I noticed the speakers, I thought they were used for mail more than anything else. That said, the type of discussion that happens in World Chat is enought o put a damper on a new influx of players if the game starts having a reputation of such a bad atmosphere.

The speakers is an interesting way to stem the tide, certainly going to make me save them for when I need them. (Focusing on mail correspondence more than anything else at this point.) That said, new players will get even more frustrated (like I was) when their perfectly legitimate questions (due to a lack of an obvious FAQ and decent building descriptions) drowned out by the kind of juvenile behavior that goes on in there.