NB, almost every word in the English language will have some sort of a twist in meaning if you go back a few hundred years. If a player calls someone "gay" you (didn't you use to mod AW?) know dang good and well they aren't saying that they believe that he's a generally happy person... despite the fact that that's actually the primary meaning of the word.
Any more than you or anyone else really believes that when people make the kinds of comments that started this thread, they mean it in any way but the contemporary meaning. My main reason for jumping in when folks started to go there is that in my opinion pretending that folks mean otherwise than you know they do when they say it is that doing so is demeaning to those who find the word offensive - it's dismissive and belittling.
And you are right - while no one who's responded has directly said "go fly a different sim" , those that responded to the analogy of the "biker's in the park" with "if you don't like it, don't go there" are essentially saying exactly that.
To be fair, most folks in this thread have responded as you'd expect from group that's by and large adults from all walks of life, many of whom are parents if not grandparents themselves - it's only a vocal few whose responses I'd object to.
The problem it's often the vocal few that create the perception that players will take away with them when they quit the game over something they feel uncomfortable about.
<S>
First, the easy part. Yes, I was the "head" monitor on AOHell from the start and almost to the finish and at one point, the only monitor on Gamestorm.
Of course the meaning of words can (and does) change over time. Take the word in question, for example. The root word of "rape" is "rapine". It comes from the Latin, "rapina"....to take by force. The word, in and of itself, has no offensive meaning. In every context, it means to take by force. To focus on the most negative context, IMHO, is a mistake too often made in our PC world. In other words, to assume the context is sexual is.....well, making an assumption. AOHell was big on "assumptive monitoring". I was not (I know my "style" caused poor Moggy no end of head aches). It was always my contention that attempting to "action" every potential problem in the game was a mistake. Unlike the normal AOHell chat rooms, we had 6 or 8 chat rooms with 200+ in each. Yes...it was not an adventure...it was a freakin' job!!
What I am trying to say is that given the right "phrase-ology", anyone can take any innocuous phrase and give it any spin they want. Yeah, before I was a monitor, I was a pain in da butt guy figuring out ways to type insulting nonsense. There were plenty of folks that could do it in those days. It's a shame that more folks don't try to practice the lost art of nonsense insults or even better....creative insulting!!! Now losers just toss out an "FU" or some such and it degenerates from there.
Geez, there are things in this game right now that came from that era in Air Warrior. Things that are an integral part of the game...and they began as an insult aimed at one group of people (and it would drive the PC weenies nuts if they understood
).
I've seen folks complain about the lack of giving back to the community because "oldtimers" don't "set the example" for the newer members of the community. Well, insulting is one area where this community is sorely lacking. The last creative insult master I remember is Shane/Ooopsy. Now he knew how to insult
AND entertain. In the end, if we really need something, it's for everyone that opens their virtual mouth on 200 to have access to a dictionary and a thesaurus.
...and the "biker/park" analogy was not saying "if you don't like it, don't go there", it was saying if you know there is a potential danger to your children...deal with it appropriately. My experiences have deprived my child of the online gaming experience (I knew there were bikers in the park). He is 16 now and a well balanced young man....I willing let him make his own choice. But, not when he was 8.
