That's because you're a dumbass.
Is GAF too strict?
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That's because you're a dumbass.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
Words, like images have power... It's nothing you "allow" it's something you lived through or your parents lived through and so on..
I mean a swastika is just some lines right? I wonder why people "allow" it to be offensive..
Because people take the internet more seriously than you (and I) and are probably just as thin-skinned IRL.
The swastika is a good example, because it was co-opted by the Nazis and actually meant quite the opposite to many people before they came along. So, it's OUR association (interpretation) and baggage we bring to the symbol rather than what it actually means.
Words ABSOLUTELY have power. Stephen Fry on the topic.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I understand the perspective of the word's banning and accept the reasoning from those who gave it, even if I disagree with the necessity to have it banned, especially in the context in which is regularly in my circle. But I've already expressed that stance to the rest of the staff.
And that is why we commend you to the gods.
So you're arguing that it's the victims of bullying who have to change, instead of the bullies themselves?
I realize we're talking about curse words here, but your argument could just as easily apply to verbal bullying. After all, it's just words, why should it bother a kid?
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
But he would be offended when someone asked him "Do you like apples?" so therefore the power of the word still applies
AdventureRacing
Member
I feel like you're deliberately missing the point here. Obviously words naturally don't hurt you but that's only if you ignore the intent and context of that word.
So the word cunt, slut or whatever is inherently offensive but the intentions behind it can be.
Also just for the record i'm Australian and don't find cunt offensive at all (in fact i generally don't get offended by insults) but i can still understand why they are offensive.
I think it has, though. In the case where I was banned for nearly two weeks, it was in a situation where:
a) I wasn't aware it was ban-worthy
b) It was not directed at anyone on this board (actually at a sportsman on TV during a high-profile, global sporting event)
c) Had it been pointed out to me that it was offensive by a mod, I obviously would've edited my post as I haven't exhibited such behaviour in the past
Now, I understand that it's too much to take into context something like past history, but it isn't difficult to see whether certain language is intended to offend or just used as a general profanity.
Perhaps we need to go back to the "good old days" where most language was censored, but I recall that when key sponsors were changed (or something along those lines, my mind's a bit hazy on that topic) one of the things that was celebrated was that there wasn't censorship of strong language.
I guess it depends on how this board is wanted to be thought of as... either a relaxed, open forum where people generally moderate themselves and mods take the reigns when things get rowdy, or a place where it's assumed you know the exact letter of the law and the only warning for stepping across such a grey line is a blanket banning for a varying amount of time.
such a karmichael hunt
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
But always willing to converse and learn.. Or teach..
I'm an expert
Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
I'm not missing the point, but obviously the only solution for my perspective is to wipe the memory of all words from humans and recondition them.. bout as much probability as American tax rates being based off spending rather than income.
I'd also respond to Blackace but I'm on my phone and typing this much sucks enough.
Broder Salsa
Banned
Except being bullied means someone is actually calling you those words, no one is saying we should be allowed to call each other cunts in the middle of a discussion, you might use the argument in that situation but I don't see this user doing that. Insults in general are allowed on GAF when talking about sports men, spiderman or a tv show character, while telling a user he's fucking retarded or something along those lines is obviously not, seems like common sense.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
is there some reason why cunt isn't censored since it's now banned? it's pretty clear that not everyone is aware it has been banned, so allowing people to even write it now will just lead to a bunch of "should have been reading footie threads" bans.
Or the Formula 1 thread as of a few weeks ago
Oh, I'm not taking a side in the whole c-word debate, I'm challenging the idea that words do not have power. That's the one thing I'm questioning.
I'm not a native speaker so pretty much all the offensive words in English don't have the same pull on me. However, since the dawn of my internet usage I decided it would be respectful to just not use words other people deem to be offensive for one reason or the other. Years later, there's still not a single word I avoid using in online discussions that I really need to use to get a point across.
Two personal examples are "negro" and "jap". Both have problematic connotations in American English while in my country negro is a word that black people will proudly use to refer to themselves (curiously enough, the literal translation to black is the offensive one here), and jap is just a normal abbreviation like eng. But just because it isn't offensive where I live it doesn't mean that I'll use it online with such a big group who will rightfully feel offended by it due to their historical background. It doesn't need to go beyond a simple matter of courtesy, just understand that words have power and leave it at that when you're posting on a place with members from so many different countries. Imo it's better to risk being "too PC" than to knowingly hurt other people's feelings just because you can.
Two personal examples are "negro" and "jap". Both have problematic connotations in American English while in my country negro is a word that black people will proudly use to refer to themselves (curiously enough, the literal translation to black is the offensive one here), and jap is just a normal abbreviation like eng. But just because it isn't offensive where I live it doesn't mean that I'll use it online with such a big group who will rightfully feel offended by it due to their historical background. It doesn't need to go beyond a simple matter of courtesy, just understand that words have power and leave it at that when you're posting on a place with members from so many different countries. Imo it's better to risk being "too PC" than to knowingly hurt other people's feelings just because you can.
Indeed, and likewise.
We know it is not the same in the UK/Europe in general. As was explained when the issue was first brought to Footie-GAF's attention, "NeoGAF is an international forum, populated by people from many countries. To maintain a reasonable environment for all our users, that means words that are inappropriate in one English-speaking area are inappropriate across the board on GAF. Usage in England doesn't matter because the meaning of "cunt" in the US/Canada is enough on its own to ban it for everyone."
There is no reason to allow carte blanche on "cunt" as an insult, any more than we would allow posters to use fag / faggot / gay as insults, though those things are all nigh ubiquitous - and not necessarily particularly offensive among those who use it - among adolescent Americans.
You are referring to either ProdicalFlame in the Euro 2012 thread, or possibly Musha_Soturi in the UK-GAF Community thread, and in both cases the objection was not something I had said. ProdicalFlame said that she was insulted by the presumption that she was offended by the word; Musha similarly said at some point that I had been attempting to speak for them.
I had not. As I explained in the topic, I did not argue that any particular individual woman would take offense; I argued that it was an implicit insult. This is true, whether or not one takes offense at that implicit insult or not.
TheGreatDivide
Banned
Calling a NeoGAF poster a cunt or a bitch is grounds for a ban, obviously. But the idea just using the word = ban is ridiculous. What matters is context, not the words you use. If I call some male celebrity a cunt, there's no reason for anyone other than perhaps that celebrity to be offended. It is not some passive aggressive insult to women, and I'd be baffled if any normal woman saw it that way.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
GAF isn't too strict these days. This is a place where many grown men and women gather. I expect a certain amount of respect and proper etiquette.
I also have to commend the mod team for being a lot more consistent these days. By that, I mean we don't have any current asshole mods like a few years ago. There was only 2 in particular and I wasn't impressed all that much so I wasn't sad to see they left this forum.
I also have to commend the mod team for being a lot more consistent these days. By that, I mean we don't have any current asshole mods like a few years ago. There was only 2 in particular and I wasn't impressed all that much so I wasn't sad to see they left this forum.
yep, seems more even keeled these days
ShinNL
Member
While I understand people who aren't sexist don't like being labeled as a sexist, what's so hard about accepting that this is now GAF's policy? It's not like curse words make your arguments and posts better and we're better off without most of the curse words in the first place.
Those words aren't that special that they need defense in the line of free speech or cultural appreciation. Curse words have never been elegant or admirable. IMO it just makes anyone who can't form a sentence without curse words look dumber during the moment.
I do understand that people aren't necessarily arguing for the words to be unbanned, but rather that this is a mere form of false justice.
Also, in this post I'll add my opinion about Amir0x, as some people have been linking my posts with him:
I think it's really unfair to him to indirectly bash him like that. My posts weren't about him. I'm also sure that guy doesn't need my defense on this, but it's really unfair to troll someone who can't defend himself (I remember Opiate teaching me this). He has heated discussions, but he didn't abuse any mod powers during those moments (I've been in several heated discussions with him). I'm sure if people ganged up on any other member like this it would be completely unwarranted and unfair if they didn't show any sign of being a completely idiot or fool. Basically, stop trolling. My opinion.
Those words aren't that special that they need defense in the line of free speech or cultural appreciation. Curse words have never been elegant or admirable. IMO it just makes anyone who can't form a sentence without curse words look dumber during the moment.
I do understand that people aren't necessarily arguing for the words to be unbanned, but rather that this is a mere form of false justice.
Also, in this post I'll add my opinion about Amir0x, as some people have been linking my posts with him:
I think it's really unfair to him to indirectly bash him like that. My posts weren't about him. I'm also sure that guy doesn't need my defense on this, but it's really unfair to troll someone who can't defend himself (I remember Opiate teaching me this). He has heated discussions, but he didn't abuse any mod powers during those moments (I've been in several heated discussions with him). I'm sure if people ganged up on any other member like this it would be completely unwarranted and unfair if they didn't show any sign of being a completely idiot or fool. Basically, stop trolling. My opinion.
Snkfanatic
Banned
How could you not understand that? That is a basic notion that most people learn as a child. Words can hurt...
hydrophilic attack
Member
I think it's good that posters are held to a certain standard. It keeps GAF above 99 % of other Internet video game communities. People being decent to each other and not using slurs to attack each other isn't really to much to ask for.
Nevertheless, as this is an international community, blanket bannings of certain words may be problematic as not everyone will be aware of the cultural connotations of certain words in different parts of the world. A simple solution would be to keep an accessible, easy-to-find and up-to-date list of banned words and memes, so everyone knows what is off-limits.
I apologize if such a list is already available, although you could argue that, if so, it would not conform to the easy-to-find requirement.
Myself, I prefer to do that using my superior intellect and flawless arguments, instead.
Nevertheless, as this is an international community, blanket bannings of certain words may be problematic as not everyone will be aware of the cultural connotations of certain words in different parts of the world. A simple solution would be to keep an accessible, easy-to-find and up-to-date list of banned words and memes, so everyone knows what is off-limits.
I apologize if such a list is already available, although you could argue that, if so, it would not conform to the easy-to-find requirement.
black_vegeta
Member
All good Hito. You said something (can't remember) when I pm'ed you a year back but you didn't say that you would look into it any further. Don't know if you forgot or not, but all is well now. Thanks anyways!
charlequin
Banned
Which is why we keep posting that the words are only bannable in specific contexts!
I don't use a thesaurus. >:-|
I set my avatar to what I want. Excuses don't play into it.Is this your excuse for your avatar??
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Hey, may I suggest a new posting rule?
Those posting "I don't care!" in threads, especially if they're gifs, should be at least warned and deleted. They provide nothing in the discussion and pretty much hypocritical in their notion.
Those posting "I don't care!" in threads, especially if they're gifs, should be at least warned and deleted. They provide nothing in the discussion and pretty much hypocritical in their notion.
There are a hell of a lot of worthless threads (straight up dumb threads that didn't even need to be created) in the OT. People are too sensitive on GAF.
But people spamming "I don't care" doesn't help either.
Air Zombie Meat
Member
"Who gives a shit" type stuff is already banned though.
Admiral Bone to Pick
Banned
I used to say no. Recently, I really, really have to change my mind.
Can't say much more than that.
Can't say much more than that.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
It's not about sensitivity but more on productivity. I mean, what does the "I don't care about x developer finally accepting x system" post provide in a thread about "x developer finally accepts x system"?
They are very related.
If that's all they have to say, sure, it's a weak post. It'd be better if they went into detail about why they don't care or why they don't think it's a big deal.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
It'd still be off-topic even if they detail it though, since it's not about the topic at hand.
With that said, it can be because the topic itself is pretty pointless, but then that problem exists due to the topic itself existing.
X developer accepting Y console isn't something I'd exactly consider to be a dumb thread. Not that what I consider a dumb thread really matters, but when I think of dumb threads is mostly very specific threads in the OT that I'm referring to.
I still think a negative post, so as long as the poster goes into detail, is still on topic.
I post almost nothing but snippy one liners and three line garbage posts in pretty basic English (ESL speaker) and this is what I get!
Yeah, and after they go "ooh" the guy gets banned. I guess that a kind of power.
Not that I'm at all salty (seriously, I'm just curious), but is this what you'd consider one of those contexts? Keep in mind, 10 minutes later (almost 50 posts, mind) was when I realised and figured context along with it being in a quick-moving thread would've been taken into account.
Again, not out for blood, but I hardly think such usage warrants two weeks in the slammer.
I'm an expert
Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
You expect brevity from me?
It's not that I expect brevity, but..c'mon now.. Charlequin, Opiate, Stump.. these guys type some wordy posts. Though Tekno quoting posts by actually putting them in quotations definitely trumps all for "wtfness".
I don't see you post enough to notice. I actually didn't know there were mods that didn't frequent both boards till I came to OT permanently in the last few months. Like I never see duckroll over here, nor did I know Mumei existed.
You mean... ellipses?
Trent Strong
Banned
...
He's not a mod. It's ok to leave off that period.
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