Swearing

Increasingly, I seem to find words on the server which I have always known to be swear words, but yet the server doesn't consider to be so. This is a problem which most don't care about, but it affects me, and is a rule. As an example, (excuse my language) "damn" means to stop someone's progress to heaven. Basically, it's telling someone to go to hell. Shouting it by itself doesn't make it count as a different word. Staff have decided this doesn't count as a swear word. What does then? It seems that while vulgar content is stopped, swearing is increasingly ignored, even when pointed out, unless a player posts on the forums about a player. Could a closer look at choices in filtered swear words be looked at?

Note: Another layer which makes swear words difficult is that definitions of swear words when used as an exclamation or adjective ignore the fact that the person is swearing. Shouting a swear word by itself shouldn't mean it is no longer swearing, in fact, it seems to show itself to be more so.

 

This is extremely excessive. Why make the server pander even more to small children, who attract little to no profit, and who simply cause trouble and contribute very little to online communities?

Look, I don't mean to be rude here, but I think you'd be lucky to have "damn" be the worst word one hears on a daily basis. Just because it has a supposedly offensive definition doesn't mean that it's used as any more than a random exclamation conveying frustration or surprise. Nobody uses it in that sense, so why add a connotation to it that it wasn't intended to have in the first place? Honestly, seems to me like you're trying to be offended by the word, unless you're Christian.

Put all that aside for a moment. What real effect does seeing someone type "damn" on a Minecraft server have on you? I feel like MeepCraft has too many pressing issues to worry about tightening the filter. And, to answer your question concerning what counts as a swear word; perhaps it's changed in the several months I've been off, but judging by the forums it doesn't seem like much has, in regards to what is considered inappropriate language. Generally, the more serious swear words (f***, s***, b****, etc.,) should be censored. There is no reason that someone can't express anything they need to without using words like that. But "damn"? It really should be the least of Meep's problems at this point.

 

"1. Inappropriate Content
Content that is deemed inappropriate by a staff member falls under this rule. Violations of this rule include but are not limited to:

• Spamming chat or encouraging spam
  • Any repetitive posting
  • Random characters, gibberish or nonsense
  • Encouraging spam for no other purpose than to encourage spam
  • Excessive arguing
  • Failing to stop a conversation/topic when requested to by a staff member
  • Intentionally avoiding the caps filter
• Using global chat (/g, /shout) for the purposes of sales, trade, and advertisements is prohibited and should be limited to the /tr chat (/tr)
• Using trade chat (/tr, /trade) for the purposes of conversation is prohibited and should be limited to other channels intended for conversation
• Language/Offensive Topics
  • Any commonly deemed vulgar words are prohibited
  • Any commonly deemed hate content is prohibited
  • Any commonly deemed drug related content is prohibited
  • Any other deemed inappropriate, offensive topics is prohibited
• Inappropriate/Offensive skins
• Any repeated or extreme negative action towards a player without their consent may be considered harassment.
• Any repeated or extreme attempts to get an innocent player in trouble, or repeated or extreme attempts to damage their reputation may be considered slander

Inappropriate content can occur through any means. IE: Any form of communication, signs, books, buildings, etc." - The Rules

So, swearing in itself is allowed. Vulgar or hate content is banned, but language in itself is allowed. Most words that people generally consider to be as such have a meaning related to the previous sentences former clause. However, ones with less meaning than references to those topics are fine, from a staff perspective.

In reality, I don't use any kind of language, but that's my own deal. When enforcing chat rules, it's not about what I would or would not say, because everyone's allowed their own way of talking. It's a choice to speak in a manner that uses the kind of language you mean. If it doesn't mean anything that is against the rules, so I personally have never cared.

There's no need to enforce something that isn't in the rules to begin with, as the rules are fine as they are now.

 

What counts?
In most cases if you cant say the word on tv you cant say it here + some extras that are in general considered vulgar and offensive

You can be offensive by calling someone a female dog or a donkey. But saying damn? That aint anything lol

Plus honestly- use common sense
If you have to ask its probably no
But you know you can ask a staff if any said word is allowed, keeping in mind some may say yes and some may say no

But just literally use your brain and decide if you have to take it this annoyingly far

 

Damn was on the last meep times, that means this is probably going to be denied

 

I always thought of swearing to be a vulgarity, as they wouldn't be used in a formal setting. The other words which are sensored fit the description of just being a swear word. Seeing swearing is becoming more common on the forums, as stated by @Amunherkhepeshef . We also can't just judge by tv's standards, as different shows have different standards. Words used in exclamation which also have a bad meaning are still swear words, even if they're used for a different reason, as the reason the word is an exclamation is because it is also a swear word.

I'm not saying staff should be eyeing chat like hawks for swear words, but that there should be a way to tell people to knock it off with swearing. Does the server truly feel that the most inviting community should be one which swears without much restraint?

Also, it's still a swear word if one group finds it vulgar in conversation. For example, using God's name in vain is found vulgar by Christians.

 

Can anyone point me to any success a "family friendly" atmosphere has brought?

Perhaps it logical to look at alternatives.

 

No wonder I have you ignored. What a rude post, really. Even if you're not Christian, it should be very obvious, you know, not to say that the religion is false as if it's the truth. That can only lead to problems with other players.

I am not a Christian and I can tell you that you really need to think before you post. You are clearly taking this way too seriously. Why not just say that "I feel like people should worry less about very mild language and focus on enjoying the game."?

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 9, 2017, Original Post Date: Jul 9, 2017 ---

I don't see why this is such a problem, honestly. Does it get to you mentally when someone says a word like that? In that case, the problem is likely you being offended by very mild words.

Not to be rude, but as I've said, this simply isn't worth inplementing. You are in the small minority here.

 

Don't be the minority that ruins it for the majority. The very vast majority of players will not find damn in any way offensive. If you ask 100 people on meep, how many players will seriously answer "Yes, Damn is a swear" vs "no"
If you ask 100 people on meep whether a donkey is a swear, I'll bet money that the majority would consider it a vulgar word / swear / what have you

If you seriously find "damn" offensive, you need to click the red X on the top right please and thank you do not be a sensitive snowflake like entirely too many people are today

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 9, 2017, Original Post Date: Jul 9, 2017 ---

wtf dude???

 

I feel the opposite. Chat filter needs to be loosened. Most of our players are older, and the few young members either don't contribute or harm the community (not all of them go, I know a few good ones) We need to allow darker topics and more words.

I feel that if we were to base words we could say off a show, a show like the Simpsons would make sense. There's the occasional damn, a-- (I don't know what to censor so I'll censor most stuff), hell, and bast---. These words don't offend people and are very minor "swear" words. We have an aging community. It is time for us to move away from being so family friendly.

 

Minecraft youtubers which are obviously still incredibly popular and loving their lives.

 

He means in regards to MeepCraft, in which case the answer is nothing. Fuzzlr has stated that he wants to "accommodate players of all ages", but why pander to a demographic that is not lucrative financially and contribute very little from a community standpoint. The server is a business, and the majority of players would like to see the family-friendliness loosened, IIRC. Any players attracted by this are parents who bring small children, and small children have proven time and time again to be a waste of staff resources; they break rules and blame others when banned for it (Nuker2016, Billybob12, etc.,). So yes, the server could stand to loosen on these restrictions, not tighten them even more due to a very rare case of someone being offended by a mild word.

 

Ok, you're right I'm sorry. That was really rude of me to say it that way. I just meant that people worry too much about dumb things and forget that its a freaking Minecraft server.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 9, 2017, Original Post Date: Jul 9, 2017 ---

Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I was having a bad day.

 

lol
ik I'm a complete jerkface but damn dude that was crossing a line
dont apologize to me apologize to him

 

If you have to bypass a filter it's not appropriate for this server. I know that's kind of obvious but it's there for a reason and should be used accordingly. Personally, I think it's fine, with the occasional word being warned by a staff member. We still have a portion of younger players and I don't think their parents would like them playing an M-rated Minecraft Server.

On the other hand, I've seen many times in global that "Meepcraft is a PG Server." I've seen swearing in PG movies. Does this mean it's acceptable? I think either the restrictions on swearing or the description of what's allowed should be changed.

 

I'd like minimal restrictions on the server -1.

 

It would be very hard to make Meep M rated without a few video plugins.... But seriously, we have few actual young kids here. The majority of players (with a few outliers) are 13-18. PG seems accurate for the current usage of words, though we still restrict "a##" , bas####" and several others. I feel we should allow our filters to match this description of what "PG" is.

"In a PG movie no drug use is allowed, but there may be some profanity and some depictions of violence or brief nudity. This most often shows up as mild swear words or mild violence."

This seems tame and suited for the majority of the server and more importantly, the portion of the server paying money. It's the real world. Meep is a business. Should it do what some people want or do what the people with the money want. The choice is obvious if Meep is to last another half decade. The young players often (not always) cause trouble, and take up more resources, and don't have any money for meepcraft.

So I leave the choice to you staff. Are you going to listen to the minority, or the majority who also happen to be the ones keeping Meep alive.

 

1. Family friendly has been part of Meepcraft for as long as I know. I don't think family friendly will make or break the server. The danger is rate of growth. Some notes: swear words are a strong way to describe something, making communication more all one way or the other, with less in between.

A) Family Friendly:

Those who have self control stay, those who don't either learn some or leave. More younger players join. The atmosphere involves less bipolarity, by that I mean less jumping from one mood into another deeply. People can talk and anger doesn't come from bad communication as much, as statements involve less meaning of all or nothing. The remaining players are those who have control and players excited to play Minecraft.

B) Not Family Friendly:

Those who mind swearing leave. More players may enjoy this one, but the atmosphere could include more jumping to anger quickly from bad communication. More older players join. The remaining players are a mix of players with more self control and those without. Younger players are Alianated, leaving only an older, greying population.

2. The reason d- is still bad for non-Christians is that it is essentially saying that the described object/person is so terrible it/they deserve torture into eternity instead of having any joy whatsoever ever. It's essentially telling someone you can't possibly hate them any more.

3. D- should still is swearing, though a much milder swear word than most others. For this reason, people using milder swear words, such as d-, shouldn't be as harshly or quickly punished as those who use much stronger profanity. At the least, a warning to those who use such words more often, and a short ban if compliance to warnings is nonexistent.

3. It must be decided whether swearing is vulgarity. This depends on the definition of vulgarity. For now, I'll have to go with the inclusive definition of anything which doesn't belong in a formal/"civilized" setting. In this definition swearing is vulgar.

4. Looking at the rules in this such as no more work to the staff then it currently does, as chat's already watched for high profanity and inappropriate content. Staff would just issue warnings if anyone becomes excessive with swearing they don't do as much with now.

5. There are other players who care, as there have been reported players for swearing. Also,younger players could be removed from the server because of swearing, and thus they care. They probably don't have forums accounts as much, but it doesn't mean they aren't or won't be important members of Meepcraft in the future.

6. Minimal restrictions does mean almost no policing. @KlutchDecals did an excellent job keeping off someone bringing M rated content to the server last night. Restrictions are there to create the type of server people can enjoy without having to endure too many different things.

7. Another decision must be made: how much does increasing sensory of swearing hurt the majority, and how much is the minority hurt by decreasing sensory of profanity.

8. Thanks must also be given to staff members, such as @EllieEllie and @KlutchDecals , for restricting toxicity. It's a lot nicer to see a thread without brash insults. It's easier to understand, less confusing, and creates the atmosphere that I love. It makes this server good to play on, and avoids flame wars. Thanks!

 

I always try to restrict it as much as possible, but d- can be used in 2 different ways.

Saying like, Ah D- I fell off the platform! Its used like, Shucks, Crap, No! and is not really a seemingly "Bad" word. They even use it in cartoons this way on Nickelodeon.

Saying like, D- You stupid idiot. Is a direct negative comment and I always tell people to chill when I see it. Thats why sometimes I let it go, and sometimes I dont.

Hope this explains it a little bit.