Harassment Overview
Harassment Policy
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"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." --Mark Twain
Words are powerful tools. Throughout your travels in Azeroth, you will be using these tools to achieve your goals, whether those are finding the perfect group to help you with a quest or getting a great price on that dagger you have had your eye on. As anyone who has hit their thumb with a hammer well knows, tools can cause great pain when used incorrectly. Words are no different. The use of inappropriate and offensive language in general, or against another player is not allowed. We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis and take action as necessary. To help prevent the harassment of other players, we have implemented an array of in-game tools that players can use to help protect themselves from such abuse.
- The Ignore command: By typing /ignore (character name) the player will no longer hear any form of standard chat from the character name being ignored.
- The Mature Language Filter: By default, all inappropriate words in our profanity database will be filtered. They will appear on screen as jumbled characters. Example: &*@#$
Below are guidelines to help you determine whether or not the language you have chosen is appropriate for the World of Warcraft. Hopefully, we encompass all manner of barred language; however there may be inappropriate language that does not fit into any of these categories. We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis, and in extreme cases, take action beyond what is detailed here.
Highly Inappropriate
Language which falls under the following categories is deemed to be highly inappropriate. Clarification on what constitutes each category can be found by clicking on the links below.
Though we have varying tolerance for repeated abuse of each category, any language that violates one of these categories will most likely result in:
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Being given a warning
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Being temporarily suspended from the game
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Possibly being given a Final Warning, any further ToU violations resulting in account suspenion
An explanation of Account Penalties Policy can be found here: Account Penalties
Moderately Inappropriate
Language which falls under the following categories is deemed to be moderately inappropriate. Clarification on what constitutes each category can be found by clicking on the links below.
Though we have varying tolerance for repeated abuse of each category, any language that violates one of these categories will most likely result in:
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Being given a warning
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Being temporarily suspended from the game if the behavior continues
Other Categories
There are two other categories of harassment that are not necessarily related to the language used. These are listed below.
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Physical Harassment We have taken great strides to ensure all physical harassment (i.e. stealing resource nodes, kill stealing, training) is addressed or being addressed by the development team. Forms of physical harassment in the game will not be addressed by the GM staff, but instead with a development resolution, if warranted. This however does not include abusing game mechanics/exploiting or disrupting zones/areas to cause another player grief or distress.
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Ongoing Harassment Harassment takes many forms, and is not necessarily limited to the type of language used, but the intent. Repeatedly targeting a specific player with harassment, either physical or verbal, can lead to more severe action. The idea behind this is to prevent any one player from consistently being made uncomfortable in the lands of Azeroth.
Situational Factors
The action we take may be more lenient or more severe than those listed for each category. One major factor in considering what action to take is the number of people who the language is visible to. We have broken this factor up into three categories, listed below.
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Public We consider language to be public when said in the "General" and "Trade" channels as well as with the "yell" command. Since comments in these forums are visible to the largest number of players, we take harassment in these channels very seriously. Abuse of language in these mediums will receive at least the penalty listed above, if not additional repercussions.
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One-to-One or One-to-Few This group includes private "whispers", player-created chat channels, and the "say" command. Though we enforce all rules in these forums, the number of people affected will be taken into consideration, and penalties may not be as harsh as stated above.
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Guild Chat Since your participation in guild chat is "at will," we take a much more lenient stance in these forums. Only the most severe harassment (i.e. Racial/Ethnic, Extreme Sexual/Violence, Real-life Threats) will be considered.
IMPORTANT
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Repeatedly violating any area of the Terms of Use (ToU), including the areas detailed above, will often result in temporary suspension from the game.
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This policy is not language-restrictive. Language that falls under this policy will always be subject to the repercussions listed, whether it is inappropriate in English or any other language.
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Players found to be in violation of the above policies will have an E-mail sent to the account's registered E-mail address with any details regarding their account penalties.
The bottom line is that we want World of Warcraft to be a fun and safe environment for all players. World of Warcraft is an MMORPG, and the key words are "Massively Multiplayer." In playing this game, you will encounter thousands of other players who share different experiences and come from vastly different backgrounds. While certain language may not be offensive to you, consider the fact that that same language may have a completely different effect on someone else. We've done everything we can to make this a great game but now it's up to you, the players, to breathe life into the world. Choose wisely my friends.
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