear, so they just prevent the kid from playing the game. Anytime you are in a community you are at risk that they will do something inappropriate. Most parents are concerned that their children will experience vulgarity and smut that the kids do not understand and that parents should not have to explain until their kids are older. Additionally, I'm not sure if you are aware of US Laws regarding the protection of children, but the COPPA law requires web service providers to prevent children from seeing or sharing inappropriate or dangerous language/information. The rule is explicitly for children up to 12 years old. If an on-line service provider allows them to access their service, and does nothing to shield them from inappropriate content (the term here is pretty vague in the law too) and it does not prevent them from sharing private information about themselves or their families - the service provider can be in violation of the law, and suffer dire consequences. The law even goes so far as to spell out 'chat' as a channel that has to be protected. So while your desire for "freedom" may be honorable, from a purely business and legal perspective it makes a lot of sense what the makers of Wizard have done. You feel free to fund a business, and build a game (targeted at the "tweens" market and families). We'll see whether when it's your money you don't make a set of reasonable business choices that end up in the same situation. As for 'getting around the filter'... Are you seriously comparing "poop" with "sh*t" in terms of 'levels of vulgarity'? Then you really do have 'sheet for brains'... Interesting point of view, but one wonders if you are a parent. Sure, the parent needs to provide oversight and control over their child’s game play. But if you make everything open-ended, the amount of effort on the part of the parent becomes too burdensome to bear, so they just prevent the kid from playing the game. Anytime you are in a community you are at risk that they will do something inappropriate. Most parents are concerned that their children will experience vulgarity and smut that the kids do not understand and that parents should not have to explain until their kids are older.

Additionally, I’m not sure if you are aware of US Laws regarding the protection of children, but the COPPA law requires web service providers to prevent children from seeing or sharing inappropriate or dangerous language/information. The rule is explicitly for children up to 12 years old. If an on-line service provider allows them to access their service, and does nothing to shield them from inappropriate content (the term here is pretty vague in the law too) and it does not prevent them from sharing private information about themselves or their families - the service provider can be in violation of the law, and suffer dire consequences. The law even goes so far as to spell out ‘chat’ as a channel that has to be protected.

So while your desire for “freedom” may be honorable, from a purely business and legal perspective it makes a lot of sense what the makers of Wizard have done. You feel free to fund a business, and build a game (targeted at the “tweens” market and families). We’ll see whether when it’s your money you don’t make a set of reasonable business choices that end up in the same situation.

As for ‘getting around the filter’… Are you seriously comparing “poop” with “sh*t” in terms of ‘levels of vulgarity’? Then you really do have ’sheet for brains’…

]]> By: Helvetica http://www.voxexmachina.com/review/wizard-101-how-to-insult-people-and-circumvent-the-filter/#comment-105 Helvetica Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:49:40 +0000 http://www.voxexmachina.com/?p=187#comment-105 Thanks for coming by, <strong>Ms. Pixel</strong>! You would have to thank one of our friends for the "You have sheet for brains!" because we are not exactly masters of invective. That one was submitted during the editing of the editorial by one of our friends. It made us laugh also. Thanks for coming by, Ms. Pixel! You would have to thank one of our friends for the “You have sheet for brains!” because we are not exactly masters of invective. That one was submitted during the editing of the editorial by one of our friends. It made us laugh also.

]]> By: Ms. Pixel http://www.voxexmachina.com/review/wizard-101-how-to-insult-people-and-circumvent-the-filter/#comment-104 Ms. Pixel Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:39:52 +0000 http://www.voxexmachina.com/?p=187#comment-104 That seems rather draconian in nature. But I have to admit that I laughed at, "“You have sheet for brains!” My only other experience with a language filter has been on the forums of the browser based game named Lunar Wars. Unmentionable words usually come out as "Poopy". Everyone knows what the words are filtering out but I'm sure it helps some parents sleep better at night. That seems rather draconian in nature. But I have to admit that I laughed at, ““You have sheet for brains!” My only other experience with a language filter has been on the forums of the browser based game named Lunar Wars. Unmentionable words usually come out as “Poopy”. Everyone knows what the words are filtering out but I’m sure it helps some parents sleep better at night.

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