Blizzard is making me change my name.

[SwervinCL]

This is not a QQ thread at all. I actually find it funny.

The name of my Undead Mage is Bonor. Now, when I created this toon I was not thinking anything perverted. That was actually my nick name growing up and still is from some people (Because it is similar to my last name). Plus I am undead. They are just that. Walking Bones with a touch of decomposed flesh.

Anyways. I am just frustrated because I have to think of a new name. 70 levels of a name. It kind of sticks, ya know. Like, I look at him and cant see him as anything else. Its been his name for 70 levels.

BTW there are 15 other Bonors that come up on the armory.

I just think it is funny that it actually offended someone. Most people I come across think its funny, without actually knowing the reason of meaning behind it. Even when people ask me why that name. I tell them that it was my old nickname.

Anyways. My mage is now nameless and I am beating myself up over a new name. He is my main, so I don't just wanna half-ass some random everyone has name. So he will be nameless until I can think of something that is worthy to call him. Frmnlykwnasbonor? :laugh:

Edit: I know, I know. Blizzards game, they make the rules. But like I said. I am not mad. Just frustrated that I have to find a new name.

[Dakiter]

Me and two of my friends just made a server change. I was lucky that I only had to change on name and it was my girlfriends character.

But one friend got nailed. Her main, her first ever character had to change her name. It sucked, she was actually crying a little in vent.

[odinsnephew]

That's ridiculous. I would pronounce Bonor as Bon-or which is different than the other name it may possibly allude too. Which IMO is almost rather appropriate for the Undead ;)

I was going to suggest reversing the name, but Ronob would probably get you in more trouble :grin:

[Etrin]

Is this something someone reports as offensive to them and then a GM or someone says ok its offensive.

Since they give no guidelines can I just go in and start reporting everyone as offensive?

If on chr creation it has said...NO then that is one thing but this is just Ridiculous.

Just like so much of bliz stupidity this is just another example.

Then you fun into the other thing...you are an undead and show bones, what about a human or troll with this name is it seen differently?

BTW there are 15 other Bonors that come up on the armory. if they have all not received a notification then you can sue them for harassment/discrimination .
Seems that only law suits change bliz in any way.

[det]

Just like so much of bliz stupidity this is just another example.


BTW there are 15 other Bonors that come up on the armory.

It is more a sign of one GM's behavior than a sign of Blizzard's stupidity if 15 names exist. GMs seem to have some leeway in deciding how to "rule" on a server.

I had to change my name from Nerzul to Nerghul...you will still find 87 Nerzul's in Europe alone...apparently just on a RP server this name was unacceptable. And I don't even want to start on all the Legolas variants.

A friend of mine was called Kawalaris which apparently means "always horny" in greek and was reported...you pretty much can just go /shrug and continue.

Another guy (troll rogue) had to fight 2 weeks with GMs in whispers for his name "Shadowmeld" which I find is a pretty rogue-ish name, but somebody reported him for using a NE racial as name.

If it helps (which I am sure it doesn't) Bonor is not the least offensive to me, even though I know why you were asked to change it...

Bono is no alternative? Maybe not, if you hate U2 :laugh:

[Tunga]

Call it Bigbonor :tongue: !

[SwervinCL]

If it helps (which I am sure it doesn't) Bonor is not the least offensive to me, even though I know why you were asked to change it...

Bono is no alternative? Maybe not, if you hate U2 :laugh:

Oh, yeah. I totally get it why I was asked to change it. I made this toon damn near a year ago. Like I said. I was not mad. Its blizzards game, they make the rules. But yeah. Many people in my guild pronounce it like Bon-or like bon bon with an "or" on the end. It had/has nothing to do with the male body part. I have always had that doubt in the back of my mind that someone someday would report it. But I was also not going to pay the 10 bucks to change it either.

Part of me wants to page a GM in game and talk to him about it, but then the other half of me just thinks that I should abide and change it. Maybe morningwood would be less offensive? I don't know.

I had a guildie tell me I should rename him Bohnor or maybe Bahnor But its just not the same. Plus it would probably get me into more trouble. You know, you have a toon for about a year with a name. It makes it kind of hard to change.

Over the weekend, I saw a toon named Hezzbollah. Which to me, seems far more offensive. But what do I know.

[tigermeat]

Yeah thats silly, its not an offensive name. Cant believe your friend was crying though. I dont know if thats funny or down right sad. Haha, did you guys spam her with "QQ more?". No just kidding, Im really not that mean, but can you imagine?

[joejanko]

Have you considered just adding an "n": Bonnor? It would be pronounced normally with a short o.

[SwervinCL]

Have you considered just adding an "n": Bonnor? It would be pronounced normally with a short o.

Yeah, but wouldn't working around the naming policy get me into more trouble?

[det]

Yeah, but wouldn't working around the naming policy get me into more trouble?

I actually talked to the GM who asked me to change my name and said if Nerzul isn't good how about Nerghul...and he was fine with that. Just 2 letters.

[winterfever]

i think name changes are actually not as bad as they seem. something new to look at, and another chance to get super creative.

you can try something like..


mobydick lol

i see a lot more offensive names on my realm and i constantly see them without change.

i've always wanted the name Crayons. just because o.o



but i think like i said, if you look at it as a new opportunity to get a bit creative, you'll be pretty happy with it.

[SwervinCL]

but i think like i said, if you look at it as a new opportunity to get a bit creative, you'll be pretty happy with it.

I think as of now, this is the only way to look at it. You know what I mean though, after seeing a name for 70 levels, you kind of associate that name with that toon.

I was not even given the oppurtunity to respond to that GM. He sent me a tell. I went and checked my email to see what I did wrong. I tabbed back into the game and I was logged out.

I am going to have a talk to a GM tonight. Probably not a whole lot I can do, but its worth a shot.

[Valas Azuviir]

How about Bonofarius bit of a play on Bonifacius, the latter being a Roman General, and also the name of a Saint.

It'll still let your guildies call you Bonor, it also has hidden in it the reference to a boney face. And it sounds haughty enough for a Mage as well. *grins*

You'd still want to run it by that GM, just in case. But it should cover all the angles.

[SwervinCL]

How about Bonofarius bit of a play on Bonifacius, the latter being a Roman General, and also the name of a Saint.

It'll still let your guildies call you Bonor, it also has hidden in it the reference to a boney face. And it sounds haughty enough for a Mage as well. *grins*

You'd still want to run it by that GM, just in case. But it should cover all the angles.

Thats actually a pretty good name.. I am going to run it by the GM. No other people have it, which is a plus.

I went on a run to Mags this weekend and we teamed up with this other guild to do it. Well, we are pretty "open" on our vent and we were on our vent. Well this one member of their guild would say something every time someone would say something bad. So I am almost positive it came from that other guild.

[Mollymog]

Yeah, but wouldn't working around the naming policy get me into more trouble?

I'd bet that one would go through OK - I don't think most people would think there was anything a bit you know....... about it at all. I see lots of really offensive names as I play and I always wonder how they got through. And then something like yours comes up and they ban it! To me, yours seens perfectly OK. I'd never have jumped to the conclusion that Blizzard seems to have leapt to.

[winterfever]

Thats actually a pretty good name.. I am going to run it by the GM. No other people have it, which is a plus.

I went on a run to Mags this weekend and we teamed up with this other guild to do it. Well, we are pretty "open" on our vent and we were on our vent. Well this one member of their guild would say something every time someone would say something bad. So I am almost positive it came from that other guild.

... :ponder:

just a question, i haven't been in a lot of guilds..

do a lot of guilds look down upon saying bad things? i mean..yeah i understand when there is a minor in the group...but i don't find the usual "bad word" here and there bad or immature. yes, dropping the bag full of 'f' words in vent/chat is very annoying, immature, and not friendly. but when people are saying things and they kick down a little slang to create emphasis or rotten humor, i find it funny and A-ok. and no, im not immature for thinking that...i don't think

but who knows..i'm a college student. and a lot of people in WoW are older than me and worry about their kids playing a game.

..when actually the hallways of their kid's schools are littered with far worse things than barrens or trade chat.

/end rant and hijacking of thread.

[Mazhulsage]

IMO, Blizzard should only get you for this crap if it's literally intentionally trying to break the rules. If it were "bonerr" or something similar, sure.

[SwervinCL]

... :ponder:

just a question, i haven't been in a lot of guilds..

do a lot of guilds look down upon saying bad things? i mean..yeah i understand when there is a minor in the group...but i don't find the usual "bad word" here and there bad or immature. yes, dropping the bag full of 'f' words in vent/chat is very annoying, immature, and not friendly. but when people are saying things and they kick down a little slang to create emphasis or rotten humor, i find it funny and A-ok. and no, im not immature for thinking that...i don't think

but who knows..i'm a college student. and a lot of people in WoW are older than me and worry about their kids playing a game.

..when actually the hallways of their kid's schools are littered with far worse things than barrens or trade chat.

/end rant and hijacking of thread.

It really depends on the guild. There is 1 religious guild on our server (that I know of). So yeah. You would not want to join their guild if you did not view the same beliefs. You would not to want to go dropping the f bomb in there. But yeah. It all depends on the guild.

I am typically not the type of person to have a truckers mouth. I am not one to do things that I know will get me into trouble. i would just rather not even bother.

I guess it just kind of makes me mad that one childish person could go running to blizzard and blizzard just bans the name and wont even talk to me about it.

[teacake]

I think your name ban is really stretching it.. is there no way to discuss it with the GM as some in this thread have? Still you sound positive about it and you can look at it as a free name change, lol. I hope you let us know what you decide.

I reported someone once named Doochebag. They appeared a few days later with the same name only a line through one of the 'o's. I reported that, lol. Looking in the armory there were quite a few with that name at the time, some high lvls. If a name really crosses the line why don't they just go through the armory and make them all change it?

[elsegundo]

oh how i wish i can change my name for free...


thank god for hair changes in wotlk. at least people wont recognize me on first glance. lol whatever.

[SwervinCL]

Well, I spoke to a GM tonight. He informed me that names don't even get looked at until someone reports you. He said that they typically let the server govern itself.

He also said that they don't just change the name unless that GM actually deems it offensive as well.

He told me that I would have to change my name, then respond to the email that I was sent to try and get it reversed.

So that's my update.

I found that they don't change names until they are reported because I asked him about these two other names, one of a guild and one of a toon. They are FAR MORE worse offensive. Which are (and mods, if these are bad, please feel free to delete them) but they are "Consecration Camp" for the guild and "Hezzbolah" for the toon. I find them FAR more offensive than my name anyday.

Anywho.. Thanks for listening guys!

[winterfever]

I think your name ban is really stretching it.. is there no way to discuss it with the GM as some in this thread have? Still you sound positive about it and you can look at it as a free name change, lol. I hope you let us know what you decide.

I reported someone once named Doochebag. They appeared a few days later with the same name only a line through one of the 'o's. I reported that, lol. Looking in the armory there were quite a few with that name at the time, some high lvls. If a name really crosses the line why don't they just go through the armory and make them all change it?

Not to be a flamer all over your post, but that's pretty lame that you reported that. WoW is a T rated game, which leads me to think that a PG or a PG-13 rated movie/show is right there on the same side of the scale. I've heard shows say douche bag and things far worse than that.

Actually, I take back about me thinking that you made a lame decision. That GM made a lame decision. He should have known better. You can't satisfy everyone and their claims on what is offensive. Bad judgement on the GM's part I say.

[teacake]

And so it goes..

Well I like my game pretty. Violent, but pretty. I don't need to see people in trade and running around Azeroth with names that are vulgar insults. Believe me on my server if they didn't have some standard every other lvl 5 in Goldshire would be named something connected to faeces or a sex act.

You'd have Doochebag, Analfart, Analpus, Analvomit.. trade is constanly spammed with Anal jokes (which I don't report, though I know some report every one of them). You'd have every possible combination with the word Balls as long as it could be made very clear you were talking about testicles (HAHAHAHA PWNED NOOB UR BALLZ MUS NOT HAV DROPPED FAIL FAIL FAIL). It would be just ENDLESS.

So yeah, I'll continue to report names like that. If I wanted to have that crap in my face all evening long I'd hang out at the skate park.

[Mazhulsage]

Gj Swervin on the name reporting/guild reporting.

Well, I only report names of players that have REALLY awful names and/or are jerks. If someone has the name "GBush" and is in trade spamming "lulz i dun car abut bleck peeple" or someone with a similar name with a similar spam attack, I'm reporting them. If they're "Gbush" and walking around just killing mobs being cool, no reason to report it.

[Mollymog]

Gj Swervin on the name reporting/guild reporting.

Well, I only report names of players that have REALLY awful names and/or are jerks. If someone has the name "GBush" and is in trade spamming "lulz i dun car abut bleck peeple" or someone with a similar name with a similar spam attack, I'm reporting them. If they're "Gbush" and walking around just killing mobs being cool, no reason to report it.

I've seen players named 'Zzuckme', 'Godhimself', and 'Cancerstick'. I don't think any of those is appropriate, but, as you say, if I reported every single name I find offensive, I'd be doing nothing but reporting. I DO report really annoying and stupid spam in trade (mostly shut trade off when playing) and DO report insulting and degrading language, racial slurs, obscene shouts and the like. And SpamMeNot takes good care for me of the gold spammers.

But...... since a lot seems to slip through the Blizzard net, you can't spend all your gaming time reporting, can you?

[Valas Azuviir]

I guess it just kind of makes me mad that one childish person could go running to blizzard and blizzard just bans the name and wont even talk to me about it.

GMs do have some leeway, guess the one in question did view it as a variation on Boner, which would be a violation of the Rules of Conduct with regards to naming characters in such a way that it deals with drugs, sex, alcohol, or criminal activity.


Oh and you're in no hot water for giving those examples by the way, so don't sweat it.

If a name really crosses the line why don't they just go through the armory and make them all change it?

Amount of work required. Have to keep in mind that the GM teams aren't that big, and they do have other things to deal with as well. Having X amount of players change their names, after going through their own DB, and then having to deal with protests/objections etc. That takes up a lot of time, time that could've also been spent on returning gear to some sap who got hacked.

If, a name gets reported, then they can squeeze it in, but purposely going looking for names. You'd only do that, if you had excess time, which they obviously don't.

[det]

Man, and here I thought my server is bad at times. At least as a RP server we only get the occasional spam but names are mostly "proper" names and people make an attempt to spell adherent to the english language. But already the names you see in the cross-realm battlegrounds make you shake your head.

What comes around goes around. I can understand that if you get reported once and the server is supposed to take care of itself, you start reporting others.

[SwervinCL]

GMs do have some leeway, guess the one in question did view it as a variation on Boner, which would be a violation of the Rules of Conduct with regards to naming characters in such a way that it deals with drugs, sex, alcohol, or criminal activity.



Right, but where do they draw the line. I guess my issue is, they make that one person happy, but make the guy on the receiving end miserable. There are so many names in WoW that can be misconstrued to mean something else.

How could someone be offended by the name Bonor? This is what I don't understand. If you want to misconstrue that with Boner, even then. Its a part of life.

I am going to fight this name change. If not just for the name back, but for the sake of this being stupid.

I really really enjoy this game, but the people who play it are defenatly killing it for me.

[Valas Azuviir]

Right, but where do they draw the line. I guess my issue is, they make that one person happy, but make the guy on the receiving end miserable. There are so many names in WoW that can be misconstrued to mean something else.


It has zilch to do with making folks happy/unhappy, and everything to do with seeing to it that the agreed upon rules are obeyed. As a side effect, that can make folks happy/unhappy, but that's not the main goal of them.


How could someone be offended by the name Bonor? This is what I don't understand. If you want to misconstrue that with Boner, even then. Its a part of life.


Part of life or not, the ToS is fairly clear that names related to sex are not allowed.

Section 4, paragraph A, subsections 2 and 8. (All references are to the Eu ToS, the US ToS will have them in different places).

Also keep this in mind: You may not use a misspelling or an alternative spelling to circumvent the name restrictions listed above, nor can you have a "first" and "last" name that, when combined, violate the above name restrictions. Bonor could therefore be seen as an attempt to get around the naming restriction, when your actually meant to name your character Boner.

Not to rain on your parade, but the chances of you getting this overturned are slim, if one has a strict reading of the ToS, and this is coming from someone whose Forsaken characters tend to be named after horror movie characters, and I thus run the risk of having to change my characters names as well, if they were to get reported. Perfectly fine with that.

[Kodonn]

Right, but where do they draw the line. I guess my issue is, they make that one person happy, but make the guy on the receiving end miserable. There are so many names in WoW that can be misconstrued to mean something else.

How could someone be offended by the name Bonor? This is what I don't understand. If you want to misconstrue that with Boner, even then. Its a part of life.

I am going to fight this name change. If not just for the name back, but for the sake of this being stupid.

I really really enjoy this game, but the people who play it are defenatly killing it for me.

We don't know for a fact that it just takes one person to report it. It could be they have a policy of x number of reports on a name = GM has to deal with it. We only know that they don't generally go out of their way looking for name violations.

And I would bet they have some sort of clear cut guideline to follow, even if the GM can exercise a bit of leeway, or else they would constantly be debating name changes with the players.

It's possible that no one was directly offended. I play on an RP server and I always cringe when I see names like PallyBob or HealzU. (Not that yours compares to that.) My first thought on seeing something like that is if they couldn't even get the naming thing down...for pete's sake there's a name generator...then I don't want to be in Trade Channel or barrens Chat when they find it.

Anyway, you even admitted that in the back of your mind you thought someday it might get challenged, so even you kind of knew it was pushing the guideline. Maybe someone else just had a sterner interpretation of the naming policy and decided you needed it changed.

Why not just look on it as a free name change? Take the opportunity to pick something that you really like that also passes the name filters.

[odinsnephew]

It's still bloody ridiculous. Say if it was Bonir or Bonur or Bonar. Are they worse? Or the same? Is one worse than the other? Who knows the answers?

And as for for the Ipwnuall/pwntank/healnoob players? Well I can think of something to do with them ;)

[SwervinCL]

Why not just look on it as a free name change? Take the opportunity to pick something that you really like that also passes the name filters.

It was in the back of my mind because of how close the name is. But it was not something that I was doing intentional. I kind of had a feeling for someone that is immature to see it and would report it for being close. Out of all of the messed up vulgar names that people make (to circumvent the naming policy), they target something that is the least bit offensive. It just shows what some of the WoW community is made up as. But with all of this whole crap said. Its Blizzards game. They make the rules. If they deem it offensive. Then it is what it is.

The name was not created to circumvent the naming policy. I have never ever had a negative mark on my account for the two years I have been playing. I don't want to start now.

I did change the name, because I had to play that toon. Do I like the name? I do, yes. But its not "fitting" to that toon. I had that name saved for the Death Knight that I will be leveling after I hit 80 on my mage.

I am not on an RP server, nor do I play RP. I have my mage that has lived his 1-70 life as Bonor. A name that I was very happy with and known by.

Anyways. I wrote blizzard a pretty lenghty email. Its in their hands now. I really hope I can get it reversed. If not, it is what it is. I will be playing the game as I always did. Just a little less happy than I was before.

I renamed my toon and then created a level 1 undead with the name Bonor. The name is not blocked. But I want to reserve the name so that no one else can take it. I probably wont ever play him. But he still exists. As a level 1. Reincarnated if you will.

[Etrin]

I for one find it offensive that Buzzard has rules that are NOT stated in any clear way. They make anything fit what ever they want it to fit and say that is what we intended.
IF its what you intended then STATE IT.

What if I find in some obscure language that BOB means something I FIND offensive can I petition the government to BAN the name BOB in my country?

Again I make the statement "I FIND" meaning me, buzzard or you.
Just how I want it to fit what I need or want at that given moment.

[Mazhulsage]

It pisses me off that GM's have all the say on whether or not you have done something wrong.

For example, someone exploits something, do they know the exploit is there? Everyone knows that it's not for sure that every single person who does an exploit knows that it's an exploit. IMO, GM's should ask you exactly what their problem is with you. For example, that GM who told you to change your name... It should've gone like this.

GM: Hey, this is GMwhoever, do you have a moment to speak with me?
You: Uhh, yup, why, what's the problem?
GM: Oh, I was just getting some reports about your name, what exactly is your name supposed to mean?
You: Oh =/ That sucks. Well, it was my nickname back when I was younger, it's pronounced "bon-ar". I'm assuming this has something to do with "boner" or something? Cause that isn't how I meant it.
GM: Okay, fully understand, thank you for your time.

Then, I guess if reports are still POURING in, then sure, ask them if they can change it. Don't be rude "You're going to have to change your name." no. "Would you change your name for us? We've had a lot of reports about your name, and I know it's not fair to you, but apparently it's bothering others."

[winterfever]

For the sake of balls. I still think Bonar shouldn't even be questioned. It is a good name. It is a T rated game. Watch a PG-13 movie. See if they are allowed to say 'boner'. Or even 'douche bag'. Or even making fun of big W. The answer of course is yes, they can do that.

GMs, and even some people on WoW...wow me.

The WoW society's behavior cannot satisfy one sensitive person. And GMs should know this. I think they should make their best judgment, which of course is comparing the "bad" names to Teen related material. Like someone said, if we were to post everything that offends us, we'd be doing nothing other than reporting. There are blatant names that require us to report, like the oh so forbidden and over dramatized "N" word, and the usual common racial slurs and "curse" words. In fact, I should be able to name my character ErectPenis if I wanted to. Not only because it is up there at the T rated scale, but also because it is the human anatomy and not meant to offend anyone.

But this all comes down to how Blizzard is so vague with their rules. If they made it clear to us that we cannot use ANY sexual, racial, anatomical, or vulgar language in the creation of our names, I understand. Who knows, maybe they do say that. I have not read these terms.

[Kodonn]

The WoW society's behavior cannot satisfy one sensitive person. And GMs should know this. I think they should make their best judgment, ....In fact, I should be able to name my character ErectPenis if I wanted to. Not only because it is up there at the T rated scale, but also because it is the human anatomy and not meant to offend anyone.

But this all comes down to how Blizzard is so vague with their rules. If they made it clear to us that we cannot use ANY sexual, racial, anatomical, or vulgar language in the creation of our names, I understand. Who knows, maybe they do say that. I have not read these terms.

Blizzard is not vague at all on the naming policy. Please go read the TOS and EULA. That is why the GMs do not have to worry about making "judgement" calls. They have a nice well defined set of guidelines to follow. (So do we all) It has very little to do with a T rated scale. There are many words and topics which are acceptable under that rating which are NOT allowed in WoW (according to their policy).

Just for the record, there are 2 restrictions I can recall off the top of my head why your "ErectPenis" would not be allowed.:shocked:
1. It refers to a part of human anatomy
2. It is clearly a combination of 2 words put together.

[clevins]

Yes... but Bonor isn't either of the two things you mention so they DO need to make judgement calls or they need to force name changes on every complaint. Somethings are obviously annoying and shouldbe altered. Others, not so clear. For example there's someone on my server named Hip. Hm... BODY PART! Oh, hold it, 1) not offensive body part and 2) the word has other meanings that have nothing to with the body.

[winterfever]

Blizzard is not vague at all on the naming policy. Please go read the TOS and EULA. That is why the GMs do not have to worry about making "judgement" calls. They have a nice well defined set of guidelines to follow. (So do we all) It has very little to do with a T rated scale. There are many words and topics which are acceptable under that rating which are NOT allowed in WoW (according to their policy).

Just for the record, there are 2 restrictions I can recall off the top of my head why your "ErectPenis" would not be allowed.:shocked:
1. It refers to a part of human anatomy
2. It is clearly a combination of 2 words put together.

If what you say is true, and I believe it is...then I lose my flame fest towards Blizzard's subtleties.

And I also lose because I was going to name my next char "Epidermis"

[Valas Azuviir]

If what you say is true, and I believe it is...then I lose my flame fest towards Blizzard's subtleties.

And I also lose because I was going to name my next char "Epidermis"

ToS (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html) Section 5 is relevant.

[Mollymog]

If what you say is true, and I believe it is...then I lose my flame fest towards Blizzard's subtleties.

And I also lose because I was going to name my next char "Epidermis"

Well...... I once had a Warlock named 'Euphorbia'. Nothing obscene there, it's the name of a group of succulent plants and I liked the sound of it. I eventually deleted the character because I just didn't like playing that class.

But before I did, one other player asked me what it meant. I explained, and other player said 'Oh, I was going to report it because I thought it had a sexual connection'. I asked what on earth sort of sexual connection you could draw from that, but got no reply. So, like beauty, obscenity may well lie in the eye of the beholder. Unless, I suppose, you're up to kinky things with house plants. :grin:

[Mazhulsage]

If people don't want to see cuss words on a game, they can turn on the filter, or GTFO the game since it's rated "Teen+". What does that mean? 13+. At 13 years old I knew more cuss words than a sailor, and so did most of my family, friends, wife, and wife's family. Not a small amount of people. That along with the fact that kids are knowing even worse words now-a-days... I'd say people need to shut up and get over it.

[Clavina]

If people don't want to see cuss words on a game, they can turn on the filter, or GTFO the game since it's rated "Teen+". What does that mean? 13+. At 13 years old I knew more cuss words than a sailor, and so did most of my family, friends, wife, and wife's family. Not a small amount of people. That along with the fact that kids are knowing even worse words now-a-days... I'd say people need to shut up and get over it.

Wow thats really young to be married..

[Valas Azuviir]

Just to remind folks of something that SwervinCL said.

Edit: I know, I know. Blizzards game, they make the rules.

Don't like the rules, then stop giving them money and go away.

No different from this place, you don't like the rules here? Then there's no need to visit these forums. Nobody is putting a gun against your head and saying that you must visit, or that you must play WoW. Your choice to do so or not.

Doesn't change the fact, that when you're visiting somebody else's home that you danged better obey the house rules, lest you get tossed out.

Playing the world's smallest violin isn't going to change things, it'll only ruin the atmosphere/mood for everybody else.

[Richakin]

my buddy had his toons name changed.

it was "Healffs" and was that since BC came out as it is his Draenieieiain Shaman.

Blizz changed it to "Verithos" or something w/out warning or giving him the chance to rename it...

[Kodonn]

If people don't want to see cuss words ...etc etc...and get over it.

I would say that same philosphy should apply to people who want to play WoW or any other game that has rules. If you don't want to follow them, then why play, why complain when you get caught?

A teen rating and a word filter do NOT constitute a "free pass" to break the rules.

The TOS and EULA are there for your benefit so you will know exactly what you will or will not get punished (i.e. banned, suspended, name changed, etc) for. Take a few minutes to read them and you won't have to waste your time and a GMs time by debating over some issue that is clear cut for them.

They don't really care if a name has several different meanings or can be pronounced differently or even if it has some personal meaning for you. If it CAN mean one of the things it's not supposed to refer to, or if it CAN be pronounced in such a way as to be offensive, or if it LOOKS like an attempt to bypass the rules by a letter substitution...they have to follow the rules they were given. How hard is that to comprehend? :ponder:

.

[TPMdm]

.......they have to follow the rules they were given. How hard is that to comprehend? :ponder:

.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" ---- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mind you, I'm not the kind of guy who runs afoul of rules or anything like that. I'm just pointing out one of the reasons GMs are even there is to investigate this sort of thing. Otherwise all they need is a Bad-Word-Ban-Bot 2000 to do their work. I'm reminded of a second hand story....

At a minor-league baseball game an African American attendee noticed a group of other fans who had placed three hand lettered "K" signs on the outfield wall. This fan was a little upset at the reference to the Ku-Klux-Klan and approached an usher about this obvious sign of racism. The usher politely informed the gentleman that 'K' has been used by baseball scorekeepers to indicate a strikeout for over 100 years and sure enough a 4th and 5th K were soon added to the outfield wall.

My words are not your words, but I am sorry if you misunderstand them and get upset......

[Kodonn]

I'm reminded of a second hand story....

At a minor-league baseball game an African American attendee noticed a group of other fans who had placed three hand lettered "K" signs on the outfield wall. This fan was a little upset at the reference to the Ku-Klux-Klan and approached an usher about this obvious sign of racism. The usher politely informed the gentleman that 'K' has been used by baseball scorekeepers to indicate a strikeout for over 100 years and sure enough a 4th and 5th K were soon added to the outfield wall.

My words are not your words, but I am sorry if you misunderstand them and get upset......

LOL That reminds me of a story (which I am going to totally make up :laughing:)
When I was little, my younger brother got punished for playing ball in the house and breaking a window. My Mother sent him to his room without any TV (this was back before computers and iPods and cellphones) with this warning.
"I told you not to play ball in the house because you might break something. Your Father told you not to play ball in the house. Your sister told you to stop before you broke something. Your brother even told you that you would get in trouble if you broke something. You knew what could happen, so I better not hear you crying about it now." :grin:

Oh...and which MMORPG did Ralph Waldo Emerson develop?:grin:

[waflob]

When I was thinking about a name for my hunter's little piggie, I wanted to call him BaconSandwich, but that is 1 letter too long. In good old Blighty, another word for sandwich is buttie (no, really !!!). Anyway, my little piggie is called BaconButtie.

I wonder how long it will take someone from USA to get offended by that, and not consider the possibility that it might not mean what they think it means ...

DelBoy

[Clavina]

When I was thinking about a name for my hunter's little piggie, I wanted to call him BaconSandwich, but that is 1 letter too long. In good old Blighty, another word for sandwich is buttie (no, really !!!). Anyway, my little piggie is called BaconButtie.

I wonder how long it will take someone from USA to get offended by that, and not consider the possibility that it might not mean what they think it means ...

DelBoy

It took me a while to think exactly how someone could be offended by that but i'm guessing a tenuous link with arse? (or ass for our colonial cousins :wink:)

For those interested its a derivative of 'bread and butter' most likely originating in the north of England. Oh and just to be pedantic I'm pretty sure its butty and not buttie :D

[det]

If people don't want to see cuss words on a game, they can turn on the filter, or GTFO the game since it's rated "Teen+". What does that mean? 13+. At 13 years old I knew more cuss words than a sailor, and so did most of my family, friends, wife, and wife's family. Not a small amount of people. That along with the fact that kids are knowing even worse words now-a-days... I'd say people need to shut up and get over it.

Dunno, sounds like a (stupid) generalisation to me. I know 13 years who behave perfectly alright and don't cuss more than a sailor.

Get over it? Live with it? Why is the only way down? People behave like **** and just deal with it? NO. You do want somebody at times who insists on proper behavior towards other persons. (On that subject, why is the mild swear word for excrement censored here, but not for urinate? Strange, but forum rules, so /shrug)

It pisses me off that GM's have all the say on whether or not you have done something wrong.

For example, someone exploits something, do they know the exploit is there? Everyone knows that it's not for sure that every single person who does an exploit knows that it's an exploit. IMO, GM's should ask you exactly what their problem is with you. For example, that GM who told you to change your name... It should've gone like this.



Interesting that on one hand you describe the foulmouthed 13 year old as a standard and then there are all the little innocent angels. Just the fact that goldsellers still thrive, people buy accounts and not least that the arena system had to be changed for massive exploitings of the ratings, show that there is a good deal of people willing to get their advantage any way possible. And it is so many that it impacts the gaming experience of others. Maybe hard measures, maybe arbitrary - but GMs presence show there are people who do care...even if you don't like the care...

[Mazhulsage]

Waflob, I didn't see the point in you saying that it's going to be us from the USA to get offended by it. That was unwarranted and unneeded. If I saw someone with their boar named that I'd just laugh, or thought they spelt buddy wrong.

det: I never said that all 13 year olds are going to be cussing every other word, I simply said that for nearly everyone I knew, even though we're not aristocrats, they were cussing before 12. I know there's MANY 13 year olds, and some people up until the day they die, who say only a few cusswords ever. I never said "If someone calls you something extremely negative and it hurts you, GET OVER IT." I was saying if you're in a party with 5 people, or in a guild with hundreds of people, a cussword is tend to slip once in awhile.

I never said they were the standard, you're putting words in my... Fingers.

I've had this happen multiple times, I was the cussing little a-hole outside of the game, then I'd just be playing my game (This was early WoW, pre-TBC), and I'd mine something for example. The mine would pop up, so I'd mine it again. It happened like, 10 times and I was like "Wow, I'm lucky I guess.". So what happens the next day? I have a GM whispering me telling me I was exploiting the game. I said I didn't know what he was talking about, he tells me about the mining. What happens? Suspension. All because I lacked the knowledge of exploits in a game, just thought I was the lucky guy that got the mine.

[TPMdm]

LOL That reminds me of a story (which I am going to totally make up :laughing:)
When I was little, my younger brother got punished for playing ball in the house and breaking a window. My Mother sent him to his room without any TV (this was back before computers and iPods and cellphones) with this warning.
"I told you not to play ball in the house because you might break something. Your Father told you not to play ball in the house. Your sister told you to stop before you broke something. Your brother even told you that you would get in trouble if you broke something. You knew what could happen, so I better not hear you crying about it now." :grin:

Oh...and which MMORPG did Ralph Waldo Emerson develop?:grin:

To make the analogy really work though "your" brother would have to have been punished for throwing some other innocent object while being told he would be punished for throwing a ball.

Our good friend Mr. Bonor is being punished because his name seems to resemble Boner. Boner itself isn't a swear word or even indecent necessarily. There is a phrase I've heard often enough in perfectly respectable company in my years on this planet, "to pull a boner" i.e. to do something very stupid. By this definition I can't name a character Head or even Hed. A hunter better not name his feline pet pussy. If you have an overly sensitive law enforcement official on your server better not even name your porcine pet Pig.

That brings me to my point about foolish consistencies.... Instead of banning every Head, pussy and pig "because it's the rule", maybe a GM could take a minimum amount of time before forcing name changes.

I think Emerson had a hand in Zork, but never really got into MMOs :grin:

[waflob]

Waflob, I didn't see the point in you saying that it's going to be us from the USA to get offended by it. That was unwarranted and unneeded. If I saw someone with their boar named that I'd just laugh, or thought they spelt buddy wrong.

Just to clear up a possible misunderstanding here ...
My post wasn't meant to be taken as Ami-bashing. There are words in USA that have different meaning than the same word in UK. This was an example of that.

No need to get defensive - nobody is attacking you :-)

DelBoy

[TPMdm]

Just to clear up a possible misunderstanding here ...........

Yeah, I actually think only one person thought you were specifically bashing us Yanks..... :rolleyes:

Don't sweat it :)

[Mazhulsage]

No... It was just unneeded in the way that it was said, I don't see how it could be misunderstood, it was perfectly clear.

[det]

No... It was just unneeded in the way that it was said, I don't see how it could be misunderstood, it was perfectly clear.


I wonder how long it will take someone from USA to get offended by that, and not consider the possibility that it might not mean what they think it means ...


/sigh...I guess he could have said "someone who is not from england" instead of "USA", but jumping at him for this does seem unneeded from my point of view.

It is a facette of how the same thing has a different meaning..and England / USA sre the two countries who share the same language but different meanings.

trunk / boot for example for the rear compartment of a car. Now..why one country uses the word for the elefants nose and the other for a bigger shoe - and none uses an original noun is beyond me :laugh:

[TPMdm]

lorry(sp?)/Truck
loo(sp?)/Toilet
lift/elevator
colour/color
pissed/drunk
mad/pissed :grin:

Just off the top of my head a few reasons why waflob might be concerned about how Americans might take it. Same reasons why we in the USA should not be so quick to assume an insult (looking at you maz).

[teacake]

No... It was just unneeded in the way that it was said, I don't see how it could be misunderstood, it was perfectly clear.

eh.. you get offended by one thing yet tell folks they should not get offended by teenagers swearing in general chat

On a happier note I reported someone today named Superboner. Just after my ticket disappeared the person named Superboner disappeared as well. I did have a sudden qualm that they might have boned chickens for a living and considered themselves real super at it and picked this as their char's name.. but I got over it.

[Mazhulsage]

It's fun to be the center of attacks without reason. Oh wait, it isn't. There's plenty of countries that use different words for different things, USA isn't the only one, and saying we WILL get offended is just dumb.

Apparently explaining things through and not insulting isn't the way things go in other countries (Oh, I guess I can do it too =D) so since it seems to be flooded with that here, another pass on another thread.

[det]

..or maybe just a very thin skin?

Didn't see insults and even people coming back to explain in nice words why they said things and that the didn't mean to be insulting or anything.

[clevins]

It's fun to be the center of attacks without reason. Oh wait, it isn't. There's plenty of countries that use different words for different things, USA isn't the only one, and saying we WILL get offended is just dumb.

Apparently explaining things through and not insulting isn't the way things go in other countries (Oh, I guess I can do it too =D) so since it seems to be flooded with that here, another pass on another thread.

So you're not bothered by 13 year olds swearing on General, but that comment is a deadly insult?

Um... I don't quite know how to say this more gently, but... grow up.

[TPMdm]

I didn't see any insult either and I can be quite jingoistic....

BTW as Americans you have to admit we get pretty touchy and upset by things frequently so delboy's concern over "piggiebuttie" or whatever it was was, IMO, justified. I'm pretty sure Canadians wouldn't "get upset" over it (meant as a compliment to Canada lest I create ANOTHER national incident) and there aren't too many other native english speaking countries following these boards.

Back on topic I noticed under Blizzard's naming r00lz page I noticed "sentences" as names and religious figures as names or guild names are forbidden.

So things like Healzu, urhealed, metank etc are technically forbidden and should be changed immediately upon me petitioning them? (I've seen all those names and I used to have a guildmate with the name Uneedaheal)

How about the guilds I've seen with names like "Satan's Rejects", "On Satan's Wing", "Satan's Angels"? Funny nobody makes "god" names or those get reported?

[det]

How about the guilds I've seen with names like "Satan's Rejects", "On Satan's Wing", "Satan's Angels"? Funny nobody makes "god" names or those get reported?

There is (was) a guild called "Jesus was soulstoned" :shocked:

[teacake]

I read somewhere that they no longer bother with the sentence thing. They have probably given up on that one. As to the religious figures, someone I had know had a bank alt named Jebuzhatesyou and she had to change the name. Once again it comes down to whether it is reported or not.

[waflob]

It's fun to be the center of attacks without reason. Oh wait, it isn't. There's plenty of countries that use different words for different things, USA isn't the only one, and saying we WILL get offended is just dumb.

Apparently explaining things through and not insulting isn't the way things go in other countries (Oh, I guess I can do it too =D) so since it seems to be flooded with that here, another pass on another thread.
There is a harmless reason why I used USA as the comparison country. This is the country where Blizzard (i.e. the makers of WoW) reside. Many blizzard employees are from USA.

It really is that simple. If you wish to retain your right to be offended by this, then I see that I'm not going to talk you out of it.

To give you a (hopefully) funny example of what can go wrong. If you're a Brit in USA and you make notes in pencil as you're travelling around, you might wish to buy an eraser to correct occasional mistakes. The Brit would ask to buy a rubber, as he makes lots of mistakes. The US shop keeper would reply "Too late now, man!".

If you're still unconvinced, then I'll start an Ami-bashing thread, just so you can tell the difference (nah - only kidding)

peace

DelBoy

[SwervinCL]

I have still not received an email from Blizzard. Which I honestly was not expecting to get a response back. Everyone in my guild that I tell I had to change my names, thinks it is stupid. But what can you do. I did everything I could do to fight it, outside of blowing up Blizzards email system.

The only email they sent me was a beta key, so I guess it worked out.. LOL.

[TPMdm]

....

The only email they sent me was a beta key, so I guess it worked out.. LOL.

Yeah, I'd change my name to Boner just to get a Beta key.... :P

[waflob]

Strange the way fate grabs us by the balls and shakes ...

I just had a weird converation with a GM, because some self-righteous little snitch grassed me up for having a name with "religious meaning". The fact that the char was named after an 80's rock band was unimportant. One small-minded idiot really is all it takes. Just in case you were wondering, the char is a priest named Juuddaass.

Also interesting to note that the GM never refuted the fact that Devil, Satan etc are banned. Seems that the RP servers are the most strict about naming and that the interpretation is decided by a REALLY small minority.

Anyway, if you're the snitch and you're reading this - just know this - "what goes around comes around" - and lorry wheels go round very fast.

Before anyone chirps up with a "QQ more" type response, the name change is a minor inconvenience. It's the petty-minded bull**** that is annoying. This has nothing to do with a game.

DelBoy

ps - I wonder if MotherTeresa is taken ...
pps - I've just checked the armoury and the following names are all present in numbers: judas, juudas, juddas, joseph, mary, jesus, christ, job, god, satan, devil, baal, beelzebub - and those were just the first ones I tried

[elsegundo]

i wonder how many Osama's are out there.

[SwervinCL]

It's the petty-minded bull**** that is annoying. This has nothing to do with a game.


You know, after all is said and done. I think that is the thing that has killed me the most. I got over the fact that I had to change my name and now Bonor is now fmlykwnasbonor (not the name), but ya. It really urkes me that people report names that are hardly offensive, when names that are far more offensive are still around.

[TPMdm]

"Judas" got reported and the GM made you change? GM's are now officially worthless I don't care how over worked they are. I mean Chris could be construed as short for Christ and be reported. Although technically Christ is a title and can be reported under that section of the TOS rather than religious entity :)

I guess I can add to my list of names that I should report on-site just out of spite:
John (an apostle of Jesus like Judas)
Mathew (see above)
Peter (see above)
James (see above)
Philip (see above)
Thomas (see above)
Simon (see above)
David (old testament King of the Jews)
Michael (Named archangel)
Gabriel (see above)


Ridiculous :frown:

[waflob]

I also had a quick look through the armoury, looking for names that would result in bans on this web-site. Lots and lots of lvl 70 Turd characters for example. There's even chars caled pedo and paedo. I won't list any more, for obvious reasons.

The char was actually called Juuddaass. It was spelt like this, because Judas, Juudas, Judass etc were already in use. The main argument appears to be "it's an RP realm". Well, one of my hobbies (or character flaws, if you prefer :-)) is to formulate questions that only have a wrong answer.

I'll give blizz until the end of the week to read and reply to my mail about this, and give them the chance to see the error of their ways and revert the name (yeah, right !! like that's going to happen !!). Then, I'll suggest the name Joseph. This name is in use already, so if they say "sorry, it's in use", I have a comeback (where to they draw the line?). If he says "sorry, it's still a biblical reference", then I've a different answer.

According to their own rules, all of these names should not be allowed: mary, joseph, job, lot, jesus, cain, abel, genesis, sarah, rebecca, mohammed (3 pages of those!), peter, paul, john, james, simon, thomas - the list just goes on and on and on. All of these are in use, sometimes over 100 of them.

I have a few ideas for any name change that I will probably need. pfkaj (Priest Formerly Known As Juuddaass), marymary, but my favourite so far is victimarie.

Any other suggestions?

DelBoy

ps - no matter how I feel about this, I won't resort to deferred revenge and will never report any names, unless they are really offensive. I mean, kids play this game as well and having names that refer to reproductive organs, physical acts involving said organs, bodily fluids resulting in said acts with said organs etc etc etc are not on. I hope the difference is clear.

[Valas Azuviir]

Would like to point out that some of those names, while Biblical are also common names, and thus are on a far more steady ground than some of the others you've mentioned.

Job, Judas, Lot, Cain, Abel and/or Genesis would definitely not pass the common name criteria.

Mohammed and Jesus (Latin-America) are special cases, seeing how they are also common names, but also the names of major religious figures, and would/should therefore be excluded as legitimate name options. No different from Buddha, Shiva, Zeus, Odin etc etc.

[drewid]

Well i think its ridiculous for a game company to get involved with religous issues.
Who really cares about using a name in some dusty tome, that was only concieved to gain power over the populace and make people have a warm and fuzzy feeling about eventually dieing
/ends rant

[Valas Azuviir]

Well i think its ridiculous for a game company to get involved with religous issues.
Who really cares about using a name in some dusty tome, that was only concieved to gain power over the populace and make people have a warm and fuzzy feeling about eventually dieing
/ends rant

This is exactly the reason why such names are not allowed, to keep them from getting involved in such issues.

[waflob]

Would like to point out that some of those names, while Biblical are also common names, and thus are on a far more steady ground than some of the others you've mentioned.

That's exactly my point. Where do you draw the line? It becomes purely arbitrary and hence the unhappiness of those who feel unjustly victimised.

Basically, all you need is one uninformed idiot, who can't see past his own nose and the GMs all bend over backwards to try to appease him, rather than allowing common sense and intelligence to prevail. Very sad indeed.

The problem with this approach is that if you only pamper to the minorities, don't be surprised if the majority leaves you.

DelBoy

[Renata]

It all depends on what these names represent. Adam is a pretty common name, common enough that it has many more connotations than just the first man from the Book of Genesis. It could mean Adam Smith, Adam Sandler, Adam West, Adam Ant, etc.

However, there were several names in colonial times that were quite common that probably could not have passed the name filter today, simply because they aren't THAT common in modern usage. I'm a genealogist and I have ancestors whose names were Moses, Job, Abel, and Lot. People don't think of those as common names anymore -- they think first of their Biblical connotations, especially if they're used to name priests or paladins. I think a warlock named Moses would actually have an easier time of it than a priest of the same name.

It all boils down to intent -- does the toon seem to be intending to get around one of the naming rules? A priest named Moses would definitely be suspect, in my opinion.

Or have they perhaps done it by accident, like my friend who named his character "Falis" -- pronouncing it FAY-lis in his head without realizing that a slightly different pronunciation would lead to a very different interpretation. His wife won't let him name his own characters anymore.

...Ren

[Valas Azuviir]

The problem with this approach is that if you only pamper to the minorities, don't be surprised if the majority leaves you.


Doubtful, considering this isn't an issue which effects a lot of people. It's the minority who gets effected by the actions of another minority, who might leave. Then again, it's not as if this isn't spelled out in the ToS and if folks don't read that, then it's not Blizzard's responsibility/fault.

You agree to do X and you don't, then you must be prepared to face the consequences. Like I said, all of my Forsaken characters are named after movie characters, all from movies dealing with the supernatural. I'm quite aware, that I could get reported and that I'd have to change the name. Fine by me. If, it does happen, I'm not going to complain about it, because I knew the risks ahead of time and decided to throw the dice anyway.

Side note, if you still haven't gotten a new name, might I suggest Tsangarides or Manalishi. Most folks won't catch the reference and those that do are unlikely to report them.

[Kodonn]

Basically, all you need is one uninformed idiot, who can't see past his own nose and the GMs all bend over backwards to try to appease him, rather than allowing common sense and intelligence to prevail. Very sad indeed.

DelBoy

I don't intend this to be taken as a flame or personal attack on you Waf, but the tone of your post really leaves you open to it. This is more for everyone who wants to rant because they were asked to change their name when it obviously violated the policy.

You are assuming that the person or persons, (because no one but Blizzard really knows how many people report a single name) are the "uninformed idiot" and that the GM is doing something to "appease" them. Then you state that people should allow "common sense and intelligence to prevail".

Well, common sense tells us that Blizzard wrote out those rules for naming with a purpose and that millions of people apparently have no trouble understanding and following them. Secondly, the GM is not doing anything to appease anyone. If they operated that way, all it would take is for you to QQ back and be able to keep a name. What the GMs ARE doing, is their job. Blizzard told them what guidelines to follow and when (the when being once a name is reported).

So really....who is the one having problems "seeing past their nose"? People will spend hours just researching what kind of gear they want and where to get it. I've seen people do stat and defense rating calculations that would make highschool calc teacher proud. Why then is it so hard to get past a simple thing like making up a name that conforms to the specified guidelines?

When you purposely set out to challenge the rules (and you know you are....when you try to pass off "Juuddaass") why get upset when you get called on it? Is this really the battle you've picked to challenge Blizzard on?

[det]

But as waflob has pointed out, many of these "offensive" names are actually in use on other realms.

"Nerzul" is not allowed on my realm, yet you find about 5 pages of that name in the armory where nobody seems to have trouble with it?

[Valas Azuviir]

But as waflob has pointed out, many of these "offensive" names are actually in use on other realms.

"Nerzul" is not allowed on my realm, yet you find about 5 pages of that name in the armory where nobody seems to have trouble with it?

And as pointed out before. Blizzard doesn't go actively hunting for names in their DB, they got enough to do as is. Sure, if you submit a ticket and a GM becomes aware that you got a no no name, they might have you change it, while they're at it. But that's just practicality.

No different from a cop pointing out to a truck driver that he might want to have his tires checked, because they look too soft, even though the cop is doing a weight check to find out if no trucks are overloaded.

For the rest, if someone notices a name and reports it. Yeah, they might look into it. Now one can complain about how dare they report me. But well, that's the same attitude that a person who parks in the handicapped spot, even though they themselves are fine sport. Or those who like to tailgate, or speed or climb behind the wheel, while having had one too many.

Doesn't change the fact that it's a violation of established rules. As the old saying goes, you don't want to do the time, then don't do the crime.

Frankly, it's the age old, they tattled on me, and folks condemning such actions. News flash, doesn't change the fact that person A did something wrong, so getting on the case of person B, who notified the proper authorities of the violation is BS.

Because by the same line of thought, than any person who testifies in a case, is nothing but a tattletale. By that same token, anyone who reports a goldseller or scammer on these forums is a tattletale as well.

I mean, who cares about the fact that the scammer is going to rip someone off, the person telling on them is far worse, yes? :rolleyes:

And before anyone starts with the: but it's harming nobody defense.

Account sharing.. Same defense is used.
Blizzard doesn't allow it either.

That can get your account banned, the name thing only means having to change it. Now, which punishment would you prefer?

[elsegundo]

i have a guildie whose name is Melchizadek. i wonder how long it will take for someone to "report" him since it is a biblical name and not in common use today.

judas priest. lol. love it.

[TPMdm]

............
Frankly, it's the age old, they tattled on me, and folks condemning such actions. News flash, doesn't change the fact that person A did something wrong, so getting on the case of person B, who notified the proper authorities of the violation is BS...........

Here's the thing VA, you keep laboring under the assumption that something wrong was done when in this particular case nothing was done wrong.

Bonor is not a common word for anyone or anything. The only offensive reference google turns up is in the "urban dictionary" which is basically a joke. Somebody reported it presumably because to them it looked like a way to circumvent the word "boner" (which may or may not be offensive but I wouldn't argue with a forced name change of boner). The GM knee-jerked it right into forced name change. Why?

As long as a human somebody is making a judgment call shouldn't both sides be heard in an ambiguous case like this? What happens when I report your name because to me it seems like a way to circumvent Phallus? Instant name change.

I fully understand it's more expedient for the GM to just hit the name change button, but expediency should never be the ultimate judge for customer service policy. Because even more expedient would be the reporting instantly causes the name lock and the "offender" would have to petition to get their name back (until people start abusing the system).

[teacake]

i have a guildie whose name is Melchizadek. i wonder how long it will take for someone to "report" him since it is a biblical name and not in common use today.



That got me interested since I have one character with a biblical name not in common usage.. TOU says "Belonging to any religious figure or deity". Not sure if everyone in the bible constitures a religious figure? My character is mentioned once in the bible and a google reveals people are still named that, especially a few hundred years ago. I kind think religoius figure would be Moses, Buddha etc.. though there are millions of people named Moses so it's kind of odd if that name was forbidden. I'm sure you could go through the Old Testament genealogy lists and come up with some great (unused) names but they would hardly be religous figures.

[Valas Azuviir]

Here's the thing VA, you keep laboring under the assumption that something wrong was done when in this particular case nothing was done wrong.

Bonor is not a common word for anyone or anything. The only offensive reference google turns up is in the "urban dictionary" which is basically a joke. Somebody reported it presumably because to them it looked like a way to circumvent the word "boner" (which may or may not be offensive but I wouldn't argue with a forced name change of boner). The GM knee-jerked it right into forced name change. Why?


That reaction was made with regards to the latter bit about the whole Judas Priest reference and how it got banned.

But if you want to go over the whole Bonor thing again, as I pointed out before, it probably did look like a way to get around the naming policy so as to name a character Boner. That would be a reference to something sexual and that's a no no in the ToS.

I can fully understand that this wasn't the OP's intention and I'm more than willing to believe that it's actually a reference to a RL nickname. Problem is, a GM would not have that luxury.

There will be plenty of folks who will try a dog and pony show in order to get away with things. I've seen it enough times here on the forums: Stuff like, hey my friend tried what's shown in the link. But I think it's only going to get him a virus, what do you think?

And quite frankly, this place is small potatoes compared to all the servers that Blizzard has. So, if they try things here, they will try things on the Blizzard servers as well.

And while some would argue, it's better to let 9 guilty folk get away as opposed to punish 1 innocent person. Blizzard clearly has a different opinion.

Disagree? Then stop giving them money, it's as simple as that.

It's no different from how I stopped buying Dragon Magazine, after the switch to Third Ed, and how they started bashing anyone who wished to remain with 2nd Ed for idiots.

I've got older Dragon Magazines dating back to the switchover from 1st Ed. to 2nd Ed. They were a hell of a lot more polite back then. They didn't bash the folks who didn't want to switch over, but merely pointed out that in the end all the articles they had would be focused towards 2nd ed, but that they hoped that folks would still enjoy the magazine.

If, they had pursued a similar avenue, then I would've continued buying the mag, until it finally folded in 2007. They didn't and I voted with my wallet.


As long as a human somebody is making a judgment call shouldn't both sides be heard in an ambiguous case like this? What happens when I report your name because to me it seems like a way to circumvent Phallus? Instant name change.


Go right ahead, considering this is not a name that I use in WoW. And even then, I could point out that I got the name from a Drow Name Generator in Dragon Magazine, Issue 267. And that's a whole lot easier to verify than a personal nickname.

And even if they wanted to change it, I grab the same generator and create a new name. (Heck, I use the same generator to create names for my Blood Elven Characters)



I fully understand it's more expedient for the GM to just hit the name change button, but expediency should never be the ultimate judge for customer service policy. Because even more expedient would be the reporting instantly causes the name lock and the "offender" would have to petition to get their name back (until people start abusing the system).

Then go work for Blizzard and make that suggestion. Clearly, you'd make a number of people happy with that.

That got me interested since I have one character with a biblical name not in common usage.. TOU says "Belonging to any religious figure or deity". Not sure if everyone in the bible constitures a religious figure? My character is mentioned once in the bible and a google reveals people are still named that, especially a few hundred years ago. I kind think religoius figure would be Moses, Buddha etc.. though there are millions of people named Moses so it's kind of odd if that name was forbidden. I'm sure you could go through the Old Testament genealogy lists and come up with some great (unused) names but they would hardly be religous figures.

You can always try, just as I do with my Forsaken characters. Just have to be prepared to change it, if folks were to complain. Thus far only one person caught the reference with one of my character's names. And while granted, my server isn't exactly overcrowded, one would think that more folks would've made the connection by now.

Said movies are hardly obscure after all.

[Kodonn]

Here's the thing VA, you keep laboring under the assumption that something wrong was done when in this particular case nothing was done wrong.

Bonor is not a common word for anyone or anything. The only offensive reference google turns up is in the "urban dictionary" which is basically a joke. Somebody reported it presumably because to them it looked like a way to circumvent the word "boner" (which may or may not be offensive but I wouldn't argue with a forced name change of boner). The GM knee-jerked it right into forced name change. Why?


You can't say that "nothing was done wrong" JUST because you (or several of us) are not offended by Bonor. It also doesn't matter if there are one or many alternate socially acceptable meanings for a word. It only has to have 1 unacceptable meaning to violate the TOS. The fact that we cannot "see" what guidelines the GMs use to make a determination, does not necessarily mean it's a knee-jerk reaction.

Suppose they are instructed that "if a name is a close match to a violation with a single letter substitution that is not the first letter, then they must force a change." That's really all it would take.

You can't expect Blizzard to put the GMs in a position where they need to debate it with the reporter and the alleged offender. OMG, they would never get anything else done. It's a safe bet that almost no offender would ever admit to trying to bypass the filter. There would be multiple excuses of "yes but..." and "well so and so on server X has this name, make them change too". It would never end. Look at this thread. There are only a few of us discussing the issue and it's gone on for days and pages. Imagine what that would put the GMs through.

I agree, Bonor is not offensive to me. Truth be told, we don't really know why someone reported it. I suspect a lot of name violation reports are triggered by some other character mis-behavior and people deside to get their revenge using the naming thing. I'm not saying that was the case for the OP, only that we don't really know why it was reported. We can only speculate on why he was asked to change it, and in that case it's easy to see that it appears to be an attempt to substitute 1 letter and bypass the filter. It doesn't even matter if that was the OPs intent, and it's not the GMs job to discern intent. Their job is to follow specific guidelines.

[elsegundo]

I knew a guy named Nahum in middle school. thats a biblical figure.

screw your kid over for life by naming him judas, but i've seen worse names. but then again, judas did play a major role in the christian "lore" and would be subject to objection, whether justfiably or nor, moreso than an obscure name in the bible, like Gad.

heck, i have characters with names that pop up in the bible... Aquila, Apollos, Jehosephat, Zedikaiah, Mordichai, Lystra, etc. heck, why not bann blizz for making a Herod??? this naming thing is kinda ridiculous. Bonar i can understand.

maybe rename the guy Iscariot. dunno what that means, but its attached to Judas' name.

[Valas Azuviir]

maybe rename the guy Iscariot. dunno what that means, but its attached to Judas' name.

On the possible meaning of the word Iscariot, see here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot).

[elsegundo]

im guessing that might get you more /reported tells.

[clevins]

Truth be told, we don't really know why someone reported it. I suspect a lot of name violation reports are triggered by some other character mis-behavior and people deside to get their revenge using the naming thing.

And what your argument amounts to is empowering those people. If it's all in the eye of the beholder regarding whether something is offensive then ANYTHING can be offensive.

All t his boils down to is whether the process requires human judgement or not. If not, then write a program that encodes the rules and you're done. However, if you argue that the process DOES require human judgement, then they need to USE it. They need to deny some change requests as well as forcing them.

Those denials can be JUST as final as the decisions to force a name change, so your argument about endless debates isn't valid. All you need to do is give GMs clear guidelines (which, frankly, Blizzard should publish to forestall the accidental violation) then let them take over. If someone reports a name that's not a violation, the GM does nothing. If it violates the guidelines, force the change. No argument either way - each decision is final.

[Kodonn]

And what your argument amounts to is empowering those people. If it's all in the eye of the beholder regarding whether something is offensive then ANYTHING can be offensive.

That wasn't an argument. I was merely pointing out that we don't always know why someone chooses to report someones name, but we DO know what guidelines the GMs then use to determine if they need to make that person change it.

They need to deny some change requests as well as forcing them.

I think they do deny some. I recall seeing several posts from people complaining that they reported so-and-so and then checked to find out that he still had that name a couple weeks later.

... your argument about endless debates isn't valid. All you need to do is give GMs clear guidelines (which, frankly, Blizzard should publish to forestall the accidental violation) then let them take over. If someone reports a name that's not a violation, the GM does nothing. If it violates the guidelines, force the change. No argument either way - each decision is final.

Umm...you're actually agreeing with me. :ponder: The guidelines for the GMs are clear and published. Although maybe Blizzard has supplied the GMs with further refinements so they DON'T have to make even slight judgement calls. The "endless debates" would stem from forcing the GMs to interact with the violators who want to try and talk their way out of a name change (which would occur if the GMs judgement could be swayed.) And there are plenty of examples where the GM apparently did nothing. Look through this thread, people have cited plenty of names that "could" be offensive yet haven't been changed.

[Valas Azuviir]

Look through this thread, people have cited plenty of names that "could" be offensive yet haven't been changed.

Course, it seems like none of the folks in this thread who saw those less than kosher names reported them, and if that doesn't occur, then the names won't be changed either.

Matter of personal responsibility. You see someone named Hezbollah? Than you report them. It's not tattling, it's simply informing the proper authorities of someone violating the rules nothing more. It's no different from calling the cops, because you see someone breaking into a car trying to steal the sound system, even if it's not your car.

[waflob]

Hi folks,
a few points, before letting you know the resolution to my problem.

1: apologies to SwervinCL for the hijack (not that there were any complaints)
2: the intention was to use judas for a priest char - cheesy 80's rock reference, that's all
3: The name wasn't chosen to avoid and filter, but judas, judass, juudas were all in use.
4: There are downright disgusting names in use all over the place, often on lvl 70 chars.
5: The fact that this thread didn't degenerate into a QQ/flame thread is a credit to the quality of the fine people who are here.

ok- enough rambling - I've kept you in suspenders long enough :-)

The resoultion you ask? The char is now called Juday. yippididoo ...

DelBoy

ps Manalishi (sp?) is a good idea - wasn't Green Manalishi a JP track?

[det]

Hi folks,

3: The name wasn't chosen to avoid and filter, but judas, judass, juudas were all in use.


You are probably a better man than I am, but...hey..since my lv 63 warrior got ganked by lv 70s, I have no problem repaying that favor on my lv 70s anymore.

So...I'd report all those other variations and be a real Judas :grin:

[Valas Azuviir]

ps Manalishi (sp?) is a good idea - wasn't Green Manalishi a JP track?

The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown) is a cover by Judas Priest, but originally done by Fleetwood Mac.

Tsangarides is the last name of a producer who worked with them and who co-wrote A Touch of Evil. Also had a hand in Subterfuge, and Metal Messiah.

[SwervinCL]

Hi folks,
a few points, before letting you know the resolution to my problem.

1: apologies to SwervinCL for the hijack (not that there were any complaints)


No worries man. :thumbsup:

I never intended this thread to be a QQ thread. (See post 1, first sentence). I created this thread to vent a little per say and maybe discuss. I think my biggest issue with this whole thing is that I was not even given a chance to state my case with the GM in question. I got the tell, minimized wow to check my email to see what the issue was, tabbed back into wow and I was disconnected, with a prompt on that toon to change my name. All in about 2 minutes. My email to blizzard has still gone unanswered. Which speaks worlds for Blizzards customer service.

I have never reported anyone in the passed minus for spam. So I really do not know the process. But I have submitted tickets for random things. Now if those two processes are the same, I would pass on reporting a name for the simple fact that I have better things to do than to wait around for a GM to respond to my ticket because someone name "offends" me. I will never lose sleep over what someone named their toon. Life is too short to get offended by such a small thing.

As I stated before. My name was never ever meant to circumvent the naming policy. I am well aware of that and I am not one to go looking for trouble. I am 29 years old, I play the game to relieve day to day stress. Not to see what I can sneak by Blizzards rules. I don't even do things in game to draw attention to myself.

[TPMdm]

.......
All t his boils down to is whether the process requires human judgement or not. If not, then write a program that encodes the rules and you're done. However, if you argue that the process DOES require human judgement, then they need to USE it. They need to deny some change requests as well as forcing them.......


Thank you for focusing my sentiments like a Hasselblad (maybe I should name my first Jewlcrafter character that). Either write the program which forces name changes on all the Bonors, Judases, Juuuudaaaaases, Vajinas, etc. and eliminate the GM involvement. Or allow the GM some discretion.


PS
Although I love the idea of Judas as a name for a priest character it potentially violates on 2 points. However if your juudaas needs to be changed so does conventional judas and all other derivatives. The cynic in me thinks maybe the initial Judas on your server had a friend report your names :grin:

[Fridaniya]

may you can call it bonus lol, but think somebody has already take it:P

[drewid]

I understand the ToS, i even understand the problems it "may" cause Blizzard to allow religous names. How many religous nuts would even play WOW wouldnt it be against all their beliefs.
But i cannot understand why someone who plays a game for fun would report half the names that get reported.
Bonar - i see absolutely nothing wrong with this name.
If they say he has replaced an "e" with an "a" then someone with the name - Foner could be reported because they replace a 'b' with an 'f' it is ridiculous.

You can stick up for the ToS as much as you like and say that people should follow it etc but it is wide open to abuse.
As has been pointed out there are so many religions so many cultures with so many rules and policies and traditions that almost any name could be argued to be offensive to someone.

[clevins]

I'll take Blizzard's concern about people being offensive seriously when they start doing wholesale bannage on the people making anal jokes in Trade or sexual innuendo jokes in Trade. Don't tell me you're concerend about it in one phase of the game and not another.

[det]

...not to mention "Dirge" ^^

[Mollymog]

...not to mention "Dirge" ^^

Trade channel is really offensive in my realm. I mostly shut it down when in a city. If it served its intended purpose of letting people offer their crafting services or sell excess items, then OK, I'd leave it on. But all I usually get is lines of sexual innuendo, jokes about bodily functions that have long since grown stale, and insults directed at other players. It's very rare for anyone to post a query or comment in the General channel.

It's truly not worth bothering with. I've complained twice now to Blizzard about things that were so offensive that they stood out from the usual run of irritating drivel. And what did they say? Well, it was the usual soothing 'we understand your complaint and have given our attention......', etc, etc, etc. So I've given up. As I said earlier in this whole thread, if you spend your time reporting, you'd never have time to play. And I'd rather play.

[Dhoum]

When in a city and the anal puns start up, I just hit the report spam button on every person using the word. I'm under no illusions that every person that I report will be spoken to by a GM, but what it does do is clear the Trade channel so that I can actually see messages from people wanting to buy and sell stuff. I don't want to fill my Ignore list up with idiots in Trade, I'd much rather use the temporary (and, I think, infinite) Ignore list that operates with the Report Spam function.

I have certainly reported names in the past and will doubtless do so again. But then I'm on RP realms and have a low tolerance threshold for names that break the ToS. RP realms are bad enough without names like "Thetanklord" thanks. Would I have reported "Bonor"? Probably not. Would I have reported "Judaaasss"? You bet I would, in a heartbeat.

[SwervinCL]

2 names that I saw this morning while I was on before I left for work.

"Likestospoog"
"wettits"

Pretty awesome names, doncha think?

[odinsnephew]

Heh, another few I have seen recently on Karazhan EU:

Heeltits
Holysh*t (with those damned awful dots and flicks above "o" and "i")

and a few "satans xxxxxxxxx" guilds.....and another one named <My balls your chin>

/sigh

[semiiramiis]

Yeah thats silly, its not an offensive name. Cant believe your friend was crying though. I dont know if thats funny or down right sad. Haha, did you guys spam her with "QQ more?". No just kidding, Im really not that mean, but can you imagine?

I know I would be very, very upset if I had to change my main's name. Possibly even tear jerking upset, yes. My main is over two years old, and she'll always be Damaris, and all of its shortened variants... Dam. Dama. Dammy. In fact, my email address is taken from her name.

[tigermeat]

Wow this thread has really grown. I see so much trade spam, I dont understand why people use trade to discuss who is the top dps, which in turn becomes an argument about who is the most nubish, you need this mod, download this addon, you are a moron blah blah. Trade is unusable for me, i stricly use the AH now for peddling. Its sad, I wish the punks would find another game to ruin, hopefully WAR takes the majority of the playerbase that hates life so I can occasionally have a normal converstation again.

Bad names I saw: think i already mentioned "stickysheets" nice one...
also, "Bustanut". yeah, very creative as well...

[odinsnephew]

......and then some tit(s) came up with the idea of Arena. Enter the true muppets "U has 1600 rating l2p blah blah"

/shoo silly Arena kids ;)

[waflob]

Would I have reported "Judaaasss"? You bet I would, in a heartbeat.
Tittle-tattle :-)

Like I always say - "what goes around, comes around".
I hope you never get reported because someone doesn't agree with or understand the names of your chars.

If you want to play a little game with me, tell me the names of your chars and I'll find something offensive about them. And no, I won't report them in-game.

Wanna play?

DelBoy

[Dhoum]

Well you know, I don't doubt for a moment that if you dig deep enough then any name can be made to break the ToS ... if you clutch at enough straws. Some names, on the other hand, jump out at you ... and it is those that I report.

By way of proving my point however, I'll bite. Here's three character names: Brokha, Flosoris, and Relph.

[teacake]

Tittle-tattle :-)

Like I always say - "what goes around, comes around".
I hope you never get reported because someone doesn't agree with or understand the names of your chars.

If you want to play a little game with me, tell me the names of your chars and I'll find something offensive about them. And no, I won't report them in-game.

Wanna play?

DelBoy

He's on an RP server so the expectations are different. Juddaaass is totally not RP in so many ways.

My names, well one is mentioned once in the bible, one is 2 words combined, one is a somewhat famous person in some circles and a couple are Trek/SW names. I fully expect to have to change the famous person one someday and I will not be upset about it, lol.

I only report names with sexual innuendo and I will continue to do so. Reported one named Thundertits the other day.

[Mollymog]

He's on an RP server so the expectations are different. Juddaaass is totally not RP in so many ways.

My names, well one is mentioned once in the bible, one is 2 words combined, one is a somewhat famous person in some circles and a couple are Trek/SW names. I fully expect to have to change the famous person one someday and I will not be upset about it, lol.

I only report names with sexual innuendo and I will continue to do so. Reported one named Thundertits the other day.

I reported 'Rectum' one day when I was tired of the apparent obsession on Trade channel with rear ends and the products thereof. It made me feel briefly good, I have to say. :laugh:

[det]

The more I look at Juddaaass, the more I think it got reported for the double letters. With Juday you are much better off :grin: Wonder if somebody will find a reason to report your character "Jaylo" one day, hehe

Technically I could report loads of names on our RP server just for using the letters with horizontal and vertical lines across, the ones you never seem to find on a european keyboard....

Brokha, Flosoris, and Relph.

I am tempted to see how anyone finds something offensive with this.

[odinsnephew]

The more I look at Juddaaass, the more I think it got reported for the double letters. With Juday you are much better off

/reported for being too close to my pet Hamster's name Judy :grin:

Technically I could report loads of names on our RP server just for using the letters with horizontal and vertical lines across, the ones you never seem to find on a european keyboard....

Those seriously annoy me too.

And I have yet to see a problem with those names (Brokha, Flosoris, and Relph) either. I must need more coffee?

[TPMdm]

....
By way of proving my point however, I'll bite. Here's three character names: Brokha, Flosoris, and Relph.


Note: I don't care and would never in a million years report these names and I'm really stretching things :grin:

Brokha clearly an attempt to mispell brakhah, a Jewish blessing often used at Chanuka. Depending upon the character type this guy is either an anti-semite or a religious fanatic. /reported

Flosoris sorry, this one seems clean. But maybe somebody might make a connection between flower/bloom and virginity (just out of spite). Maybe somebody would object to the religious figure of "osiris" being so blatantly misspelled to avoid detection.

Relph, kinda easy. Relph Benefit Advisors might not appreciate you using their company's name and one of their employees might report you. http://www.relph.net/

:grin:
Yes clearly your names aren't a violation but since GM's must automatically hit "change name" whenever somebody reports the name you can never tell. :rolleyes:

[waflob]

forgot to check back - sorry. Well, as for Flosoris (which I think is a great name, btw), it didn't take too long to find this :

SORIS: Sex Offender Registry and Identification System

So Flo is a person on this list. Sounds well dodgy ...

Also, I got a reply from Blizz, and they openly admit that the don't police the realms, but wait for someone to report a name and then the investigate.

I think that this is the source of the problem. We often see level 70 chars with totally inappropriate names, giving the impression that it's acceptable. According to Blizz, they have 10 million players, each paying at least 10 Euros per month. If they've got 100 million coming PER MONTH, then I think they can afford to do the job properly and not wait until someone tells. Especially as the reason for reporting is often out of spite (he won the roll for an item i really wanted)

DelBoy

[Etrin]

I really take offense to DET..it is surely a shortened version of detonation.
He is more than likely a religious fanatic that will blow up the game any minute.

So change it or ....oh wait I have been reported for making religious statements.

you can't win...this is all BS

[det]

Haha..the funny thing is that I get asked if I am scandinavian when I am online with my Rogue "Det". I recently learned it means "It" in swedish or danish. Obviously a very stupid name if I was scandinavian, in fact it was a nickname that I got at school from animated characters that were on commercial breaks in Germany already 30 years ago...

http://www.fam-hoffmann.net/robert/images/i_0/mainzelmaennchen__det__alt.jpg

[TPMdm]

you can't win...this is all BS

ROFL no truer thing has been said in this thread

[Wintrow]

ROFL no truer thing has been said in this thread

Or any thread on any game-forum for that matter.

[Kursk]

Interseting read.

Quick story on my first character which had his name changed. I named my orc warlock after my first D&D character, Krakhor.

I guess you know why it was reported. But the funny thing is I'm a french Canadian, I live in Quebec and when I first named my orc in D&D, I didn't knew much English and just thought it sounded mean with the K's. I've kept using K's, now I only do it with hockey player names.

So yeah, in Undermine, it's me. Kovalev, Kostitsyn, Kostopoulos. Damn you who picked Komisarek.