Conquest of the Horde

Allow me a moment to begin with a disclaimer, of sorts.
WARNING:
The following post may or may not contain language rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America.
I will self-censor, but if this content offends you, consider this to be your first -- and final -- warning.

With that out of the way, I'd like to greet each and every one of you who takes the time to read this post. Together, we are the community of this, the finest World of Warcraft roleplaying server currently available. It's always a pleasure to share this space with you, my friends.

This community we share is built on a bedrock of etiquette, a firm structure of carefully designed rules and regulations that act to insure that the server can be kept running as a pleasant place for everyone who uses it. As a system built and enforced by humans, however, it may occasionally need revision (although that isn't the situation I'm discussing today) or clarification.

It's that second part that I'm here to talk about this evening. I'd like to ask our fantastic staff (and I hold no irony in that statement) for a touch of input on what is appropriate in our chat channels -- a situation I've had difficulty with before, but which is only highlighted by tonight's unfortunate incident.

Allow me to begin by directing our attention, first, to the regulations that have been laid down regarding the chat channels:
http://wiki.conquestofthehorde.com/Chat

It seems quite clear:

Quote:No cursing or vulgarity in any public chat channel. Try to keep everything reasonably PG-13-rated.

The issue that arises comes from the general confusion as to what, precisely, constitutes 'cursing' or 'vulgarity' in a PG-13 setting. None of us, to my knowledge, are a trained censor working for say, the FCC or MPAA. Thus, each of us has a different standard that we apply to this statement.

I always solved the dilemma by asking myself, "Can this be said in a PG-13 movie?" and "Can this be said in church?" If the answers to both questions were yes, I generally assumed I wouldn't have any problems moving forward. Tonight's difficulty made me question this faith, though.

Examples: (Self-censor, potentially PG-13 content, proceed at your own risk)
Both of these are said in children's movies, and both of these are said in church -- and yet, they were declared inappropriate in tonight's discussion.

(Self-censor, potentially PG-13 content, proceed at your own risk)
While not something I would use regardless, this came up as well -- is it inappropriate? I would say it rides closer to the borderline, although the, ahem, uncensored version has been said before in both PG (Spaceballs) and PG-13 films. (Warning: Website contains cursing and/or vulgarity. View at your own risk.)

Vulgarity and cursing are not something I am proud of in our society. However, I must ask you, ladies and gentlemen, what constitutes a vulgar statement or a curse according to the server's rules?

Allow me a moment to begin with a disclaimer, of sorts.
WARNING:
The following post may or may not contain language rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America.
I will self-censor, but if this content offends you, consider this to be your first -- and final -- warning.

With that out of the way, I'd like to greet each and every one of you who takes the time to read this post. Together, we are the community of this, the finest World of Warcraft roleplaying server currently available. It's always a pleasure to share this space with you, my friends.

This community we share is built on a bedrock of etiquette, a firm structure of carefully designed rules and regulations that act to insure that the server can be kept running as a pleasant place for everyone who uses it. As a system built and enforced by humans, however, it may occasionally need revision (although that isn't the situation I'm discussing today) or clarification.

It's that second part that I'm here to talk about this evening. I'd like to ask our fantastic staff (and I hold no irony in that statement) for a touch of input on what is appropriate in our chat channels -- a situation I've had difficulty with before, but which is only highlighted by tonight's unfortunate incident.

Allow me to begin by directing our attention, first, to the regulations that have been laid down regarding the chat channels:
http://wiki.conquestofthehorde.com/Chat

It seems quite clear:

Quote:No cursing or vulgarity in any public chat channel. Try to keep everything reasonably PG-13-rated.

The issue that arises comes from the general confusion as to what, precisely, constitutes 'cursing' or 'vulgarity' in a PG-13 setting. None of us, to my knowledge, are a trained censor working for say, the FCC or MPAA. Thus, each of us has a different standard that we apply to this statement.

I always solved the dilemma by asking myself, "Can this be said in a PG-13 movie?" and "Can this be said in church?" If the answers to both questions were yes, I generally assumed I wouldn't have any problems moving forward. Tonight's difficulty made me question this faith, though.

Examples: (Self-censor, potentially PG-13 content, proceed at your own risk)
Both of these are said in children's movies, and both of these are said in church -- and yet, they were declared inappropriate in tonight's discussion.

(Self-censor, potentially PG-13 content, proceed at your own risk)
While not something I would use regardless, this came up as well -- is it inappropriate? I would say it rides closer to the borderline, although the, ahem, uncensored version has been said before in both PG (Spaceballs) and PG-13 films. (Warning: Website contains cursing and/or vulgarity. View at your own risk.)

Vulgarity and cursing are not something I am proud of in our society. However, I must ask you, ladies and gentlemen, what constitutes a vulgar statement or a curse according to the server's rules?

I can only say that apparently people were using 'hell' and 'damn' every few words (from what I heard), and I believe it was the sheer quantity of it that was getting rather grating. I'm sure those GMs involved can provide a greater insight, however.

I can only say that apparently people were using 'hell' and 'damn' every few words (from what I heard), and I believe it was the sheer quantity of it that was getting rather grating. I'm sure those GMs involved can provide a greater insight, however.

The obvious problem I can see is that one man's vulgar is anothers common place. This is a global server and so there's people from the UK, Europe, the US, America etc. etc. Thats a lot of different cultures with varied sets of ideals, norms and taboos. I'd expand my point but its three in the morning and i'm slightly tired and irritable due to...withdrawal so to speak. Needless to say, it's a complex topic, neh?

The obvious problem I can see is that one man's vulgar is anothers common place. This is a global server and so there's people from the UK, Europe, the US, America etc. etc. Thats a lot of different cultures with varied sets of ideals, norms and taboos. I'd expand my point but its three in the morning and i'm slightly tired and irritable due to...withdrawal so to speak. Needless to say, it's a complex topic, neh?

I personally didn't see an overuse of those words. Also, they were not used in any sort of malicious way nor directed at anyone in particular, it was used in casual conversation about going on's in World Of Warcraft if I remember right.

Also, I have seen people use much worse language within RP today that has seemed to be acceptable.

I personally didn't see an overuse of those words. Also, they were not used in any sort of malicious way nor directed at anyone in particular, it was used in casual conversation about going on's in World Of Warcraft if I remember right.

Also, I have seen people use much worse language within RP today that has seemed to be acceptable.

Kretol Wrote:I can only say that apparently people were using 'hell' and 'damn' every few words (from what I heard), and I believe it was the sheer quantity of it that was getting rather grating. I'm sure those GMs involved can provide a greater insight, however.

Oh, please don't misunderstand me -- I am making no excuses for the aforementioned actions this evening. I simply am trying to make sure I don't accidentally fall down the same rabbit hole by mistake, haha!

Kretol Wrote:I can only say that apparently people were using 'hell' and 'damn' every few words (from what I heard), and I believe it was the sheer quantity of it that was getting rather grating. I'm sure those GMs involved can provide a greater insight, however.

Oh, please don't misunderstand me -- I am making no excuses for the aforementioned actions this evening. I simply am trying to make sure I don't accidentally fall down the same rabbit hole by mistake, haha!

I said ass in my last post, acutally.

In chat, I've avoided using anything worse than hell...which is pretty much everything -but- hell.

However, two four letter words would warrent a boot from me, personally. Most other thinks would be a warning.

I said ass in my last post, acutally.

In chat, I've avoided using anything worse than hell...which is pretty much everything -but- hell.

However, two four letter words would warrent a boot from me, personally. Most other thinks would be a warning.

Possibly I might not be the best person to answer such a thread as I am not quite as intrigued with profane language as others might be. I don't mind it and I don't tend to use it often either. I think that every word has its uses and most profane words shouldn't be use because they are directly used to insult people. But when this is not the case but actually affirming one of your statements or giving a sentence more character then surely that shouldn't be a problem.

I don't take profantities seriously because I think they can't be as harmful as most people perceive these words. It's just some silly cultural believe in my opinion.

Just my wallet filled with a rotting fish and two teeth.

Possibly I might not be the best person to answer such a thread as I am not quite as intrigued with profane language as others might be. I don't mind it and I don't tend to use it often either. I think that every word has its uses and most profane words shouldn't be use because they are directly used to insult people. But when this is not the case but actually affirming one of your statements or giving a sentence more character then surely that shouldn't be a problem.

I don't take profantities seriously because I think they can't be as harmful as most people perceive these words. It's just some silly cultural believe in my opinion.

Just my wallet filled with a rotting fish and two teeth.

As I've said, I believe it is all a matter of tact. I think it's safe to say -- although downright frightening -- that the English language has taken a nose-dive within the last century. This can be said especially when what we deem as "foul language" is being used more often than not.

We as a whole, as the CotH community, try to keep this a quality server. Not just in our roleplay, but also our behavior out of character towards others who we play with. I will admit, there have been several instances where I've slung curses around, and personally I can understand if it's a part of your character's speech. But don't do it, IC and/or OOC, just because you think it might make you look cool. When you're talking with someone, or talking in a chat channel, consider this: would you curse when you're around people for the first time? Most likely you wouldn't, as it would leave a bad impression on whoever you were talking to.

That all being said, just remember that there's a time and place for everything. If you're not sure about offending someone with your language or not, just don't do it.