Chat: Use it, don’t abuse it!
Chat is an important part of any online MMO, and today Mr. Lincoln from Wizard101 Customer Support has some helpful tips to keep you and your character safe and out of trouble!
Chat is a feature of online games that many players find extremely rewarding. It can assist you in making new friends and form groups to quest for adventure in online worlds. Chat in KingsIsle games, however, is a privilege and should always be used with judgment and caution. Choosing your words carefully is very important when online!
It can be difficult to understand someone’s tone of voice when they are online, which can lead to communication problems. Choosing to be sensitive to those around you is a great way to approach chatting with others in any game.
When playing online games, you will run into all kinds of people. Some you will like to chat with, and some you just won’t. Remember, in our games you always have the “Ignore” option to ignore someone or you can escape them by switching to a new realm in a flash! Rather than getting into an argument or picking a fight, it’s really quite easy just to move on and talk to other people you enjoy.
We also appreciate you reporting any inappropriate chat using the in-game reporting tool. It really works and it helps us quickly identify and investigate chat to see if it fits into our guidelines and rules.
Another very important tip is to NEVER, EVER give your password to ANYONE for ANY reason. A KingsIsle employee will NEVER ask you for your password and you certainly shouldn’t be sharing it with anyone else. If or when your account gets hacked due to you sharing your password, the account can be permanently muted or banned depending on the hacker’s actions! That kind of risk just isn’t worth it. So if anyone ever asks for your password, just say NO.
In Wizard101 and Pirate101 there are 3 different types of chat:
- Text Chat
- Filtered Chat
- Open Chat
Text Chat is preselected for you when you start playing our games, and only allows you to chat with KingsIsle approved sayings. Open Chat in contrast lets you say a great deal. For Filtered Chat and Open Chat, there are certain words that have been removed from the game because of their inappropriate or potentially inappropriate nature. Trying to “get around the filter” is against the Terms of Use. Our Player Forums and in-game chat rules are one and the same.
A good rule to follow is “Just because you can say it, doesn’t mean you should”. Again, chat is a privilege in our games, not a right. It can be taken away if you choose to expose other players to vulgarity, inappropriate language or harassment. When you play online we’re all about having fun, but never at the expense of others.
Being kind to other players can pay off by meeting some really nice online friends. If you are lucky enough to play with family members or real life friends, definitely consider using True Friend codes. You can give these to the people who are really special, but always use your best judgment. If ever you should need assistance with your chat features (or any other issue) you can write to Customer Support at help@KingsIsle.com.
Following the rules makes for a happy gaming experience for you, and for all the other players around you!
Mr. Lincoln
KingsIsle Customer Support
KingsIsle Blog 
um i got reported for no reason please stop them
I think it is because they don’t want you sharing personal details and phone numbers with strangers.
I don’t see how it is so hard to avoide getting muted. Me and my sister have been playing nearly 5 years now. Have we obtained the mute? No. What do we do? We stay out of fights the best we can. Have I been reported? Yes. Numerous times. Are they true reports? I would say nearly all of them are false reporting. Do I get angered by the false reports? No. I know that Kingsisle will review the chat log and see I did nothing wrong. I’ve personally only reported people for true reports. I’ve also reported someone for numerous false reports. It’s not that hard. You can do it! Be like me. Stay out of the bad places.
the game is awsome
thanks for tha tips
filtered chat is ok but when i try to tell people what pet i want or where i am and who i am fighting half the names dont show up. why not either fix the chat so i can tell someone i want the nutcracker pet or i am fighting someone in somewhere so they can help me fight or meet me at a particular place to be with friends. i have spent many crowns on henchmen because when i say come help me at this fight and i cant type it out so they can see it and it isnt necessarily a quest i have but perhaps helping a friend on their quest or fix the names of pets places and bosses so that people can type them so all can see.
gifting is one major way KI makes money and if gifting was banned then i cant gift my other avatars wands clothing etc they need for pvp or whatever. or i cant gift my husband his house or other materials he needs. for those that ask for gifts i just say no sorry out of crowns but so long as you got kids not willing to work be it house sitting, baby sitting, yard work, or extra work around the house for allowances, you always gonna get beggars. unfortunately its the responsibility of the parents to teach the kids dont beg but to become independent and responsible enough to save or earn their money.
This is really good info that can’t be emphasized enough. One issue I have is the fact that as a crowns player, sometimes I haven’t made a recent payment and am on free to play status which locks me out of the in game reporting tool. I get really offended by some people in the game, not for myself, like was explained, I can easily leave an area, but I hate it when someone is cursing around the filters or trying to scam someone, and I feel like my hands are tied when I can’t report these creeps to KI. Is there any way to allow grown adult to continue to use the report feature when an account switches to free, kind of like the way we are still allowed to use open chat. That way some of these predators can be stopped before someone is hurt. Thanks 🙂
sweet marbles lol thanx guys thankx KingsIsle employee sama 😀
0_0 I hope you people out there are being safe and not being mean to your friends and not to outsiders either. 😀
yeah I GET TEASED just from HAVING 2bundles!
What led do the decision that allows only paid subscription accounts to report. I have 2 accounts that I’ve played under subscription, and one that I’ve opened with crowns. I can’t report any inappropriate behavior on my crowned account.
Love the game but loath having to go to the Commons – all the nonsense chat that goes on there. I am tempted to stay there and just report people.
What a shame more people do not use group chat also. If you want to have a private conversation please group or private chat. It is distracting to see all the text coming up when playing when it has nothing to do with the game!
You said it. I couldn’t agree more. See you in the game, not in the commons!
I say to make w101 more fun just give everyone a second chance like I have lvl 90 death wiz who is muted and it is so hard for me to quest and mainly to ask for help, not all the time I can scroll through the messages and look for the word “help” ill probably be defeated by then and sent back to the beginning where again I have to start my quest all the way over..and you know what happens when your in a dungeon and you are muted for 10 years, you die and then you cant tell your team mates your fleeing to get health and come back and what do they do? they leave because you have no way of telling them and then what you have to start the dungeon all over again
I don’t like how people get reported for no reason … I got muted for nothing 😦
i love this game play it everyday
but theres one problem
people just report me for no reason so KI should do something about that XD
Omg your mom gets better too and ignore people when they say trash like that.. I know its hard but think about what think of friend says that about your mom when they know she is sick like that..
I so agree with you. Like srsly I have friends that been muted for no reason I mean I understand if someone cusses or something but, my friends didn’t all she said was: “Would just knock it off and stop starting drama” in the commons and boom. she is muted >.>
Lucky I haven’t been mute once or ban but srsly KI control them plz. -_-
Asking for gifts is annoying, but not reportable.
I, for one, enjoy gifting my good friends on their birthdays (or for no reason at all), or giving something to people who do nice things around the Spiral. It also allows me to gift stuff to characters on my secondary accounts… Why let one bad apple spoil the bunch?
Anyone who asks me for a gift gets put on my ignore list; that way, I don’t have to see their drivel in the Commons every time I go to the bazaar.
thanks for all the good tips lol 🙂 :)……………………………………………………………….
I am terribly sorry you had to go through that. I hope your mom gets better and maybe I’ll cya around the spiral 🙂 Erin Wild, lvl 70 Balance Wizard
I think that everyone should get text chat open chat and menu chat when they start the game the people shouldnt get to say bad words but other than that we should get to say what we want
best game ever
on level 23
poor everyone 😦 hope you get your chat back guys I can’t live with it anymore it hurts people’s feelings 😦 he’s never gonna fix it if you don’t send him something.
I do agree that it is hard to communicate with someone new with menu chat. It is hard to tell them how to do things or build strategy. There should be some way to offer tips and help for them. On the language area, usually when I ask them to chill they do. I let them know I am much older than them and do not need to hear that. If they continue I tell them I will report if one more is said. Usually they leave or stop. Keep playing and have fun. I know I do !!!!!
Thank you Mr. Lincoln. I have been hoping that someone has been monitoring these conversations. Sometimes while playing pvp I will have comments made that I feel are immature and out of place.
I now do not feel I am alone in my thoughts, there must be some respect and sportsmanship with these plays. People must understand this is “Just a Game” (A great game, true. But don’t report someone just because you lost.)
Thank you KI for making this a safe game. I’m sorry for those who have been muted but if you had read the Term of Use then you would know that you were not muted for no reason. I have two grandsons that play and if I were to catch them circumventing the text I will be the first to report them and they know it. People who use cussing to express their feelings have a limited vocabulary.
I say to them get a dictionary. Wizards Rule!
Aww I am really sorry for you! I can imagine what it must be like. Your ex-friend should be ashamed of what they did, and I really hope your mother gets better!
people have reported me for no reason and muted me 😦
same thing with me
favorite game ever
on level 18
this is the best game on earth, lvl 97 fire 😛 and lvl 62 death 😛
hope your’e mom is gonna be ok!!
Let me just put a little not in the complaint box, okay? I don’t like starting in-game drama (fights, spams, ect ect) but people /ask/ for it. I don’t usually. Trust me. When a kid comes up with “Gift me please” It gets on EVERYONE’S nerves or the kid gets his TC scammed away. It’s not fair. Also, people should have a report limit. There are some people who sit in the commons on “Perfect” (Empty somewhat) servers and wait until the first person types something then reports. It isn’t fair. It’s all fun and games until he/she gets someone muted. And that’s not cool. You guys say the report button should get people muted? We should mute the people who report with no proof! Because THOSE are the people reporting people for no reason. Oh, and noob shouldn’t be removed. That’s just kind of lame. Noob means you’re new. If the person calling you a noob doesn’t understand that just say “Yes, I’m new to this realm. Good day sir/madame.” and WALK AWAY if it bothers you!
From your honest Pyromancer,
Travis Dragonhunter
It’s very easy children…
If you dont want to get muted then dont swear…it really is that easy. Dont say bad things. Dont say words that rhyme with swear words to get around the filters. Dont bully. Dont try to talk dirty or sexual. It is a game and if you are “bored” then log out and go do something. Standing around the commons swearing and begging for a boyfriend/girlfriend is not what the game is for.
finally, someone who gets what this game is about. PS: K.I., please please PLEASE let us level up our pets faster, it takes FOREVER.
No it doesn’t it takes just a little bit of time. Improve ur skillz cuz u will need them.. seriously…
thanks for the advice 🙂 this is good
XD same thing but i like to gift some of my friends even though some of them are so low leveled i dont even know wen i friended them.
XD i think the same but i actually like to gift some of my friends even though some of them say so many negative things all day idk how or when i added them.
one person reported me for accepting their friend request
i think the word “noob” should be removed i go on my wizard that can chat and when i go to the commons i get called noob a lot cause i am level 9 i mean my main wizard is level 23 life and don’t have open chat and i don’t know what they are saying cause i don’t have open chat but sometimes i even think my friends call me noob because i think they tell me to go away and i don’t because i don’t have open chat and that’s what they use then they write something and all i see is 3 dots KI should really do something about this and it wont only happen to me some of my friends in real life it happens to them and its not fair but i know it happens to some people i don’t know but KI is working hard so all we have to do is wait
from:
chris irongem
that is truly really rude, some people dont know manners if it slapped them in the face!! No one should be treated that way.
awesome!
I LOVE WIZARD!! And ill never abuse chat. 🙂
the thing is someone in the game a higher lvl started swearing when i joined a battle in Triton avenue in wizard 101 and then when i said i am sorry even though i did nothing then the worst of all he reported me for nothing then i tried to report him for swearing and reporting me for nothing but i couldn’t for some reason well that’s it by the way i am Caleb night hunter in the game fire wiz
ok here’s a question for kingsisle for one if wizard101 does close forever if someday it does come back will we get a email telling us its back and will we keep our stuff if so?
that is terrible!!!!! i hope ur mom feels better
As a player since both Wizard101 and Pirate101 started, I will note that I understand precautions in keeping those who are young, safe and able to enjoy the game.
I will say, however, that the filter on numbers is quite a hassle and makes it so much harder to communicate (if one doesn’t have Open Chat, which I’ve learned many don’t). I’ve never seen anyone use numbers in a malicious way, or trying to give out their personal info, or anything of that nature.
What I do see is people trying to communicate how long they have left to play (for example: “Hey, I’m going to leave the game in like 45mins” or “brb in 5 mins” or “Yeah, I have about 66 days left on my membership, so could you help me through this world before it runs out?”), or how many more enemies they need to fight (ex.: “I only need 8 more ships to finish the quest”), or general chat as to what level their character is or what level they need to get gear/pets/ships/spells (ex.: “Wow nice spell! What level did you get it at?” “I got the spell at level 68.” “Sweet, I have only 4 more levels to go to get it!”). Without the use of numbers, chat is difficult and a kind of breakdown of communication between players.
On that note, I do appreciate the option of Open Chat for players that are 18 years of age or older.
Another issue that I have come to notice, is that those with Text Chat cannot read Filtered Chat. This I have seen and experienced, has become a huge issue with many, including myself, and can be ‘costly’ in the game. I cannot stress how much farming for gold (or how much crowns have been spent) I had to do to get enough to buy more treasure cards to fight a difficult boss, because all the ones I had before were wasted due to the lack of communication between I and those who were Text Chat and couldn’t see what I was trying to tell them to help out, or let me help them fight. Because they are unable to read what is being told to them, I have seen many players get frustrated, and others not wanting to help text chat players with the game because they see them as “noobs” or a “tc waster”, because they believe Text Chat players don’t know what they are doing as far as strategy and advancement in the games.
Knowing that many Text Chat players are indeed kids, I think that is a problem. Sure they may have their parents or other family members help them out every once in awhile, but I think as a fellow player participating in a family-friendly game, where it’s based on a COMMUNITY, I think it would be highly beneficial for Text Chat players to be able to read Filtered Chat (but of course, not able to respond with filtered words). I think this will strengthen the bridge between age groups and overall enhance gameplay and friendships.
~~~
Tl;dr
Numbers should be implemented into Filtered chat.
Open Chat is great for adult players.
Text Chat players should be able to read Filtered Chat as to have a more friendly playing environment, create better friendships, enhanced gameplay, and have the help from the community of players in the games like they should.
~~~
I hope that KingsIsle will take these suggestions into consideration. I want only the best for the game and for the playerbase, as being part of it myself. Thank you for taking the time to read my comments.
Sincerely,
Julia Blueshard lv70 Myth / Bloody Julia Bristol lv40 Musketeer
Yea, ever since this add came up i have seen a lot of my friends stop cussing and not use filter as much and since i am muted for a while i never want to see my friends in the same state i am in and for all you other wizards out there if you meet a muted person just show your love and caring because they are most likely sad, depressed, or even angry so yea try your beast not to get muted 😀 from, Brittany Wind Walker (or known as friends as Hobo)
I have been here since Wizards101 first started and to be honest I have seen an increase on how people try to get around the filters to make sure others can see what they said or meant to say just by the way it sounded I was lucky enough to never get called noob or cussed at by them pronouncing it around the filter but I used to know people who have so I am glad you brought the chat to everyone’s attention thank you
While I do not mind sexual filtering, I think the refusal to let us type numbers (text or numerical) other than “one/1” is a bad idea,and hopefully it will be removed soon. Often I try to ask how high a level is that I must be to enter a certain world, gain a certain quest, or soon,but nobody can say because numbers are filtered out of all chat versions for some unknown reason. Also,I agree that people who report for reasons other than breaking TOS (including reporting innocent people and claiming they did something wrong when they did not) should be muted or banned themselves. KingsIsle should /check/ the proof before banning someone,each time, every time.
blocking numbers is just silly as people found ways around it as demonstrated above with the one, to, tree, forth, fifth, sixth, etc and if they can use that then they can still say phone numbers and addresses in that case, but as mentioned before also people hadnt seen that info shared i think kids are smart enough now not to share that stuff but i do see a lot of account sharing which also contains all that info and more for hackers, so i think i be more concerned of account sharing info than someone typing numbers to describe their lvl or location in wizard or quest etc. i do however see a lot of cussing and cursing going on tho how they do it i dont know because even tho i got filtered chat when i try to test “if they can lets see if i can” i cant! the words are red or yellow. but i seen normal spelling for vulgar language i mean the 4 or “forth” letter words starting with s f and so on used.
menu chat should have more options as i got many menu chat friends and to ask them for help is impossible or to invite them to a friends party is impossible all i get is “port to me” rather a rude statement in itself there is no please in it. also i cant tell a menu chat i want to hatch my wraith with his stormzilla there is no option all i see is “wanna hatch a pet” or “lets hatch” how do i tell him or her i want just that one pet they got to hatch with my special pet.
with limited chat i cant tell someone i want to hatch my nutcracker pet with their pet as nutcracker is yellow and they dont see it or i want them to follow me to a particular place to fight with me and when i type it out double checking the spelling they dont see it only as … dots so how do i say hey meet me at the tzalk’n stone place or such as even tho its a legit place and proper spelling it shows up yellow on my end and … on their end. there is many situations like this where you have places and names that limited chat cant see is that fair for both? and many such places dont appear in my quest list of menu chat specially if i done that quest already but want to meet someone there.
menu chat is to limited for many things needed said not only pet selections, but outfits, plants, furniture, crafting items. if someone asks me or says they like that they cant ask me how i got it and i cant tell them. i also cant tell what pet they want to hatch me with. i hatch with many “noobs” so they have a better chance at a better pet. some want my wraith but they cant say i want that one or even its name so i got to guess which one of the 20 or twin ty i got.
i will say also the format of the chat box is a big pain. instead of putting it all in one window with so many hot keys to activate everything. why not make private chat or group chat a separate window and not click a hard to see icons. and all those hot keys. god how many times did i get slammed by a hit because the darn book gets shoved in my face because the chat box decides to go crazy just then. i now dont chat to people because i cant handle the book in my face while picking cards trying to hit letters fast before the timer runs out.
i visit many other online games and sites and most or all have one “local chat area” the main screen then a tab above or below the main chat box for private or chosen chats. then all we got to do is click the tab to bring it forward while the “local” is running behind it. they dont use hot keys which are easy hit by accident while trying to back space or private message someone or group chat.
this game is a great game for all ages but i find it isolating and making it a more individual game than a group game because lack of ability to communicate. some just turn off chat completely and avoid talking to people because they cant get past the book, problems, or limits.
I agree with you Fully!
The main issue behind all of this is that children are smart; but, we’re only smart because adults attempt to outsmart us. No matter how strict the chat becomes, we’ll always find loopholes. Just saying. We adapt and evolve a whole lot easier than we get credit for. However, not every kid plans to abuse the chat using the loopholes. I think that in order to prevent innocent people from being unfairly muted, KingsIsle should investigate the reports a little bit more to see if they actually are reliable. And, if they are not, then the one who filed the false report should be punished because lying is just plain cruel. Thank you.
i do not have free chat or use the given words very often but on my dads account (he plays with me and has free chat) he often sees people swear at each other in the beginning of a pvp match! this is not right at all!!! if possible I think there should be friendly players to walk around many popular realms and when they see a fight they should be able to bane a person for 24 hours but it should be something only that player can do to them so people don’t just do it to be mean!