TNT has gone overboard

MJHA · **Posts:** 2 **Joined:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 7:00 pm

ScottNak wrote:

Some things take longer for the moniters to get to probably... its a big site, probably harder to catch lookups than neoboard reports.

Thanks for your response. I have reported it a number of times over the course of probably 5 months! I get the impression that it's selective ignoring.

Thanks also to everyone for letting me know what happened with the accounts. I was oblivious. My computer crashed round about that time (May) and I guess I haven't tried to post since then.

Melissa

Kitten Medli · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:13 am

Zero! wrote:

shroomy wrote:

Why do you blame the entire team, though? Just wondering. Most of us want to cut back on any misguided monitoring too, especially those of us who've been frozen by accident before. :/

-C

I don't blame the entire team. I just blame the people who are wussies and can't handle one little word. ^_^

Cool. I never knew I was a wuss.

kamehameha0 wrote:

I think it's more of a condition of how the person is raised. If they grow

up with parents who cuss all the time, they're more likely to cuss when

they get older, a lot. But if there parents grow up telling them never ever

to cuss, and hardly cuss themselves, they're more likely to flip out and

report someone if they see someone say a "so called cuss word', even

one such as "Damn", or "Hell". I've cussed freely, in front of my parents,

teachers, and friends since I was a 11-12 year old kid. It never bothered

them, exept a couple a strict teachers who protect children like they have

to live inside a box all there life. The warning I got from TNT suprised me

however, if you can get a warning from saying a word, then shouldn't

you not use it in NQ2 and block on the NeoBoards?

Skipped Lines for easier reading.

I suppose you are right. It does have to do with the way you are raised. It makes total sense I find it offensive,considering my religion.

I'm not going to kill you,but isn't 11/12 a little young to cuss? But what am I saying,I used to..

<--- [insert shame]

Fallen Tear · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:21 am

I think you are allowed to post damn and hell. After all neopets does use both words. In the Maraqua plot they said "See you in hell" and they use damn in numerous places, none of which I can remember though. :roll:

But even though they use them people may still get offended and report you, so you should stear clear of anything that could possibly be a swear word.

Mr. Darkside · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:36 am

Guess what? A person I met yesterday got a warning for saying blood in a roleplay in the rp board. Yeah, sure. And no, they were not playing a vampire rp, he just said blood, and some people reported him for that. Not very nice, eh?

Also, I got a warning this week, after I had defended a person who had mentioned that he was gay. People like attacked him for THAT... Not very fair. And the people that attacked him didn't even get a warning, and I'm sure of it.

It's not the fault of TNT, yeah. It's these report-finger-happy people who's fault it is. I think the Virtupets board is the worst. You cant mention a single thing that is off-topic, and next someone is shouting "REPORTED!!!111".

I wont be amazed if I'll get frozen for the first time. Maybe I should just stop posting at the Neoboards.

(Urgh, that had a lot of typos... I just woke up. O_o)

everconfused · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:41 am

stumbles in late...as usual. OK, just for the record, I copied and pasted this...someone got an official warning for saying damn. Whether they had been reported or not I didn't get the story. The person was just so upset that they got the warning:

Quote:

You have received an official warning from the Neopets Team for violating the Neopets Terms and Conditions.Profanity is not allowed anywhere on Neopets (including in NeoMail, the Battledome, on the Boards, in Shops, Guilds, trades, etc. even if it’s from a song or movie), and using spaces, internet slang or symbols to try to hide it is not fooling anyone. (Also, just because the filters dont change a word doesnt mean youre allowed to say it.) If you continue to break the rules, your account will be permanently frozen. To see a list of Neo Rules, please visit http://www.neopets.com/chatrules.phtml. Please do not reply to this NeoMessage.

I added the bold. So it looks like you can be warned or worse for saying the d and h words.

Shroomy, I'm sure no one here meant any disrespect to you or any other staff person who comes here and we're delighted to have. We do know that you have nothing to do with oversensitive filters, a monitor who may be having a bad day or is a bit overzealous and the worst - those uber report-happy people (they gotta get rid of that "Report This Message" link!). And there does seem to be a bit of hypocrisy here...those words are on the site in more than one place.

It was like the day I got a warning and had all my guild messages deleted for responding to another member who suggested ebay for finding a McDonald's plushie I couldn't find...the other person did NOT have anything happen to them. And this was the same day it was announced that there were 2 plushie auctions on ebay. Go figure?

Gotta watch what you say on the site, it doesn't matter where you say it - boards, guild, neomail. ...stumbles back out

Moogum · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:42 am

Mr. Darkside wrote:

I wont be amazed if I'll get frozen for the first time. Maybe I should just stop posting at the Neoboards.

Thats always the safe thing. I don't think I've ever posted on the Neoboards. If you need your Neopets Discussion fix, come to off-site places like here. People are a lot nice, you can keep your username secret, and you have such a reduced risk of getting frozen on Neopets. Sometimes I just don't understand other people... What pleasure do they get by reporting others for nothing?

SierraRaven · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:51 am

I think a whole lot of problems regarding frozen accounts could be avoided if only TNT removed the "Report This Message" link from every message that's posted on the boards. I've seen way too many report-happy brats threaten other players. If they don't like your subject, you're reported. If they don't like your tone, you're reported. If they just plain don't like you, you're reported.

Having raised my own kids, I know that encouraging "tattling" only leads to hard feelings, and often outright wars. Save the reporting for the big issues, not the insignificant things like chain letters from newbies or the occasional off-topic message. Players could still report message board violations by clicking on the Report Abuse link. Putting the report link on every message is overkill.

I am very concerned about monitors taking the word of one player over another without looking at the actual postings. There should be some type of overview process before warnings or freezings take place. Just my 2 cents worth....

Mystique · **Posts:** 687 **Joined:** Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:32 pm

most of them are attention seekers and are also looking to assert themselves as a "reg" for that neoboard.

everconfused, the parts of the rule you highlighted actually point out the contradiction as others mentioned. there has to be a standard yardstick to adhere to what is called "profanity". as pointed out, such words like "hell" and "damn" are already in the site content, then they can't be counted as "profanity" IF the T&C expressly stated that profanity is not allowed anywhere on neopets.

Azzie · **Posts:** 677 **Joined:** Thu Jun 03, 2004 9:38 am

Some people will report anything. try replacing the words, like

Damn = riverblocker

Hell= hot dark place

Sh*t = brownie

So you can say " Oh riverblocker, i lost on that brownie level 2 of NQ2 again. I wish that opponent would go to a hot dark place.

Mystique · **Posts:** 687 **Joined:** Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:32 pm

always remember: "out of sight, out of mind"

SierraRaven · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 8:15 am

Mystique wrote:

always remember: "out of sight, out of mind"

How true! I think I've been keeping too high of a profile on Neo's message boards lately. It's much safer, saner, and fulfilling to just stick to PPT's Forum.

jxpop · **Posts:** 289 **Joined:** Sun Jul 25, 2004 7:09 pm

Morningstar wrote:

kamehameha0 wrote:

About five people freaked out and said they would report me.

You hit the nail on the head right there. TNT warned you, not because you said a "bad" word, but because people reported you--even if those people were incorrect in doing so.

Why do I know this to be true? Because, after my daughter's account was frozen due to a false reporting from a chatster, I got an email from the TNT that basically confirmed my theory. The email said that because there are so many posts and so few staffers to read them, that the staff has to rely on the reports of the users in order to enforce Neopets's rules--even if those people who are reporting do not know the rules--and, even more troubling, even if the staff person doesn't actually check the post to see what was written. So, basically, that means that if one person writes say "Damn" over and over until their fingers get tired and if no one bothers to report him, his account isn't in jeopardy. But, if another person writes "Damn" once and some jerk doesn't like it and reports him for doing so, that person gets a warning, if he is lucky, or frozen, if he isn't so lucky. Talk about an arbitrary rule-system!!!!

My advice: Do not post on the chats--ever. And, if you absolutely must venture forth, pretend that you are talking to your 95 year old great grandmother when you do post. You probably wouldn't say "Damn" to her, right?

Morningstar's right, it's pretty much being in the "wrong time in the wrong place."

It's also about language, which isn't exactly the easiest thing to really objectivly censor. A smurf in Britain is a cigar (at least I think it is... if I'm wrong I'm really red in the face and sorry if I insulted anyone).

I stopped posting in the Neoboards because of that... I believe there was a similar thread to this in which someone got frozen for saying "Happy Yom Kippur." Granted, most of it is subjective, but if they're going to go freezing and warning people for things they themselves are guilty of... well, maybe they should recheck their guidelines. However, we can't blame the entire team, after all... they only have so many people. Maybe a filter that says "I'm sorry, you cannot use this word due to its offensive nature, in this or another language. Please use an alternative, or get your mind out of the gutter."

...oh, I also stopped using the Neoboards because of the fact that I was getting hit on by smelly old men (must be my cologne).

SierraRaven · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 8:51 am

jxpop wrote:

However, we can't blame the entire team, after all... they only have so many people.

I don't think any of us are blaming the entire Neopets Team. We are all aware that the individual employees of a company are not responsible for that company's policies and/or procedures.

If I lodge a formal complaint against a company, AOL for example, for double-billing me or refusing to cancel my account, I'm going to refer to them as AOL when telling my friends about the problem. Now I know that the problem I'm having lies with Customer Service, but those employees reflect on the entire company. I think we just use TNT in a broad generic fashion. We all know the artists, programmers, and the like have no input on support or regulatory issues.

Maybe we should come up with a name just for TNT's monitors....

Morningstar · **Posted:** Mon Aug 09, 2004 1:21 pm

jxpop wrote:

...oh, I also stopped using the Neoboards because of the fact that I was getting hit on by smelly old men (must be my cologne).

You are kidding, right?

mercurius · **Posts:** 711 **Joined:** Mon May 31, 2004 5:43 am

I may be in the minority here, but I do find "damn" to be an inappropriate word for neopets. I don't know why they haven't blocked it yet. Anyway, I wouldn't report anyone for using it though because I think having an account frozen is a large price to pay for just saying a bad word.

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