And the chat safety debate continues on as SSO posts about their newest 'improvement' to their in-game chat feature.
Now, first of all, don't get me wrong. I am quite passionate about this issue but I try to stay objective and I'm glad they are finally looking into this issue. However, I don't agree with SSO on how they are handling this issue nor their logic behind what they do.
So, issue one - the paywall. I agree fully with the fact that having access to the in-game chat is not something you can expect when you play a trial of a game. It's a way to hinder spam accounts, bully accounts and generally undesirable people and I'm sure there will be a noticeable difference once this is implemented everywhere. The argument that SSO comes with is still rather lacking, though. Their reasoning is that demanding payment makes people leave behind their payment information and by keeping their payment information updated, which only applies to anyone that pays for Star Rider monthly I suppose, it makes it easier for them to track down undesirables.
And sure, that will do something. It will probably net them a few blocked accounts of people that shouldn't be in the game over time and they can probably hand over a few online predators to law enforcement. But it lets Lifetime users totally off the hook in that same sense, as they only pay once and their information could be wildly outdated and SSO would never know.
So anyone with a Lifetime account? Free to continue on.
It also leaves out anyone paying with Paysafe. Paysafe gives people the option to pay without leaving their information behind at all, which makes their original argument moot. Anyone can nab a hold of some cash, buy a Paysafe somewhere without getting caught on camera/getting someone to buy it for you and then you can get yourself a month of Star Rider and access anything. It's widely available, easy to use and doesn't cost anything extra.
So, if you use Paysafe? Enjoy your game, whoever you are.
Initially, it felt very 'if you're going to do something nasty, at least pay us first' as their news did not reflect that they intended to do anything more. I feel like it's a little concerning when a big company with so many younger players isn't open about their intentions and plans regarding safety, but that's just me. Regardless, my initial reaction wasn't a pleased one. I was rather angry, even.
When they released more information today, I guess it makes sense to hold back a little. Their Instagram post said "... players will face automatic chat or account suspensions for inappropriate behavior." If I'd known they were implementing that instead of doing more with the moderator program they have today, I would probably have been outright prissy and would never have shut up about the fact that I was (not that it solves anything, but I can be fairly vocal when I'm angry I've been told).
So, automatic moderation based on a filter that won't allow people to say 'you' or 'palomino' or sometimes even your own in-game name? Sounds like a fantastic idea. Moderation is a great thing. The chat needs to be moderated, but I am so, so incredibly skeptical about SSO deciding to opt for automatic moderation instead of hiring/recruiting/getting help from actual human beings to moderate their chat to catch unwanted behavior and undesirable players.
Now, while I was writing this, SSO replied to one of my comments on their post that said, to summarize, that not all censored words will result in a ban. And I suppose that is a good thing. But considering their censor ban is incredibly unpredictable and overly touchy, how do we know their automod won't be? The experience for me, as a player, will be exactly the same and will be just as unpleasant as I still have no idea if what I say will be censored - which won't always get you suspended, apparently - or it maybe it will get me banned, no matter the context or my intention or anything.
Maybe I'm a little old-fashioned in that sense, but I'm not that inclined to trust their scripts/programs/whatever at this point. They have a number of bugs and typos and issues with their actual game (and yes, I understand that these things do happen sometimes) that haven't been fixed over the course of years. What happens when there's an issue with their automatic moderation and it get's someone's account suspended for a long period of time? What happens when that person sends them an email and, two or four or six months later, still haven't gotten a reply and now doesn't want to use chat at all anymore because of that experience (to be a little dramatic)? Sure, it would make chat a lot less crowded and full of nonsense. But what does happen then, when there is a bug in their chat and the ability to communicate through the game is vastly reduced? And considering how hindering the filter itself it, reducing the ability to communicate further isn't something I want and I don't think it will benefit the game.
But are we going to let this handicap all players? Having humans beings moderate the chat is definitively more work for SSO, I understand that fully. But I also don't understand why their players isn't worth that effort. Why they can't find genuine adults in their playerbase to help them keep their game safe, like they have their Ambassadors to keep in touch with the community? Why can't they enlist the help of us players that are already engaged and love this game and have spent hours upon hours reporting inappropriate behavior and players only to be given a standard, automated reply that tells us to simply 'put them on your ignore list'.
Many of us have given up on reporting players at this point, but we still care. A lot.
I was hoping that they would assign each server some actual adult moderators to look over chat. Maybe pay them in a few Star Coins once in a while to keep them motivated or maybe just give them a cool little badge for their horse or a cute shirt or something of the sort, ensure they have a few people in customer service that the moderators can look to for help in their time of need. Maybe actually ensure someone from their SSO team plays in the different regions, at least, and that they monitor their own game properly and we can see it. That we can see that the team cares about us.
I'm already seeing a lot of complaints on Instagram. I agree with one point - it will probably be superb at catching spammers. A lot quicker and more efficiently than a human moderator, too, and I think having an automod solely focused on spam would be great. But I don't think an automod is suited for anything else. And I can imagine that once this launches on a bigger scale, there will be four 'types of people'. The people that simply stick to themselves and stop using chat that much, the people that have migrated to using other programs/places to chat (discord, skype, you name it) and people that will outright leave the game and lastly, people that probably don't care. Because there's usually some people that make it work and can adapt to the strangest things.
To me, this is a big problem. SSO wants to advocate safety, but I don't think they're going about this in the correct way at all. It feels like they are taking shortcuts and not actually listening to the feedback they get from their players, which feels like it's become an unfortunate trend for them. I'm not saying it is so, but the impression I have been getting lately is that SSO is running their own race and the players can keep up or get out.
Personally, I don't want to get out. I love this game. But I also enjoy being able to use all the features of the game without being afraid my account might get suspended for using a normal word that I didn't realize wasn't allowed or otherwise making a mistake in some way - like, on our server the word 'you' among other things is blocked out because who knows - and I enjoy feeling actually secure. This won't make me feel safe nor secure.
I may be an adult, but I don't like seeing sexual topics and bullying and generally unwanted nonsense in chat when I log in. I just want to play my horse game, the one I've paid for and invested a lot of money into because I wanted to support the company behind it, and relax. I want to chat with the great people I've met and talk about horses and the newest game features and joke around and right now, I feel like that enjoyment is being threatened.
Star Stable Online is one of my favorite games. And it would take a lot to make me leave, but this here raises some big red flags for me and makes me reconsider continuing to financially support this game with my purchases, for sure.
Why should I support a game that doesn't want to support me and doesn't do their best to listen and ensure my safety as a player?
The pros of supporting SSO are getting fewer, but I keep hoping. I want this game to succeed. I want to enjoy this game for a long time and I want to stay a loyal player, but there is limits to what I will support and I do hope it never goes so far I feel it is better to leave than to continue supporting them.
Crossing my fingers regardless!
- TK
Now, first of all, don't get me wrong. I am quite passionate about this issue but I try to stay objective and I'm glad they are finally looking into this issue. However, I don't agree with SSO on how they are handling this issue nor their logic behind what they do.
So, issue one - the paywall. I agree fully with the fact that having access to the in-game chat is not something you can expect when you play a trial of a game. It's a way to hinder spam accounts, bully accounts and generally undesirable people and I'm sure there will be a noticeable difference once this is implemented everywhere. The argument that SSO comes with is still rather lacking, though. Their reasoning is that demanding payment makes people leave behind their payment information and by keeping their payment information updated, which only applies to anyone that pays for Star Rider monthly I suppose, it makes it easier for them to track down undesirables.
And sure, that will do something. It will probably net them a few blocked accounts of people that shouldn't be in the game over time and they can probably hand over a few online predators to law enforcement. But it lets Lifetime users totally off the hook in that same sense, as they only pay once and their information could be wildly outdated and SSO would never know.
So anyone with a Lifetime account? Free to continue on.
It also leaves out anyone paying with Paysafe. Paysafe gives people the option to pay without leaving their information behind at all, which makes their original argument moot. Anyone can nab a hold of some cash, buy a Paysafe somewhere without getting caught on camera/getting someone to buy it for you and then you can get yourself a month of Star Rider and access anything. It's widely available, easy to use and doesn't cost anything extra.
So, if you use Paysafe? Enjoy your game, whoever you are.
Initially, it felt very 'if you're going to do something nasty, at least pay us first' as their news did not reflect that they intended to do anything more. I feel like it's a little concerning when a big company with so many younger players isn't open about their intentions and plans regarding safety, but that's just me. Regardless, my initial reaction wasn't a pleased one. I was rather angry, even.
When they released more information today, I guess it makes sense to hold back a little. Their Instagram post said "... players will face automatic chat or account suspensions for inappropriate behavior." If I'd known they were implementing that instead of doing more with the moderator program they have today, I would probably have been outright prissy and would never have shut up about the fact that I was (not that it solves anything, but I can be fairly vocal when I'm angry I've been told).
So, automatic moderation based on a filter that won't allow people to say 'you' or 'palomino' or sometimes even your own in-game name? Sounds like a fantastic idea. Moderation is a great thing. The chat needs to be moderated, but I am so, so incredibly skeptical about SSO deciding to opt for automatic moderation instead of hiring/recruiting/getting help from actual human beings to moderate their chat to catch unwanted behavior and undesirable players.
Now, while I was writing this, SSO replied to one of my comments on their post that said, to summarize, that not all censored words will result in a ban. And I suppose that is a good thing. But considering their censor ban is incredibly unpredictable and overly touchy, how do we know their automod won't be? The experience for me, as a player, will be exactly the same and will be just as unpleasant as I still have no idea if what I say will be censored - which won't always get you suspended, apparently - or it maybe it will get me banned, no matter the context or my intention or anything.
Maybe I'm a little old-fashioned in that sense, but I'm not that inclined to trust their scripts/programs/whatever at this point. They have a number of bugs and typos and issues with their actual game (and yes, I understand that these things do happen sometimes) that haven't been fixed over the course of years. What happens when there's an issue with their automatic moderation and it get's someone's account suspended for a long period of time? What happens when that person sends them an email and, two or four or six months later, still haven't gotten a reply and now doesn't want to use chat at all anymore because of that experience (to be a little dramatic)? Sure, it would make chat a lot less crowded and full of nonsense. But what does happen then, when there is a bug in their chat and the ability to communicate through the game is vastly reduced? And considering how hindering the filter itself it, reducing the ability to communicate further isn't something I want and I don't think it will benefit the game.
But are we going to let this handicap all players? Having humans beings moderate the chat is definitively more work for SSO, I understand that fully. But I also don't understand why their players isn't worth that effort. Why they can't find genuine adults in their playerbase to help them keep their game safe, like they have their Ambassadors to keep in touch with the community? Why can't they enlist the help of us players that are already engaged and love this game and have spent hours upon hours reporting inappropriate behavior and players only to be given a standard, automated reply that tells us to simply 'put them on your ignore list'.
Many of us have given up on reporting players at this point, but we still care. A lot.
I was hoping that they would assign each server some actual adult moderators to look over chat. Maybe pay them in a few Star Coins once in a while to keep them motivated or maybe just give them a cool little badge for their horse or a cute shirt or something of the sort, ensure they have a few people in customer service that the moderators can look to for help in their time of need. Maybe actually ensure someone from their SSO team plays in the different regions, at least, and that they monitor their own game properly and we can see it. That we can see that the team cares about us.
I'm already seeing a lot of complaints on Instagram. I agree with one point - it will probably be superb at catching spammers. A lot quicker and more efficiently than a human moderator, too, and I think having an automod solely focused on spam would be great. But I don't think an automod is suited for anything else. And I can imagine that once this launches on a bigger scale, there will be four 'types of people'. The people that simply stick to themselves and stop using chat that much, the people that have migrated to using other programs/places to chat (discord, skype, you name it) and people that will outright leave the game and lastly, people that probably don't care. Because there's usually some people that make it work and can adapt to the strangest things.
To me, this is a big problem. SSO wants to advocate safety, but I don't think they're going about this in the correct way at all. It feels like they are taking shortcuts and not actually listening to the feedback they get from their players, which feels like it's become an unfortunate trend for them. I'm not saying it is so, but the impression I have been getting lately is that SSO is running their own race and the players can keep up or get out.
Personally, I don't want to get out. I love this game. But I also enjoy being able to use all the features of the game without being afraid my account might get suspended for using a normal word that I didn't realize wasn't allowed or otherwise making a mistake in some way - like, on our server the word 'you' among other things is blocked out because who knows - and I enjoy feeling actually secure. This won't make me feel safe nor secure.
I may be an adult, but I don't like seeing sexual topics and bullying and generally unwanted nonsense in chat when I log in. I just want to play my horse game, the one I've paid for and invested a lot of money into because I wanted to support the company behind it, and relax. I want to chat with the great people I've met and talk about horses and the newest game features and joke around and right now, I feel like that enjoyment is being threatened.
Star Stable Online is one of my favorite games. And it would take a lot to make me leave, but this here raises some big red flags for me and makes me reconsider continuing to financially support this game with my purchases, for sure.
Why should I support a game that doesn't want to support me and doesn't do their best to listen and ensure my safety as a player?
The pros of supporting SSO are getting fewer, but I keep hoping. I want this game to succeed. I want to enjoy this game for a long time and I want to stay a loyal player, but there is limits to what I will support and I do hope it never goes so far I feel it is better to leave than to continue supporting them.
Crossing my fingers regardless!
- TK