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Valg · 08-15-2005, 02:52 PM

As far as profanity, we use the following rules:

1) Language which denigrates people of a particular real-life race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. is unacceptable.

2) Excessive use of profane language... is also unacceptable, particularly when directed at specific individuals.

3) Sexual harrassment will not be tolerated. If both parties do not consent to the speech/socials/emotes, then don't do them.

#1 usually falls under general roleplaying rules anyway, since if someone is going off about a particular race/religion/etc. they're obviously not referring to anything in the game. However, some people decide to use such language on the newbie help line or whatever, and I'm perfectly happy to show one bigot the door and keep two other players.

#2 is essentially a courtesy to players, and based on judgement calls on the part of the staff member attending to the matter. The key word there is "excessive", and the only times I've seen it invoked is when someone had too widdle sweep the night before and can't control a tantrum. (Even then, staff involvement usually comes down to "Knock it off.") We have plenty of characters who swear on occasion, but we don't see that as more offensive than our prodigious violence. It strikes me as silly to worry about the word "****" when most games of this genre depict brutal scenes of murder.

#3 has very rarely been invoked in my experience, with the exception of a couple creepy stalker types. We don't outlaw sexual content (see above comparison to brutal murder), but we don't want players given the heebie-jeebies by someone who doesn't know when to quit. This hasn't interfered with various lustful or romantically-inclined characters, but does deter the character who keeps approaches half the MUD with some IC euphamism for "wanna cyber??".

My experience is that if you have a reasonably responsible set of rules like this, you can establish a culture where communication doesn't sound like a mix of a construction site, Fenway Park's bleachers, and a cab driver in traffic. Once you have that, most people will fall in line with it, especially if staff occasionally prods them. Hard-coded profanity filters strike me as overkill compared to this alternative.

08-15-2005, 02:52 PM	#6
Valg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Carrion Fields Posts: 643	As far as profanity, we use the following rules: 1) Language which denigrates people of a particular real-life race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. is unacceptable. 2) Excessive use of profane language... is also unacceptable, particularly when directed at specific individuals. 3) Sexual harrassment will not be tolerated. If both parties do not consent to the speech/socials/emotes, then don't do them. #1 usually falls under general roleplaying rules anyway, since if someone is going off about a particular race/religion/etc. they're obviously not referring to anything in the game. However, some people decide to use such language on the newbie help line or whatever, and I'm perfectly happy to show one bigot the door and keep two other players. #2 is essentially a courtesy to players, and based on judgement calls on the part of the staff member attending to the matter. The key word there is "excessive", and the only times I've seen it invoked is when someone had too widdle sweep the night before and can't control a tantrum. (Even then, staff involvement usually comes down to "Knock it off.") We have plenty of characters who swear on occasion, but we don't see that as more offensive than our prodigious violence. It strikes me as silly to worry about the word "****" when most games of this genre depict brutal scenes of murder. #3 has very rarely been invoked in my experience, with the exception of a couple creepy stalker types. We don't outlaw sexual content (see above comparison to brutal murder), but we don't want players given the heebie-jeebies by someone who doesn't know when to quit. This hasn't interfered with various lustful or romantically-inclined characters, but does deter the character who keeps approaches half the MUD with some IC euphamism for "wanna cyber??". My experience is that if you have a reasonably responsible set of rules like this, you can establish a culture where communication doesn't sound like a mix of a construction site, Fenway Park's bleachers, and a cab driver in traffic. Once you have that, most people will fall in line with it, especially if staff occasionally prods them. Hard-coded profanity filters strike me as overkill compared to this alternative.