Trying to set up a validation on a survey. I set an equation in the validation settings and user message text. When it evaluates true, things are fine. When it evaluates false, it's supposed to (by all examples I find online) display some red warning text saying what is wrong so the user can correct the input, same as if you don't answer a required question. However, what actually happens is it presents a system style Error saying the validation failed, with the normal meaningless code number, and the link to return to the root site. the survey is then left incomplete, and the user would have to go back in, find it, edit it, know why it failed, and that's all not going to happen, nor should it.
So the question is, why is this happening? Why is it not doing what it's supposed to based on all info I have found, and instead treating it like a system failure? Is there some other unspoken hidden magic I need to activate somewhere so this works as it should?