Guild Advertisements in Zone Chat

Savagejack · March 5

Do you need a basic question that I'll setup to answer with my next link? Well then [Zone Chat Spammers] is the right guild for you! It's already apparent what we offer because it was implied in my basic opening question. But let's list everything anyway! We are social and do things. We also have sweeping generalizations of zero standards for anyone who'd like to join. But we'll list those types of players too in case you are confused. Blank applications will be denied on merit of wanting to read YOUR spam. I will also unnecessarily explain how respect and kindness to others is important. Now let's grow this redundant parasite together and spam every zone chat in ESO with [Zone Chat Spammers] Closing statement and generic farewell.

If you have frequently read something similar, I would love to know how to filter this. Guilds are already perfectly represented in the LFG tool.

Tandor · March 5

I disabled Zone Chat 11 years ago and have never regretted it.

Soarora · March 5

LOL I love the description, spot on. Zone chat advertisements do work though, and are needed to get members if you’re a niche or new guild. There is an addon that I believe will hide them though, it might be No Thank You? I don’t recall.

Knaxia · March 5

Soarora wrote: »

LOL I love the description, spot on. Zone chat advertisements do work though, and are needed to get members if you’re a niche or new guild. There is an addon that I believe will hide them though, it might be No Thank You? I don’t recall.

The main thing is it'll almost always happen when someone is asking for help. Need people for a world boss? looking for a specific NPC? Can't find a location? Ask in Zone chat and be sure that within the next minute, your message will be pushed away by a bunch of guild recruitment spam. They wait for that exact moment, whe there's someone looking at chat to do it.

I've been leveling a new character on my second account, which has no CP or any help, and it's nearly impossible to get anyone to assist you on world bosses without that happening.You gotta try a few times and even there, silence.

Grizzbeorn · March 5

Savagejack wrote: »

If you have frequently read something similar, I would love to know how to filter this. .

Turn off Zone Chat.

I'll turn it on if I'm looking for a werewolf bite (since I can't bite my own characters; AND i ask no more than twice, many minutes apart, ao that I, myself, am not spamming), but that kind of guild recruit spam is just one of the reasons I keep Zone Chat off, otherwise.

Soarora · March 5

Knaxia wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

LOL I love the description, spot on. Zone chat advertisements do work though, and are needed to get members if you’re a niche or new guild. There is an addon that I believe will hide them though, it might be No Thank You? I don’t recall.

The main thing is it'll almost always happen when someone is asking for help. Need people for a world boss? looking for a specific NPC? Can't find a location? Ask in Zone chat and be sure that within the next minute, your message will be pushed away by a bunch of guild recruitment spam. They wait for that exact moment, whe there's someone looking at chat to do it.

I've been leveling a new character on my second account, which has no CP or any help, and it's nearly impossible to get anyone to assist you on world bosses without that happening.You gotta try a few times and even there, silence.

I don’t think they’re doing it on purpose. They’re probably going zone-to-zone and not seeing previous messages. Some people might be doing it on purpose though. A chat filter could be a good addition for ZOS to add though. Options for muting messages with guild links, home links, and “x, y, z, +”.

And yeah, most zones are dead unfortunately. Just a product of how the game was built.

Yudo · March 5

Disable zone chat in your chat and have a secondary tab where zone is included in case you need it.
But new guilds do not have many tools so posting in zone does help, though I understand perhaps annoying for those not interested. Could try AdBlock addon too.

sans-culottes · March 5

It’d be nice to be able to block certain guilds. One in particular on PSN loves to spam an incredibly unclever reference to a controlled substance that’s the basis of their guild name. The same substances have been at the center of a substance abuse epidemic in the US. Their motto’s about how it’ll cure your pain, etc. In very poor taste.

Since ZOS has determined this name and these references are apparently appropriate, it’d be appreciated if I could opt out of receiving messages that glorify a public health crisis.

sarahthes · March 5

Soarora wrote: »

Knaxia wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

LOL I love the description, spot on. Zone chat advertisements do work though, and are needed to get members if you’re a niche or new guild. There is an addon that I believe will hide them though, it might be No Thank You? I don’t recall.

The main thing is it'll almost always happen when someone is asking for help. Need people for a world boss? looking for a specific NPC? Can't find a location? Ask in Zone chat and be sure that within the next minute, your message will be pushed away by a bunch of guild recruitment spam. They wait for that exact moment, whe there's someone looking at chat to do it.

I've been leveling a new character on my second account, which has no CP or any help, and it's nearly impossible to get anyone to assist you on world bosses without that happening.You gotta try a few times and even there, silence.

I don’t think they’re doing it on purpose. They’re probably going zone-to-zone and not seeing previous messages. Some people might be doing it on purpose though. A chat filter could be a good addition for ZOS to add though. Options for muting messages with guild links, home links, and “x, y, z, +”.

And yeah, most zones are dead unfortunately. Just a product of how the game was built.

When my guild was still active, I just zone hopped unless someone said something funny before I ported out - then I would usually respond. Usually spent more time in load screens than zones.

If the guild finder tool was a bit more user friendly I don't think we would have to do this, fyi.

I also think an advertising channel would be fantastic - preferable to zone hopping for sure.

JavaRen · March 5

If the recruiting message were: [type of guild] recruiting [link to guild recruit page] I wouldn't be bothered by them.

(Full disclosure, this is how I post my recruiting message, but I watch chat for a minute or 2 first to read the room before I decide to post or not)..

VoxAdActa · March 5

I'm currently looking to fill a couple of guild slots (a social guild would be nice, and I'm debating trying out an RP guild), and the guild "finder" is absolutely worthless. There are 100+member guilds that I know exist and are actively playing that don't show up, while some guilds with 7 members and/or that haven't been active since 2018 do. As far as the guild finder is concerned, there are about 30 guilds on all of PCNA.

So those in-zone ads are actually interesting to me. I'll ignore the trial guilds, and click the links for social/RP guilds to see what they're about. And every time I do, I'm annoyed that the specific guild I'm inspecting didn't show up last time I searched the guild finder for exactly that type of guild.

Until the guild finder is fixed, this ersatz recruitment method is the only effective thing available for both guilds and people who are picky about what guilds they join.

sans-culottes · March 5

VoxAdActa wrote: »

I'm currently looking to fill a couple of guild slots (a social guild would be nice, and I'm debating trying out an RP guild), and the guild "finder" is absolutely worthless. There are 100+member guilds that I know exist and are actively playing that don't show up, while some guilds with 7 members and/or that haven't been active since 2018 do. As far as the guild finder is concerned, there are about 30 guilds on all of PCNA.

So those in-zone ads are actually interesting to me. I'll ignore the trial guilds, and click the links for social/RP guilds to see what they're about. And every time I do, I'm annoyed that the specific guild I'm inspecting didn't show up last time I searched the guild finder for exactly that type of guild.

Until the guild finder is fixed, this ersatz recruitment method is the only effective thing available for both guilds and people who are picky about what guilds they join.

Agreed. Guild spam comes with the territory. It’d be nice to filter out some of the noise without harming guild recruitment.

SeaGtGruff · March 5

At least it's game-related. The zone chat messages I'd rather do without are the political ones, the crude sophomoric sexual references, and the racist garbage disguised as "lore-friendly role-playing."

SkaiFaith · March 5

sans-culottes wrote: »

It’d be nice to be able to block certain guilds. One in particular on PSN loves to spam an incredibly unclever reference to a controlled substance that’s the basis of their guild name. The same substances have been at the center of a substance abuse epidemic in the US. Their motto’s about how it’ll cure your pain, etc. In very poor taste.

Since ZOS has determined this name and these references are apparently appropriate, it’d be appreciated if I could opt out of receiving messages that glorify a public health crisis.

I looked at this thread expecting to see reports like this.
I would also add that ESO is not the proper place to shout political slogans and highlight social issues - why would anyone want to read in a videogame about "wanting a certain country free" or "being proud of certain life decisions"?
I would be proud to see Tamriel freed of this stuff.
Please and thank you.
There are guilds that choose such improper names and then spam invites in zone chat. Not very "lore accurate" if you ask me.

disintegr8 · March 5

I'd happily see more guild spammers and less sales spammers. Maybe we would have less of both if the sales spammers joined the guilds to sell their wares.

AzuraFan · March 5

I belong to three great guilds, and I joined one of them because they advertised in zone chat, so I'm fine with it.

Funny story, a while ago I saw a guild ad in zone chat and thought, hey, sounds good, but I'm too busy to do anything right now. I'll find them later through the guild finder. Later on, I found the guild, applied, and joined. Not too long after, I realized that I'd made an error. I'd found a guild with a similar name to the one in the zone ad, so I'd actually joined a different guild. But they were a great group of people so I stayed, and I've done a lot with that guild since then. One of the better mistakes I've made.

So in a roundabout way, I joined two of my guilds due to ads in zone chat.

sans-culottes · March 5

SkaiFaith wrote: »

sans-culottes wrote: »

It’d be nice to be able to block certain guilds. One in particular on PSN loves to spam an incredibly unclever reference to a controlled substance that’s the basis of their guild name. The same substances have been at the center of a substance abuse epidemic in the US. Their motto’s about how it’ll cure your pain, etc. In very poor taste.

Since ZOS has determined this name and these references are apparently appropriate, it’d be appreciated if I could opt out of receiving messages that glorify a public health crisis.

I looked at this thread expecting to see reports like this.
I would also add that ESO is not the proper place to shout political slogans and highlight social issues - why would anyone want to read in a videogame about "wanting a certain country free" or "being proud of certain life decisions"?
I would be proud to see Tamriel freed of this stuff.
Please and thank you.
There are guilds that choose such improper names and then spam invites in zone chat. Not very "lore accurate" if you ask me.

To be fair, the existence of LGBTQ persons is a fact, in our world and Tamriel. If that’s something that bothers you, then this may not be the ideal universe for you.

To the best of my knowledge, you could always report content you find inappropriate. However, if the worst thing someone is saying in zone chat is that they hold an opinion you disagree with or that their existence is deemed to be a choice that others don’t like, then I think maybe those aggrieved folks should instead turn that critical eye inward.

Having said that, narcotics are a surprising thing to be able to make light of.

SkaiFaith · March 5

sans-culottes wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

sans-culottes wrote: »

It’d be nice to be able to block certain guilds. One in particular on PSN loves to spam an incredibly unclever reference to a controlled substance that’s the basis of their guild name. The same substances have been at the center of a substance abuse epidemic in the US. Their motto’s about how it’ll cure your pain, etc. In very poor taste.

Since ZOS has determined this name and these references are apparently appropriate, it’d be appreciated if I could opt out of receiving messages that glorify a public health crisis.

I looked at this thread expecting to see reports like this.
I would also add that ESO is not the proper place to shout political slogans and highlight social issues - why would anyone want to read in a videogame about "wanting a certain country free" or "being proud of certain life decisions"?
I would be proud to see Tamriel freed of this stuff.
Please and thank you.
There are guilds that choose such improper names and then spam invites in zone chat. Not very "lore accurate" if you ask me.

To be fair, the existence of LGBTQ persons is a fact, in our world and Tamriel. If that’s something that bothers you, then this may not be the ideal universe for you.

To the best of my knowledge, you could always report content you find inappropriate. However, if the worst thing someone is saying in zone chat is that they hold an opinion you disagree with or that their existence is deemed to be a choice that others don’t like, then I think maybe those aggrieved folks should instead turn that critical eye inward.

Having said that, narcotics are a surprising thing to be able to make light of.

I'll respond to the specific thing you pointed out.
I honestly have no issue with "their existence", and I think you are totally missing my point if you focus on that, but I'll give you a good example: on XBOX EU there was a guild called LGBTQIA+ which is still not lore friendly (and sounds kinda silly in the Elder Scrolls timeline IMHO) even if some of these are present in Tamriel history - they got reported (I suppose, I don't know for sure, I didn't report) and they changed the name to Rainbow Warriors: to me this is totally okay, even cool!

Why can't we use fantasy to explore ways of keeping things "in-universe" instead of bringing the real world inside the game?

TaSheen · March 5

Tandor wrote: »

I disabled Zone Chat 11 years ago and have never regretted it.

I too (well, not 11 years ago, only 7). After two other mmos I knew the minute I logged into this one to disable zone chat....

JinKC98 · March 6

I learned to ignore those recruitment spam chats over the years. Zone Chat can be fun to read sometimes when you're bored (just my two cents).

Orbital78 · March 6

I don't find zone chat enjoyable so it gets its own tab and muted in the main one. If you insist on keeping it, you could just ignore the person.

sans-culottes · March 6

SkaiFaith wrote: »

sans-culottes wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

sans-culottes wrote: »

It’d be nice to be able to block certain guilds. One in particular on PSN loves to spam an incredibly unclever reference to a controlled substance that’s the basis of their guild name. The same substances have been at the center of a substance abuse epidemic in the US. Their motto’s about how it’ll cure your pain, etc. In very poor taste.

Since ZOS has determined this name and these references are apparently appropriate, it’d be appreciated if I could opt out of receiving messages that glorify a public health crisis.

I looked at this thread expecting to see reports like this.
I would also add that ESO is not the proper place to shout political slogans and highlight social issues - why would anyone want to read in a videogame about "wanting a certain country free" or "being proud of certain life decisions"?
I would be proud to see Tamriel freed of this stuff.
Please and thank you.
There are guilds that choose such improper names and then spam invites in zone chat. Not very "lore accurate" if you ask me.

To be fair, the existence of LGBTQ persons is a fact, in our world and Tamriel. If that’s something that bothers you, then this may not be the ideal universe for you.

To the best of my knowledge, you could always report content you find inappropriate. However, if the worst thing someone is saying in zone chat is that they hold an opinion you disagree with or that their existence is deemed to be a choice that others don’t like, then I think maybe those aggrieved folks should instead turn that critical eye inward.

Having said that, narcotics are a surprising thing to be able to make light of.

I'll respond to the specific thing you pointed out.
I honestly have no issue with "their existence", and I think you are totally missing my point if you focus on that, but I'll give you a good example: on XBOX EU there was a guild called LGBTQIA+ which is still not lore friendly (and sounds kinda silly in the Elder Scrolls timeline IMHO) even if some of these are present in Tamriel history - they got reported (I suppose, I don't know for sure, I didn't report) and they changed the name to Rainbow Warriors: to me this is totally okay, even cool!
Why can't we use fantasy to explore ways of keeping things "in-universe" instead of bringing the real world inside the game?

That’s definitely an unsubtle guild name, yeah. “Unsubtle” in the sense of, like, not trying too hard to fit the fairly well-defined Elder Scrolls theme. Fair enough!

IsharaMeradin · March 6

FYI - for those on PC, rChat has the ability to filter out guild messages among other types of common "spam".