Cute Cartoon Game About Fishing, ‘webfishing,’ Has Nsfw Issues

Webfishing is a very cute game. It’s got a distinctive art style that calls out to fans around the world, no matter how young or old they are. And that’s a major issue at the moment. Jumping into Webfishing at any time of the day will result in your eyes being blasted by some of the most vile names you could encounter. That’s a serious problem.

‘webfishing,’ If You’re Going to Offer an +18 Filter, Make Sure It Works

Roblox. IMVU. Habbo Hotel. Animal Jam. All cutesy games with an art style that is very appealing to younger players. And they’re all games in which we’ve likely experienced some sort of unintended behavior. Webfishing, with its low price of entry and cutesy art style, was bound to become an indie sensation. Some players are going to make fun lobbies that are accessible to everyone. Other players? They’re going to advertise their Discord address for HypnoKink servers for people to join.

This would be fine and dandy if the few included moderation tools actually worked. Using the “Hide 18+” lobby filter makes it so no games can be found. The current chat filter that is in the game doesn’t function as it should. And that’s incredibly dangerous, especially in a game such as this. Roblox has been called out many times for having a pedophile problem. In its current state, who’s to say that Webfishing and its non-existent moderation tools are any better?

Jumping into lobbies, both 18+ and under, I have seen a variety of cuss words, slurs, and just about anything in between. It’s interesting to see that even with the chat filter, these words can easily slip past any detection measures.

According to someone who knows the back end of Godot much better than me, 44% of players on Webfishing currently are in an 18+ lobby. And even if players don’t join a lobby meant for older players? They can still jump in and act like a creep. Yes, “EVRYONE BUT RACISTS ARE WELCOME” is honestly based, but I’m not too sure I would want my hypothetical kid being exposed to “Big Dicks & Amish”. There are even Steam Forum posts regarding this issue, and how names should be auto-censored. I wholeheartedly agree.

I’m Not Trying to Be a Karen, but This Is Legitimately Unacceptable

As I’ve been working on writing this, I’ve been hopping into Webfishing every 10 minutes or so to see what other sort of deranged lobby names I can find. As a grown adult, it’s slightly hilarious to see some of the names that people come up with. But if I had a younger brother or sister who was jumping on here and being exposed to names like this? It wouldn’t be so funny.

Accounts on X like @WorstWebFish are going through and accepting contributions towards the worst Webfishing lobby names. With non-18 lobby names like “Free Toe Licks on Me… PLEASE”, it’s frankly horrifying to think of what could be happening in some of these lobbies. And since joining an 18+ lobby requires players to just click “Accept”, there is no vetting process to ensure that people are safe. I was previously proven wrong about the griefing aspects. But, this is a bit more apparent through and through.

Webfishing currently has almost 30,000 verified reviews. That’s an awfully large number of people playing something like this. With the following content warning, it would also be easy to see why people think it’s a game for everyone to enjoy:

Some swearing, and very light crude humor.

No, I’m not here to shame anyone for what they’re into. But I am here begging the developer of Webfishing to fix their program. Make it so that the moderation tools work. Let those who want a carefree fishing experience avoid lewd lobby names.

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