Warframe is currently having a problem with its chat and the moderators there. They acted with great zeal on certain topics and caused a lot of bans. Therefore, the developers now want to approach the topic differently.
What is currently the problem in Warframe? If you mention certain terms in Warframe’s chat, it’s likely that you will be automatically banned by a mod-bot. For example, the seemingly harmless term “Traps” (Fallen) leads to a ban.
What is so bad about the term? The term can also be used as an offensive insult for trans women in English. In Warframe, the term has been used by some players with clear toxic intent to describe the androgynous Warframe Nezha.
Community and Chat Moderation in Conflict
What are the backgrounds of the bans? To ensure that such transphobic ideas have no place in the game, a moderator, who until recently called himself “FriendzoningMisandrist”, added the term to the auto-ban list. The list also includes potentially discriminatory words like “gay”, as these are supposedly always used in a homophobic context according to the mod.
This is how the current shitstorm arose: Quickly, there was anger about the moderator’s decision. On the one hand, the term Trap is by no means limited to the insult of trans women. For example, if someone asks for a way to trap animals, they would also be immediately banned. And gay has long ceased to be an insult.
Moderator Accused of Double Standards: Moreover, the name “FriendzoningMisandrist” itself is exceedingly offensive, as Misandrist stands for “man-hater” and is the opposite of the woman-hating “Misogynist”. The moderator’s name is now only “Misan”, but the strict ban rules still apply.
According to Misan, it would be unbearable for him and his trans girlfriend to constantly read transphobic comments. Incidentally, the girlfriend is also active as a moderator in Warframe. Therefore, they will continue to fight against transphobia and believe that all individuals who are not transgender should not have a say in the debate about transphobic terms.
Digital Extremes Will Seek Professional Help
How the developers are reacting: The community is angry and accuses the developers of populating the community team with overzealous individuals who clearly measure with double standards.
Thus, the developers have reacted and addressed the issue in the last dev stream. There, the message came that they are aware that the moderation is currently not up to the usual industry standard.
Therefore, they want to change this quickly and are looking for a professional third-party company that specializes in chat moderation, among other things. With their help, the rules for the mods should be made more professional. More details will be released as soon as they know more.
