Simple Questions About Offensive Names - Page 2 - Guild Wars Forums

wynoski · Jan 24, 2007, 04:42 PM // 16:42

So I guess "Here comes Mr. Chubby" is out???

I see Celestial Beavers point...it was totally inoccuous and a double entendre...so much the better!

I have seen some really fun plays on words (current favorite is "Drakes on a Plain), but really the policy is there for one reason. This game is played by a wide range of people, but the majority of the people are probably high school age or younger. Typically in that age range you are dealing with a lot of potty humor. It is the natural evolution. If like me you are in your 30s, you tend to be a little more cleaver about things and your names have more of a purpose or a meaning.

Sometimes the bets thing is to change the spelling...like Illusory Juul...or Jule...May be a different meaning that what you thought, but it sounds the same and now...people are wondering what a Juul is, or they see Jule and think it means power...

I think clever wins the day Celestial Beevur.

Griff Mon · Jan 24, 2007, 04:51 PM // 16:51

There are so many ways people can be offended.

Perhaps one of the silliest was some time ago someone was offended by the existence of the Dervish profession. Somehow it tied in to some cultural/ethnic thing with him and he went on and on about how the existence of this profession in the game was wrong.

Fril Estelin · Jan 24, 2007, 05:10 PM // 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by wynoski

Celestial Beavers point...humor...a little more cleaver

Is there some kind of message here?

Tachyon · Jan 24, 2007, 06:58 PM // 18:58

I wanted to call my pet tiger 'Bagpuss' after one of the greatest childrens TV characters ever. For some bizarre reason 'Bagpuss' is somehow an offensive name!

Now, how can that be when I see many people running around with blatently racist names?

Yanman.be · Jan 24, 2007, 07:11 PM // 19:11

Nor "Figaro"

BenO_Under · Jan 25, 2007, 02:04 PM // 14:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fril Estelin

Is there some kind of message here?

Yes, he is (they are?) plotting to destroy the Earth, but you have stopped him (them?).

There seems to be something wrong with two letter names, like G B.

MegaMouse · Jan 25, 2007, 02:51 PM // 14:51

There are several names that i have tried for my pets but they get rejected by the game. And yet Fuzzy Balls (I was watching tennis when I came uo with it) made it through. I am not real sure how the game decides the names that are offensive, but like others in this forummhave said, I have seen some that could be concidered racist also. I relay do not care what another players name is, and I will admit that my morales can be concidered questionable by some. But I believe there is a certian line that should not be crossed and when it is then it should be reported. If we all believed this way then maybe there would not be any offensive names. But seeing as we all have different beliefs we realy need totake a good hard look at what we concider as non-offensive and try to look at it from someone else's perspective. Think of it this way: if your mom won't like it then it shouldn't be used.

Mega Mouse

Fril Estelin · Jan 25, 2007, 03:07 PM // 15:07

The problems start when people start using object or idea names as people names. No one in the real world would think of names like "balls" or "hooker" to name their baby, would they? (laws prevent you to do that). Except when by coincidence a name is a noun in another language (e.g. the initial proposal for "euro", which is "ecu", meant "cow" in german and so had to be changed), names like Steve, Ahmed, Jiu or Estevio never cause problems. Of course in the virtual world rules are different. But if an MMORPG wasn't serious about offenses and abuses (and Anet are), the law would very probably intervene and remind people (managers and users) that this is not acceptable. And after all we all have our own "do not cross this line" that may be crossed by other people once we start crossing theirs. Let's not confuse fun and humour.

Kuldebar Valiturus · Jan 25, 2007, 11:05 PM // 23:05

This is yet another reason Heroes and Henchies are superior to human players: they have decent and wholesome names!

But, seriously, I wish people would stop having so much "fun" choosing juvenile names for their characters and, perhaps, start channeling some of that "fun-loving nature" into playing the actual game.

I am sure that coming up with new ways to offend others and beating the name filter can be exciting in some fashion to certain people, but I view it as an often not so flattering glimpse of the personality behind the player's avatar.

Cleverness is in rare quantity these days. Many people seem to think themselves clever for the most uninspired achievements.

Truly, if such childish things can titillate the minds of such players, what else can one conclude about their other "qualities"? What drives people to turn everything in life into a joke?

Perhaps being cool or trying to be "clever" aren't as important as being honest, reliable and competent, especially when the former is done at the expense of the latter attributes.

Just, perhaps.

goober1973 · Jan 26, 2007, 12:29 PM // 12:29

To the OP: Tell them you're Irish since a Hooker is a type of boat that originated in Galway or, failing that, a rugby player as it is the name of a postion on a team

MrTickle · Jan 26, 2007, 03:18 PM // 15:18

I suppose "Porky Pig" would be out too as it could offend Jews or Policemen... Or fat people

What is this world coming too. I thought the UK was bad banning certain nursery rhymes in school. Too many PC do gooders.

Relambrien · Jan 26, 2007, 10:14 PM // 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrTickle

I suppose "Porky Pig" would be out too as it could offend Jews or Policemen... Or fat people

What is this world coming too. I thought the UK was bad banning certain nursery rhymes in school. Too many PC do gooders.

I heard "Baa Baa Black Sheep" was being changed to "Oink Oink Pink Pig" because it offended African Americans, but that's another story entirely.

On the issue of offensive names, as has been stated, it's Anet's decision (they're part of NC Interactive). If they consider a name vulgar or offensive they'll do something about it. Unfortunately, they have to do this to ensure sales (they wouldn't want people saying "You can make racist, sexist, etc. names on this game, don't buy it!").

The best solution is to put some thought into your names. For instance, my forum name came from a character name here in GW, and there's a very interesting story behind it. In July and August '05, air spike was a popular build for both GvG and HA. So I made my first air spiker, but couldn't think of a name. So I thought "Hmm, I'll modify some foreign language..." I went to BabelFish and had "Divine Lightning" translated into Spanish. The result was "Relámpago Divino." I thought "Relámpago" didn't sound enough like a name, so I changed it to "Relambrien." From then until December of last year, Relambrien has been my handle.

Of course, I was bored of being restricted by the large number of characters in my name, so I started looking for a new handle that represented my interests. I eventually decided on Cobalt. Why? Cobalt is a magnetic element, and I'm very interested in sciences, particulary those dealing with elements and magnetism. Score! Also, "cobalt blue" is a color commonly found in colored pencil packs, and blue is my favorite color. Score again! After that, I developed a list of second names to use, all relating to intelligence. The final list consisted of:

Cobalt Acuity
Cobalt Acumen
Cobalt Brilliance
Cobalt Cunning
Cobalt Erudition
Cobalt Insight
Cobalt Intuition
Cobalt Sagacity
Cobalt Trenchancy
Cobalt Wisdom

I've taken to using "C O B A L T" as my main PvP character name, however.

...I just realized I've probably been really off-topic for a while now. Anyway, the point is, put thought into your names and you won't have to worry about being reported ^^

Snograt · Jan 26, 2007, 11:31 PM // 23:31

I have a problem with my sense of humour when it comes to names. All my current characters are Kedric somethingTwatter - Tyrian Wammo is Kedric Trolltwatter, Canthan Wammo is Kedric Yettitwatter, my perma-pre Ranger is Kedric Grawltwatter and so on.

Problem is the word "twat." It is in common usage in Northern parts of England as a verb, meaning "to smite/whack/murderise."

Unfortunately, it has other, less savoury meanings in other places - but there's no doubt as to it's connotation in my char names. The filter will no allow me to have Twattwatter however!

ps - my pets are called Rattwatter and, for B/P, Tombtwatter

Kuldebar Valiturus · Jan 27, 2007, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

I have a problem with my sense of humour when it comes to names. All my current characters are Kedric somethingTwatter - Tyrian Wammo is Kedric Trolltwatter, Canthan Wammo is Kedric Yettitwatter, my perma-pre Ranger is Kedric Grawltwatter and so on.

Problem is the word "twat." It is in common usage in Northern parts of England as a verb, meaning "to smite/whack/murderise."

Unfortunately, it has other, less savoury meanings in other places - but there's no doubt as to it's connotation in my char names. The filter will no allow me to have Twattwatter however!

ps - my pets are called Rattwatter and, for B/P, Tombtwatter

/report Snogratwatter

Less savory, eh? You making some kinda off color joke? lol

Err, well we are living in a day and age where the fewest people know how to correctly use language while at the same time have the gall to be the most easily offended by it.

I have a few examples in mind, but I will refrain from giving them because it would appear I am singling out an ethnic group.

Language is much abused these days, in many ways. I am more concerned about the corruption of the meaning of words than I am about a few F-bombs or potty-talk.

taffette · Jan 27, 2007, 10:41 AM // 10:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

Problem is the word "twat." It is in common usage in Northern parts of England as a verb, meaning "to smite/whack/murderise."

It doesn't just mean that... However, I'm far too polite to explain its other meaning on here!

Faer · Jan 27, 2007, 11:46 AM // 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by wynoski

current favorite is "Drakes on a Plain

Why thank you (though I gave that name to a guildmate for Christmas, and took "Drakes On The Plain" in it's place; however that doesn't change the fact that I was the original owner, which is something I am quite proud of).

More to the point, personally, I tend to avoid names that could offend others (essentially, anything you wouldn't want your three year old kids saying to their grandmothers), however I do believe, to an extent, that sometimes the review of reported names needs to be done in a more open-minded and less "WTF QUICK LOCK THE TOON BEFORE SOMEBODY ELSE GETS OFFENDED" way. For example, my current PvP alias, "Avatar of Godmode", is a reference to the amazing bonuses from the skill [wiki]Avatar of Melandru[/wiki]. Even with all of the humor that comes with the name (shouting "UP+DOWN+LEFT+RIGHT+B+A+START" in the middle of a GvG, or complaining that "wtf u beet my godmode hax how!?!?!" when I die), I know that eventually, someone could complain that, because my character name contains "God", I could potentially be reported and, with the way the current system seems to work, be forced to change my character name.

It's really rather sucky, and at times unbelievably stupid, but it's something everyone should expect, given the immature nature of some players and their desire to "get revenge" on others for PvP losses, "unfair" drops, etcetera.

MegaMouse · Jan 27, 2007, 02:53 PM // 14:53

Snograt has a very good point. Some words in one part of the world may mean something entirely different in another part of the world. So what happens is someone is going to be offended somewhere but if we can try to give a bit of thought into what we want to be known as online then maybe we as a whole will not be thought of as "perverts, nerds, Otaku, or other derogatory names" that are used for people that either have very different lifestyles or like to play online internet games. We realy need to change ourselves before we can expect others to do the same. I am not saying to go out and change every characters name that you have, just in the future put a ittle thought into what your name means for you and who you wnat to be known as. My online nickname actualy comes from my trucking days. Iwas given the handle Mega Mouse because I could fit a trailer in some of the most crazy spotts immaginable. And to this day it has been my first choice of names for all my on line characters

Mega Mouse

Jan 25, 2007, 02:51 PM // 14:51	#27
MegaMouse Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: south mississippi Guild: Warriors Of Melos WOM Profession: E/N	There are several names that i have tried for my pets but they get rejected by the game. And yet Fuzzy Balls (I was watching tennis when I came uo with it) made it through. I am not real sure how the game decides the names that are offensive, but like others in this forummhave said, I have seen some that could be concidered racist also. I relay do not care what another players name is, and I will admit that my morales can be concidered questionable by some. But I believe there is a certian line that should not be crossed and when it is then it should be reported. If we all believed this way then maybe there would not be any offensive names. But seeing as we all have different beliefs we realy need totake a good hard look at what we concider as non-offensive and try to look at it from someone else's perspective. Think of it this way: if your mom won't like it then it shouldn't be used. Mega Mouse Last edited by MegaMouse; Jan 26, 2007 at 02:24 PM // 14:24..

Jan 25, 2007, 03:07 PM // 15:07	#28
Fril Estelin So Serious... Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London Guild: Nerfs Are [WHAK] Profession: E/	The problems start when people start using object or idea names as people names. No one in the real world would think of names like "balls" or "hooker" to name their baby, would they? (laws prevent you to do that). Except when by coincidence a name is a noun in another language (e.g. the initial proposal for "euro", which is "ecu", meant "cow" in german and so had to be changed), names like Steve, Ahmed, Jiu or Estevio never cause problems. Of course in the virtual world rules are different. But if an MMORPG wasn't serious about offenses and abuses (and Anet are), the law would very probably intervene and remind people (managers and users) that this is not acceptable. And after all we all have our own "do not cross this line" that may be crossed by other people once we start crossing theirs. Let's not confuse fun and humour. Last edited by Fril Estelin; Jan 26, 2007 at 08:35 AM // 08:35..

Jan 26, 2007, 11:31 PM // 23:31	#33
Snograt rattus rattus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST Guild: [GURU]GW [wiki]GW2 Profession: R/	I have a problem with my sense of humour when it comes to names. All my current characters are Kedric somethingTwatter - Tyrian Wammo is Kedric Trolltwatter, Canthan Wammo is Kedric Yettitwatter, my perma-pre Ranger is Kedric Grawltwatter and so on. Problem is the word "twat." It is in common usage in Northern parts of England as a verb, meaning "to smite/whack/murderise." Unfortunately, it has other, less savoury meanings in other places - but there's no doubt as to it's connotation in my char names. The filter will no allow me to have Twattwatter however! ps - my pets are called Rattwatter and, for B/P, Tombtwatter __________________ Si non confectus, non reficiat

Jan 24, 2007, 04:42 PM // 16:42	#21
wynoski Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: In a hot spot Guild: United Vanguard [UV] Profession: N/	So I guess "Here comes Mr. Chubby" is out??? I see Celestial Beavers point...it was totally inoccuous and a double entendre...so much the better! I have seen some really fun plays on words (current favorite is "Drakes on a Plain), but really the policy is there for one reason. This game is played by a wide range of people, but the majority of the people are probably high school age or younger. Typically in that age range you are dealing with a lot of potty humor. It is the natural evolution. If like me you are in your 30s, you tend to be a little more cleaver about things and your names have more of a purpose or a meaning. Sometimes the bets thing is to change the spelling...like Illusory Juul...or Jule...May be a different meaning that what you thought, but it sounds the same and now...people are wondering what a Juul is, or they see Jule and think it means power... I think clever wins the day Celestial Beevur.

Jan 24, 2007, 04:51 PM // 16:51	#22
Griff Mon Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: In the Elfen Forests of Washington State Guild: Damage Radius Profession: N/	There are so many ways people can be offended. Perhaps one of the silliest was some time ago someone was offended by the existence of the Dervish profession. Somehow it tied in to some cultural/ethnic thing with him and he went on and on about how the existence of this profession in the game was wrong.

Jan 24, 2007, 06:58 PM // 18:58	#24
Tachyon Forge Runner Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Stoke, England Guild: The Godless [GOD] Profession: W/	I wanted to call my pet tiger 'Bagpuss' after one of the greatest childrens TV characters ever. For some bizarre reason 'Bagpuss' is somehow an offensive name! Now, how can that be when I see many people running around with blatently racist names?

Jan 24, 2007, 07:11 PM // 19:11	#25
Yanman.be Banned Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Belgium Guild: [ROSE] Profession: A/	Nor "Figaro"

Jan 25, 2007, 11:05 PM // 23:05	#29
Kuldebar Valiturus Desert Nomad Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Garden City, Idaho Guild: The Order of Relumination (TOoR) Profession: R/	This is yet another reason Heroes and Henchies are superior to human players: they have decent and wholesome names! But, seriously, I wish people would stop having so much "fun" choosing juvenile names for their characters and, perhaps, start channeling some of that "fun-loving nature" into playing the actual game. I am sure that coming up with new ways to offend others and beating the name filter can be exciting in some fashion to certain people, but I view it as an often not so flattering glimpse of the personality behind the player's avatar. Cleverness is in rare quantity these days. Many people seem to think themselves clever for the most uninspired achievements. Truly, if such childish things can titillate the minds of such players, what else can one conclude about their other "qualities"? What drives people to turn everything in life into a joke? Perhaps being cool or trying to be "clever" aren't as important as being honest, reliable and competent, especially when the former is done at the expense of the latter attributes. Just, perhaps.

Jan 26, 2007, 12:29 PM // 12:29	#30
goober1973 Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ireland Guild: Ascending Phoenix [AP] Profession: R/	To the OP: Tell them you're Irish since a Hooker is a type of boat that originated in Galway or, failing that, a rugby player as it is the name of a postion on a team

Jan 26, 2007, 03:18 PM // 15:18	#31
MrTickle Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Aug 2006 Guild: delete this account Profession: N/	I suppose "Porky Pig" would be out too as it could offend Jews or Policemen... Or fat people What is this world coming too. I thought the UK was bad banning certain nursery rhymes in school. Too many PC do gooders.

Jan 27, 2007, 02:53 PM // 14:53	#37
MegaMouse Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: south mississippi Guild: Warriors Of Melos WOM Profession: E/N	Snograt has a very good point. Some words in one part of the world may mean something entirely different in another part of the world. So what happens is someone is going to be offended somewhere but if we can try to give a bit of thought into what we want to be known as online then maybe we as a whole will not be thought of as "perverts, nerds, Otaku, or other derogatory names" that are used for people that either have very different lifestyles or like to play online internet games. We realy need to change ourselves before we can expect others to do the same. I am not saying to go out and change every characters name that you have, just in the future put a ittle thought into what your name means for you and who you wnat to be known as. My online nickname actualy comes from my trucking days. Iwas given the handle Mega Mouse because I could fit a trailer in some of the most crazy spotts immaginable. And to this day it has been my first choice of names for all my on line characters Mega Mouse