How effective is word replacement filter?

Kei143·3/30/2019, 2:24:00 PM·5 votes·7,669 views

I think Blizzard has a system where it replaces flame into something hilariously weird.

Now I don't play any other games other than LoL, so I have no idea how effective it is.

Is it one of those that people can easily get around?
Do wrong words get filtered?
Does it only work for severe flame?
Do people actually know they are getting flamed?
Does seeing the replaced words make them feel any better?

Anyone have that experience, please enlighten me.

19 Comments

Imperial Pandaa3/30/2019, 3:00:00 PM3 votes

It is as effective as a regular chat filter that simply blocks the words.

-Can still get around with creative methods of spelling.

-Depends how aggressive the design is. Too passive and you have work arounds; too aggressive and you block wrong things.

-Again it depends on how they program it. It can work for something as simple as "gg ez" all the way to "kys".

-Eventually you start catching on, especially if you happen to trigger it one time by mistake. Unless they is a random phrase/word list to pull from you can start connecting what certain words actually mean.

-Can't say for certain since everyone is different. Initially I found it to be amusing because it would use older style language.

It isn't a MOBA, but Town of Salem has a word swap system.

Bob the Toastr3/30/2019, 4:22:01 PM1 votes

People who want to be salty will always find a way to be salty. Something as simple as replacing "ggez" with "ez gg" can get you through the filter. It's an interesting idea in theory but it's not terribly effective in practice.

Umbral Regent3/30/2019, 4:26:37 PM1 votes

I've played a bit of Overwatch, and I've seen that toxicity filter used a couple times, so here's my input;

Yeah, any simple filter can be pretty easily worked around, but as far as I've seen, nobody in OW has really bothered to do so.
Like Imperial Pandaa said, it depends largely on how the filter is designed.
Considering that I've seen people swear (and swore myself), as well as seen some general toxicity that the filter doesn't change, I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that it's for severe flame.
Again, Imperial Pandaa's response is probably best here.
Personally, I feel no better seeing the filtered words than seeing the flame itself. In fact, I almost feel worse for the filter being there, since Blizzard programmed some fake-apologetic lines like "I'm really trying my hardest to be better", which IMO is just Blizzard's half-handed way of apologizing on the part of their community, since they wouldn't do so themselves.

That's just my limited experience in Overwatch, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

Moody P3/30/2019, 6:41:27 PM1 votes

why would you want to take one of the most embarrassing aspects of soyverwatch lmao

Myrmiron3/30/2019, 8:16:52 PM1 votes

IMO they don't work at all. From what I experienced during my years of playing Overwatch, the Overwatch community is even more toxic than the League of Legends one, and Activision Blizzard in their efforts to make the game less toxic is actually making it easier to be toxic with a system. I REALLY do NOT like how Activision Blizzard is handling toxicity in Overwatch, each time I play a game I feel sick these days because you as an individual are utterly powerless in dealing with toxic teammates. Overwatch is the worst online community I have ever encountered, and I play League of Legends since way back when anyone could just write whatever they wanted without getting punished for it. Fuck Activision Blizzard, and fuck their Overwatch community.

Vreivai3/30/2019, 9:51:41 PM1 votes

I will say one thing about Blizzard's system.

I had never said "GG EZ" in any game before they implemented it.

Once they did and it replaced "GG EZ" I started spamming that at the end of every single game.