Dumb AI has put a halt to my spending

Mathius_Mordred · September 17

https://mmorpg.gg/zenimax-is-reportedly-using-ai-to-ban-roleplayers-in-eso/

So we see that players are being banned for saying things in private, in one case just describing a furnishing in a private chat to a friend. This is a totalitarian system and a complete invasion of privacy. The AI is foolish, it doesn't understand the context of the conversation and how it relates to the TOS, and even if it did this is a private conversation between consenting adults.

I spend a lot of money on this game, easily £1000 a year and most of that goes to traders and prizes for my guild members. However, my spending is on hold until I get some reassurance from ZOS that this privacy invasion will not persist.

To be clear I have never been banned, and I don't expect to get banned, I prefer to use Discord with my guild mates but many don't use Discord so I have to talk to them in chat. If I make a mistake and say something this AI deems is bannable I could lose everything. Another instance has seen a player banned because he was wearing all white which the report back to him stated made his character look like a *** member. This is ludicrous and has to stop.

We need some clarification from ZOS on these issues, until I see some reassurance my spending days are over.

JiubLeRepenti · September 17

Lol tell me this is a joke.

The game is currently facing one of its worst times in terms of players attendance, community satisfaction... And they do this.

How does ZOS focus on game's priorities? Please telle me. I don't get it.

xclassgaming · September 17

i'm still not seeing any proof this is actually happening.

Not seen a single person actually post a ban message anywhere about this; im starting to think this was just sparked up by the good ol' "i got banned for nothing" aka i shouted slurs in public or cheated.

CrazyKitty · September 17

I wonder how much this AI is impacting performance.

Mathius_Mordred · September 17

I guess we won't know for sure until they tell us.

cyclonus11 · September 17

Main thread on this:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/665594/how-will-the-ai-that-monitors-our-in-game-chats-effect-rp/p1

Mathius_Mordred · September 17

cyclonus11 wrote: »

Main thread on this:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/665594/how-will-the-ai-that-monitors-our-in-game-chats-effect-rp/p1

This is a little different. We are not talking about RP here, we are talking about private chatting. RP is obviously a concern but far more people message each other in a non RP mode and this is really concerning.

Syldras · September 17

Mathius_Mordred wrote: »

This is a little different. We are not talking about RP here, we are talking about private chatting. RP is obviously a concern but far more people message each other in a non RP mode and this is really concerning.

The autocensor doesn't care whether it's rp or real talk.

Elsonso · September 17

Syldras wrote: »

Mathius_Mordred wrote: »

This is a little different. We are not talking about RP here, we are talking about private chatting. RP is obviously a concern but far more people message each other in a non RP mode and this is really concerning.

The autocensor doesn't care whether it's rp or real talk.

It likely can't tell the difference.

Syldras · September 17

Elsonso wrote: »

It likely can't tell the difference.

That's to be expected from an automaton that bans this...

...because it includes not only 1, but 2 slurs!

Mathius_Mordred · September 17

Syldras wrote: »

Mathius_Mordred wrote: »

This is a little different. We are not talking about RP here, we are talking about private chatting. RP is obviously a concern but far more people message each other in a non RP mode and this is really concerning.

The autocensor doesn't care whether it's rp or real talk.

No, but my point is exactly that. I don't know the actual figures, but let's say 5% engage in RP, that means 95% do not. If the AI problem is limited to RP only it doesn't affect 95% of the population, but now we are being told it does affect ALL channels and as you say doesn't differentiate between RP and normal private chat and that affects 100% of us.

xylena_lazarow · September 17

xclassgaming wrote: »

i'm still not seeing any proof this is actually happening.

IIRC it's against the rules to post specifics of disciplinary actions, but anecdotally I've witnessed a number of recent bans from language being taken out of context, while they completely ignore malicious text that is a slight variation of a slur or inflammatory political slogan, even when reported. That's the part that raises suspicion.

Syldras · September 17

Mathius_Mordred wrote: »

No, but my point is exactly that. I don't know the actual figures, but let's say 5% engage in RP, that means 95% do not. If the AI problem is limited to RP only it doesn't affect 95% of the population, but now we are being told it does affect ALL channels and as you say doesn't differentiate between RP and normal private chat and that affects 100% of us.

The AI problem is not limited to anything at all. If it's true, it's just an extremely silly and questionable word filter that filters everything that seems remotely "offensive" (not even created with anything in mind but "offensive = censor it!!!!"), which does affect all kinds of conversations, no matter if you (as an example) talk about something offensive that happens within one of ESO's quests, talk about a real such crime that happened in your town and that's currently in the news, talk about some crime novel you read that includes this, or let it come up in text/chat rpg somehow.

The silly word filter has always been there. The new thing about the reports is that allegedly people are autobanned, and some claims that it does now also censor whole themes instead of just common slurs or rather letter sequences.

Elsonso · September 17

Syldras wrote: »

The silly word filter has always been there. The new thing about the reports is that allegedly people are autobanned, and some claims that it does now also censor whole themes instead of just common slurs or rather letter sequences.

Auto-banning, or at least the accusation of it, has been around for a very long time. We have this whole "social ban" thing going on, after all.

ZOS_GregoryV · September 17

Greetings,

Upon review of this thread, we have decided to close it as it would appear to be rather identical to another thread that is currently being investigated. For the members of the community who would wish to discuss this further, please feel free to join in on this thread here.

Additionally, we ask that all members please be sure to keep the rules in mind when posting, and note that in this specific case, Bashing, as well as Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation are both violations of our rules, and are stated as follows:

Bashing and Slanderous Comments: We do not permit the bashing of individuals (including ZeniMax employees), groups, or other companies on our forums. We believe that doing so is neither constructive nor in spirit of our game and community.
Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation: We do not tolerate the deliberate and malicious spreading of false info or conspiracy theories about ZeniMax Online Studios, its game(s), or its employees. This does not include honest mistakes; rather, this rule pertains to those who go out of their way to spread harmful or malicious rumors about ZeniMax Online Studios and its employees, or The Elder Scrolls Online.

Lastly, if anyone has any ticket numbers for those who may been impacted, please share them with ZOS_Kevin and we will gladly have our Customer Support team take a look while the investigation is ongoing.

Thank you for your understanding,
-Greg-