Chat should take a proactive approach

To start, let it be known that the chat in this game is already controlled. I'm only advocating for a different method which doesn't see players getting their access to content they've paid for removed, essentially having their money legally stolen from them since it's in the agreement.

There are two ways two control what is said in a game's chat: proactively, by enforcing a chat filter so that players aren't able to use offensive or hateful words in the first place, or reactively, by giving players the ability to be offensive or hateful and then punishing them afterwards.

The proactive approach is more conducive to a healthy online community. I don't just mean asterisks replacing words, but the words being impossible to send or even type in the chat to begin with. If the words are removed from the chat's capabilities, then it's impossible to say them. So no one can be hurt or offended in the first place. This would not only prevent the tilt caused by offense, like if someone were to call you shit, a lot of people would start to tilt, int, or even leave from that. But it would also prevent worse outcomes, like if someone tells you to kill yourself, it could have emotional effects outside of the game. Some people may even cause harm to themselves from getting such treatment in a game they use to escape their usual emotional pain.

Conversely, the reactive approach of punishing people after the fact is not conducive to a healthy community. People are still free to offend and hurt others, just with the safeguard that they might get their account banned for doing so, though most people who lend to this community being known as the biggest, most toxic one do so sparingly enough that they don't ever get punished.

However, it is important to note that an approach like this is ONLY relevant to online chatrooms or game chats, and does not stretch to other aspects of life or law. This is one of the only situations where a proactive approach is not the same as a a proactive punishment. No one is punished by a chat filter. It's akin to forcing people to wear seatbelts in a car, or taking a friend's keys if they're drunk, rather than getting the ticket for having no seatbelt or the DUI.