The whole argument over "context" is absolutely pathetic. Someone can have the fucking name Niggardly Old Bastard and you dismiss him as a cheap skate... no push for any offensive context there? AT ALL? Do you hear yourself? I get muted for using "niggard" simply because of YOUR implied context while this man carries the name "Niggardly_Old_Bastard"? Why can't his name be mean old bastard? or stubborn old bastard? His name is as much of a fucking contextual pun and you elect to ignore it. The ability for Sparvico to decide how far and wide a word can relate to something offensive is a power he is abusing as much as the many people tonight abused chat.
Several people, within several seconds had all said a racist slur. I recall sugar being the very last person in the chain to type something offensive. Sugar ended up being the first and only person to be muted. Why Sugar? Because throughout the previous several minutes Sugar had been making personal attacks against Sparvico. That is an example of preferential application of administrative authority in chat. Sugar had also been making personal attacks in chat against Pistachio. Sparvico proceeded to mute Sugar for this instance as well, despite the lack of any racial slurs in that instance.
I am not claiming that personal attacks/griefing in chat should be allowable, what I am arguing, however, is that Sparvico is beyond inconsistent with his enforcement of "no griefing", or "no slurs" in chat. Clearly the racial slur "friend" is the, by popular opinion, most deplorable insult to use, but, as I showed in the example where Sugar was muted for simply "talking shit", using the word "friend" is apparently not the only chat rule Sparvico will assign mutes for.
So; we have established that there are occasions in which Sparvico will institute mutes that do NOT have to do with the afore mentioned slur. If this is the case: Then why are other chat rules that Uther has established not consistently enforced? When "friend" is used, 95% (pretty much) of the time it seems to result in a mute. Never have I seen a mute assigned for any other slurs, racial or homophobic. I have seen Sparvico's attempts at shit talk, and he loves to use the word "my old friend", as do I. Surely my old friend is offensive in some degree? If the name "spookyghost_whocarriesatorch" alludes to
"racist ideology and the lynching of African Americans"
then why is using the direct word "my old friend" okay? Homosexuals have been murdered, tortured, and prosecuted thousands of years before the modern racial demographic was established, and were still being persecuted in First World countries decades after blacks received the right to vote in the U.S. Yea, that sounds intense right so "my old friend" shouldn't be allowed, right? Apparently not.
I'm sure, just as I defend my use of slurs in chat, Sparvico and others would defend their use of "my old friend" by saying "ERHUEHA EA MY SHIT TALK IS SO BAD EEE E my old friend MEANS A BUNDLE OF STICK IEHFIUAHTUIOAEHIUH IM BALD EIHT UATHOA". Well you can't "Substitute[ing] a slur with a synonym that's not outright offensive" can you?
Racial slurs against whites and hispanics are never enforced. I literally created a character called "honkyhuntertron9000" and it was approved by Sparvico. For fuck's sake no person honestly finds Honky offensive. I don't. But the rules stand, regardless of how we find it unoffensive. UTHER: "NOT OK: Intentionally using racial slurs, like friend, chink, cracker, jap and so on, towards any player, admin, between friends, towards groups of people". I find the use of "friend" as offensive as I find the use of "my old friend" or "honky" or "gook". None of them offend me, personally, yet all are still considered offensive, YET they are not treated equally (dictionary civil rights here??). 9% of the US population (according to a quick google) identifies as LGBTQ+, while 14% are Black-Americans. If another 6 percent of Americans identified as homosexual, would "my old friend" begin to carry the same mute-earning weight in chat that "friend" currently does?
The only slurs I ever seen warrant a mute have been "friend" and "chink".
Like Jesus, Sparvico, stop acting as if you are the robot admin just doing your job. You pick and choose when and where you wish to intervene. If "friend" and Sugar's direct, personal attacks at Pistachio (or any player sending personal attacks against ANY other player, for that matter) warrant mutes, then why the fuck does the use of "my old friend", or "cracker", (which someone did use "cracker" as a pejorative this night) or telling EU players that they aren't wanted in NA servers and need to leave (which also happened tonight. EU players are a -group of people-) not require equal consistent enforcement?
Enforce the rules thoroughly and to the letter, or don't enforce them at all. Stop pretending you are doing the mod justice and defending yourself with quotes from official Chat Guidelines while you contradict yourself and the rules everyday in-game by ignoring any minor offense just because it doesn't carry an offensive weight of your liking.
