Free Speech comes to Toontown

While there was always the ability to create "True Friends" on TT that allowed nearly free speech - it was still subject to monitoring and account suspension for inappropriate words or privacy issues - Disney has very recently allowed "SpeedChat Plus" which allows more freedom of speech amongst toons even if they are not True Friends (TF). SpeedChat Plus (SCP) has automatic filtering - so that anyone who is not a TF will not be able to see unacceptable words - which are automatically replaced with "arf" or "eepy" or some other "sound" depending on the type of toon animal.

One of the interesting aspects of this new SCP is which words are not allowed. Because of privacy issues, number are not allowed - even number words - to hinder exchange of phone numbers, addresses, age, etc. Though you can say a few cities or states, you still could get "banned" for inappropriate exchange. There are words like "meet" and "hat" that are not allowed - the former probably to hinder real world rendevous, the latter just incomprehensible. So while you can't say "cowboy hat," you can say "baseball cap." Generally, you can not use single letters, except ones like "I" or "u" - to prevent spelling out banned words with spaces between the letters.

But beyond the technical aspects of SCP is the impact on the whole TT experience. Suddenly, battles can take on a more coordinated effort when toons can discuss strategy or even just inform other toons of intentions - for example, "I'm close to getting fog horn - can we use sound?" And while mostly this added freedom of speech goes a long way to minimizing misunderstandings, it also cuts the other way. Some toons have used the new found freedom to scold other toons or worse -"I want to watch you die." Fortunately, the incidents were infrequent, and seem to have diminished further as the TT community gets used to the new feature.

One very interesting impact of SCP is on friendships. Suddenly, toon friends have even more apparent personalities. Humor and and advice elevate the experience. Players share more personal experiences and are able to recount past events. As sure as instant messaging (IM) enabled online friendships and even romances, SCP will do the same despite whatever limitations Disney may have imposed. Players find ways around the restrictions - even exchanging TF codes through SCP. Clearly, SCP supports an even more actively social online community.

Toontown just became a more interesting place for older players, while remaining relatively safe for the younger children. I think it will be a very fascinating experiment on the implementation of multiple levels of freedom of speech not found elsewhere online - SpeedChat, SpeedChat Plus, and True Friend chat. For example, in any battle or group interaction, there may be toons with various levels of chat freedom. How the group is able to interact and maintain communication is an interesting challenge. Will there be "class" segmentation? Will toons with SCP prefer play with like toons? Will toons without SCP avoid SCP groups where they can not comprehend much less participate in chat?