Curse

MSecorsky · Jun 25, 2007, 10:14 PM // 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Series

I wasn't aware a sign of being "mature" is getting offended at the name of a disease.

No, it's recognizing that others might.

assassin_of_ni · Jun 25, 2007, 10:29 PM // 22:29

im all about being as completely politically incorrect as possible and think everyone should have whatever name they want, but making a name which is very clearly bypassing a name filter, having it banned, then complaining about it cause a-net gave you a slap on the wirst. this is one of the reasons i almost never play anymore lol.

fog_of_redoubt · Jun 25, 2007, 11:00 PM // 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Series

I wasn't aware a sign of being "mature" is getting offended at the name of a disease.

Are you really that dense? Or just trolling?

Influenza isn't going to get you banned. AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease that has killed millions of people. Do you think that is somehow funny or cute?

Grow up or quit trolling whichever fits.

Jack A Roe · Jun 25, 2007, 11:06 PM // 23:06

Making light of a disease that has killed 25 million people? Yeah, that's funny stuff. What did you replace your char's name with? Snype Has Leukemia? The fact that you had the onions to post a complaint about a temp ban for this just shows how clueless you must be. Sit with a loved one who has a terminal disease and watch them suffer and then come back and tell me how inoffensive this is.

Melodramatic, but true.

On a less serious note, when I first started GW my 1st char had a name (which I will not mention here) that could be deemed offensive to some. At the time, I had no idea just how many real people I would be interacting with, as it was my first online gaming experience. This char quickly became my main title hunter, which led me to do some research on offensive names & actions taken against them. Fearing a perma-ban, I self-reported her name to support-saying essentially what I have mentioned here as well as adding that I expected a temp ban & forced name change, but asked that they please not delete the char & her acheivments. Their response was something along the lines of:

"Thank you for contacting support. While character name change is something that is being considered for the future of GW, currently the only way to change a character's name is after a temporary ban resulting from an offensive name."

Er.....yeah.

icymanipulator · Jun 25, 2007, 11:08 PM // 23:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Series

Also, interesting tidbit: While words such as "negro" are banned, words such as "Cracker", "cracka", "whitey", "whity", "honky", "honkey", and etc. are all perfectly allowed. What's the deal with this Anet? A lil hypocrisy on your end? Any comment on this one Gaile?

This just proves Arena Net is as American as apple pie. Didn't you get the memo? Its ok in America to have double standards when being politically correct. You can say whatever you want about the racial majority and its A-OK according to any source of public media available so why not video games in a fictional universe? I am surprised no one has shown up with the name "Ofay" yet.

If they were running a truly unbiased show then none of those terms would be acceptable period.

assassin_of_ni · Jun 25, 2007, 11:08 PM // 23:08

automated responses ftw

**cosyfiep** · Jun 25, 2007, 11:11 PM // 23:11

even anet has gotten the bad word ban....quimang is one of the npc's in factions, yet when his name appears in the chat the quim is ----out....good going anet, cant even name your own toons to get past the ban!

Series · Jun 25, 2007, 11:30 PM // 23:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by icymanipulator

This just proves Arena Net is as American as apple pie. Didn't you get the memo? Its ok in America to have double standards when being politically correct. You can say whatever you want about the racial majority and its A-OK according to any source of public media available so why not video games in a fictional universe? I am surprised no one has shown up with the name "Ofay" yet.

If they were running a truly unbiased show then none of those terms would be acceptable period.

Exactly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSecorsky

No, it's recognizing that others might.

Because I am allergic to peanuts, I demand all people are banned with the word "Peanut" in their name. I find it offensive. How dare you not recognize my right to not be offended???

Wait... there is no right to be unoffended? Is it possible that perhaps instead of getting offended over every little thing that may bother me in some way shape and form I... get over it? Nah, I think I'm gonna write a list of words I find offensive and get them banned. After all, you said it yourself, if someone finds something offensive, it is mature to take every step you can to avoid offending every single person in the world.

Or perhaps with maturity comes the ability to not be offended so easily.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fog_of_redoubt

Are you really that dense? Or just trolling?

Influenza isn't going to get you banned. AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease that has killed millions of people. Do you think that is somehow funny or cute?

Grow up or quit trolling whichever fits.

Yes, AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease. There are a lot of diseases that kill many people, which brings me back to my plague example which completely destroyed everything you just said. Do you think the plague is somehow funny or cute?

Grow up or try again until you realize that I am right in this one

icymanipulator · Jun 25, 2007, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by fog_of_redoubt

Are you really that dense? Or just trolling?

Influenza isn't going to get you banned. AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease that has killed millions of people. Do you think that is somehow funny or cute?

Grow up or quit trolling whichever fits.

Some quick facts:

-AIDS pandemic, has killed an est. 25 million worldwide since 1980 with an additional 40 million currently infected. Relative human population ~5.5-6 billion over the course of 1980-2007. Thats less than a half of a percent of the worlds population during this time period.

-Black Plague pandemic, killed an est. 75 million worldwide 20 million just in Europe during 1300's. The worlds population is estimated at 443 million during this time period. Roughly 17% of the worlds population died. The black plague is estimated as having killed between 1/3 and 2/3 of Europe's entire population.

-Spanish Flu pandemic, 1918-1920 killed an est. 40 million people worldwide. World population in 1918 was an est. 1.8 billion. Just over 2% of the worlds population died with up to 20% of the entire population infected (360 million).

How much you want to bet I can log on guild wars right now and make my name any variant of black plague or influenza and I will neither be banned nor complained to for my lack of maturity in name choice? Honestly you can take the politically correct banter and shove it.

Voltar · Jun 25, 2007, 11:35 PM // 23:35

i couldn't use any variation on the name, "Gloria Gaynor," for my survivor character (she sang, "I Will Survive,") because it had, "gay," in it.

oh well...i named her, "Smoker Chick," instead and had to settle for weak irony.

it's a rough world i guess and we need to find a way to carry on. if you grew up in the 80's, you'd know that it was a hard decade for for trying to get laid. there's a lot of stigma attached to aids and you really have to be a writer for south park to be able to get away with making jokes about it.

you can apparently make jokes about mental illness though. i have a mesmer named Cloza Ril (which is an antipsychotic med...Zy Prexa and Risper Dal were already taken). it just takes a little awareness of your environment (which is the mark of, "maturity," others have mentioned).

assassin_of_ni · Jun 25, 2007, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by icymanipulator

This just proves Arena Net is as American as apple pie. Didn't you get the memo? Its ok in America to have double standards when being politically correct. You can say whatever you want about the racial majority and its A-OK according to any source of public media available so why not video games in a fictional universe? I am surprised no one has shown up with the name "Ofay" yet.

If they were running a truly unbiased show then none of those terms would be acceptable period.

funny thing about MMO's is the fact that they are in themselves their own sovereign nation and can in fact enforce whatever laws upon them that they wish (with the exception of certain forms of abuse and stealing and what have you) then it becomes a national law thing. so if a-net decided that one day that everyone in game could no longer use the word afghanistan (for god knows what reason) then there is essentially nothing you can do about it as well as not allowing the word negro but allowing the word cracker or whatever else....its pretty much up to them. but my $.02 on the situation is i can see why negro or any other word similar to that one is not allowed. as for why cracker or cracka or honkey or what have you is allowed namely since cracker is a general word as well where as negro isnt. see my point? its the same sorta deal when Spike Lee attempted to sue Spike TV for using the word Spike in the name. It doesnt quite work since spike is a normal word in the dictionary and cannot be trademarked.

Voltar · Jun 25, 2007, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSecorsky

No, it's recognizing that others might.

nicely put (and way more succint than my response)

Series · Jun 25, 2007, 11:44 PM // 23:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by assassin_of_ni

funny thing about MMO's is the fact that they are in themselves their own sovereign nation and can in fact enforce whatever laws upon them that they wish (with the exception of certain forms of abuse and stealing and what have you) then it becomes a national law thing. so if a-net decided that one day that everyone in game could no longer use the word afghanistan (for god knows what reason) then there is essentially nothing you can do about it as well as not allowing the word negro but allowing the word cracker or whatever else....its pretty much up to them. but my $.02 on the situation is i can see why negro or any other word similar to that one is not allowed. as for why cracker or cracka or honkey or what have you is allowed namely since cracker is a general word as well where as negro isnt. see my point? its the same sorta deal when Spike Lee attempted to sue Spike TV for using the word Spike in the name. It doesnt quite work since spike is a normal word in the dictionary and cannot be trademarked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aid

Looks like aid is a general word too.

icymanipulator · Jun 25, 2007, 11:46 PM // 23:46

Negro

Adjective

1. (archaic) Relating to the black ethnicity.
2. (archaic) Black or dark brown in colour.

"The word is considered acceptable only in a historical context. Black and if applicable (though to a lesser extent) African-American are the politically-correct alternatives."

Cracker

Noun

1. A piece of hard, salty bread; biscuit.
2. A short piece of twisted string tied to the end of a whip that creates the distinctive sound when the whip is thrown or cracked.
3. (usually plural) Fireworks.
4. (pejorative) Whites; persons who are considered white racially.

"When used to describe white people, it is often applied to financially disadvantaged American Southerners."

I see absolutely no difference here, both terms have a pejorative meaning and your entire argument has just collapsed.

explodemyheart · Jun 26, 2007, 12:00 AM // 00:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by assassin_of_ni

im all about being as completely politically incorrect as possible and think everyone should have whatever name they want, but making a name which is very clearly bypassing a name filter, having it banned, then complaining about it cause a-net gave you a slap on the wirst. this is one of the reasons i almost never play anymore lol.

You might have a point if he was actually bypassing the filter but aids in not, in fact, an unusable word. Feel free to try it for yourself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by icymanipulator

-Black Plague pandemic...
-Spanish Flu pandemic...
How much you want to bet I can log on guild wars right now and make my name any variant of black plague or influenza and I will neither be banned nor complained to for my lack of maturity in name choice? Honestly you can take the politically correct banter and shove it.

Cut things out for brevity, my apologies, but Black Plague is already a character name and I just created one with the name Spanish Flu.

Series · Jun 26, 2007, 12:02 AM // 00:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by icymanipulator

Negro

Adjective

1. (archaic) Relating to the black ethnicity.
2. (archaic) Black or dark brown in colour.

"The word is considered acceptable only in a historical context. Black and if applicable (though to a lesser extent) African-American are the politically-correct alternatives."

Cracker

Noun

1. A piece of hard, salty bread; biscuit.
2. A short piece of twisted string tied to the end of a whip that creates the distinctive sound when the whip is thrown or cracked.
3. (usually plural) Fireworks.
4. (pejorative) Whites; persons who are considered white racially.

"When used to describe white people, it is often applied to financially disadvantaged American Southerners."

I see absolutely no difference here, both terms have a pejorative meaning and your entire argument has just collapsed.

Why even go that far?

"Hick"

Not blocked by Anet. Offensive word with no unoffensive meaning. GG

Series · Jun 26, 2007, 12:04 AM // 00:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by explodemyheart

You might have a point if he was actually bypassing the filter but aids in not, in fact, an unusable word. Feel free to try it for yourself.

Yup. I just made a character with Aids in the name (and deleted immediately to avoid the banstick of course) and had no problems at all.

This ban was unjustified.

Quantum Duck · Jun 26, 2007, 12:15 AM // 00:15

It's a global game. Yes, inappropriate is going to be very subjective. I'd guess it's primarily a matter of what gets reported as inappropriate. On the other hand, there are fairly obvious catagories of things that are going to be a great deal more likely to get reported than others, and common sense could very easily prevent you from stumbling across that poorly defined line far more often than not.

Inger · Jun 26, 2007, 12:21 AM // 00:21

u only suspect it is for the character with the name aids in it... could it potentially be a different character?

I remember when I created my very first guild wars character I wanted to name him I N G E R (simply beacuse I couldn't just put Inger... need 2 dang words)

Inge is my last name and having it Inger (pronounced Ing - Er) just sounded kinda cool to me. In any case they wouldn't allow me to use the name I N G E R, I couldn't figure out y... i suppose it might have a small connection to niger... but i dunno

I simply ended up creating a character with the name Inger and then adding a different letter afterwards for each of my characters. Come to think of it... if I N G E R is unnacceptable... could potentially any of my characters with Inger not be allowed?

if that is true thats TERRIBLE... because I have all my characters with Inger in some form and they've all been around for over a year now.

icymanipulator · Jun 26, 2007, 12:36 AM // 00:36

I should make a character named Wolf Schicklgruber, thats a pretty obtuse reference I doubt is banned...though it probably should be.