Chat Profanity Filter

[N0ught]

Alright, so I was banned from chat since last night. No biggie, not the first time this has happened, trust me. I am an odd and very outspoken fellow. The issue I am having is with the likely reason why I was banned.

 

I have seen this happen a lot - I tend to use profanity frequently online. How you feel about that should only really pertain to your personal choices as regards using profanity. But the fact of the matter is there is a filter in the chat that prevents people from actually swearing. Even if someone objects, they are essentially objecting to nothing - f*** and s*** are NOT profanity. They are words consisting mostly of asterisks. I could even type out the asterisks if I wanted (which I did a couple times last night, as the chat logs will likely reflect) and people would still object to my use of asterisks.

 

My point is, to make this a bannable offense many other things would also have to be considered a bannable offense - words such as WTF and S.O.B. and even LMAO (depending on how far the language restriction goes; there should be an established list of words and references that are not allowed, of course) should also be bannable offenses. So where does it stop? In the end, people get banned because people complain about them. NOBODY can offend you without your personal consent, unless they directly attack you. I understand personal attacks on people need to be policed, but someone having a normal conversation, where they happen to drop the f-bomb, is not hurting anyone. People who report people for this are more malicious than the people who are just carrying on a conversation. If nobody is being attacked, nobody should be punished. A chatroom is a forum for discussion - if you cannot handle the vagaries of human interaction, you should probably stay the f*** out of chats (typed with asterisks to prove my point). :)

Edited September 17, 2012 by N0ught

[Quetzlsacatanango]

Part of the "vagaries of human interaction" is obeying someone else's rules when you are a guest in their house.

[N0ught]

Part of the "vagaries of human interaction" is obeying someone else's rules when you are a guest in their house.

 

The profanity filter IS enforcing those rules.

[M48A5]

@NOught - I suggest you check the Forum rules and strikes for the reason for the chat ban. I also suggest you read the Terms of Service and also the section in Forum rules and strikes, the thread "All Newbies Read This Before Posting". And just an FYI, this is a privately owned, not public Forum. The owners rules are enforced without exception.

[N0ught]

@NOught - I suggest you check the Forum rules and strikes for the reason for the chat ban. I also suggest you read the Terms of Service and also the section in Forum rules and strikes, the thread "All Newbies Read This Before Posting". And just an FYI, this is a privately owned, not public Forum. The owners rules are enforced without exception.

 

"We have members of all ages here, young and old. As a result the maturity of threads varies from thread to thread and I encourage people to simply move on to the next thread if they believe a thread's subject matter, or the things members are talking about, are below them."

 

Should this not also apply to what people say in chat?

 

All I am saying is I can go into chat and sit there and report every person who says something I find offensive - or I can respect people's right to personal freedom, including the freedom to discuss matters that I may not necessarily agree with, so long as they are not personally attacking anyone.

[TheVampireDante]

but someone having a normal conversation, where they happen to drop the f-bomb, is not hurting anyone.

 

From what I seen when I looked through the logs, you seen it was censored after the first time, and then proceeded to repeat the particular phrase in order to make your point. Which was entirely unnecessary...

 

The fact that there is a filter present does not mean you get to spout off whatever you want. If it's filtered, it's obviously something that you are not supposed to be saying in that chatroom, and in that capacity the filter is meant as a warning to the chat users that something they said is unwanted, and that they should cease using the word or phrase in the future.

 

You would've been told to refrain from such language if a staff member had been present during that particular time. Failure to comply would have meant ejection from the chatroom without question. If you cannot hold a discussion without swearing, then you are the one that will remain out of the chatroom on this site.

 

Which, is now the case by staff decision.

[N0ught]

but someone having a normal conversation, where they happen to drop the f-bomb, is not hurting anyone.

 

From what I seen when I looked through the logs, you seen it was censored after the first time, and then proceeded to repeat the particular phrase in order to make your point. Which was entirely unnecessary...

 

The fact that there is a filter present does not mean you get to spout off whatever you want. If it's filtered, it's obviously something that you are not supposed to be saying in that chatroom, and in that capacity the filter is meant as a warning to the chat users that something they said is unwanted, and that they should cease using the word or phrase in the future.

 

You would've been told to refrain from such language if a staff member had been present during that particular time. Failure to comply would have meant ejection from the chatroom without question. If you cannot hold a discussion without swearing, then you are the one that will remain out of the chatroom on this site.

 

Which, is now the case by staff decision.

 

Wow really? I can't even discuss my opinion on the subject? What is this? It's completely unfair - this forum section is for feedback and I thought I would give some. I never said I can't hold a conversation without swearing. Yesterday was my first day on this site. This is way too harsh.

 

Furthermore, I was not the only one who played with the chat filter at that time - did everyone else get banned too?

Edited September 17, 2012 by N0ught

[TheVampireDante]

Today, 07:10 AM N0ught the answer is: yes, in america. and on the internet there is still freedom of speech as long as the moderators are not NAZIS

Today, 07:10 AM N0ught censoring what people say is manipulation - is there no freedom of speech?

 

1. This is a privately owned site, so no, there is no "freedom of speech" here, and quite frankly calling anyone a nazi just because you can't control your urge to swear during conversation is going to get you in trouble anyway, it's an incredibly stupid thing to do.

 

Spoken situations and typed ones are an entirely different thing - you think about what you type a lot more than when you are just casually talking with people. At least most do...

 

Now let's take a look at your little venture into playing with the filter:

 

Today, 07:08 AM N0ught WTF

Today, 07:07 AM N0ught *************

Today, 07:07 AM N0ught asterisks are the new swearing?

Today, 07:07 AM N0ught is that wrong?

Today, 07:07 AM N0ught HEY IM USING ASTERISKS

Today, 07:07 AM N0ught because it wont let me /cry

Today, 07:07 AM N0ught i am not swearing

Today, 07:06 AM N0ught whats im f*#@ing saying is we cant f*#@ing swear if there is already a f*#@ing censor in place

Today, 07:06 AM N0ught yes but

Today, 07:06 AM N0ught i didnt know minecraft was a part of the nexus...

Today, 07:06 AM N0ught miners? coal? :/

Today, 07:05 AM N0ught technically im not saying f*#@ im saying f***

Today, 07:04 AM N0ught so why be uptight?

Today, 07:04 AM N0ught hey it censors us anyway

Today, 07:04 AM N0ught f*#@ that sucks

Today, 07:04 AM N0ught why? are there rules against swearing here?

 

That, is definitely grounds for a chat ban. You can't argue the fact you swore, there's no point trying to... You didn't even have the sense to stop once you realized it was something that shouldn't be said. There was no accidental or misuse of the word - you did it on purpose, multiple times.

 

Any one of the staff would have removed you from the chatroom by that point - it was entirely uncalled for.

[McclaudEagle]

You also don't seem to understand that despite the fact the words are filtered, and don't look like swear words because of the asterisks, the intention and meaning of the word is still present. Even though the asterisks are there, the swear word is still implied, and the intention of swearing is there.

[N0ught]

You'll notice, above, that my last statement in the chat log implies that I didn't know there were any rules against swearing, beyond the chat filter itself. I was under the impression that the filter was taking care of the problem, and that someone was just being unnecessarily uptight about it. Also, I don't believe I swore after that fact, correct me if I am wrong. I apologize if I have caused any waves. My intention of posting this thread was to get to the bottom of the specific reason why I was removed from chat. I did not realize things here were so restricted.

 

And as I said, anagrams like WTF should also be policed in this case, since the words they stand for are universally recognized, just like when asterisks are present. They fall under the same definition.

 

I suppose I have been properly spanked, and I apologize for going outside the bounds of the rules, the exact nature of which I was unaware of. I know now, and I am confident I can be good from now on, if the operators of the site would like to extend chat privileges to me once again. My bad.