While gaming is great overall, there is one undeniable fact that makes many hesitant. The gaming community can be quite toxic. Because of the “freedom” of internet use and voice chat/text, some people believe that they can say what they want, do what they want, to whoever they want. But, some companies, like Ubisoft, are working hard to ensure that toxicity isn’t a part of their titles online experience. And Rainbow Six Siege has been their title to really push their anti-toxicity plans.
They’ve been doing a good job too, their policies and bans have led to a drop in toxicity. But, they’re open to having more freedom without bringing toxicity back. And so, yesterday, they announced on their blog a chat filter feature:
On December 10th, we will be evolving our chat toxicity system by activating a chat filter. As a part of our efforts to address toxicity, we previously implemented an automatic ban feature for inappropriate language. Upon review, we found that the automatic ban feature, while effective at curtailing bad behavior, was intrusive to the gameplay of other players not engaging in the inappropriate activity. Therefore, the current system for auto-bans is evolving to improve the experience for all players, including those behaving appropriately.
This is very wise, and it shows that Ubisoft isn’t just dropping the ban hammer for banning’s sake. But, they’re still wanting to help make Rainbow Six Siege a better place, so this filter is the best of both worlds.
The goal of the chat filter is to encourage players to be vigilant with the language they are using without immediately disrupting other players. While we valued the performance against toxicity that the auto-ban system brought, we also wanted to provide a more transparent feedback system to our players. The chat filter system will not only give direct feedback to players who are using toxic language, but will continue to allow us to provide appropriate sanctions to offending players.
If a message with a banned word is tried to be sent to another player, a counter-message from Ubisoft will pop in denying them the right to post it.
