Yesterday, I saw a wild thread on the Fallout 76 Reddit in which a player claimed he was banned for posting a political message supporting a specific set of candidates in the US presidential race, on his own CAMP plot. (CAMPs are basically player housing in the game.)
I dunno whether to believe the story since there’s no great way of verifying it in a world where studios won’t discuss their bans and images can be easily faked. And yet, it’s certainly plausible, which is why it seemed unfair: As many replies chronicled, similar messages (including violent and racist political content) exist in CAMPs spotted throughout the game and have been reported repeatedly and still continue on apparently unbothered by Bethsoft.
Bethesda’s inconsistent moderation aside, many MMOs have rules against political content in chat and player-generated content. Indeed, some folks in the Reddit thread on the topic argued that no US political content belongs in a game – even a game that is screamingly obvious about its roots in US politics like Fallout!
And yet, irony aside, I do kind of understand the sentiment. When I logged into New World on PS5 last weekend, the chat was just a mess of idiotic election-related spam, just an avalanche of nonsense covering a third of my TV screen. Nobody was going to learn anything from that chaos. It’s just stress and noise, no matter whom you vote for. (Please vote.)
Should MMORPGs be blocking election content from chat? What about political signs in player housing content a la Fallout 76? Where exactly is the line here? Should studios be cracking down on this or letting it all ride?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
