Let the players review the profanity filter
By
Basilisk,
Posted on: 2009-06-15 05:45 in Suggestions and Ideas
Because the players would never agree?
Who would you trust to go over the filter?
That said, I *do* agree it needs going over - and problems like you mentioned above (I think I hit the 'nip it in the bud' myself, among others - and I'm pretty sure that's on the list for reasons that Badstorm would understand 
) need reviewing. The MA and the character name list should, frankly, be separate as well, if they're affecting each other.
/petition (or /bug, perhaps) is our only recourse right now.
The best solution of all would be to simply remove it and let the players be the judge of "profanity" via the report button. Unlike the trolls who enjoy making a level one to get attention in Atlas Park and then delete it, there's a real penalty in the MA for being reported - loss of a story arc slot.
If a word like "nip" is banned because it MIGHT refer to anatomy as a kind of slang or when it's wild-carded in a regex then we're all pretty much hosed anyway. Give us the entire English language to work with and let us decide if a word is "bad" or not.
Mind you, that's my pipe dream, not my expectation. I do think that a weekly review of the proposed thread by a community red name could pop up a bit of consensus from whatever chaos might ensue if several hundred people all posted their own individual exception lists.
[ QUOTE ]
If a word like "nip" is banned because it MIGHT refer to anatomy as a kind of slang or when it's wild-carded in a regex then we're all pretty much hosed anyway. Give us the entire English language to work with and let us decide if a word is "bad" or not.
[/ QUOTE ]
I doubt that's why. It's WW2 slang so I understand that it's not the most common phrase anymore but "Nip" is a derogatory word for a Japanese person. It is comes from "Nippon", an Anglicization of the Japanese name for Japan. It used to be a fairly common racial slur.
I agree that there are words in the filter list that shouldn't be though. I'd be happier with multiple filter lists, one for names, one for Mission Architect titles, and one for the general chat. Each one could be more specific about what they filter instead of the generic "it's all bad" we have now.
"Mastermind Pets operate...differently, and aren't as easily fixed. Especially the Bruiser. I want to take him out behind the woodshed and pull an "old yeller" on him at times." - Castle
[ QUOTE ]
Publish the list on the forum or as a download on the FTP site.
[/ QUOTE ]
Bwahaha, bang goes the Teen rating.
Always remember, we were Heroes.
I, and most of the people I know, just turn the filter off.
�Let there be truth, happiness, and waffles�
-Vagabond, Dark Lord & Avatar of Gnarr
The Justiciars
It might be of some use to review the contents of the current word filter.
Not exactly sure the best way to manage that or who'd you choose to spend the time to reoganize it.
Bottomline a simple -word- filter is never going to be the answer here because what's truly important is the context words are used in. There are remarkably few words that are "bad" 100% of the time regardless of usage. Most of the time words are only considered offensive or profane depending on how they are used. Until someone can develop a reasonable "context filter" this problem will never really be solved.
Like others have said I keep the chat word filter off and just let my brain sort out the context.
It's the best we can do at the moment. 
Loth 50 Fire/Rad Controller [1392 Badges] [300 non-AE Souvenirs]
Ryver 50 Ele� Blaster [1392 Badges]
Silandra 50 Peacebringer [1138 Badges] [No Redside Badges]
--{=====> Virtue ♀
[ QUOTE ]
I, and most of the people I know, just turn the filter off.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's fine for chat and such, but when you're making an MA arc you've got no choice but to follow the guidelines. This means you can't, for example, talk about a "snatch and grab" operation. Honestly, it would be nice if arcs with potentially offensive language like that would simply be flagged as "potentially containing offensive content", then have an option to allow or disallow these in the searches.
It's irritating to be prevented from telling the stories I want the way I want to tell them, just because a homograph of the word might have at one point been offensive. Honestly, I probably never would have known "nip" was a slur against the Japanese had it not been brought up here. I've similarly learned of "spook" for a person of african descent through the word filter. Seriously, this thing seems to be serving a counter-purpose anyway.
My story arcs: #2370- Noah Reborn, #18672- The Clockwork War, #31490- Easy Money
Sartre once said, "Hell is other people." What does that make an MMO?
I just want to know when "poop" was determined to be profanity...
@Johnstone & @Johnstone 2
ediblePoly.com
All my characters
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Publish the list on the forum or as a download on the FTP site.
[/ QUOTE ]
Bwahaha, bang goes the Teen rating.
[/ QUOTE ]The "bad word list" is um... accessible. And theoretically changeable on your local machine in the same manner as Vidiotmaps, etc., but I've never tried, since I just turn it off. The list of names/phrases banned for use making characters/MArcs isn't available, to my knowledge.
If you really want to know what the bad word list contains, send me a PM and I can direct you to a copy hosted on one of my webpages, or search Google for "cebsnar.txt". I don't think the mods would appreciate me linking directly to it in the thread, though.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
I'm sure it is, it just amused me think of the potential post:
"Positron: OK forum peeps, just let us know which of the following you find offensive:
1. Nip
2. Fu
3. [censored] [censored]ing donkey [censored]
4. Blighter
5. ...
etc
Always remember, we were Heroes.
That's a fun read, Fleeting. My favorites, edited for context (some are a more obvious than others):
The alphabet was attacked by a swarm of Bs.
Biteme - I believe I read quite a while ago where this was used as the name of a mosquito type bug.
Aladdin is a carpetpilot when he flies through the air.
I went to the salon to get an exfoliating facial.
It's a wee bit nippy outside, maybe I should take a nip of whisky to warm up.
I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit, upon a slitted sheet I sit.
I need a phillips head for this screw.
Would you like some cheese and crackers with that wine?
although, I think the MA filter is more inclusive. I didn't see "naked" in that list which is a problem word in the MA.
Just because a normal word can be dirty in the right context, doesn't mean that it should be banned completely.
[ QUOTE ]
although, I think the MA filter is more inclusive. I didn't see "naked" in that list which is a problem word in the MA.
[/ QUOTE ]Yes, as I said, cebsnar is just the words that get censored in the chat, not words censored from character names or the MA.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If a word like "nip" is banned because it MIGHT refer to anatomy as a kind of slang or when it's wild-carded in a regex then we're all pretty much hosed anyway. Give us the entire English language to work with and let us decide if a word is "bad" or not.
[/ QUOTE ]
I doubt that's why. It's WW2 slang so I understand that it's not the most common phrase anymore but "Nip" is a derogatory word for a Japanese person. It is comes from "Nippon", an Anglicization of the Japanese name for Japan. It used to be a fairly common racial slur.
[/ QUOTE ]
Can we use 'bosch' and 'hun'?
Eco.
MArcs:
The Echo, Arc ID 1688 (5mish, easy, drama)
The Audition, Arc ID 221240 (6 mish, complex mech, comedy)
Storming Citadel, Arc ID 379488 (lowbie, 1mish, 10-min timed)
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
[The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."
|
[ QUOTE ]
Can we use 'bosch' and 'hun'?
[/ QUOTE ]
Go nuts? The Huns were an actual people, it was the comparison that was intended to be unflattering. There isn't anything offensive in talking about the Huns, I think. Compare that to "Nip" where nobody has called themselves that AFAIK.
You've stumped me on Bosch though. I knew there was a painter with that as a last name and Google returns hits about an appliance manufacturer?
Incidentally, I'm not defending having the word "nip" in the censored list. It's just that of all the ways to use the word that's the only reason for it to be censored that I can think of. I don't think it's even been in use since the 60's at the latest.
I agree that someone needs to go and weed through both the chat filter and the Mission Architect filter. Wasn't the chat filter just lifted from another NCSoft game and then added to every so often? It's probably full of random words that most people don't even know could be used offensively. I'd guess it's a case of "better safe than sorry" because people are just stupid and easily offended. *shrug* Beats me what the best way to decide a list of bad words is.
"Mastermind Pets operate...differently, and aren't as easily fixed. Especially the Bruiser. I want to take him out behind the woodshed and pull an "old yeller" on him at times." - Castle
There's a fair amount of silliness in the profanity filter of the mission architect.
When you find yourself saying "snip it in the bud" because "nip" is apparently a "bad word" (because "nip" can refer to a small sip of alcoholic beverage? Maybe "sip" should be banned also?) things are just a bit too constrained.
When nobody can title their arc "The (Insert Name Here) Gambit" because Marvel Comics took a common word and named one of their characters after it, there's a problem.
The devs have their plates full for the forseeable future. My suggestion is that you let the players take a crack at the list instead. Publish the list on the forum or as a download on the FTP site. Start a forum thread in which players can nominate words to be removed from the filter. The community managers can then review that thread periodically and send a summary of the feedback to whatever red names are in charge of that sort of thing.
In other words, since this is a player quality of life issue and the devs don't have the time, why not leverage the players to do the brunt of the work?