In a bid to keep the Steam platform less hostile for everybody, Valve is introducing a feature that will keep slurs and profanity away from chats.
Competitive gaming is home to some of the most contentious players. This makes online multiplayer games a place where some of the mean-spirited individuals are at. Where such people exist, oftentimes expletives makes for a company, to the point of becoming commonplace in the domain.
Steam, being a hub for some of these games, is not a stranger when it comes to trash-talking. Games such as CS:GO, DOTA 2, Destiny 2, etc. have seen their fair share of players throwing insults at one another. Whether that be out of rage, tactical maneuver, or simply out of sheer competitiveness, this, thus, makes it a platform where some of the hurtful words are uttered, even in the form of text.
From being a platform that facilitates curses rather unwittingly, Steam vies to become a platform where such words do not exist. An effort which it somehow attained by incorporating a chat filter to some of its games, including the ones already mentioned. However, “some” here does not imply “all,” leaving a large space for where some of the worst words in the dictionary are casually used.
Volunteers Needed
But all that is slated to change as Steam is cooking up something that will render certain wordings permanently out of its discussions. Currently, in its development stage at the Steam Lab, the platform is perfecting the Steam Text and Chat Filter options. Which, by not yet being officially part of the platform, takes active volunteers to experience it. Particularly, as a participant of Steam Lab Experiment 011, which gives significant privilege to the beta access.
Upon registering on the program, users can experience the chat filter function right off the bat. Rendering common expletives blocked, which Steam admittedly claims to do in a major way by simply blocking the F-word. Covering no less than 56 percent of offenses which starts with it.
While effective in its design, the list of words that the filter can rule out as part of any conversation is not comprehensive. In most cases, some slurs still get through with certain discourse. But a problem which Steam itself acknowledges and therefore requires cooperation with the user base for.
In an attempt to expand the chat filter’s growing list of banned words in the platform, Steam is putting a feature that lets users add their list.
Effective to a Growing Extent
This approach indeed strives to keep Steam a harmonious place for everyone. But there’s no guarantee that inappropriate words are altogether cut off. Users can still, after all, try to be creative when making an attempt at it.
Despite the caveat, it’s still many times better having a filter in place than not. In so doing, it assures that certain words will no longer be making appearances in the chat, especially in proper spelling. Saving anyone who would see from any unnecessary emotional distress and chest pain.
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