An Ironic Trend in Online Gaming - Political Correctness at its Worst

[BotaBing]

I believe that there is a whole book that could be written about the sociological and psychological nuances of online gaming. The online gaming crowd is multinational, of above-average intelligence, and generally in the age range of 15-40 years old.

I find it odd to think that the trend in online gaming has been to control people, to censor people, to impose rules of conduct on people, all of which are more stringent than the social norms we live with in day to day life (my vantage point is life in America, so I can't speak about day to day life for other nationalities.)

Freedom of Speech - Isn't it amazing that a community of people who are playing a World War II Flight Simulator would be so riddled with members who ask for censorship?

There are constant complaints about foul language, racial slurs, and general main arena atmosphere. You have an ignore. You have a squelch. You should have a foul language filter as well. You also have the option to simply turn off the public channel, turn off the country channel, turn off your area channel. Hell, you can do just about anything you want to to keep yourself from hearing/reading things you don't want to hear/read. But apparently, thats not good enough...there are a ton of people calling for pure censorship plain and simple, and not just censorship, but muting.

What kind of message do you send to someone when you mute them for 10 minutes because they said an english cuss word that happens to be on the list of what HTC thinks is inappropriate? They didn't even publish the list.

I can call you an bellybutton licking sperm guzzling crack potato on the public forum. But if I say OH toejam because i have 3 cons on my 6, I get muted? That's just brilliant.

I think it is amazing that people want entertainment time (flying this game for example) that is more strictly controlled that their day to day lives.

If you go to a restaurant, and there is someone sitting next to you that you don't know..guess what? You may have to hear some things you don't like to hear. That guy may say "These nachos taste like toejam, im sending it back" - your choice is to get up and leave, or ask him to stop. Sorry, you don't get to mute him for 10 minutes.

If you go to an air show, and you go to get your favorite book signed by a WWII fighter ace, you know what...you might hear that guy talk about when he was in the Pacific and the scariest encounter he ever had with a Jap Zero. If you are offended by that, your choice is to walk away, or you could ask this man not to use the word Jap because you find it offensive. Good luck with that one..the guy will probably laugh, or shake his head.

I guess I'm not surprised by this development, but I am wary of the attitude.
In every online game I have played, there has always been a background chatter of the people who want more control, more restrictions, less personal accountability. Its growing with each new game I seem to play.

Do you honestly believe that its better to MUTE people for saying something that HTC thinks is inappropriate, than to simply give everyone the option on whether or not to be able to hear those things? No matter what context? No matter what reason for the language?

do you honestly believe that it is appropriate to ban every word that some group finds offensive?

Brits
Yanks
Japs
Jerry
Canuck
Ruskies

There are so many people nowadays who are offended by things, I would say that its impossible to put the burden on the speaker. It is the listener who should have to take care of themselves..just like in real life.

If you dont like what Im saying,
then don't read my post.

If you dont like my comments in game, then
squelch me, ignore me.

If you dont like my foul language, but you happen to want to hear everything else im saying, then ask for a filter that simply edits out the offensive words.

Tyring to censor speech is just the first step in many more things to come. First, you censor speech, then you start to control conduct.

This is a game. I play this for entertainment, to relax, to get rid of stress after work. In gaming, I like to do things and say things that I cant do or say all day long because of real life societal consequences...gaming is fun for me because I can open up and say what I really wanted to say all day long.

One of the most ironic things about this whole censorship issue is the level of priority and reality that people seem to want in their games.


Most of the people that fly this game are against  a realistic flight environment. If someone on your own team accidentally shoots you, they get damaged and not you?? You hug your ack to try to score a cheap kill, knowing your own ack wont hurt you. What a total joke. These furballs are a constant joke in my mind because noone cares about the consequences of their gaming actions. You shoot at the wrong time, you drop a bomb in the wrong place, nothing happens. Yet the same people who really like that are the same people who want a censored communication channel, where profanity, racial slurs, or whatever else offends people is prohibited.

Amazing sense of priority out there people.

You can hug your ack to score a kill, with no risk to yourself (yeah cuz that is realistic) But don't you dare say Jap (yeah cuz that never happens)

How long before we are grounding people because they HO someone?

How long before the chat filter is filtering out words other than something considered profane, such as nickname, names of countries, concepts, political hot topics, etc?


[This message has been edited by BotaBing (edited 09-26-2000).]

[Westy]

 Not once do you use or talk about "respect" and I think that is the core to your problem.  

  -Westy

[funked]

[BotaBing]

Westy -

 You don't have to say the word respect to be talking about it. My whole post is about respect.

 Respect for other people's right to express themselves, even if they have a personality you find offensive.

 Respect for individual freedom and choice, instead of one rule fits all.

 Respect for the reality that this is just a game, not real life, and that it's simply a bad choice for all of these computer companies to try to put more controls on people in an entertainment setting than they have in real life.

  My problem is not with me, its with the sheeple out there who want to take the easy way out, without considering the larger ramifications of their actions.

Funked -
 
 LOL.  (Even though I find that offensive, I don't think you should be muted for that.)

[This message has been edited by BotaBing (edited 09-26-2000).]

[Cabby]

Botabing:

AFAIK, AH is privately owned.  That means HTC can set whatever rules they like.  If someone doesn't obey the rules or exhibits poor behavior, they get ejected/penalized.  Just like in a sporting event.  They call it "unsportsmanlike conduct".

"Censorship" does not apply in this situation.  Quit whining about your "Rights" and think about the player's "Responsibilities" for a change.  Play by the rules or hit the road.

Cabby  

------------------
=44th FS "VAMPIRES"=
"The Jungle Air Force"
Welcome To The Jungle!!!"

[This message has been edited by cabby (edited 09-26-2000).]

[miko2d]

1. In RL your exposure to the things you do not like is severely limited by your own choice of where you live, work and recreate. There are also some stable standards and indications you can rely on.
 If you see some movie advertized as "romantic comedy" you can be sure it is not a porn-bestiality movie. If a restaurant ad says "quiet family atmosphere" you can be sure it's not a S&M club.
 If you see "dirty teenagers anal sex chat" you will not be surprised by what you see there

 Why then, when I subscribe to "realistic WWII flight sim" with no mention of "Adult Only" should I see crap totally unrelated to the WWII or flight simming?

 2. In a restaurant or on-line game I can leave if someone disturbs me, as per your example. So a proprietor or HTC will lose money because of that.

 3. You can call whoever and whatever you want and talk about anything as long as it is in the "Off-topic" on this forum. That is why it is here! But while on-line I am there to play and ch1 and country chanel are usefull tools for me. I do not want to forgo their use because of some inconsiderate bastards.

 All you guys fighting for your right to say anything on public chanels, do you do the same thing in the real places, like restaurants or public places? Haven't seen you there, al least not for longer then a few seconds it takes a proprietor to kick your sorry bellybutton out.
 But here a few perverted cowards can try to ruin HTC business just because they can.

 It doesn't matter what particuar stuff irritates people. That is not an issue of political correctness but of cortesy. Not everything that is legal to say should be said in a polite company.

miko

[This message has been edited by miko2d (edited 09-26-2000).]

[Udie]

 Fact remains that in the arena's we have no right to free speach, and HTC has the right to refuse business to whoever they like.  That's the LAW and HTC's right. If you go to a resturant and hear somebody using fowl language you can ask them to stop, they don't have to, but you can go complain to the manager.  I've seen people removed from resteraunts, movie theaters and other public places for using fowl language and refusing to stop when asked politely.  There is such a thing called public decency and acceptable public behavior.

 Did you read HT's post yesterday?  It pretty much spelled it out to me.  They have a vision of where they want this game to go, and fowl language on the open chanels is not part of that vision. Dude how thick is your skull for that not to sink in?  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.  HT said he's going to chage it and open up the squad chanels on the next host update.

 It's like Ted Nugent said if you want to dance around in a pool of goat urine be my guest, just don't splash on me. Well to some people look at bad laguage on the open chanels as being splashed on, can't you respect that?  How old are you?

 Another thing,  HT said it's not so much the language their trying to control as it is the attitude/behavior in the arena. Yours is the exact type of attitude that I think they are talking about. They are trying to make the arena an enjoyable experience for EVERYBODY not just the ones who seem to have the need to curse in public.  With the next update you'll be able to talk like a drunken sailor on the squad chanel, shouldn't that be enough?  I know that's where I do all my realy bad cursing, just ask Berserkr   all caps too  

 Last thing,  I have noticed, since HT put the filter on, that alot of the people arguing against the filter are cursing ALOT more than normal. HMMMMMMMM  childish behavior?

[Udie closes the face plate of his fireproof ACME survival armor]

Udie



[This message has been edited by Udie (edited 09-26-2000).]

[Westy]

 Must be me Botabing.  I took your post as nothing to do with respect but all to do with your loss of perceived rights and how you feel your not being allowed to be crass and vulgar is just another form of repression
 

 -Westy

[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 09-26-2000).]

[Udie]

 

Originally posted by Westy:
Must be me Botabing.  I took your post as nothing to do with respect but all to do with your loss of perceived rights and how you feel your not being allowed to be crass and vulgar is just another form of repression
 

 -Westy

[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 09-26-2000).]

wasn't just you Westy, I found his reply to you a joke.  Respect must be a one way road with him or something...

Udie

[Baddawg]

 Can anyone say ittsie tennie weeine ity bitty
 OVERREACTION
 

[Karnak]

[RANT]BotaBing,
Get your bellybutton out of the 19th century.

You think that people are more offended now that they were then?  If so you're a bleeding moron.

What has happened is that a black man will no longer get lynched for objecting to being called a racist slur.  Therefore he CAN object.  People are more enfranchised, therefore they WILL stand up for themselves.

Closet bigots like yourself just don't seem to be able to understand what the word "respect" means.  Basic respect is holding back what you think inside.  You may thing of a Japanese person as a racial slur (and what you typed IS a racial slur) but because you show respect, you say Japanese.  Even if it isn't what you think.

Deeper respect is not even thinking of other humans in those terms.[/RANT]

Sisu
-Karnak

[Pyro]

There's also another option you didn't mention if we don't like what you say.  That is for us to deny service.  You don't need to use profanity to make that happen.  

We did a similar thing in WB about 4 years ago as a wake-up call to people.  Was it a trend then too?  Your arguments, and those that agree or dissent with your views are voicing nothing new, it's the same exact things that were said when this happened in WB.  You don't like how we handled this and people then didn't either.  Well that's exactly the point.  People can either control themselves within reason or force us to babysit them or kick them out.  

The real shame here is that a small number of people created a problem that we had to  waste time on.  They have stolen development time away from us and our customers.  We have few people and short development cycles, so it really irritates me to waste time on a few at the expense of many.  

It is your core attitude on this issue that is the real problem that we're trying to fix, not whether someone says "shit".  This is a social game, it's up to you to fit into it, not for everyone else to fit into you.  



------------------
Doug "Pyro" Balmos
HiTech Creations

[Udie]

 

Originally posted by Baddawg:

 Can anyone say ittsie tennie weeine ity bitty
 OVERREACTION
 

 If you are referring to your reaction of the filter then yes I can.

Udie

[Baddawg]

My reaction of the filter?
My reply was to Bota Bings rant

[This message has been edited by Baddawg (edited 09-26-2000).]

[Toad]

 

Originally posted by Pyro:
The real shame here is that a small number of people created a problem that we had to  waste time on...This is a social game, it's up to you to fit into it, not for everyone else to fit into you.

DING!

Another WINNER! Give the man a bottle of MacAllan!

Thanks for trying to clear it up again, Pyro. I hope it finally gets through.

It's a damn shame the FW-190-D9 got delayed another 6 months while you guys were working on the filter. <G,D,R>