Games in “Experimental Mode” Restricted Further

Following Roblox’s action to make the platform safer by restricting Experimental-Mode games for those under thirteen, Roblox has taken further action—they have locked these games off for everyone but the owner and their friends. One of Roblox’s Developer Relations Team members, Nightgaladeld, states the decision was made for security and safety.

"Strife!", one of the games affected by the change (though the developers say they will update it to open it again)

While explaining what Experimental Mode is can be a bit technical, for you non-developers, the essential part you need to know is that its main purpose is to prevent exploiters from directly affecting the server—basically, everyone else. Nightgaladed stated that the action was made in order to create a safer environment, encourage more developers to disable Experimental Mode for security, and to prevent unwanted changes to games.

A diagram by Roblox explaining how FilteringEnabled works

Of course, there are those for and against it (and those who have no preference). Debate, particularly on the Developer Forums, has broken out, and both sides are analyzing the topic to try to convince Roblox—and each other—that the right or wrong choice has been made.

“Doesn’t this mean that a lot of history just got effectively destroyed?” questioned Kampfkarren, a programmer. “A lot of really old places with inactive/banned creators?”

Kampfkarren then proceeded to display multiple older games that had been locked due to the restriction.

“Might as well force all games to become experimental mode disabled,” xEraGamer, another developer, critiqued. “What’s the point of even having the option if it’s just going to be unplayable by anyone besides your friends (which you’re limited to having)?”

SteadyOn, also a programmer, took a more moderate stance. “I think more needs to be done to show people the dangers of not having your game set to FilteringEnabled [the setting that disables Experimental Mode], as right now, many people do not know the difference [between having it enabled and disabled]. I’m not saying the changes...shouldn’t [have been] made, but they also take attention away from the fact that people just shouldn’t be using Experimental Mode, even without restrictions on it.”

Another developer, Naco88, suggested what was seemingly a compromise. “What if we have a box to tick in settings that is by default set to false...along the lines of ‘I want to be able to play all Experimental-Mode games and understand the consequences that may occur.’”

Naco88 later added that players would need to be thirteen or older to be able to toggle the setting.

Other points made by those for the action was that it prevented the “worst kinds of exploits”, often referring to inappropriate content being displayed by exploiters. SteadyOn could be found telling Player1unknown not to question his judgement, because he is not a programmer himself and he is, stating that gameplay would not be affected as long as FilteringEnabled is enabled. Additionally, it was argued that the safety of the community is more valuable than the history of Roblox.

The opposition debated that exploiters would always find a way around FilteringEnabled eventually and offered alternatives. Two suggestions made before the restrictions on Experimental Mode on Reddit became very popular. One was that the Experimental-Mode games would be single-player only. Another was that only friends of someone who starts a new server would be allowed to join if they are still in the game. Another proposal was that the games would be forced to use FilteringEnabled, the opinion being that it is better for a game be able to be played with bugs than to not be played at all.

A glitch had come with the change—in some cases, there were errors where players would have trouble moving from one place (as in a “world” within a game) to another. Additionally, some claimed that games with FilteringEnabled were locked. It was also reported by Crazyblox, another developer, that his game, Flood Escape, was locked permanently into Experimental Mode; however, the issue seems to have been resolved.

To summarize, players now may only play games that are not in Experimental Mode unless they are friends with the owner of a game without FilteringEnabled. The action was taken and was stated by Nightgaladed to increase security and safety. As a result, suggestions are being given by supporters and opposers, and debate is active. What’s your opinion? Did Roblox make the right choice? Tell me in the comments of today’s article! Thank you for reading!