The new system lets players report chat messages in multiplayer games However, the community is worried about the implications.
Mojang's community manager stated that the company will not reverse its controversial player reporting feature and demanded the end of harassment of Mojang employees.
MojangMeesh posted on Reddit to clarify that while Mojang Studios values feedback from its players, it isn't going to change the design principles Mojang Studios follows-this includes the new report system. They also asked players who are upset to stop "following Mojang employees around here on Reddit" to make them feel harassed in threads that aren't related to their work. At the time when this article was written, the post had received nearly 2000 downvotes.
Minecraft players have been furious about the new player reporting system since it was announced about a month ago but it was finally implemented in yesterday's 1.19.1 update. It allows players on private and Mojang-hosted multiplayer servers to flag inappropriate messages in chat for review by Mojang investigators, which could result in suspensions and/or bans for players who violate Minecraft's community guidelines even on self-hosted servers. Some players are concerned that the system could lead to player bans for messages that have been taken out of context and more generally, it gives Microsoft too many powers to control the content on its platform.
I don't think their argument is unfounded even if some players are acting badly about it. It's hard to imagine a world where the system doesn't prohibit anyone because jokes between friends were wrongly understood. While there may be appeals, it is also true that there are many misconceptions about the way the system operates. Read any thread about the subject and it won't be long before you find someone complaining about having their private server's chat 'monitored' by Microsoft or concerned that they'll be banned from the site for cursing. Both are possible according to Mojang's own FAQ on the reporting system.
This is where Mojang is stuck. A thread from Stuart Duncan-who runs an autism-friendly Minecraft server for children with autism-shows just the awful things Minecraft hosts regularly. Duncan highlights studies and reports from the ADL and the BBC and other sources which tell tales of predators and racists who play Minecraft in a way that is abominable. It's important to offer tools to combat this kind of behavior. While it's true that 'think of the child" scare stories are used to justify the use of reactionary policies in real life, a tool that lets users report dodgy chat messages in Minecraft doesn't seem like the end of a dangerous wedge.
Stop trying to be a spokesperson for everyone when you say "no one asked for this" or "the entire community hates it" or "no one is in need of this. "If you are worried about exploits, that is fantastic. You're not alone. It's not perfect, but real people can be saved by it. July 27 2022
In other Minecraft news, Mojang recently declared that the game wouldn't include NFTs, as they don't align with the "values of creative inclusion". The move at least seemed to garner an enthusiastic response from the players but there's no word yet on what that AI they created to play Minecraft thinks about it.
One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was far too young for this and he's been utterly game-smart ever since. His writing has been published in Vice and Fanbyte as well as the Financial Times.Minecraft Blog He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's creed. His deepest affections are CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game that's ambition is greater than its budget. He thinks you are all too mean about Deus Ex.
