World Of Warcraft now automatically blocks messages containing "reserved words" such as slurs and other banned or derogatory language. WoW-focused outlet Wowhead discovered the change on live servers recently and published a news post outlining the change.

As with most online games, WoW has used a text filter to automatically censor and filter certain words for years now. However, this new system that Wowhead discovered--which only appears to apply to one particular racial slur at the moment--would appear to indicate that Blizzard is planning to punish derogatory language more harshly in the future. The new system blocks the message from being sent on live servers entirely, though you can still send the message via Battle.net chat.

Given the fact that it only applies to one word, it's likely that this is just an experimental feature for now, but it could soon expand to include more "reserved words." In other WoW news, the game's Chains of Domination update has been out on the game's Public Test Realm for a few days now. Blizzard also recently released a Lich King Arthas statue as part of its 30th anniversary celebration.