Hi Wizards! As some of you have seen, we've lifted the ban on talking about guilds and groups both in the forums and in-game. We want to find ways to get players together to enjoy the game, and this is one of those ways.
However, we are still keeping actual contact IDs from being posted, such as phone numbers, Discord names, and other outside names.
This presents a clear problem... how do you get together if there's no contact information?!
Well, we're open to suggestions from the community on ways to safely make this communication still happen. Thoughts?
How about an offline messaging system? I know there are games out there that have a mail system for players to message each other, even non-friends, whether that person is online or not. I'd love to see this implemented here, or something very much like it.
Institute a private message aspect of the forum and let people trade info privately (which also adds an aspect to the game that people want; to be able to send offline messages***). You can maintain your approval/moderation policy in PM, but just allow people to post messaging contact info (skype, dicrod, etc names) in PM/DM/whatever you want to call it. This way you can keep private info OUT of the game, and monitor the xfer of info making sure it maintains your standards/policies. I understand that sometimes people will choose their chat personae that is similar to their real names, so a judgement call will need to be made of course. I would venture to say that most people will choose an internet personae to use, and thus not have any real info on them. Perfect example, my skype and discord names have 0% to do with my real info. Both are made up names/identities and only the people who actually have THAT information know my real name, with fewer knowing my city or exact address information. They only get that from me if they need to know it (or knew it already because we're IRL friends).
*** perhaps you tie this together with forum posting names which then also allows you to change the way the friends list gets done. You can now keep people listed posting name (which nobody would ever know it was their username unless the user specifically tells them) and have all of their wizards on your list. When you click on the name in the friend list, you can not see an image of the wizard they have online and their "friend name". I have a friend who has 2 paid accounts. If he signs on to both, I'll be able to see his "posting" name only. Make it so only people who have been approved to post can make this change. You'll probably get a ton new people subscribing to these forums and tap a large resource; the silent masses.
Hi Wizards! As some of you have seen, we've lifted the ban on talking about guilds and groups both in the forums and in-game. We want to find ways to get players together to enjoy the game, and this is one of those ways.
However, we are still keeping actual contact IDs from being posted, such as phone numbers, Discord names, and other outside names.
This presents a clear problem... how do you get together if there's no contact information?!
Well, we're open to suggestions from the community on ways to safely make this communication still happen. Thoughts?
Maybe when your in game go around telling people if they want to join. If they say yes, then you tell them for example meet at the death school in scarecrow realm at noon on tuesday. So you're not giving any personal information there.
About more effective communication, here are my thoughts:
Mailbox System - Create a mailbox system within the game where players are free to leave messages for friends who happen to be offline. That way, in the event one is disconnected, or a plan occurs preventing meet up, said player/friend can be aware.
Decrease the time it takes for messages to appear - Not trying to bash or offend any of the diligent moderators working hard behind the scenes, but often times, a huge challenge for meetups is the problem with the extreme length it takes for messages to appear.
Allow Social Media handles to be posted - For those who use social media, allow players to post social media handles where further communication can be made there if need be.
Create a different thread for Guild talks - Often times, players interested in starting and/or joining will not know where to post or even where to go to establish communication. If an entire subject topic is created such as "Pets" solely focused on such talks, then players will be able to not only find thread more easily but will be able to communicate more effectively.
My first thought would be decentralized Guilds / Groups. There would not be an actual leader or hierarchy within what I will continue on as a Guild. Several Guilds would be made, possibly based on mix of schools for example FireLife, these would be represented by totems or other entities within a free to play area. Wizard A and Wizard B both know each other within the game, Wizard A and B can both go to the totem and 'register' to the FireLife guild.
Wizards would be free to join or leave the multitude of Guilds, possible cool down period between leaving and joining would be needed, and continued enforcement of current chat moderation would apply. As Wizard A quests and meets Wizard C, Wizard A could potentially gathers Wizard C interest to join the FireLife guild. Wizard B decided the guild was not for them, left and joined the MoonSun guild instead.
Chat system based on the specific guild would allow members to communicate, these channels would be similar to the already in place Group chats; but expanded for a larger number of Wizards to communicate. Functionality to bring Wizards within the same guild to the same realm would be helpful.
For communication outside of the game, integration to either a specific website or a mobile app much like Grub Guardian could be utilized where registration is hidden, but specifics from in game such as the guild would apply grouping members together. Within this the same chat enforcement would need to apply and predefined structures of topics would be needed for organization, but lifting need for player to create upon themselves.
We've had the ability to do that for years via the official fan sites. That's worked well, and should continue. Those sites are moderated. Encouraging less controlled outside contact seems like asking for trouble. Safety for kids was one of the original selling points for Wizard.
One of the reasons children and vulnerable players are safe in W101 is because of the child protection features in place preventing/inhibiting direct and out-of-game contact.
I strongly believe it is essential to W101/P101 that KI continues to prioritise child protection and continues to prevent/inhibit out-of-game contact between players. What's the point of parents selecting menu chat if their child is redirected to discord etc? This is less safe than giving everyone open chat in game, because at least open chat is still moderated, has rules associated with it and users are somewhat traceable.
The most dangerous thing is a safety feature that is not fit for purpose. More people fall from balconies that had faulty railings than balconies that had no railing at all.
Wow, it's amazing what one misses when one is offline for a while.
An in-game messaging system (with the same chat filters) would be a wonderful addition. Perhaps it could be run out of one of the Marleybone Post Offices. The ability to leave messages for other folks on your friends list would be great. And have the notification pop up similar to gift notification when you log on.
How about a bulletin board in the tower for each school? Again with the same chat filters, this would be a way to contact folks not yet on your friends list.
If, and I repeat If, guilds are added as an in-game feature there will need to be some kind of way of leaving messages for other members of the guild.
Is there ANY way KI could add a monitored real-time social media page? These boards are great, but not real useful for real-time communication. I shudder at the thought of directing Wizards to Facebook, Twitter, or Discord. The W101 pages on FB can get toxic pretty quick.
Adding a way to see how active the folks on our friends list are would be a nice feature as well.
Also, in this vein, we NEED to revisit text chat and open chat. There has GOT to be a way we can get open chat when the original user who was under 18 stops playing, and their parent takes over. My son wanted to play after we saw the commercial, but then stopped shortly after as this game was still a bit above his attention span. I shouldnt have to wait until my mid 50's for my account to "age to 18" to get open chat, there should be some way that I can prove i am an adult. I don't even know if I'll be playing the game in 6 years. This would, in turn, make it MUCH easier for some more people to communicate in game. Simply finding a "validation path" to prove certain people are 18 will make it easier for them to communicate.
Also, in this vein, we NEED to revisit text chat and open chat. There has GOT to be a way we can get open chat when the original user who was under 18 stops playing, and their parent takes over. My son wanted to play after we saw the commercial, but then stopped shortly after as this game was still a bit above his attention span. I shouldnt have to wait until my mid 50's for my account to "age to 18" to get open chat, there should be some way that I can prove i am an adult. I don't even know if I'll be playing the game in 6 years. This would, in turn, make it MUCH easier for some more people to communicate in game. Simply finding a "validation path" to prove certain people are 18 will make it easier for them to communicate.
I REALLY hope you think long and hard about this.
On a secondary note - when the account's user reaches 18 years of age. I created this account when I was underage, but can now provide proof of age in various forms. However, because I signed up for text chat and said I was over 13 but under 18, I have been told I cannot get open chat. I have even switched the account info to my name, from my parents, but I'm still barred from having open chat.
If KI wants this game to last, open chat restrictions on accounts like these need to be lifted if proof of age can be provided.
Install a-heavily moderated-private messaging system on Wizard101. If a message includes private information, or anything else that isn't allowed, delete it and send them a message explaining why. (The message could be an automatic pre-written message if writing one would be to time-consuming.)
One of the reasons children and vulnerable players are safe in W101 is because of the child protection features in place preventing/inhibiting direct and out-of-game contact.
I strongly believe it is essential to W101/P101 that KI continues to prioritise child protection and continues to prevent/inhibit out-of-game contact between players. What's the point of parents selecting menu chat if their child is redirected to discord etc? This is less safe than giving everyone open chat in game, because at least open chat is still moderated, has rules associated with it and users are somewhat traceable.
The most dangerous thing is a safety feature that is not fit for purpose. More people fall from balconies that had faulty railings than balconies that had no railing at all.
Install a-heavily moderated-private messaging system on Wizard101. If a message includes private information, or anything else that isn't allowed, delete it and send them a message explaining why. (The message could be an automatic pre-written message if writing one would be to time-consuming.)
Is posting links here and ingame allowed? I usually make sure to keep everyone updated in The Spiral’s Entities discord and facebook group if they’re not paying attention to KIs twitter
Is posting links here and ingame allowed? I usually make sure to keep everyone updated in The Spiral’s Entities discord and facebook group if they’re not paying attention to KIs twitter
External links like to Discord and Facebook are not allowed, unless we approve of those sites first, or they are neutral in some other way (a screenshot link on imgur.com, for example).
About more effective communication, here are my thoughts:
Mailbox System - Create a mailbox system within the game where players are free to leave messages for friends who happen to be offline. That way, in the event one is disconnected, or a plan occurs preventing meet up, said player/friend can be aware.
Decrease the time it takes for messages to appear - Not trying to bash or offend any of the diligent moderators working hard behind the scenes, but often times, a huge challenge for meetups is the problem with the extreme length it takes for messages to appear.
Allow Social Media handles to be posted - For those who use social media, allow players to post social media handles where further communication can be made there if need be.
Create a different thread for Guild talks - Often times, players interested in starting and/or joining will not know where to post or even where to go to establish communication. If an entire subject topic is created such as "Pets" solely focused on such talks, then players will be able to not only find thread more easily but will be able to communicate more effectively.
I don't like the idea of guilds and groups because I mainly play solo or help random people in game.
I played good game empire and it is a guild based game, which I really enjoyed but it definitely caters to people who have a larger community of friends and in game players or who can play more often (this will benefit more streamers and discord server groups) more than single players/casual players.
yeah, if you want publicity from outlets via switch, any live streams you can have th game end up growing due to the coordination it would open for wiz. Im talking playerwise cooperation.
On a secondary note - when the account's user reaches 18 years of age. I created this account when I was underage, but can now provide proof of age in various forms. However, because I signed up for text chat and said I was over 13 but under 18, I have been told I cannot get open chat. I have even switched the account info to my name, from my parents, but I'm still barred from having open chat.
If KI wants this game to last, open chat restrictions on accounts like these need to be lifted if proof of age can be provided.
I had that same problem, so I made a new account :/
You could make an Olde Town Café where players can meet and chat, though the Commons already provides this purpose and it's very convenient since that is where you start off in the first place.
As for a mailbox or private messaging system, the censoring of ID #'s and phone numbers can be done by either having a digit limit or no digits at all allowed in a message.
The most common way players get together in-game is by agreeing on a certain realm. Wizard101 Central uses the Scarecrow realm, though anybody is welcome to use it as nobody 'owns' a realm.
Mail box system definitely. I do believe Swtor has a placeable mailbox item that you can put inside your character's house with which you can contact other players. Such an item could appear in the player's houses on the other side of the door opposite to the player's bank.
A system like this would be virtually impossible to use with menu chat, so this system would be strictly for Text Chat and Open Chat players. So, when it comes to sending messages I would just use the existing chat filters.
People with text chat can send any message with any words allowed by the filter, any words that are not allowed by the filter will appear in red. Anything written in red will prevent the message from being sent. If a text chat player receives a message from an open chat player anything not allowed by the filter would appear as the infamous: ...
Open chat would allow a little more freedom, as those people with open chat are verified to be at least 18 years or older. However the word filter wound remain the same, no vulgarities or things of the sort.
Then just ensure to include a 'report this message' icon within the interface, just in case someone decides to get nasty with someone else. Maybe also include a reminder to never share you're private information with anyone.
People caught breaking the rules, sending inappropriate messages, or abusing the mail system would be punished as per KI's normal disciplinary standards.
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