[Feature] Limit number of modifiers on characters

Bugs & Features
#1

It has become common for folks to use a LARGE number of character modifiers on text to show how creepy or edgy or powerful or whatever their words are. However, this makes it difficult to read text from others on adjacent lines. Here’s an example I saw today…

Some text
Į̷̧̡̰̯̗̹̦̟͖̰͇̣̰̞̂̈́͋̌ͅ ̴̨̧̡̡̟͔͇͇̼͚̥͍̠̜͈̦͌́̐̒͌͛̆̏̾̇̑w̴̫̞͓̪͓̯͖̟̒̃͆͐̋́à̸̞̞̜̯͎̥͙̔̆̾͋͘r̶̢͉͇͕̼̱͖̲̦͓͓̮̹͓̹͆̓̃̈́̃̅̚͜͝͠n̴̗͌̈́͊̔͗̑ ̶̡͎̮̮̣̱̥̬͉̪̲̟̫̯͗̒͆̓̆͋̃̃̈́́̓͒͐͐̕͜ͅͅy̸̧̛̰͎̪̦̘̎̾͆͆̈́̚ͅơ̶̞͂̌̀̈́̋͛͗̇̏͘͠ü̴͕̠̻͙̠͓̺͔̙͔̑̒͂͌̆̏͂͝
More text

So… The text from the center line obscures text on the previous and next line (and in places in further lines as well!) so it would be good if the modifiers would be limited to one or two, or else the parser would find a way to space out the crazy text so it does not obscure text others may want to read but are unable to do so at a glance.

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#2

T̸̩̋ȟ̶̞i̸̲̍s̷̠̀ ̵̧́k̵͓͗i̸͔̊ṋ̸̓d̷͍̀ ̵̜̍ǒ̴̦f̷̩͂ ̴̟͝t̴̺͝e̴̊ͅx̴͉͒t̴̡͐ ̴͖̈́ǐ̴̺s̴̺͗ ̶̨͝c̸̱̋ă̷̺l̸̳͌l̶̳̓è̵̹d̵̲̏ ̴̛̭Z̶̲̈́a̶̘̋l̴͈͒g̴̻̓õ̸̘,̷͎͆ ̴͍̀a̴͈̓n̷̺̿d̸͓͆ ̷̹̄y̴͖͐o̴̲̊ṵ̸̓ ̴̮̌ċ̵̟a̸̬͐n̸̥̈́ ̸̧̒a̵̻̔d̵̡̀j̸̫̕ȗ̸͉s̷̳͆t̵̩̎ ̵̰͛h̶̛͇o̴͘͜w̵̺̏ ̶̬̈́c̷͍̆r̵̹̔a̴̤̍z̸̰̓ý̴͎ ̴̳̎î̶̹t̶̮̂ ̶̠̀g̶̝̓e̴͈̔ṭ̴̈s̵̯̉.̸̥̂

Weirdly, low-chaos Zalgo is often harder to read than high-chaos which takes up more space.
This was discussed a while back, and it was pushed to ‘well, we’ll see if it becomes an issue’. I thin Maximus and/or Accipiter looked at a solution for it?

#3

I believe Javascript has a built-in way to clear this type of stuff. Similar to features that help comparing two character é's to single character é's

#4

For what little it’s worth, Firefox appears to truncate Zalgo text at the top and bottom of the line, rather than allow it to obscure text above and below it. This is only partially helpful, as the result is still difficult to read.

#5

Maybe you’re using a different Firefox than I am? Or it’s a particular setting… Because that’s the browser I’m using and it does NOT truncate this mess for me at all.

#6

I’m running104.0.2 (64-bit), (and until a moment ago, 104.0.1 (64-bit)), on macOS, for whatever that’s worth. If there’s a setting that affects this, I’m not aware of it yet. I glanced through about:config and didn’t spot anything obvious, but I didn’t go through it with a fine-toothed comb, either.

#7

Maybe it’s a MacOS specific thing?

#8

That is indeed looking like it’s the case — depending on how thoroughly Mozilla Sync synchronizes obscure preferences and the like. I’m viewing this under Firefox in Windows, and Vernon’s example is definitely interfering with the lines above and below now.

I can’t decide if I feel deprived by macOS or not, now.

#9

This strikes me as more a problem better solved with policy (and implemented by polite requests) rather than technology. It seems very reasonable to tell folks that “Zalgo” text messes up the display for other players, and ask em to take it easy. (And I don’t even want to imagine what it does for text-to-speech screen-readers…)

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