As a long-time Roblox developer, I’ve supported the platform’s efforts to protect younger users, including the recent age-verification chat restrictions. I understand the intent behind these changes and agree that safety must be a top priority. However, I believe the current implementation is overly restrictive and unintentionally penalizes adult developers and community leaders who rely on communication to support and engage their player base.
At 21+, I’m now unable to chat with the majority of my players, many of whom are under 18, despite having no ill intent and a long history of positive community interaction. This blanket restriction treats age as a risk factor rather than context, and it undermines the collaborative spirit that makes Roblox unique.
Rather than blocking communication entirely between age groups, I propose a dynamic filtering system that adjusts censorship levels based on the user’s verified age. This would allow safe, moderated communication while preserving the ability for developers, educators, and community leaders to interact with younger players.
Key Features:
Unverified
remove all chat form completely (current system)
Under 18:
Strong filtering of profanity, numbers, and special characters
Spelling-based filtering (e.g., only allow correctly spelled words or whitelist/blacklist terms),
Inspired by Wizard101’s system, which effectively blocked placeholder words and taught better spelling habits
18 and Older:
No filtering required, adults should be trusted to communicate freely
Still subject to moderation and reporting systems for abuse
Cross-Age Communication:
Messages are filtered based on the recipient’s age, not the sender’s
Developers and verified adults can still communicate with younger players, but their messages are filtered appropriately before delivery
This system would maintain Roblox’s commitment to safety while restoring the ability for creators to support and engage their communities. It would also reduce the stigma currently placed on adult users, who are being treated as threats simply due to their age.
I hope this proposal can spark discussion around a more nuanced approach to chat safety, one that protects users without isolating creators or just older demographic in general.
Uhh, 7 year old kids getting put into 9 to 12 chat age group, and some 10-12 year old players getting put into 18 to 20 or 21+ or adults getting into the younger categories says otherwise. I mean Roblox knew the mistake of people going into the wrong chat groups would happen, so I don’t think Roblox will allow swearing still in my opinion, but I could be wrong. There could be a plot twist perhaps.
I don’t see any real issue with allowing swearing for users who are 18+. Adults should be able to choose whether they want that content filtered. What does feel unreasonable is being completely unable to talk to more than half of Roblox’s user base just because I’m 21+. That restriction pattern goes way too far, and it ends up hurting the platform in several significant ways. It blows my mind they heard this idea and thought it was good. Moderation isn’t THAT hard.
The cross-age-group communication restrictions could even be moved to a parental controls setting, which would improve safety for any child who has parents who actually do this novel concept known as “parenting”
to be fair, after a certain scale it becomes impossible to do moderation well. This doesn’t mean it becomes impossible to improve, however.
instead of actually considering those limitations and doing something sensible to improve safety, they gave every predator every incentive to find ways to fool the age checking system, making any future systems that use it far less effective. It also means any adults who aren’t predators now are unable to report actual predators since they’ll have a spoofed age group
They’ll never make the system perfect, sure, but it’s obvious it could be dramatically better than what we have now, and they could do it without damaging the platform. If Roblox waits until their engagement numbers hit the next earnings report, the stock is only going to take another hit. They should address this long before it gets to that point.
Roblox has taken a lot of criticism for the issues on its platform, and while some of that is deserved, the core message always seemed clear to me: improve moderation and take reports seriously. It was never “divide your entire playerbase by age and shut down communications.” The current approach feels like a misinterpretation of the problem rather than a solution to it.
I’ve been vouching for this since the release of these measures. The age groupings are super harsh and overly complex. Its understandable to believe at this point that this was a super rushed update. I really like the comparison to games of old like Wizard101 which existed and attempted to fix this issue in an age where online grooming was not as prevalent. It really shows what could have been.
Something like what you’ve suggested would really help this update out and I hope some major changes can still be considered like these. Yeah people have blown the impacts of this update on the site out or proportion but it still does feel void and empty with the abysmal amount of interaction happening because of these harsh barriers.
Completely agree with this. An email or phone number was never much to ask for and this face verification thing is genuinely an illegal data-grab scandal.
This is an interesting proposal. It allows Roblox to continue requiring age checks, but also provides good alternatives to age-separated chat. If this were implemented instead of blocking communication across age groups, I imagine there would be much less controversy within the community. Of course there would still be controversy and valid concerns over the age check requirement but not as much as there currently is, partly due to age separation in the chat.
I am literally unable to see the messages of my own players in order to help them progress (it’s a small game) because I’m older than them, nor does half of my moderators.
There is no way not a single soul didn’t consider how stupid this would be. If it’s terrible for big games, it’s specially worse for small games.
