Notes

There will be an Appeals Process

Players can now report chat chat messages in multiplayer games with the new system, however the community is concerned about the implications.



A Mojang community manager has said that the company is not planning to reverse its implementation of the controversial player reporting feature, and demanded an end to harassment of Mojang employees.



Posting on Reddit MojangMeesh made clear that although the company is committed to player feedback, it won't necessarily "change the design principles Mojang Studios adheres to-this includes the new reporting system". They asked players to stop "following Mojang employees here on Reddit" and to not harass them in irrelevant threads. At the time of writing, the post had received almost 2000 downvotes.



Minecraft players have been arguing about the new player report system since it was announced about a month ago, but it was finally implemented as part of yesterday's 1.19.1 update. It allows players on both private and Mojang-hosted servers to report inappropriate messages in chat for review by Mojang investigators, potentially resulting in bans and suspensions for players that violate Minecraft's guidelines for community members, even on servers hosted by self-hosted players. Fans are worried that the system will result in player bans for messages that are taken out of context, and more broadly that it gives Microsoft too much power to control the content of discussions on its platform.



While some players might be acting badly about it, I don't think their arguments are unsubstantial. It's difficult to imagine a world which this system doesn’t disqualify someone for having a conversation with friends. Although there will be appeals, it's true that there are a lot of misconceptions about the way the system operates. Read any thread on the matter and it won't be long before you'll see someone complaining about having their private server's chat monitored' by Microsoft, or worried that they'll be banned from the site for cursing: neither of which is possible, according to Mojang's own FAQ regarding the reporting system.



This is where Mojang is stuck. A thread from Stuart Duncan-who runs a Minecraft server for children with autism-shows just how much vile stuff Minecraft is host to regularly. Duncan highlights studies and reports from the ADL and the BBC, and others that recount the stories of racists and predators using Minecraft in a way that is abominable. Providing tools to combat that behavior is important. While it's true that 'think of the child" scare stories are used to justify reactionary policies in real life, a tool that lets users report chat messages that aren't legitimate in Minecraft doesn't seem like the tip of a draconian wedge.



Please stop trying to speak 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're worried about the possibility of exploits, that's great. You can too. It's not perfect, but real people can be saved by it. July 27 2022



In other Minecraft news, Mojang has declared that the game wouldn't be featuring NFTs, as they're at odds with its "values of inclusion in the creative process". It's true that the move received enthusiastic support from the players however there's no information yet about what that AI they trained to play Minecraft thinks about it.



One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer. He was too young for that, and he's been irreparably game-smart ever since. Since the time, his writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He can play nearly any game and has written a lot about everything, from visual novels toAssassin's Creed. His deepest affections are CRPGs, immersive sims, and games whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks that you're far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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