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Players of the computer game RuneScape represent a wide range of nationalities and ages; however, because the game itself is currently only available in English, almost all players speak English to some extent. Players who speak languages other than English tend to gravitate to worlds that are populated by other players who speak the same language. For example, some worlds have a percentage of players who speak French, Spanish, Dutch, or Lithuanian.

Language

Game language

Filter

A word filter is used in both the RuneScape game and the RuneScape forums. When a string of characters is censored, it is replaced by a series of asterisks. The filter is used to censor advertising and "offensive language" such as swear words, hate words, and certain words that could be inflammatory. Over the history of the filter, players have devised ever more creative ways, including use of a modified version of leetspeak, to slip by the filter. This deliberate avoidance of the censorship mechanism is considered a serious violation of Jagex rules of conduct and has resulted in more and more combinations of letters being censored. For example, for a long period of time, the internet slang word "pwn" was censored, as the "pw" in the word is a common abbreviation for the word password. Also, since advertising websites is in violation of RuneScape rules, all URLs are automatically censored as well.

Overhaul

On 16 May 2006, the chat filter was overhauled. Symbols, such as /, which had been completely locked out, are again permitted, and many words, such as the aforementioned "pw", can now be used. The filter was improved to allow additional symbols, such as vowels with accents as well as §, £, and °. Some non-Latin characters, such as letters in the Cyrillic alphabet, which had appeared as asterisks like a filtered word, are rendered as question marks. This update has also caused some problems. Some words were removed from the filters in error while some are now filtered for no obvious reason. For example, in some instances, when pluralizing words, replacing the -s with -z now often results in censoring. (Typing nothing but an "s" also results in a filter.)

Moderators

See also: Moderators Knowledge Base Page

Jagex moderators

Jagex moderators (J-mods) are employees of Jagex, and occasionally log into the game to talk to players. All Jagex moderators with the exceptions of Paul, Andrew, and Ian, have "Mod" as a prefix in their names. In RuneScape, they are identified by a gold crown beside their names, visible during public and private chat. On RuneScape's official forums, the gold crowns are shown beside their name, and their posts appear highlighted in gold. They have the ability to alter their skill levels at whim and may generate items within their inventory to assist in testing content before it appears in the publically in the RuneScape game. Jagex moderators also have the ability to appear at any location in the RuneScape world. They do not appear in the hiscores tables.

Player moderators

Player moderators (p-mods) are regular players who have been carefully selected and invited by Jagex to help maintain the order of the RuneScape environment, keeping it safe and free from rule-breaking. Player moderators are identified by a silver crown beside their names when they send any sort of message in the RuneScape game. They are given the ability to mute players for a period of 48 hours and send priority abuse reports that are directly sent to a member of the Jagex team. Player moderators have access to the Player Moderator Center, an area on the RuneScape website that allows them to perform their role more effectively. P-mods are not expected to spend greater periods of time playing RuneScape than normal players, and are not even obliged to make use of their special abilities.

Forum moderators

Forum moderators (f-mods) are normal players who work to carry out the tasks of managing RuneScape's official forums. Forum moderators were handpicked from a group of normal players by Jagex staff because of their ability to prove consistently that they have the temperament and judgement needed to help monitor fairness and rule breakers in the forums. They are given the ability to move and lock threads, hide posts or entire threads, edit titles, and temporarily ban players from posting. Like player moderators, they are given a private set of forums that are primarily used to help perform their role more effectively. Forum moderators have a green crown beside their name, as well as a green background when they post on the forums. They are not identified by a crown beside their name when they send a message in the RuneScape game.

Community involvement

When RuneScape was relatively new, Jagex was often involved in community affairs. However, today, some players see that Jagex is separating itself from the game community. However, if Jagex continues such involvement, it may be accused of favoritism, since RuneScape has grown by many times. Examples of activities that Jagex used to participate in include:

  • Fan sites: Jagex no longer lists fan sites for security reasons, although some see this as a move to depart from the community. If Jagex actually listed fan sites, owners of sites not listed may accuse Jagex of favoritism.
  • Player achievements: Jagex used to use system messages to announce achievements and player events, such as the wedding of Ladymedusa and M_Oldfield. [1].
  • Jagex used to publically welcome new staff, but no longer does so.
  • The "Community" section of the news has been removed.
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