Overwatch 2 players have recently reported that swearing in chat has resulted in their accounts being banned, which is very confusing. Blizzard customer service said, "We never allow any swear words in our game. ”
Some Twitter users asked Blizzard customer service on social media why their accounts were banned, and the official customer service account responded by informing them that they were using "inappropriate language" and profanity in chats, which would result in a ban if reported, "especially the casual use of profanity in chat...... There are no explicit, no abbreviations, no harmony or mismatches. ”
The agent indicated that the user used the words "F**k" and "S**t", which led to the ban.
For English, these words are like "TMD" in Chinese, sometimes purely modal words, or not swear at all, such as "I F**ked Up" means "I screwed up". On the Reddit forum, a player was warned for saying this. It makes it feel like Blizzard is treating gamers like 6-year-olds.
The customer service's claim that "no profanity is allowed" is mentioned in the first paragraph of the User Code of Conduct, but in the User Code this paragraph is very vague and only says that "when engaging in any type of communication (text chat, voice, group lookup), you are responsible for the way you express yourself." You must not use offensive or vulgar language. As mentioned above, Blizzard's definition of "vulgar" is completely unexplained.
Not to mention the fact that the second paragraph makes it clear that hateful, discriminatory, obscene, destructive language, as well as threats and harassment are all banned - however, as many players have pointed out, the game is full of players who use these languages, but they are not banned. In another tweet, Blizzard customer service claimed that this was because "the number of reports did not meet the ban criteria."
The most puzzling thing for players is that the game comes with a "profanity filtering" system, and this is turned on by default. This means that players won't be able to see words they find offensive without actively turning off filtering. Some users point out that its presence gives the impression that it is actually "allowed to swear". The customer service still said the same thing: "The filter is for people who want to use it, but we never allow profanity in our game." ”
This response sparked criticism from many players, with 2.274 million views, more than 500 replies, and only 148 likes on Twitter (on Twitter, this is called "Ratioed", meaning that the number of replies is higher than the number of likes, meaning that most people disagree with the post or are "sprayed").
It was also pointed out that Overwatch 2 itself is a game geared towards teens (T-rated), which means that some profanity is allowed. In fact, Blizzard itself uses some dirty words, such as "BAMF" on the McRae/Cassidy belt, which is short for "Bad Ass Mother-F**ker". It has also been mentioned that Genji would curse the Japanese profanity word "くそ/kuso" when he was hurt, which literally translates into English to mean the same thing as "F**k" and "S**t".
On the other hand, the player who asked Blizzard customer service was actually a player from an official college event. Now he's banned for a month, which allegedly will result in him not being able to play in the final tournament and ultimately ruining his college career (college professional competitions can be tied to credits).
It can only be said that Chinese culture is broad and profound, we have long learned to use various abbreviations to scold people, and after Blizzard returns, we should not be afraid of this ban.