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Game Suggestions & Ideas / Re: Rule Clarification, + suggestion.
« on: October 24, 2019, 09:46:13 am »Thank you for sharing your concerns and suggestions in regards to the rules.
The rule:
“Cursing/Swearing is frowned upon. Doing so may result in a ban.”
This rule was written to be so “ambiguous” on purpose. I’ll try to be brief in explaining things for the sake of this thread but this topic has been a meaty one amongst staff.
For a long time now staff have debated on whether the rule policy on swearing should be changed or not. We got to the point where we created two sets of these same rules you see here, one being the one that contains the current swearing rule and another that allows it. Because staff understand the pros and cons of either policy we’ve constantly come to a stand still on the issue. There’s also the fact that Raz wants to maintain the age appropriateness of the game and really doesn’t approve of swearing. The same arguments come up again and again for reasons why the rule should or shouldn’t be changed. There really is no black or white solution, especially when we are trying to increase the consistency of the penalties staff hand out to rule breakers. Either we completely forbid swearing or allow it fully, and doing either or still causes us to run into problems.
If we forbid swearing completely, this means people would be banned for any word that is considered as a swear word regardless of the context it was used in or if it was censored, and or a “mild” swear. This would be ridiculously extreme and honestly wouldn’t feel fair to us or the users.
If we allow swearing then that means there would be absolutely no exception to words used, their context, and level of obscenity. Without saying any specific words here you can already immediately imagine how problematic this can be... (Not to mention if we ever want to have something like a general chat back, which I doubt will return since Raz is against it but still... or even maintaining registration open.)
So most will suggest: What about just posting a list of words that get you banned and or swear words that are considered ok?
The problems with this:
1.) Some swear words have multiple meanings and while are ok in some circumstances they are not in others. (Again not saying any specific words here for obvious reasons.) If we create a list (which we actually did) it becomes ridiculously convoluted with explanations of what contexts a word isn’t and is allowed in. It gets to a point where it’s best to just not allow the word to avoid any unnecessary confusion. You’ll have cases where people will argue the context of a swear word that appears on the list and whether they used it inappropriately or not.
Ex: there are some words out there that are totally harmless but become swear words depending the way they’re used. For the simple fact that said words can be used as swear words they should technically be on the list.
2.) If some swear words are allowed and others are not people will find loopholes and or alternatives and then we need to keep modifying the list to include alternatives. (If you’ve ever played old WolfQuest this was a reason why their chat censoring system got so messy, as well as other similar games that try to build censors.)
3.) The list is biased. Depending where you were born, raised, etc we all interpret words in our language differently. What some consider swearing others may not.
4.) Our game and community is meant to stay welcoming to everyone, not just teens & adults but children as well. By allowing swearing of any sort we open up the grounds to all sorts of negative conversation and verbal abuse to our users. Unfortunately as hard as we try to keep this place a safe haven for everyone there are users who find ways to abuse even now. Why make it easier? Even if we allow some swears and not others it’s still an open invitation to unsavory language and topics being brought.
5.) Having a list of swear words that are allowed or not allowed just paint an ugly image to our game. Just imagine the sort of vulgar words we’d need to post to make this point... Parents have often reached out to staff and many younger users aren’t allowed to play Feral Heart until their parents have read and assessed our rules with them. By having such an unsavory list public we lose a lot of potential users but also discourage many other types of users from joining. Just because one person is comfortable with swearing doesn’t mean others are regardless of age. There are a number of users who like the community to stay swear free for more than one reason.
So back to the rule:
“Cursing/Swearing is frowned upon. Doing so may result in a ban.”
This rule was written this way to avoid having to either completely forbid or allow swearing. Essentially it’s written as a precaution but also a fail safe in the case of reports or sticky situations where the solution isn’t all black or white. Every scenario of swearing is dealt with on a case by case basis. There will be times where some words will not get as severe a penalty or any penalty. But we can’t exactly say what words or what penalty if any because people will find loopholes and or ways to abuse the system. By writing the rule this way we are letting users know that swearing isn’t agreed upon and there is a risk of getting banned if they decide to do so. It’s up to the user if the risk of getting banned is worth swearing.
I hope this helps everyone to understand it a bit better ^^ But yeah if you have any further questions on this topic it’s best to pm staff about it directly.
So to be clear, it is intentionally ambiguous so as to make it a "case by case basis" kind of thing? So if I say, for example, "Holy s---", in a non-offensive context, I wouldn't be punished for it, but if I was reported for inflammatory language such as telling someone to go f--- themselves, I would be?
I'd just like some sort of clarification lol. Like is it truly case-by-case and thus only really judged on an individual basis and usage and context, or is it still possible to receive a punishment for non-offensive usage of something generally considered a "swear"?
