Ask Massively: Censorship edition
by Shawn Schuster 
Jul 29th 2010 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Massively meta, Ask Massively
Follow along after the jump for the answers to this week's Ask Massively and don't be shy about getting your own questions in by commenting on this post or sending your inquiries off to ask@massively.com.
Wade asks: Could you folks add some videos to your Choose My Adventure, Rise and Shiny, and some of the Massively groups that are playing together in several games? It could just be some game play with voice overs by the column writer, showing some of the things they are talking about in the article? For the groups it could just be some footage of some of the places they explored that night and maybe a group wave at the end of the session. I can't make any of them (or don't play the game) and it would be interesting (to me) to see where they have gotten to since the last installment.
Yeah, I know, bandwidth costs and such, so just put them up on YouTube and embed it in the article, if that is allowed. :)
Actually, bandwidth costs are not an issue. We're owned by Aol with near limitless bandwidth, so that helps. But that aside, we're working on a few ideas in this field. Streaming our gameplay is one area we're researching heavily. Each writer has his or her own favorite game(s) and it would take little effort to stream their regular play nights for all to watch.
You can head on over to our Livestream page for the initial testing phases of this project where you'll see game trailers, streaming gameplay and maybe even catch a glimpse of us accidentally turning on our webcam while shirtless (true story, don't ask). Look for more on this soon!
Kevin asks: How does one go about applying for a writing position with your website? Is it mostly freelance writers being paid for content submitted, or are there actual staff positions allocated with salary - etc?
I'm a year from graduation, hung up on too many MMOs, and eager to produce something other than flame threads and thesis papers.
When we need writers, we have an open call-out on the site. We had one last August and a few smaller ones earlier this year, but don't have another planned for quite a while. Check out that right sidebar over there. We're full, captain!
Massively is part of the Joystiq network (technically, we're supposed to be their "MMO branch") which employs both contracted freelancers and salaried editorial positions. This is fairly typical of most larger blogs or news sites you'll find out there. Aside from these hiring periods, we get dozens of unsolicited applications and resumes a year. If you're interested in writing for Massively one day, keep an eye out on the site for a call-out. While we are one of the few who actually pay their writers, many smaller sites start their contributors off as volunteers or unpaid interns. That could be an option for you, as well, just to get your foot in the door.
James asks: You people need to layoff the censorship, you act like a bunch of thin skinned sheep huddling together looking for that politician to guide you through political correctness. I can make my own choices on whether to pass by a post or read it to include the ignorant choice by your site of making blogs disappear. Vote them down don't hide them.
Your site has a large audience for a reason, one your going to lose soon if you keep the censorship up. Though I am beginning to believe your target audience are children, those that aren't being watched by parents.
Oooh! I'm sorry, that wasn't in the form of a question.
Actually, this is a good topic though. While most of us at Massively can be as foul-mouthed as Christian Bale on our worst days, there's a time and a place for everything. We like to keep Massively relatively asshat-free, and censoring excessively foul language and abuse is only a part of that. We don't want the comment section to become a troll cave, as happens on the forums of many popular gaming sites.
One thing that tipped my opinion regarding this was when we started doing more in-game events late last year. We had comments from several people saying they'd love to come play with us, but they don't want to play with our commenters. To have a reputation like that is dangerous territory.
I personally don't want to get to the point of some websites that remove all comments that disagree with the writers' opinions. We're not about that. We just don't want our readers to feel like they can't express their opinion for fear of having their mothers insulted and their lives threatened (both of which have happened in Massively comments).
If you feel that your only option when speaking your mind is to say it with F-words and personal threats, you might want to re-evaluate your perspective. Maturity does not equal profanity.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Pingles said on 12:15PM 7-29-2010
Censor away! Please! Keep the site true to your vision. If a commented/reader needs a different level of debate they can make their own site.
The anonymity of the Internet is turning every comment system into a trilling competition.
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Pingles said on 1:24PM 7-29-2010
Typos. Phooey. Posted from my phone. That'll teach me!
commented = commenter
trilling = trolling
Russell Clarke said on 3:10PM 7-29-2010
When I read 'trilling competition' I had a delightful image of a room full of budgerigars.
Then you ruined it by correcting your typo, and I was brought crashing back to the real world.
THAC0 said on 12:34PM 7-29-2010
:( They don't want to play with me!?
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Phil said on 12:37PM 7-29-2010
Personally I don't really see it as that much of censorship, like Shawn stated it mainly when people are total and ridiculous jerks and start dropping expletives and death threats that involve weird donkey love and those things are certainly not appropriate or called for in this type of environment. So I dont really care that they remove that type of content from the comments because it is not at all constructive. If however they removed a comment that was disagreeing with the author or another commenter then I would have a problem (Assuming said comment wasnt "Thats stupid you @#%@#%@, your mom is so ugly she looks like bencio del toro on crack"
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Seraphina Brennan said on 5:58PM 7-29-2010
Surprisingly enough:
http://www.massively.com/community
:D It's hiding over in the sidebar. XD
Phil said on 7:54PM 7-29-2010
Sadly when I clicked on that link I was hoping to see Bencio Del Toro on crack for some reason, but alas it was not so.
Nickelpat said on 12:41PM 7-29-2010
Thank you Massively, the last thing I want is the comment section looking the MMORPG.com forums. Opinions are fine, but you must learn how to express an opinion without being a jerk.
Go Massively, keep the site clean and intelligent. No need for people to reduce their commenting to needless trolling and flaming.
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ZachDude said on 2:27PM 7-29-2010
EXACTLY WHY I AM HERE!!! MMORPG.com has some nice articles every once and a while, but I stick to massively for my daily MMO News fix. And the community at MMORPG.com is pretty ridiculous
The main thing I would like to see from massively is profiles, ability to edit posts, and send messages to each other. No need for forums. It would be nice to have a profile where you could put all of your MMO aliases, steam/chat accounts for the rest of the massively community to communicate with each other a little more.
ANYWAYS....
I agree, with this post, you can easily debate things without making threats and using expletives.
DataShade said on 2:39PM 7-29-2010
@ZachDude said on 2:27PM 7-29-2010
There's a Massively steam community; that's not everything you asked for, but it's one way to get started.
Nickelpat said on 3:54PM 7-29-2010
Massively has an active IRC chat channel too,
Server: irc.quakenet.org
Channel: #massively
The writers can be found on there quite a bit and it's usually pretty busy with chat. You guys should stop buy and say hi! :)
ZachDude said on 5:47PM 7-29-2010
Yeah, I know, I'm already there, it'd just be nice to have it on the site. I'm sure not everyone here has steam, you don't need it to play MMO's unless your playing GA.
ZachDude said on 5:51PM 7-29-2010
as for the IRC, someone from massively should put a page on the site for that too... use the mibbit.com widget.... :D
Brianna Royce said on 12:57PM 7-30-2010
@ZachDude -- I think the community page you're hoping to see already exists, linked on the right-hand side of the site: http://www.massively.com/community
And chat works in a browser too: http://webchat.quakenet.org/
We intentionally avoid widgets that redirect to other sites, might not be compatible with future builds of our site, etc.
-Bree
Marie said on 12:46PM 7-29-2010
I am in wholehearted agreement with your reply to the last (non)question.
I recently tried joining a large MMO forum and left after two weeks. I don't have a thin skin, but there's simply no enjoyment to posting my ideas and opinions if the majority of people replying to them are going to be personal and nasty in everything they disagree with.
And while I personally enjoy swearing very much, anything I expect to be read by a very diverse community, I tone down. Because when I'm walking down the street and hear an 9 year old screaming some of the worst profanities to his poor mother, I remember that the internet has become one of the biggest models by which kids learn how to socialize and discuss with other people. The last thing I would want a child to learn is that the flaming is the standard of way dealing with their differences. That's just bad for society all around.
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DataShade said on 2:14PM 7-29-2010
I'm going to apologize in advance, because this'll seem meaner than it needs to be.
1.) You joined a large MMO forum to post your ideas and opinions, and left after two weeks. You don't say how long you were playing the MMO before you joined the forum, or even which MMO it was, both of which make me suspicious: what's your idea of large? what kind of ideas and opinions? how long did you lurk? The simple truth is, no matter how good of a person you are, if you're a total newbie, you're going to lack the experience to understand the unpublished mechanics of the game, the unwritten rules of the community, etc. Newton's Laws apply to social actions as well as physical ones.
2.) I'm glad you "tone down," but that doesn't mean anything. I'm kind of an asshole, and I've run into trouble at work for off-the-cuff remarks - I made one coworker cry, made another threaten to kill me, etc - all without swearing, or even raising my voice. So maybe your "toned down" isn't really any nicer, it's just free or arbitrarily-labelled-as-"bad" words. Frankly, the internet didn't make up any new bad words, and the internet didn't invent children hurting other people's feelings to get a response. Ever see "A Christmas Story?" Ralphie learns all the bad words in the world from his father when his father thinks Ralphie can't hear him; yet, his parents are willing - eager, even - to believe Ralphie learned those words from his friends at school, not them. The internet didn't break your children; you did. "The only constant in all of your failed relationships is you."
Marie said on 2:30PM 7-29-2010
I'm going to apologize for this reply in advance, as it may be too friendly near the end for your blazing heart to handle!
First of all, the forum was the forums on MMORPG.com. So it was about mmorpgs in general, which I've played a fair amount of, and not about one specific one.
Secondly, the post I just made was fairly typical of the posts I generally make. Did it make you cry? Did I come off as a total jerk-face loser? That's what I mean by toned-down.
And then, wow, what did I do to you that you feel the need to attack me and my non-existent children? And my failed relationships? I can only assume you must really hate the name Marie. Or more likely, you just hate people in general. Eh, eh? Am I right? I'm totally right.
C'mon over here, lemme give you a big old hug. There now, sweetling. Feel better, don't you?
DataShade said on 3:11PM 7-29-2010
The part in quotes was actually a quote, altho' I suppose I might have paraphrased slightly. Here you go: http://www.despair.com/dysfunction.html
You also seem to have ignored the point that if you walk into a conversation (or a community) in progress and do the equivalent of wave your arms and say "look at me!" you're going to get more negative reactions than positive. Did you lurk? Did you observe the tone of conversations? Or did you project your expectations onto a community?
If they weren't your children, then it doesn't actually affect you, does it? Or, alternatively, if it affects you, why didn't you talk to these specific children instead of storing up that dismay and condemnation to project upon someone on the internet? Aren't you, essentially, doing exactly what you hate, but in a passive-aggressive manner?
Russell Clarke said on 3:17PM 7-29-2010
Godwin's Law is more likely to rule social actions on teh interweb than Newton's Law.
THAC0 said on 3:19PM 7-29-2010
I think the name Marie is lovely.