f13.net

For my character Captain A-Hole.

Just remember my golden rule of mmogs, hailing from the play nice policy of you know who.

"It's perfectly fine to /act/ like an a-hole in a mmog, just don't call someone an a-hole."

So one of the two titles I actually enjoyed and played just shut me out for fooling around. So I guess I now unilaterally hate everything in the genre except Planetside.

Is the character banned, or the account? Is it a suspension, or is it permanent? Did you receive any warnings?

No offense man, but what did you expect? They've been name nazi's since day one.

A friend of mine had the name Ron Jeremy.  Now, I consider this kind of borderline, but I'm not suprised he was suspended for 2 days and told to pick another name.  He quit instead in a huff and puff. You can tell he wants to play, fuck, he played more than anyone in our group. But instead, he's ANGRY and won't.  

If the name violates the TOS in some way, I just don't see how you can be angry if you get banned/suspended/renamed.  Fuck, I had a character renamed in EQ because a guide didn't like my last name. It didn't even violate any of their terms but I can see how it was immersion breaking.

Yet I get praise for making the character Mr. Ripley. Hell, I might even get gifted the title "The Talented" from a GM. Hmmm, I guess it all depends on the time of the month.

They haven't gifted you yet, and I have a feeling they probably won't.  Geez... I would laugh til my tummy hurt if they actually took down the server and patched in a new title just for you!

They gave me 72 hours to reply, but I hadn't checked my webmail, I used a tertiary email account I don't check regularly. Actually, the 72 hours was last weekend, and I don't check my mail at all on weekends.  Since I didn't reply, they locked the account.

I guess I could go back and deal with them to get it unlocked, but it really sucks that someone who hates people who dick around in games gets banned for a silly name.

The part I'm mad about is that they locked me out before I knew what was going on, their CS is kinda crappy imo. I haven't logged in the past few nights (it was locked sunday night, apparently) and I wouldn't have seen the email if I hadn't been registering for a message board elsewhere using that email account.

Not sure I want to dick around with it, but we'll see what hoops I'm supposed to jump through so I can pay them to play their game.

The other thing that pisses me off is that it wasn't NCS's staff that caught it. It was some whiny fuck in Atlas park who reported me while I was talking with a bunch of marvel knock-offs. I'll post the intolerant fuck's name later, I wrote it down :P

You realize that this is because the average mmorpg player (and GM/staff) is not going to immediately pick up on that reference, which is why it's not a problem as oppsed to "Wulfverine".

"Captian A-Hole" on the other hand....

Hope you can get back in Sky; I also hope you WANT to get back in.  While annoying, it's also pretty clearly your fault on that one.  Still, a suspension and forced named change would have probably been a better route for Cryptic to go.

I can only hope they also banned "Legolas".

Xilren

Tisirin reads f13.net. Just send him a private message, see if he has any pull. The users from here are the LAST people that need to get banned from an MMO.

Good.  Seriously.  And I hope they're publicly slapping down other rejects too, and I hope they're making a big noise about it on every gaming forum around, because "broken windows" policies work.

I hesitated to report "Pooflinger" when I saw him dicking around in Steel Canyon, but I think I'm going to do it next time I see him, now that I know NCsoft will actually do something about it.

I usually report nude (identical costume tone to skin) characters myself.   I don't need the distraction.   Though I've only reported a total of one or two since the game was release.

Though banning you for Captain A-Hole is a tad further than I would go.  One would prefer they just ask you to rename the character, or moderately tweak a nude character so you can make out the costume not appear naked, than outright ban them.

Aside from the nude characters, the only other player I reported was one who /broadcast something along the lines of "If I wanted you to talk, bitch, I'd have taken my dick out of your mouth" in response to some other player to all of the inhabitants of Steel Canyon.   Not terribly heroic, that.

Serously. Can you really be mad? I mean, you gave them a email address to get in touch with you. They didnt like your name, and sent you 72 hour warning. Can you really fault them for taking action after they tried to be nice?

I agree a total account lock is overdoing it, but I would not lay all the blame on NCSofts doorstep.

I hope you call them and explain what happened, and get back in game. I enjoyed playing with you.

*Speleing and gramar be hard*

Dude, again, what did you expect? You've been around for as long as anyone and knew it was just a matter of time before the name got banned or changed. Didn't matter of Daddy saw it or some punk loser saw it first.

But that's not NC Soft's fault. I don't actually see where their CS sucks because they chose to contact you through an email address you rarely check, though used to register it.

No, I ain't no Cryptic fanboi. They're bound to fuck something up since the law of averages says that as an MMOG developer, it's required. But registering with seldom-checked email and naming yourself something you knew damned well was going to get slapped at some point was self-defeating.

Scrödinger ban :)

You can't really blame Cryptic because they reacted to a petition of a player, aren't we all about mmorpg companies NOT reacting to or feedback? It was not like they were hunting you down, they reacted to a paying customer, and the other person wasn't reacting at all when they contacted him (or should Cryptic have know that this was your tertiary mail account by calling a psychic hotline?). Now put yourself into their shoes and ask yourself if you would have reacted differently.

He may not be one who flings poo, you know... he could just be a lingering poof.

I guess I am curious on why you think you shouldn't have been banned? I don't see where NCsoft/Cryptic did anything wrong.

In fact, they gave you 72 hours to appeal, which seems more then fair to me.

1. You gave them an email you don't check - Your Fault.
2. You gave them a name that breaks the TOS - Your Fault.
3. You didnt reply in time due to #1 - Your Fault.

If I was talking to my non-existant child - I would tell them the following "You need to accept responsibilty for your actions."

Well sure.


Now, if they go after "Captain A-hole" (which is only vulgar if you belong to a culture where it would be natural to mentally expand to "Captain Asshole"), but don't go after the million variants of H.U.L.K. or H U L K or - as another poster mentioned, Mr. Ripley - they are enforcing the rules too willy-nilly to really be actual terms. More like "we'll use this as an excuse if we're bored and want to whack one of you".

Mr. Ripley (as a name) is not copyrighted. I looked it up. Just because it's well known doesn't mean it violates T.O.S. He is not a comic book superhero or anything else. It's just a name that happens to be shared with a character in a book and movie. I'm sure the other thousand Mr. Ripley's would be quite upset if their name was copyrighted and they didn't own it.

If I asked 50 people on the street

"Whats a-hole mean?"
40 would say Asshole.
the other 10 would be too embarassed/prudish to say

If I asked 50 people on the street
"Whats Mr. Ripley mean?"
15 would say Ripley's Believe It Or Not?
15 would say The Talented Mr. Ripley?
15 would say I don't know.
5 would say, wasn't he the cat in Aliens?

there is no comparison, if you think there is you are mistaken. One a reasonable person will know and make an immediate connection, the other is vague. I wouldn't expect a Mr. Kent, to get banned unless he was Mr. Clark Kent.

I have yet to see a HULKSTER/H.U.L.K. last more then a week.

49 would say that you're talking out of it.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd. *Rimj....errrr.... *Rimshot*

Now your pulling excuses out of your A-hole.  Guess what brightstar?  The people in charge of enforcing the CoH ToS live in a culture where A-Hole is automatically associated with Asshole.

Seriously what else would you expect?

CoHGM_001, "Awww, isn't that cute?  He named his toon Asshole!  That man is very clever."?

CoHGM_002, "Yes, we should give him an award and put him in the comic!"

This thread is stupid, there is no defending the position that A-Hole is a reasonable name for a character.  Someone lock it before I waste any more of my time trying to explain simple things to trolls.

B-Shit. Sky thought he was being clever and he got shown by the game that he wasn't. You can't defend his position other then say he was being childish and immature. Which is fine.

I don't think they're defending his position as much as calling you on your statistical analysis :)

God forbid you don't read it, eh? But thanks for making my point.

Here's the facts.

1. I made the toon as a joke, I thought the name was funny in a poopy humor way, something more modern games lend themselves to by nature of mirroring a modern society.

2. It's richly ironic that I got suspended (yes, just locked out until I called them and talked a bit) over something I've been decrying loudly against in most games.

3. I posted it here because I wondered if anyone would catch the irony. Apparently not.

4. Both Captain A-Hole characters had been deleted for at least a week before I got the email. I'm guessing that's why they didn't simply lock out the character, he was already gone. Making the locking out of the account quite moronic.

But really though, in this game I honestly don't have a problem with the zillion 'Hulksters'. It's all in good fun, just like the game. So many people want to be intolerant and serious while playing a game. I myself have been a bit intolerant in the past about character names, like the classic Raistlin clones of UO, and I've recently realized how silly it is, when you can just turn around and ignore someone who's name you don't like. Or /ignore them if they talk to you. I've realized that the only time action should be taken by CS is if someone is actively harassing you after those two actions have been taking, everything else is blatant intolerance, excepting truly offensive names containing curse words or trademark violations.

Call it an epiphany of tolerance. You don't like it, then turn your cheek and continue playing the game. If your delicate sensibilities cannot handle seeing a word that /reminds/ you of a curse word, maybe you shouldn't be playing massively multiplayer games.

Hey, I also make Marvel characters. Not because I lack creativity, but because I was reading marvel comics before most of the developers of this game were born and I happen to relate Marvel characters with comics. Much like I can't see playing SWG without being a Jedi, I can't really see playing some random faceless comic jackass in a mmog, because then it's more like I'm playing a mmog. And I hate those fucking things, being filled with people who will report someone for a name they don't like. Even at the height of my disliking mmogs, I'd never report someone for something so lame...

So to conclude, am I angry about it? I'm upset at my account being locked out when the 'offending' character were already deleted, then expecting me to check my email over the weekend. Standard business practice doesn't count weekends.  But it's an interesting study in how people feel about names they aren't comfortable with, and even though they might see you for only a minute in an entire year, they will go out of their way to lay out the hammer of intolerance.

Good thread, thanks for your participation.

You're welcome!

Sorry, I didn't consult my "Sky's Abridged Posting History: The Angry Years" before posting. I'll try harder next time.

Next post try putting in a reference to some of the symbolism found in the novel "Moby Dick" or make a subtle comment about the newest episode of the "Shield".  WE'LL CARE BECAUSE WE'LL HAVE OUR STUDY SHEET RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.

Wow, Ras. Asshole much? Thanks for the reminder of why I didn't return to wto, though.

Ever think it might not have applied to you?

Thin skin, eh? No serious offense intended, just don't expect everyone to be on your same page.

Edit: Sorry if I did get a bit Boogish.

I miss Boog.

Fixed....

Seriously though, he's not banned here, he just chooses to post at Corp. He comes in here every once in a while to stir up shit and now that I've said something here, I'm sure he'll make another appearance.

There is only one reason Boog doesn't come here anymore... there are no more avatars featuring tits.

That can be fixed, you know.

( o ) ( o )

Ahh, no offense taken, Rasix. I was in a pissy mood because someone stole my hotsauce from the break room :P I didn't expect everyone to get the irony, but I have been posting around this 'community' for almost five years, so quite a few people know my feelings about mmogs. For a few months themorlocks' online gaming forum was blurbed with "...you know, those things Sky hates..", so yeah, I do expect a few folks to 'get it'...


That was pretty funny, though. Trying to not add any more chapters to that volume :)

Here's the thing.  Running around in a MMOG with a borderline-offensive name isn't funny in and of itself, it gets its comedy value from other people reacting to it.  Put another way, it's a very very mild form of griefing, and the "if you don't like it just ignore it" argument is a classic griefer's refrain (see also: DarkWolves).  The problem is that we've seen over and over in game after game that it's so highly visible that if the GMs don't crack down hard - even disproportionately hard - immediately, it balloons and gets out of control.  

Raph Koster talked about this in his "Small Worlds" presentation at GDC 2003 (http://www.legendmud.org/raph/gaming/smallworlds.html) (highly recommended but you need MSIE to view it) :


The fact that they locked you out after the offensive characters were deleted looks ridiculous on the surface, but think about how it looks from the customer service point of view.  They can see in the logs that you created more than one "Captain A-Hole" character, so it tends to look like you were creating the alt, running around in game showing it off, and then deleting it afterwards so that if you're called on it you can play innocent and say, "who me?"

As far as I'm concerned, NCsoft did everything right in this case.  Ironically, they're much better at applying Raph's recommendations than SWG was, because despite SOE's announced good intentions to try to apply the "broken windows" policy, their GMs spent all their time for the first couple of months just replacing disappearing items due to bugs and database problems, and had hardly any time left over for policing community complaints like name violations.  And it showed.

Yeah, it was pretty funny imo. "Dressed up like that, you must be Captain A-Hole". It's not some high-minded humor, just a stupid chuckle. The way south park is great social commentary but also does fart jokes. Imo sometimes it's /ok/ to be silly, and where better than comic books?

As far as having two versions, I use one server to test new character ideas, so he existed on two servers for about a span of five minutes.

I know all too well about griefing, I can't stand it. That's another layer of irony, Cpt. A wasn't in any way a griefing character. Thus my old maxim, going back to a suspension I got in EQ, when I was harassed by several players. After a while I called one an asshole, and a GM popped out of hiding and bitched me out (actually like 3 GMs!?!). That's when I wrote the maxim "It's ok to /act/ like an asshole in a mmog, just don't /call/ someone an asshole." A line that holds up to this day.

That's why I say 'turn the other cheek'. That's the line I've heard from CS about behavioural griefing for years. A name you will probably never see again isn't griefing unless you take offense. I can see if I named a character 'CumSuckinCunt'. That's offensive. Captain A-Hole is funny. If you don't get it, why bother discussing it with me, it's been dealt with and you won't have to see the big bad name and thus you won't get scarred for life by abject terror.

After being through so many mmog abortions, I no longer really give a shit about building the virtual worlds Darniaq loves so much. I'm just having fun playing a game. Until you can filter out /real/ griefers, people who play the game to fuck with others to get their jollies, I just can't take them seriously. It's not like CoH is even a virtual world style game, I rarely see the same characters twice, because of instancing and people levelling past me.

Bah, the irony is lost, apparently, so why even bother discussing it any further, it was just a stupid joke. Stop taking shit so seriously for crissake.

Oh please, we both know there's plenty of room for the MMOG industry to add to its series of obvious fuckups.

Office n00b! =P

My Tabasco is on my desk where it belongs.

Ecch...tabasco? I like sauce with flavor to go with the heat! It was actually a gift set my boss had brought in for me (woot! go me saving big bucks consistantly every year I've worked here!), and did have one bottle of tabascy in it. Not bad, but I don't like it as a primary sauce. My big name brand favorite is Frank's Red Hot.


Assuming I'm participating in the genre :)

I make sure I visibly and stringily sneeze on every item that is mine.  That seems to keep the vultures off.