A question of ethics in MMORPGs

[Count Duckula]

Count, I don't have too much to add of academic interest, but I think Blizzard censors certain words to keep from getting sued.  By whom I have no idea, but they must pay their lawyers for some reason.

I would think it is technically a little harder to ban strings, even those most of us here might consider hate speech, when there is nothing particularly wrong with the component parts, just how the words are juxtaposed.

True, the game won't let you use the L word, but (for example) you could create characters with names like SapphicAvenger and Tribade...though I suppose you can't do so on east.

In real life I am an advocate of free speech, but I hold that neither commercial speech nor hate speech is protected speech, at least in the U.S.  Actually I am glad that Blizzard makes an attempt to keep the realms clean.  I can only imagine what the chat screens would look like if they did not.

Hope your course goes well.

From LavCat: By whom I have no idea, but they must pay their lawyers for some reason. I would think it is technically a little harder to ban strings, even those most of us here might consider hate speech, when there is nothing particularly wrong with the component parts, just how the words are juxtaposed.

I have no idea about this either...can someone wise on this sort of thing give more information?

From Occhi: MMORPG, as I see it, is not what Diablo II is. The game does not reward role playing by any constructive measure, it is an attrition-based-combat-model-using dungeon crawl. And fun.

I know. I was adding D2 as a last resort, but other RPG communities (EverQuest, Sims, Baldur's Gate) have shrugged me off because I'm concerned with real-life ethics, not in-game ethics, like killing commoners and betraying authority and such. Keep in mind I'm giving this presentation to ~20 young college females who'd rather be shopping. I need to keep it simple. ^_^

So much for filters making any sense, you can't type D1ck on this forum.

I'm doing more testing on D2 on what is and isn't censored. Anyone mind helping me? :D Can't say Carlin's Seven Dirty Words, but you can get away with an astonishing amount of medical terminology. (Dibs on UrethraFranklin.)

I will ask: why is it that you are upset at Blizzard, rather than the players who come up with the lewd names? Part of the problem is that what offends you is what some find foolishly sohphomoric, and others find clever and witty, and still others find tiresome and boorish. Thus ever with 'humor' and punnery.

I'm upset at Blizzard for halfhearted enforcement, and how they're letting Battle.net deevolve into a sewer, with a few Minty Fresh pockets here and there. And you're right, Occhi, my personal feelings on that issue have no place in this presentation.

The folks exercising their free speech are also exercising their option to present themselves as jerkoffs.

There is wisdom in what you say, Rogue with a Heart. :)

Is a finder's fee a legal fee? Yes. There you are. And, like illicit drugs, without demand there would be No Supply Requirement! Right back to The Players. Sort of like Pogo once said: We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us!

Finders fee? Pogo? :blink:

I'm including a cap from an eBay auction of an item and comparing it to a stylish, popular shirt at Abercrombie and Fitch. That should make the girls gasp. :P

From Kasreyn: Maybe increase the cost of keys in NM/Hell, and set it so that there's a % chance each key might work on any given locked chest (say, 40% in Normal, 20% in NM, and 10% in Hell); thus in Hell, carrying 10 keys at all times would give an average 100% chance that ONE of them would work). It's always seemed silly to me that Gheed just HAPPENS to have keys for all these chests out in the wilderness...

Or even make different-colored keys and chests, and randomize both, with percentages. A common green chest can be opened with a common green key with 50% chance of nothing, while an uncommon purple chest can be opened with a rare purple key with only a 5% chance of nothing.

Things like this make me want to nudge the modders and go "there's a need here, and you have the talent..."

I'd also like to see heavier bows require more Str than they currently do; fantasy fiction books like to talk about bows with 100-pound pulls, but I can say from experience, they're not very realistic. Not many people could fire a bow with that kind of pull for very long without wearing out.

Depends on whether or not the person has 18 strength or not. Since I only have 9 on a good day, I couldn't, and thanks to my 11 dexterity, I'd probably snap the string on drop the silly thing.