Before the whinging and moaning gets started, this needs to be addressed. A couple of top players got disabled today because of their inability to communicate in the game without the use of profanity and obscenities. So here's a refresher course for those who may have forgotten the rules about foul language in the game (forum posts, in-game messages, etc.)

Rules in Brief

No multiple Accounts / Farms / Banks

No Account Sharing (including account minding)

No Scanners / Bots or other external aids.

No account hacking / cracking or similar

No foul language / Sexist or Racist Behavior / or other harassment of players

No abusing bugs / code or script exploits /


Appropriate language

No use of obscenity, vulgarity, racial or ethnic remarks, or sexually oriented language is permitted. Please remember that people of all ages, genders, and origins play this game. This rule applies to messages, forum posts, planet names, solar system names, headers and logos, and any other public or private communication related to the game. The Administration is the sole judge of what constitutes unacceptable language.


Penalties
Anyone found to be violating any of the Game Rules will have their account deleted without mercy.
(Please note... there is nothing in the Game Rules about "warnings" or "fines" or anything else. Warnings and fines are nothing more than a courtesy for minor violations. If we go "by the book" every instance of foul language would result in instant account loss... but that rarely happens.)



Code of Behavior
Game philosophy
The Administration of this game believes that everyone is entitled to enjoy a pleasant and civil gaming environment, free of cheating, obscenity, or other forms of nastiness. We ask that everyone remember there are people of all ages and origins playing, and that you do or say nothing that would be offensive to them.

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OK, that being said, everyone needs to remember that when you sign up for an account, you agree to abide by the rules. The rules are clearly posted all over the game - in both GA and MR. And folks who have been playing for a while have NO excuse for letting their mouths run off with their brains. If you can't communicate without peppering your speech with assorted "F-bombs," sexually-explicit language and obscene insults, then perhaps you shouldn't post in the forums or message anyone in-game at all. You are not allowed to talk in the game like you talk on AIM or in person - and if you find yourself unable to communicate without profane/obscene embellishment, then be prepared to lose your account and see your round ended early.

Your language is YOUR decision. If you choose to violate the game's language rules, then YOU are also choosing to have your account disabled. It's really quite simple. The Galactic Court (or Mages Council) cannot disable your account if you do not violate the rules.

So don't bother whinging and moaning to me when your planet/realm shows up red. If you want to blame someone for having your round ruined, go look in the mirror. And, next time, watch your filthy mouth when you're in the game.

/end discussion

Seriously? Lmao. The game kind of CENSORS PROFANITY ALREADY - sure, disable people for using sexually explicit, racial, etc stuff, but disabling people for using something that gets filtered out anyway is just you on a power trip. :-)

For the record, I have not played GA seriously for over 2 years, and have NEVER been disabled. I am just disagreeing with your motives based on your own admission of disabling people for use of foul language.

Also, use more common sense when assessing messages and posts; http://onlineworlds.org/forum/index.php?s=...ost&p=18491

:-)

To be fair, as far as I can tell the majority of the player base are now mindless 13 year olds that can't comprehende such profanities. They just heard it from a random group of chavs on the street and thought they'd be cool by showing other idiots what hip language they've picked up.

I personally think if you're having filters, how the hell can you disable someone? I can appreciate you admins are probably bored, with having to admin all of 50 people, but it seems pointless. Phrases such as "You -censored- -censored-" already lose the majority of their meaning, and if it does offend someone then they probably should unplug the pc.

I'm not going to get into the whole "kids know swearwords anyway" discussion, but with a player base decaying this rapidly it's just another shove away from the game.

EA -

Your response would have a lot of merit if it were correct. However, unfortunately, it's not.

Yes, the game DOES asterisk-out certain words, creating an automatic filter. But it doesn't asterisk-out words that have been purposefully typed to deliberately bypass the filter. And there are a lot of words that aren't filtered at all, because context matters more than the word itself.

When a player uses symbols and/or alternate spellings to bypass the filter, they are deliberately breaking the language rules of the game. They know ahead of time that what they're typing isn't allowed in the game, but they type it anyway.

As I said in the first post - players RARELY get disabled for breaking the rules once... or even twice or three times. Most players get a warning, reminding them of the rules about language and warning them of the consequences if they keep using foul language. A reasonable person would adjust their behavior accordingly. Most of the time, they do. Sometimes it takes a couple of fines, but most players don't want to get disabled so they stop breaking the rules.

The players that get disabled have done one of two things - either they have repeatedly and deliberately used profanity on numerous occasions... or they post/message something so totally extreme, so offensive, so beyond what's acceptable, that being immediately disabled is the only appropriate action (which has only happened a few times in the years I've been handling the GC and MC).

Just a few weeks ago, one of the alliances had a topic in their forum that was filled with extremely obscene sexual discussion. I'm not talking about mild stuff - I'm talking about filth you'd see in hard-core porn sites. NONE of it was asterisked-out by the filter because of the way in which the posts had been written. It was all caught by the auto-censor and reported, but none of it was filtered in the forum. About 5-7 players were involved in the topic - and NONE of them were disabled because none of them had broken the rules so far in the round and the participation was so widespread. By all rights, every single one of them should have been disabled immediately, no? But they weren't.

You question my "motives" in your response... but I have no motives except to ensure that the rules of the game are learned and respected. It's much more productive to warn or fine someone when they break the rules, and TEACH them the rules, rather than disabling them immediately for a first offense. Like I said - I rarely ever disabled anyone without plenty of prior warnings.

One of the players who was disabled today actually went online after he had been fined twice and posted two more profane messages in the forums, in one of which he actually told me to disable him. Well, wish granted. If he was that stupid, he deserved to lose his account after the 5th violation and daring me to take action. The other player who was disabled was also warned 5 separate times and still continued to use profanity.

The rules are the rules. Respect them and follow them - you have no problems. Thumb your nose at them or deliberately break them - you pay the penalty for your actions.

Welcome to life.

Sure, but don't go disabling/fining people for using censored words only, and not trying to circumvent the system. It's a sad day when a man can't even insult himself without getting penalized/disabled. :-)

So is this the one responsible for fining me last round and not stepping up to the plate when I asked whom it was?!?!?!? Grow a pair!!!!

Yes - and you should show more respect.

There's no reason why you need to know who the language mod is anyway - the fine is applicable to everyone and you're not special to have differential treatment or knowledge of who. Just be concerned with why.

Ok, 1 I was just kidding. 2 I wasn't talking to you so let his nuts go. An 3, don't troll my posts

i got disabled for a picture i didnt put up

What are you, Nadz.... FOX News or something? Only telling part of the story?

From what I understand, you were BRIEFLY disabled because you had the SL position and there was an extremely obscene picture posted as your system's banner. But Chick re-enabled you rather quickly once everything was straightened out. Isn't that the truth???

Why only tell part of what happened? I'm disappointed in you - trying to make out like you were treated unfairly by the GM. That's pretty low, Nadz.

lol!

i said what happend i got disabled for a picture i didnt put up, that is what happend right?

i posted that like at 5am my time and i was too tyred to right an essay and defend the GM..i dont blame chick for what she done so im not making out i was treated unfairly, im just stating what happend..if that makes you disappointed with me then lol i dont know but hmmmmmmmm

hehe

"When a player uses symbols and/or alternate spellings to bypass the filter, they are deliberately breaking the language rules of the game. They know ahead of time that what they're typing isn't allowed in the game, but they type it anyway."

agreed. fining/disabling people for a post that is already censored (man that word burns me even just to type it) is silly. anyone that knows what you mean without reading it is already *corrupted* so why bother punishing people

the logic is kinda silly. if they dont know what is being censored then what does it matter

if they already do, then why censor it and then fine people?

(i have a foul mouth, so i am probably biased)

right...

1. It's always easy to say that after you post - I don't believe you for a second
2. I don't care if you weren't talking to me, don't be so arrogant - this thread isn't at all about you. ('she' not 'he' genius...)
3. I'm a mod here - I'll comment on any stupid posts/people that need to be.

Moron.

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At the end of the day, Twylah has a right to underline what rules are in place to keep things under control. They aren't hard rules to follow, it should be second nature and doesn't effect the essence of GA but preserve it. I follow them, it's child's play for everyone else to. GA would rather have fun, polite players and lose those otherwise. No skin off our back.

This thread should be a statement and reminder, not discussion - as it has been agreed. And so it should be.

The language rules also apply to the public forums. Exessive usage of foul language in the public forums will result in a week long suspension of posting privilages.

Thank you.