LMAO it was not like this back in the day I assure you that.
Not sure about 2004 but back in 2005-2006 there was insane censorship, poop was censored…
Wouldn’t be surprised if wtf was censored in 2004
The chat filter comes from the game cache and is 100% authentic. You’re correct that it is extremely restrictive but this is exactly how it was on May 18th, 2004.
You can see the list of filtered words here: Server/data/src/wordenc/badenc.txt at main · 2004Scape/Server · GitHub
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i played back then and im fairly certain it wasnt like that. Also why not change it? or add a remove filter option. I coded some of the first private servers its not hard to fix.
Memories can be faulty and we don’t rely on them as sources except in the most dire cases. The original game cache is one of our best sources of truth, its contents are not up for dispute! 
The censor may have changed shortly afterwards but in our current version of the game (revision 225 from May 18th 2004) this is how it was.
We don’t change it because Lost City is a preservation project first and foremost. Our goal is to preserve the game exactly as it was. Moderation-wise, we also enforce Jagex’s original ruleset.
You are welcome to download our source code and host your own server with custom modifications! There are a few people doing this already.
I had a read through and had to giggle that “geocities” was blocked. I can only assume because that’s a web host and they seem to have been trying to block web addresses, but it’s funnier to think that they just hated geocities in particular.
As for enforcement, can there be some clearer guidance on what will get you in trouble? There are things in this list that can easily be triggered by mistake (I have a distinct memory of misspelling Gunthor the brave’s name and triggering the censor), and I see a lot of posts from people not understanding why they have been muted. Maybe there were good reasons to mute them, but it’s not apparent to us on the outside. I’m starting to feel afraid of even talking in game for fear of getting muted for an accident.
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bovinelabs is censored too - that website is ancient history now, but it used to be a source for RuneScape bots and cheats, run by an individual named Evil Cowgod…
As for guidelines to avoid mutes:
- You agreed to the rules on our website when you signed up to play! The first rule on the list says be kind and respectful to others.
- Trash talk is not against the rules, but try to keep things to a dull roar:
- If you must flame another player, keep to in-game subject matter. Talk trash about their gear, their stats, their bank, their skill level.
- Do not flame the person behind the keyboard - that strays into the realm of personal attacks.
- Slurs are not allowed. Do not use personal attacks based on orientations or life choices. Do not use racist or sexually explicit language.
- Evading the chat censor is not allowed. We realize there are well-known ways to evade the filter. I suggest you do not use them, especially not to say slurs.
Our player base is fairly large but you do not have hundreds of thousands of monthly active users to disappear amongst, like you would on Jagex’s servers. We read all player reports and will not hesitate to take action.
You will not get muted for an accident, provided it was truly accidental! People not understanding why they were muted is common, personally I think it’s wilful ignorance more than anything else. Everybody always thinks it was the other guy’s fault…
Lost City is a passion project running on volunteer time. Please do not test our patience.
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Your memory is terrible lol their censorship was Nazi-Like. You couldn’t say anything without getting **** out
If I crashed someone at cows and they threaten to find me irl and kill me, is that against TOS? because that happened to me yesterday for “stealing” someone’s cowhide off the ground
Yes that’s definitely against the rules, please report this in-game if you run into it!
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Yeah I did last night. I just stopped engaging and hopped worlds.