Curse

Bof · Apr 04, 2009, 03:09 AM // 03:09

They didnt cause major damage to anyone in modern times. Most of them are viewed in a positive way so... your good to go on them.

Verene · Apr 04, 2009, 04:01 AM // 04:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by StueyG

Also think it is silly to bring up comments about how young kids get the game and the parents might be offended by some names. I work retail and I have had several parents that were buying games that were EXTREMELY offensive for their 10-15 y/o kids. Very few actually asked, and I said "no, these are not games for that age group"; most did not even bother to check it out.

You missed something, here. Parents will buy games for their kids without bothering to see what's in it or brushing off the "it's not for a kid that age" warning with "oh, it can't be that bad".

Then, when they see that it is indeed 'that bad', they throw a fit about it and blame everyone around them because it certainly couldn't be their fault that Little Jimmy was killing hookers in a game, they had no idea!

(yes, I deal with this far too often)

Anyway, people seem to be mistaking a T rating with an actual age limit. There isn't one. It's a suggestion, not a requirement like with the M rating. And GW has a T rating for, as the back of the box says, "Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, and Violence". It says nothing about inappropriate language or anything like that.

Chthon · Apr 04, 2009, 05:12 AM // 05:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

There seems to be some confusion about the update to the Naming Policy, which was provided more detail based upon existing guidelines in the User Agreement, and the enforcement of our policies.

People here seem to think that we're going to be even more strict than we were in the past because we published the Naming Policy. That's not the case. We put into writing what we have already been enforcing. The only thing that has changed about enforcement of the acceptable names policy is on the second offense.

1. We understand that is this a mere codification of the current policy. We just don't like the current policy in the first place. There is a ridiculous and unfair presumption that a name is offensive merely because it was reported. Rather than codifying a bad policy, you should change the policy, then codify it.

2. Given the huge false-positive rate under the current policy, increasing the penalties is not acceptable. The more I think about it, the more I agree with Sjeng -- the increased penalties are a dangerous gift to griefers. If the quality of the review cannot be improved, the penalties should not be increased. In fact, I'd go so far as to agree with Sjeng that, if the the quality of the review cannot be improved, then offensive name reporting should be altogether abandoned and anti-offensive-name enforcement should be left to the name filter at character creation time.

Michman · Apr 04, 2009, 05:14 AM // 05:14

According to the Terms of Agreement you must be 18 or have a parent or guardians permission to play this game. Just because parents allow their children to do so doesn't make it ok for people to do some of the stuff that goes on around here. As much as you may argue that it's Anet or the parents fault try taking some responsibility for your own actions. You agreed not to do the things that has been discussed when you accepted the ToA yet if you get punished for them it's not your fault. Please.

StueyG · Apr 04, 2009, 08:22 AM // 08:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michman

According to the Terms of Agreement you must be 18 or have a parent or guardians permission to play this game. Just because parents allow their children to do so doesn't make it ok for people to do some of the stuff that goes on around here. As much as you may argue that it's Anet or the parents fault try taking some responsibility for your own actions. You agreed not to do the things that has been discussed when you accepted the ToA yet if you get punished for them it's not your fault. Please.

I do not think it is A-Nets fault. How is it A-Nets fault that some 10-13 y/o kids get the game (which as you just stated requires you to be 18 or have parents permission) but I DO place blame on parents. We just discussed that. If you do not want your kids playing or seeing offensive stuff then they SHOULD take the time to check out what goes on in all the games. That is no ones fault but the parents. They are the guardians, they are the ones that are supposed to take care of them. Too many just toss them games or let them watch shows to babysit them and they do not even check it out. My parents always checked out what I was into and they would even agree that other parents SHOULD check out the games. Lazy and poor parenting.

Especially in a game that is international. I have friends from other countries that say things that most would never do in public, but to them it is okay. For some people words used here in the US are no big deal overseas. It goes the other way as well. That is another part of the discussion - who decides what is wrong? Someone gets punished for what to them is their normal every day talk?

And besides, a BIG part of what people are discussing is the ABUSE of this system. Which it can and has been abused many times.

StormX · Apr 04, 2009, 09:45 AM // 09:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michman

S H I T T E R Euros
O Yeah Fck Me
J E W C I F E R
He Ro In
Babyz For Breakfast
Fat Kids Are Hard To Kid[Nap]
Mum Says I Am Special[tard]
Iron Chefs of Pounding[vag]
Drugz Dealer
We Love Children With[Salt]
Dead Girls Dont Say[No]
Real Men Hunt Kids BYO[Boy]
Cheesus Crust[God]
Germanys Next Cocckmodel

Ok I have to admit I loled. But seriously, by all means ban away. I'm tired of all this immaturity. Just witnessed the most disgusting conversation in FA yesterday. Some dude talking about his female teacher's body parts. I didn't report but was sorely tempted to.

I do admit that foreign names are tricky though. I once saw a chinese player with swastikas in his name, but in china the swastika is a perfectly benign buddhist symbol. Perhaps names in foreign languages should be referred to those familiar with the language or culture for evaluation. If they can't be bothered to evaluate names properly then they shouldn't ban at all.

Jecht Scye · Apr 04, 2009, 01:50 PM // 13:50

Before the Nazi party the swastika had a positive connotation to it. I don't remember exactly what it was though.

Snograt · Apr 04, 2009, 02:12 PM // 14:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The swastika (from Sanskrit svástika स्वस्तिक) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing (卐) form or its mirrored left-facing (卍) form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period. It occurs mainly in the modern day culture of India, sometimes as a geometrical motif and sometimes as a religious symbol. It remains widely used in Eastern religions / Dharmic religion such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

Though once commonly used all over much of the world without stigma, because of its iconic usage in Nazi Germany the symbol has become stigmatized in the Western world, notably even outlawed in Germany.

That was, as you said, before the Nazi party. Since then it has been viewed as a symbol of hatred and is despised in every free-thinking civilised country in the world. People who still insist on using it with the excuse that "I'm using it in the Buddist sense" are kidding nobody.

(Apologies to anyone from Finland - that would be the one notable exception to the above. Nobody important comes from Finland, though

)

fuzzy bunny · Apr 04, 2009, 02:28 PM // 14:28

WHY SO RIDICULOUS?

I see the point of the censoring names…so players are not hurt. Yet I am not being considered here. My religion is being attacked buy the acceptance of witchcraft and other dark arts (spells, hex, necromancy, etc.) in the game. With that in mind only the warrior class should be allowed in the game! Oh no I spoke too soon. My value system does not condone any violence (turn the other cheek). That takes the warrior class is out too.

I guess the game is just plain offensive. Hmm, if I am offended by the game therefore it’s LAWSUIT time. That’s the real reason to sensor names.

Miss Puddles · Apr 04, 2009, 03:20 PM // 15:20

Why can't we all just make names like this^ and it won't be a problem anymore?

cthulhu reborn · Apr 04, 2009, 04:11 PM // 16:11

Well, I do see why there is a name policy but I wish it would actually work better.
Just to give 2 examples of what I mean:

My ranger's pet was called Bite Me....she was an UW spider. I thought it was cute but I logged in one day and I had to change it because it contained the word bite which is now on the disallowed list (I know it's French for dick but come on). Today I saw someone with a pet named hookerbiatch, but that's ok I guess.

The game contains creatures like a Damned Cleric, but my paragon was not allowed to be called Litany Of Damnation...so it's Litany Of Perdition now...

Again, I understand the need for a name policy but I get a bit frustrated when the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the individual.

Bug John · Apr 04, 2009, 04:34 PM // 16:34

so, people can be offended by someone else's name in a video game... that's pathetic

"oh no, this guy has a name that insults my god (my religion, my country, my color, my age, or anything you want here), how can I keep on living ?"

sure guys, life has gotten sooooo hard to live nowadays

thelessa · Apr 04, 2009, 04:35 PM // 16:35

That happened to me too, I called my spider "Little Bite", logged on one day and it was gone, sheesh had to change it to to "Little Byte"

Sigh, I am betting some day soon I will have to change my Assassin's name :/

Meridon · Apr 04, 2009, 04:38 PM // 16:38

This thread inspires me to make my next new character carry the name of the absolute divine being of my religion: the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

If people report me for it, they would only acknowledge that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a true major religious figure

Any thoughts?

Meridon

Pony Slaystation · Apr 05, 2009, 02:00 AM // 02:00

I have two main points to make.
1.) Parents should only let their children play the game if they know that their children are mature enough to handle the some of the content.
2.) If players are greatly offended or annoyed by character names, they're obviously not mature enough to handle playing online games... go back to Hello Kitty Island Adventure or whatever.

Lets face it, in an MMO, racist jokes and crude humor are unavoidable, so why don't we just embrace it, lighten up a bit (it is just a game), and get a few laughs.

Red Sonya · Apr 05, 2009, 05:53 AM // 05:53

Quote:

Lets face it, in an MMO, racist jokes and crude humor are unavoidable, so why don't we just embrace it, lighten up a bit (it is just a game), and get a few laughs.

By the same token we have enough of that in the real world everyday. So, let's embrace following the RULES for a change. It's like I said EVERYBODY KNOWS when they violate the naming policy except a complete idiot and if they are complete idiots then THEY are the ones who don't need to be playing GW or any other online SOCIAL game.

This is what I say don't name your character a name you wouldn't name your child or you know a judge wouldn't allow it as a name or title in the real world. Laws are made to be respected. Rules are made to be respected. So, respect them and you won't have people like ME reporting you ingame.

Nuff said. Win thread statement here can close it now.

StormX · Apr 05, 2009, 06:27 AM // 06:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

That was, as you said, before the Nazi party. Since then it has been viewed as a symbol of hatred and is despised in every free-thinking civilised country in the world. People who still insist on using it with the excuse that "I'm using it in the Buddist sense" are kidding nobody.

(Apologies to anyone from Finland - that would be the one notable exception to the above. Nobody important comes from Finland, though

)

The player name in question was in chinese "Ah mi tuo fo" (translated=Amitabha Buddah)

Would such a name warrant a ban? I'm sure there's a world of difference between that an a player named "Heil H*tler" or some other crap.

Ps. Where I live there is a school and a nursing home named "Red swastika".
I kid you not : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Swastika_Society

Quote:

so, people can be offended by someone else's name in a video game... that's pathetic

"oh no, this guy has a name that insults my god (my religion, my country, my color, my age, or anything you want here), how can I keep on living ?"

sure guys, life has gotten sooooo hard to live nowadays

The real world is like that. Just because you don't take religion seriously doesn't mean someone else wouldn't think differently, otherwise we wouldn't have people blowing themselves up and killing each other in the name of religion. Remember, this may be an American game but it is played by people from an international community. Sometimes I find some of the conversations in-game objectionable but I don't report them. This give and take is something that unfortunately the majority of the GW population seems to be incapable of.

cthulhu reborn · Apr 05, 2009, 07:15 AM // 07:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

That was, as you said, before the Nazi party. Since then it has been viewed as a symbol of hatred and is despised in every free-thinking civilised country in the world. People who still insist on using it with the excuse that "I'm using it in the Buddist sense" are kidding nobody.

(Apologies to anyone from Finland - that would be the one notable exception to the above. Nobody important comes from Finland, though

)

The problem is that this gives power to people who are ignorant. You, for example, are probably not aware that Finland also fought against the nazi's so I'm afraid your little joke at the end fails rather miserably.

On top of that your statement about "every free-thinking civilised country" is automatically biased. Most people in this world, and I mean the vast majority, had nothing to do with the Nazi's and thus if you look at countries like India and China who contain roughly half the world's population, you will see that most people in this world don't see the swastika as a negative but rather a positive symbol.
Was your point that people in countries like China don't count because you feel they are not civilised or is that a misinterpretation? Be careful what you say because you may offend a lot of people here.

There really is a point where things go too far. The simple truth is that Anet are in the US which is a predominantly religious country with a lot of politically correctness issues, at least out in the media. And so it is that they have to take care in that.

It really is difficult to apply censorship, so I feel for Anet in this. As I said, I simply wish the way it works was better. But in the end I agree with a lot of people here that there are plenty of people out there who are too easily offended. And that is where ignorance comes in.

Lucifer for example is only mentioned ONCE in the bible reference a proud king whose fall was predicted. The idea that Lucifer is the Devil or Satan was therefore added afterwards but is not accepted by all Christians. But because somebody at some point decided that Lucifer was the name of the Devil most Christians now do believe this.
I wouldn't be surprised if I were to get in trouble by creating a character with the name Jesus Is A Jew. Even though his mother Maria was obviously Jewish.

Now I am not meaning to turn this into a religious debate so don't see it as such but I just wanted to illustrate why censorship can be such a tricky thing. There are some many different beliefs and at some point people can get upset about pretty much anything. So where do you draw the line?

Kids can watch MTV and watch video's with scantilly clad women (ho's and b*tches as they are called) and lyrics about booty and big butts and all the sexual references you desire, but in a video game it suddenly is a bad thing to make sexual references because 13 year-olds are playing the game, even though these kids probably are more aware of sex than I was at 13 and a bunch of em already had sex at this age.

This, however, is just the hypocrisy of our society and not Anet's idea. They just have to deal with it the best way they can and in the end it simply is a bigger issue in the US and a number of Islamic nations, than in a lot of other countries.

zwei2stein · Apr 05, 2009, 09:36 AM // 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by StormX

The real world is like that. Just because you don't take religion seriously doesn't mean someone else wouldn't think differently, otherwise we wouldn't have people blowing themselves up and killing each other in the name of religion. Remember, this may be an American game but it is played by people from an international community. Sometimes I find some of the conversations in-game objectionable but I don't report them. This give and take is something that unfortunately the majority of the GW population seems to be incapable of.

If someone is taking religion *that* seriously, he is not gonna play computer game with "false gods" and deciptinons of their worship, and is more likely to bomb anet HQ for spoiling childrens mind with satan or somethin than anything else to begin with. Jack Chick, anyone?

And, for some reason, I think that suicide bombers have a lot more issues than just religion. There nothing more dangerous than man who has nothing to loose except his life and grudge against someone. Take away religion and I am 100% positive that busses are still gona explode in israel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

That was, as you said, before the Nazi party. Since then it has been viewed as a symbol of hatred and is despised in every free-thinking civilised country in the world. People who still insist on using it with the excuse that "I'm using it in the Buddist sense" are kidding nobody.

That is very core of what is wrong with "hate words". "Free-thinking" people should be able to get over it. Its not word of symbol that did whatever atrocity is associated with it. Drawing of cross with broken arms is not gonna march people to gas chambers and make soap of them.

Here is what happens with "bad" words: they continue increase in amount because we keep creating them. By we i mean decent folks, not haters.

Say, we have group of people. They can be described by color of their skin.

Then, someone nice decides that current word we use ("RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO") became offsensive. Some people stop using it and start using repalcement ("negro"). Same thing happens and we decide that they are to be called just "black", ups. No, we don't, that somehow became offensive too. Great idea! "African American" is really, really decent way of refering to them? Ups, not anymore, now if someone says "African American" you know excatly what he means, and it aint nice thing. so another word should be used, see, finally a "decent word" to refer to them, now what word will it be.

We ended up in creating several racial slurs and having no decent way to name things that need naming when need arises. And laguage is being stripped of nuances and permited word count is shrinking. Ever heard of newspeak, theory that limiting vocalubaly will remove ones ability to think unwanted thoughs? Well, it does not work. Limiting words to describe hate will not prevent people from thinking hate.

Bug John · Apr 05, 2009, 10:53 AM // 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by StormX

The real world is like that. Just because you don't take religion seriously doesn't mean someone else wouldn't think differently, otherwise we wouldn't have people blowing themselves up and killing each other in the name of religion. Remember, this may be an American game but it is played by people from an international community. Sometimes I find some of the conversations in-game objectionable but I don't report them. This give and take is something that unfortunately the majority of the GW population seems to be incapable of.

Guild Wars is not "real world", I'm just trying to show that this is ridiculous to feel "offended" there.

Lots of people have completely lost common sense, and should focus their attention on things that really matter.

What if I want to name my character "Jesus Sucks" ? Shouldn't anyone stupid enough to feel offended be forced to uninstall GW, so that they could have more time to see what the real world looks like ?