Okay, YoVillians, I get a constant stream of questions, as do the Ninjas, regarding that pesky Events Filter.  I have promised for some time to do some research and see what I can find out for you and am here to tell you that it is no easy task!

Zynga is and always has been VERY tight lipped about the filter. They rarely talk about it and most posts in the official forums are shut down very quickly, with the canned “contact support” response.  Please don’t misunderstand, I do believe that they think they are doing the right thing by keeping this very big secret.

They claim that they cannot give a list of forbidden words because this would allow all of the world’s evil doers to find ways around it and post their illicit events anyway. Well, they HAVE found a way around it anyway and they continue to post their scandalous cyber-sex seeking events, while those innocent YoVillians who only want to sell their outdated Whimsical items and buy one of the ten thousand new Enchanted items released over the past, ummmm, 24 hours enjoy an events ban.  To get past the events filter is to understand it.  We’ll take a look a little later.

In my very humble and sometimes unpopular opinion, there is more than one issue at play here.  Events banning is part of a bigger problem errupting all over YoVille, and that is that we have forgotten what playing YoVille is really all about.  We are all very different types of people from all types of places.  Some of us love each other, some not so much.  Some of us are white collar workers, some blue collar and some of us are stay at home mothers or fathers. Some of us know each other in real life, most not. We come from all over th world.  The one thing that no one can deny is that we wound up right here, right now, writing and reading this article because we are all very social creatures.  The only way to come together on YoVille, one of the biggest virtual worlds in the history of social gaming is through a social network.  So, first and foremost, before hoarding collectibles, before decorating our homes to look like boats or bunnies or whatever other wonderful creation you can invent AND before hosting events to sell your stuff; you should run screaming through the streets of YoVille meeting all kinds of people and having all kinds of  fun.  Why, soon I’ll bet you forget all about that silly events filter!

So, now you’re saying, “I thought this article was supposed to be about the events filter, darnit, I’m hopping mad!”  So, let’s get to what I wasn’t able to find out.  Mainly, a list of the words that will get you banned from creating events.  But there are measures that you can take to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.  I am addressing only those law abiding YoVillians who want to make “acceptable” events right now people!

First, you need to understand that the events filter is in place to weed out events that are primarily sexual, violent and although it doesn’t do a very good job in this case, racial in nature. One of the complaints I heard about this is that YoVille is supposed to be for adults.  I also heara some nonsense about the first ammendment (that’s the U.S. Constitutional right to Freedom of Speech) and censorship (which I despise in all forms).  Well, okay, how many years did you take off your profile?  The fact is that the 10 year old next door added that many onto his or hers. So we will suck it up and be mindful that there are people of all ages playing YoVille and we will have no more discussion about it.  So, roll your eyes, huff, puff and let’s move on.

There is a list of words, it is a secret, YOU WILL NEVER LEARN WHAT THEY ALL ARE. What you need to learn, though, is that the events filter, contrary to popular opinion, is very smart and difficult to trick.  Mainly, it is able to detect when you have combined a string of forbidden words into phrases and sentences.

Take a look at a few recent examples that got people banned:

Grape Vines for Sale

Cameron plz come 

Bills exercise gym now open

So, as you can see, your event may be innocent, but if it contains the right combination of syllables (?) for lack of a better term, you’re going to get a ban.  Bans are no big deal, don’t run to the official forums screaming bloody murder (which by the way is a banned word), and demanding that poor Purple Ninja unban you.  First of all she can’t and second, if it’s your first offense, the ban is only for a short period and it will come off automatically.  I would recommend that you look at all of your events very carefully before you post, and that means the title as well as the description.  Make a note of what you wrote so that if you do get banned, you can figure out what you did and come to the forum and share.

Remember that the bans are progressive, so if you are unable to figure out what you are doing wrong, you’ll eventually get a “perma ban.”  Yes, that means they won’t let you make events anymore – no not ever.  This is when you should file a ticket with support (which is covered, in depth, numerous times on YoVille Buzz).  They will research your account and if you didn’t violate the TOS (found on the YoVille Buzz forum) with your event, they will unban and you will once again be free to host  a wide range of events, including parties and mixers, don’t you know?

Well, that’s what I did and didn’t find out and how it does and doesn’t affect you.  I wish I could tell you more, but at least now you’ve been provided with the proper tools to try and help yourself. 

Now, back to the Towers! 

Give us your opinions or discuss your experiences with the event filter in the forum, here.