Racism/discrimination policy

[Troll King]

You really think someone is going to read this?



Or this?


And this too? Geez..

I did, and I'm sure others did too. If you didn't then it's your loss.


And Tarnished, I don't think Sarien was talking specifically to you. It sounded more like a general statement against people who use racist language.

[Leaf]

lol tarnished, sry but I'm too fat to read all this, talk to me in the game

[Sarien]

Why? There really seems to be an attitude here of "You can call someone a paedophile, a motherfucker, a dyke, a whore, or tell them to go and kill themselves: But bring race into it, and that's really bad!", and I just don't understand it.
Well racial insults are just a word, like other insults.
I honestly think the policy we have atm is just encouraging more people to say words like that, both in real life and on TW.
Oh yeah, and SWS:That was kind of my point. People seek to push the limits... yes. So get rid of the limits.
They're only words, after all. Why should we be afraid of a word?

The following post assumes that you aren't racist or even want to hurl the racist insults around yourself, which I find very unlikely.

If you call someone a pedophile, a motherfucker, a whore, or tell them to go and kill themselves, it isn't a personal subjugating attack tied as I have said to a long history of pain, shame, and misery.
Racial Epithets aren't just like other insults, whether you like it, or you don't. You can say that it shouldn't have power, and on that I agree with you, I'd be glad if the insults didn't exist at all. I see no reason to be bigoted against any specific race when people all over the globe do equally stupid shit, no matter what.
The policy exists for a reason, and a good one. If you do away with the limits, it's nice to think that is the cause of people wanting to get away with it, but it just isn't so. That's like saying people only rob banks because it's illegal, rather than for the payoff.

People push limits, so get rid of the limits? That's so specious. It'd be nice to think that's all it'd take, but it won't. If there wasn't the policy in place then the zone would be utterly rife with racist garbage the same way people now say "newb" or what have you, which being a corn fed white guy that I am I couldn't say whether or not people would quit playing over it, but it would, and should sicken people to see it, including me. I've said so many deeply offensive things to people in my life, and had them said to me. I don't mind cursing, or being crass, rude, mean, or a jerk if the situation calls for it.

But whether you like it or not, words have power, and if some snot nosed little shithead in TW is prevented from making people feel uncomfortable in their own skin, it's absolutely worth having the policy.

If anything, the penalty should be much much more strict. Why not? Instead of catching a warning then a ban for a day or two, just ban them from the zone for about a year or two, and let it be publicly known that you'll do so. Make examples. What's the worst that could happen? The bandwith fees lesson from dropping people that want to cause trouble to begin with? The people that want to really cause trouble quit and never come back? Good Riddance. If you exist to cause problems, then the "young people" here should learn that you rapidly won't find yourself welcome.

[Facetious]

I've always thought that saying fag or faggot is just as bad as saying ****** (Am I allowed to type it in this context? If not I guess you can edit it out whenever I say it but it's stupid if I can't...) For the most part I agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense to single out just the racial slurs, but I don't agree that that constitutes justification for taking the rules about the racial slurs away. I think the culture of TW is pretty much already set, if you took away the rules, people would still be obsessed with saying ******.

edit: oh it does it automatically, great

[Hydride]

Hey, been putting off registering here for a long while now, mainly because too many internet forums just fill up quickly with flamewars. But I had a little issue I thought it was important to bring up.

Why is it that whenever staff see someone use a racial insult (typically the "n" word), they're very quick to give them a warning, and other players to report the offender, but whenever one player calls another a fag, or another non-racial discriminatory offensive term, nothing gets done?

The fourth item on the list of illegal things is "discrimination". Now fair enough, treating someone differently because of something like their skin colour, gender, age, etc, is a bad thing, and we don't want it. But if discrimination includes name-calling, shouldn't you at least be consistent?

Personally, I don't think discrimination includes name-calling. Words only have power if you give it to them. When it comes down to it, if you see a word on a screen in front of you, it's your choice whether to be offended or that. And if I call someone stupid, aren't I discriminating against them for their lack of intelligence? Shouldn't that be illegal, then?

Lots of young black men call each other the aforementioned "n" word (I've got no problems saying it in a neutral sense like this, but it'd be kind of ironic if no one even read this because it was insta-deleted for including the word), using it in a non-offensive way, and people accept that. So does that mean it's only discrimination if used with hurtful intent? Kinda ties in with the above - if you're gonna play it that way, then ALL name-calling is discrimination. A similar thing happened with the word "queer". Used to be a bad insult based on one's sexual preference, but then gay people started using it, and it got de-stigmatised. That word's used a lot on TW, and in the above respects, it's no different from the n one.

I asked someone to give this a quick readthrough for me, check for mistakes etc, and they said a possible answer could be "How do we know when they call someone a N___, they're doing it in a friendly way?". Maybe they're not, but if you just look at pub chat for 5 minutes you'll see reams of insults and hostility. I can call a friend, or a stranger, a stupid dick, on TW, and no staff bat an eyelid. What's so different about that word?

Might have written absolutely loads for something with a really simple answer that'll fit on just a couple of lines. Well, if so, I asked two mods and they didn't know why, either.

I don't really think people are offended by the word 'queer', 'stupid dick' and what not. It's really a matter of them wanting to amuse themselves, but when someone comes out of the blue and says the "n" word, it shouldn't be tolerated; If someone called you a 'stupid cunt' in a public you would just grin and reply with a 'comeback' or just make a smiley face

[Ezor]

?nopubchat and get on with life, kids.

[Dim]

Says the person who would socially collapse if he didn't get attention from people replying to your constant ez and whining.

[Ezor]

Thank you for the input, but you've obviously already socially collapsed yourself since you feel the need to berate people you'll never meet so you can feel like a true badass.

[NaiLed]

you just proved his point

[Ezor]

See above image.

[PaulOakenfold]

I can name two people who do care, and one of them isn't me.

[Hero*]

Ok like seriouslyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Saying the N WORD and asshole or fag are two totally different things. In your REAL life, do you get offended when people call you a fag?loser?nerd? Most likely not. If you want these words unusable too, you might as well make "man,kid,boy" out as well. say you say to lets say "Boo14spider" Shut up kid. That sounds legit, right? but what if this guy is 58 years old, he isnt a kid. Maybe he is offended. Maybe we should ban you for saying shut up kid., YEAH LETS.
Like ezor said ?nopubchat

I dont know if anyone has said anything like this, Im just way to lazy to read all of that.

[Reaver]

If anything, the penalty should be much much more strict. Why not? Instead of catching a warning then a ban for a day or two, just ban them from the zone for about a year or two, and let it be publicly known that you'll do so. Make examples. What's the worst that could happen? The bandwith fees lesson from dropping people that want to cause trouble to begin with? The people that want to really cause trouble quit and never come back? Good Riddance. If you exist to cause problems, then the "young people" here should learn that you rapidly won't find yourself welcome.

I like the idea, except for one small thing. I think that there should still be warnings, because, simply put, people are morons. You can put a rule up in front of their face and they will still come back at you with 'oh, I didn't know'. So give them one warning, and then punish them.

[Dim]

I am heavily socially collapsed. Yes, indeed.

[Shas'la T'au Kais]

I know someone who was banned for a month for the use of "Jew"