well that is a direct contradiction to your policy of straight banning anyone who types nigger or nigga on your service. . .
"What does that mean? Well, it means that if someone uses the N-word, for example. . . they will be immediately banned."
no mention of context whatsoever
It's not a contradiction at all.
I, the individual, completely agree with context.
I, the CEO of a game company, have legal obligations which require context to be scrutinized far more closely.
It's one thing to sit back and watch Richard Pryor (as per the example in the video above) and laugh as he jokes while using the N-bomb. I'm an individual, watching a comedy show, and it's very obvious the context of the jokes.
It's another thing to offer a service to the public, where players may come across random people (not Richard Pryor) using the N-word in a public space (or similar racist commentary/offensive commentary), and having zero awareness of the potential context of the situation (meaning, the group or individuals using the words may or may not be doing so with racist intent).
Using the "home" analogy from earlier in the thread...what you say and do in your own home is up to you as the individual. But the moment you step out into the public space, there are things you cannot say/do in the public environment due to societal laws/regulations.
Someone asked earlier in this thread "what if me and my buddies are just joking around and calling each other dickheads and the like in group".
Great. That's the equivalent of being in your own home. It's you and your three/four/six group mates, and you have your own way of acting/talking/etc., which may be offensive to those not in the know, but for you it's just the way you talk with each other.
(p.s. we all do this. I drop f-bombs constantly when I'm talking with my teammates on Stormhaven Studios. I do not do so in the public space, such as here on these forums, because there are rules and regulations regarding behavior and societal norms).
Doing so in your group chat = no problem.
Doing so in public chat = a problem. Because random passerbyes have zero way of knowing the context of your chat.
You can hang out naked in your house all day, but you don't strip naked and run through a supermarker without facing criminal prosecution for indescent exposure/etc.
well then please state when you are speaking personally and not as "CEO of a game company"
it is unfair to think your potential customers would be able to differentiate your speech when in a public forum you don't state what is your opinion and what is official policy.
As abhorrent as it may sound, because I generally don't think going back is good in any respect, but one can learn lessons from the past; so, as abhorrent as it may sound to those who think you can't exist if you have to think twice about being thoughtlessly rude and offensive, within my life time, offensive speech was socially unacceptable and everyone spoke decently to each other, especially people they did not know. And as horrible as this sounds, people were STILL able to successfully communicate their feelings, desires and needs. And competition still abounded.
It took a moment's thought, rather than just spouting the nearest vulgarity, to be verbally offensive. One had to develop wit to put down a rival successfully. One had to be creative in backstabbing others, not just pull out a handy, worn-out racist epithet. People certainly did it, of course, but they were not the kind of people it was worthwhile associating with.
The problem with offensive speech as practiced today is that it lacks both wit and creativity. It's just offensive, rude and, frankly, boring and says nothing so much as that the speaker is lazy and derivative in their thinking.
well that is a direct contradiction to your policy of straight banning anyone who types nigger or nigga on your service. . .
"What does that mean? Well, it means that if someone uses the N-word, for example. . . they will be immediately banned."
no mention of context whatsoever
It's not a contradiction at all.
I, the individual, completely agree with context.
I, the CEO of a game company, have legal obligations which require context to be scrutinized far more closely.
It's one thing to sit back and watch Richard Pryor (as per the example in the video above) and laugh as he jokes while using the N-bomb. I'm an individual, watching a comedy show, and it's very obvious the context of the jokes.
It's another thing to offer a service to the public, where players may come across random people (not Richard Pryor) using the N-word in a public space (or similar racist commentary/offensive commentary), and having zero awareness of the potential context of the situation (meaning, the group or individuals using the words may or may not be doing so with racist intent).
Using the "home" analogy from earlier in the thread...what you say and do in your own home is up to you as the individual. But the moment you step out into the public space, there are things you cannot say/do in the public environment due to societal laws/regulations.
Someone asked earlier in this thread "what if me and my buddies are just joking around and calling each other dickheads and the like in group".
Great. That's the equivalent of being in your own home. It's you and your three/four/six group mates, and you have your own way of acting/talking/etc., which may be offensive to those not in the know, but for you it's just the way you talk with each other.
(p.s. we all do this. I drop f-bombs constantly when I'm talking with my teammates on Stormhaven Studios. I do not do so in the public space, such as here on these forums, because there are rules and regulations regarding behavior and societal norms).
Doing so in your group chat = no problem.
Doing so in public chat = a problem. Because random passerbyes have zero way of knowing the context of your chat.
You can hang out naked in your house all day, but you don't strip naked and run through a supermarker without facing criminal prosecution for indescent exposure/etc.
well then please state when you are speaking personally and not as "CEO of a game company"
it is unfair to think your potential customers would be able to differentiate your speech when in a public forum you don't state what is your opinion and what is official policy.
thank you.
It's very easy to know what is official policy, as things are clearly stated on our website.
I love this approach. I'm tired of online communities being just a sideshow in online games and companies only act when they fear legal trouble. There's no online game without the toxic-community tag attached to its tail. About time a company put the community part of their product above everything else and mean it, not just as a marketing stunt.
I was done with supporting MMOs in their development phase, but I'm going to support yours. Best of luck.
Constantine, The Console Poster
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
I love this approach. I'm tired of online communities being just a sideshow in online games and companies only act when they fear legal trouble. There's no online game without the toxic-community tag attached to its tail. About time a company put the community part of their product above everything else and mean it, not just as a marketing stunt.
I was done with supporting MMOs in their development phase, but I'm going to support yours. Best of luck.
I remember long, long ago, being in a WoW battleground. Some guy was shouting out the N word like it was his job. I imagine many people reported him. A few minutes later (which is just amazing), a CSR rep (or whatever WoW calls them) showed up and removed him. Awesome.
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There is no free speech on private property no matter how publicly available access to that property is. If I don't want you to use the word Picasso on my property and you do it then I can tell you to leave. You must leave.
In the U.S. freedom of speech only applies toward anyone's comments about the U.S. government on public property within the territories of the U.S.A.
A game publisher/developer can decide to kick you off their property if you use the word 'the.' It doesn't matter what you want. It matters what the pubisher/developer wants.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams
There is no free speech on private property no matter how publicly available access to that property is. If I don't want you to use the word Picasso on my property and you do it then I can tell you to leave. You must leave.
In the U.S. freedom of speech only applies toward anyone's comments about the U.S. government on public property within the territories of the U.S.A.
A game publisher/developer can decide to kick you off their property if you use the word 'the.' It doesn't matter what you want. It matters what the pubisher/developer wants.
Yes but if I shout "The U.S. Government!" on that private property and no one hears me, have I exercised my right to free speech or not?
Freedom of speech in the United States means that your government cannot suppress your vocal, written, or artistic expression. It is not, as others have pointed out, an unlimited right, and contains a number of important exceptions.
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Is it ok to be anti white?
Btw what ever happened to the ignore function? If you have a problem ignore them, why do you have a need to call the ThoughtPolice and get them eradicated from existance? What is that? It's a disturbing trend.
I hope this game goes bankrupt. The internet used to be free and gaming used to be fun. We dont need or want politics in our games.
Comments
it is unfair to think your potential customers would be able to differentiate your speech when in a public forum you don't state what is your opinion and what is official policy.
thank you.
It took a moment's thought, rather than just spouting the nearest vulgarity, to be verbally offensive. One had to develop wit to put down a rival successfully. One had to be creative in backstabbing others, not just pull out a handy, worn-out racist epithet. People certainly did it, of course, but they were not the kind of people it was worthwhile associating with.
The problem with offensive speech as practiced today is that it lacks both wit and creativity. It's just offensive, rude and, frankly, boring and says nothing so much as that the speaker is lazy and derivative in their thinking.
I was done with supporting MMOs in their development phase, but I'm going to support yours. Best of luck.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
In the U.S. freedom of speech only applies toward anyone's comments about the U.S. government on public property within the territories of the U.S.A.
A game publisher/developer can decide to kick you off their property if you use the word 'the.' It doesn't matter what you want. It matters what the pubisher/developer wants.
Yes but if I shout "The U.S. Government!" on that private property and no one hears me, have I exercised my right to free speech or not?
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests