It has become common practice for online games like Roblox to regularly update its Terms of Service (TOS) in order to keep up with current online trends and cyber security. However, a recent set of changes have attracted considerable attention from players, as many call out the details as being either poorly worded at best and actively harming the Roblox community at worst.
Much of the concern has to do with the specific wording of several changes, specifically regarding how Roblox content creators are allowed to interact with their fan communities and how the fans can respond to creators. Then there is a matter of internet security and privacy, which has labeled certain services that have become a common practice online as a bannable offense, specifically the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
On the content creation end, the way that creators can give away Roblox's currency, Robux, has changed, with sweepstakes, giveaways, and any lottery system either within or off the platform becoming a bannable offense. This means that many of the ways content creators reached out for fan engagement have been heavily pulled back thanks to these new changes in the TOS. In the case of some of the wording that fans have called out as poor, this new service agreement also bans paying for "modeling of assets" in Robux, although this has since been changed to be more clear that players are not allowed to act as a model for new assets in exchange for currency.
Beyond the issue of content creation, fans have also been vocally upset about some of the new safety and privacy requirements, most notably revolving around the use of VPNs. While the use of VPNs has become more common over the last few years in an attempt to mitigate identity theft and malicious tracking software online, the new TOS bans their use outright, causing privacy concerns among fans. According to the terms listed, this is intended to help crack down on toxic and illegal behavior in order to keep Roblox safe for players through transparency, but many are more concerned about their IP addresses being leaked and locations compromised.
The list of grievances continues on, from not being allowed to be loud in chat to some of the wording around natural disasters possibly removing a popular city survival game on Roblox. Much of the upset appears to be a result of vague wording that applies broad language to what should be more specific issues like the loud noises and selling of art assets. However, considering that the asset modeling language has already been addressed at the time of this writing, some other concerns may see further changes or rewordings in order to stay more in line with the trends of the Roblox community.