A Debate for the Templars

[Ozwaldo]

Eh Aethelstan

Leave our black puddings out of it

and people the wrong side of the penines are smelly and strange

 

[Garris-]

What can I say.. apart from.. um.. what Aeth said.

Call me a cynic but this is getting less and less about GOA's rules and becoming another great moral-high-ground-swapping farce.

An observation: Brannor, you say that you actively submit names that violate the CoC to GOA, which is a good thing, but where is the line? If someone came a long with the name Brannor WhoIsGay, would you be offended and demand that it be changed?

You may well be homosexual in real life, and in that case, you'd probably be able to laugh it off - some kid has tried to offend you, but you've got the last laugh.

If you are not homosexual, then if you report it to GOA as offensive and inflamatory are you discriminating against gays?

Its fairly obvious that such a name would be made by a kid who feels like making fun of Brannor. Thats fair enough - and personally, as an inflamatory name I wouldnt have a problem with it being changed. But what if a gay person found offence at it being changed? Again, personally, I'd say "tough" - but the grey areas do exist and they are becoming more and more prominent.

Another grey area - what abut the name Satanism IsWrong. I would imagine that all the major religions would agree with that, and many atheists would agree, yet, that name harbours more religious hatred than Jehovah Witless. Same goes for DontSacrifice GoatsAndVirgins - I'd actually be kind of amused if that name wasnt removed and a load of Satanists stood up and shouted "remove that mans name! hes trying to stop us practicing our religion!"

I agree with Aeth - Religion should have its special legal protection removed, and religious people should simply have the same right to speach and freedom of thought that everyone else has.

What if I believed that cookies were living things, and that some day the big cookie boat would descend from the sky and would take all the true believers of cookie-magic to a magical realm composed entirely of baking soda.

I'd probably get the mickey taken out of me. Hell, I'd probably deserve it. But if I make it a religion, and someone throws a brick at me, theres a much bigger uproar than if I was just some oddball who liked cookies too much.

Ugh. New day, same points.

 

[Roalith]

God save the Queen... cos I doubt there are many hardline Royalists left in the UK nowadays, what with all the liberals, fringe groups, eco-terrorists, so on and so forth who could give a flying monkeys about HRH Queen Elizabeth II

As far as this whole religion discussion goes, I'm inclined to just sit on the fence and let people duke it out. Rather a self-centred point of view, but I've never seen a real reason to argue over something we have no real, concrete, unarguable evidence over whether he/she/it exists or not. If I don't believe either way, I'm not going to be insulted or hurt either way.

You might immediately think this makes me agnostic, but I prefer to think of myself as zen gnostic. There are many aspects to ancient zen buddhism that are perfectly compatible with modern day science, theology and philosophy. Don't see why they should be ignored at the expense of individual or sociological improvement, but then again, I'm not going to beat people around the head with a Good Book until they agree with my views. All I can do is hope that someday someone somewhere stands up and takes notice. People can only learn when they want to learn

 

[Brannor McThife]

Hmm... "Brannor WhoIsGay"...well, for one, I have Brannor on both servers.

Secondly,

"No names with insulting, degrading or racist connotations. "
- The name is meant as an insult.

"No religious, sexual or political references."
- The name has a sexual reference.

"No references that degrade other players' characters or GOA personnel."
-Degrading...

"No names that could suggest that the character may belong to the GOA team or have the status of voluntary worker or Gamemaster."
-I'm a voluntary worker, using the name "Brannor" could fall under this one.

And lastly,

"All these bans also apply to combinations, homonyms and alternative spellings of such names as are refused by the present charter."
- Which means you can't go and make "Branor WhoIsGay" either.



Next!



-G

 

[Brannor McThife]

Anybody notice that Gabrial also has a character called Merlyn...



-G

 

[old.Revz]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife
"No references that degrade other players' characters or GOA personnel."

Does that mean the guy who got the character "SotL" up to level 20 just so he could get the surname "IsArse" needs reporting?

note : We are actually quite flattered that someone took the trouble to level a character up to 20 with our guild name so "SotL IsArse" I thank you for providing some chuckles

 

[the_smurflord]

Brannor,

With the sheer number of clauses relating to names within the CoC, as GOA are seriously trying to shield themselves from the most flimsy of claims, with the sort of liberal interpretation you are using above, I seriously doubt you could find any name that does not breach it in some way and in some interpretation.

 

[Brannor McThife]

Actually, you'll find there are a lot of names out there that haven't been touched at all because they don't contravene the CoC. And I was just joking with that post. It's a Friday...relax...nuffin' serious.

-G

 

[Brannor McThife]

Eliseth, Visit, Smurflord. Interesting that you have a character outside of the Templars. Or is that perhaps because of the surname you've chosen... Come on...modify that signature for us all to see.



-G

 

[old.Aethelstan]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife


Oh, and on the religous issue...one for you Brits, "God save the Queen", WTF for? Since when is she so special?

-G

This might not come as an enormous surprise to you, but I'm also a republican in real life ! In Camelot, I'm a committed monarchist, of course. Down with Elizabeth and the anachronistic aristocracy. Three cheers for King Constantine ! Where's me schizophrenia pills ?

 

[Brannor McThife]

On a side not, Aethelstan, why two different user names? Aethtemplar and Old.Aethelstan ?

-G

 

[old.mattshanes]

Brannor i have chars in 2 guilds there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[Brannor McThife]

Originally posted by old.mattshanes
Brannor i have chars in 2 guilds there is nothing wrong with it.

Huh? Mattshanes. Chill. Relax. Friday. I was trying to get Smurflord to modify his/her signature so everyone could see Visit's funky surname. Lots of people have characters in various guilds. I personally wouldn't do it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.

That IS what you were referring to right?

-G

 

[Troryn]

in Denmark the queen holds a speech every new years eve (same issues new words more or less, I am danish and against the monarchy)

she always ends it with

Gud Bevare Danmark

directly: God Protect Denmark

haven´t ever heard anyone say God Bless The Queen though

but then again I dont leave my computer all that much

/ramble

Brannor give me your ingame name, or a list of the E&E´s and I´ll throw you a send everytime I see an offensive name, and it does work

I reported

Ubaadsluder and Ubaadsalfons once, on excal server

(submarinewhore and submarinepimp translated )

guess that /ramble was to soon

<laughs>

 

[old.mattshanes]

Hey brannor i was only tormenting yer hehe yeah his surname he wants to change it.

 

[Brannor McThife]

Originally posted by Troryn

Brannor give me your ingame name, or a list of the E&E´s and I´ll throw you a send everytime I see an offensive name, and it does work

Can't do that. I'm /anon.
And I'm not to give out that info as it's being handled by GOA.

<suddenly wonders if he's allowed to say he's E&E, then realises he's not Albion E&E> Oh well. <shrugs and starts to find a good place to hide from Kemor.>

However, it really is quite simple to file a Rightnow report...as annoyingly purile as the standard template reply is, it may actually work.

For now, use that method.

-G

 

[Uncle Sick(tm)]

Well, I whole-heartedly agree with Aethelstan on the naming subject.

Brannor- you play on Hib/Excalibur... ever seen a female Lurikeen called Lesbian Lover? ... amongst a TON of other sexual explicit names? And that player was l30+... did you report him/her/it?

I find it more brainless than offensive but where does your line of "being offensive" begin? You wield the code of conduct like a blessed sword... for your own subjective good. Whenever it seems fitting to you, you quote the CoC.

Live with it, Brannor - the CoC on the Euro server is worth nil.
Yeah... you are big buddy of "K." (lol)... good for you, Mr. All-important. You never grow tired of mentioning it... fitting or not.
I remember your friend the big K. stating that all servers are rp-servers... So let Tyraette be the freaking HERETIC he/she wants to play. It's just rping a character after all. Isn't it?

Your 'holier than thou' attitude honestly pisses me off and I am honestly glad that your Nazi-modding methods are not condoned on BW.

"Insensitive git?" - well, you are being pretty good at this, too.
I salute you.
You are high on your own holiness... that's what you are.

 

[old.Gombur Glodson]

I saw a guy on mid/exc named gayporn

 

[old.Revz]

The problem with reporting things via RightNow is that no one actually wants to take the time to screenshot it, log off, log in to RightNow, view one FAQ so you can ask a sodding question, write out a report, attach the screenshot and then send it off. That is far too much to expect someone to do unless they see something that makes their blood boil.

Sure I see annoying, stupid names each day that totally violate the CoC (which fyi I doubt many players even know exist) but I'll be buggered if one of them has yet caused me enough annoyance to log off and report it. That is just far too much to expect and a complete break of the game for me. A lot better would be a simple /report <name> command that would let GOA compile a list of offensive names. Then they could do the work our monthly subs pay for and track down these bastards themselves rather than relying on the goodwill of their customers to do all the hard work for them.

/rant over

 

[Jupitus]

Troryn,

it's been posted before, so it can't hurt to have a list of E&E at some point, but I think GoA plan a more formal announcement at some point. I am on the E&E team, as many know, so feel free to /send me if you find a name offensive.

Jup.

 

[Jupitus]

Gideon,

for reporting names, no screenshots are necessary. Simply drop the name on the report and the GMs can search the database. Players reporting foreign names should try to give a translation as part of the explanation, of course

Jup.

 

[Brannor McThife]

Sickofit. I last played in Hibernia about 4 months ago. Not that it has anything to do with it, but I wasn't E&E then anyway. And I did report some...in fact, on the 25th of February I submitted:

Character in Excalibur Hibernia: "Lustforme" - Inappropriate.

So please, if I see a name that I think is wrong, I report it. Ooooh...hail the almight Sickofit has deemed that the CoC is worth nil, chaos and anarchy shall henceforth reign... :sleeping:

-------------------------------------------------

Gideon, all it takes is:

Go to DAOC EU website,
click on CUSTOMER SUPPORT,
click on ENTER RIGHTNOW,
click on FIND ANSWERS,
click on the first topic,
click on ASK A QUESTION,
Login,
Select "Mentions Legal",
Select "Rules of Conduct DAOC",

And then give this:

Name against CoC.

Server: Prydwen
Realm: Albion
Name: SotL RGimps

That's not too hard, and can be done in 2 minutes easy.



-G

 

[old.Revz]

Maybe I made it out to be a little trickier than it is but the point is I won't log off just to report some childish fool with a stupid name. If I could do it through the game interface I would have reported several by now but as I said logging off breaks up the game too much (I have to regroup, get back into the chat group, rebuff not to mention the inconvienience of it all).

I could do it when I log for the night but by then I've generally other things on my mind than reporting the silly arse called "Rape" I saw 5 hours ago. The moment has passed sort of thing.

If you wish to volunteer me your Alb character name I'll /send you a ton of inappropriate things ... er names

 

[Danya]

Originally posted by old.Revz
If you wish to volunteer me your Alb character name I'll /send you a ton of inappropriate things ... er names

What does the CoC say about cybersex in game?

 

[Jupitus]

Originally posted by old.Revz
I could do it when I log for the night but by then I've generally other things on my mind than reporting the silly arse called "Rape" I saw 5 hours ago. The moment has passed sort of thing.

Just make a note of the names you see... if it's offensive enough then the moment may last long enough... most people would have a quick nose around the forums after logging off for the night, so just hop into RightWhenever too

 

[old.chesnor]

Brannor, you are even more uptight about this game as I always suspected you were. This thread started as an interesting discussion about the attitude of a respected RP guilds policy to innapropriate names. It has ended with the confessions of a petty mind pedant who feels the need to follow some sections of the CoC with fanatical devotion and rat on players because they don't share his concept of how this game should be played.

God forbid you create a character with an evil, depraved and outrageously offensive name as "lustforme", in fact, I had to shield this abomination of a name from the eyes of my young children such that they are not lost to Satan.

Sheesh, Brannor what is your problem ?

 

[Brannor McThife]

Do I really care for your opinion Chesnor? No.

In the same way everyone here wants to know where that line is, so do I. The only way to find out, is to report the name and see if they change it. This really isn't about being uptight, it's about chosing names that are sensible or god/allah/budha forbid, mature.

And it has nothing to do with me or my interpretation of the CoC. I've been told a few names I've reported are acceptable, stupid, but acceptable, does that change the fact that I still continue to report names? No. Does your futile attempt to change my view mean that I'll stop reporting names? No.

My problem? If any, is simply people not picking sensible, non-antagonistic, anti-CoC names. I have a bunch of characters I left the name generator create, and others I've worked on over time.

Go stand over there with Sickofit so I can ignore you together.



-G

 

[Turamber]

Oh my goodness, what a long thread this turned out to be me - and more twists and turns than a Hitchcock film!

If I had known how to report the character name "Jehovah Witless" then I would have done so. To millions of people throughout the planet the use of the Divine name in a game is very offensive indeed. To add the surname "Witless" and thus have a pop at one of the largest Christian movements/sects is also bad.

Sure, to atheists it seems daft that people get upset about such things -- but please accept that we do get upset about such matters, and respect us, in the same way that we have respect for your atheism, even though it also seems nonsensical to us.

 

[the_smurflord]

Originally posted by Brannor McThife
Eliseth, Visit, Smurflord. Interesting that you have a character outside of the Templars. Or is that perhaps because of the surname you've chosen... Come on...modify that signature for us all to see.

If you are really interested, Eliseth has no surname. Smurflord is my normal net-alias, not a character. Visit was supposed to be Visit TheInfidelWithExplantoryPamphlets (another Pratchett name and the counterpart to SmiteTheUngodly WithCunningArguments), but it was too long to take. Aurian suggested Visit UndyingForGoodWeapons (which was my crafter at the time). As a joke I switched it around, and took Visit AurianForGoodCloth. What does the mighty CoC say about advertising?
To be honest the names that have disturbed me most on albion have been Luckstrike MakesFineTobacco and Marl Boro.
And as for guilds, I like to meet people, two guilds help.

After seeing a recent episode of the Simpsons, I'm more than a little tempted to make a new guild of The Christ Punchers.

 

[Garris-]

Brannor, to be honest - I dont care how many points of mine you've skipped so far in this topic, but if your convictions are as noble as you make out, then a sarcastic and belittling attitude surely isn't needed in order to get your point accross.

You'll probably come up with some hilarious witticism to counter this.

This could have been a pretty interesting debate, and maybe I'm just sour because of Brannor's deft side-stepping of all the more valid points in my last argument, but I guess I should give up now - if there is one thing I've learnt, it is that if I put forward a valid point, it will be ignored, and if I put forward a weaker one, it will be demolished with pedantic, unhelpful comments.

Ok, sure the CoC is there to be followed (even though it isnt and isnt really informed apart from by Brannor, which puts the whole thing into question) but what I was trying to say is that there are big grey areas in the CoC, that need to be cleared up for the benefit of all - ESPECIALLY those who enforce the CoC (Brannor). If people are unsure what is right and what is not, it is unfair to go whacking them with the "K"-bat.

This will probably be ignored - I'll go stand next to sickofit now.