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NPC Names That Are Off Color

Discussion in 'Release 25 Feedback Forum' started by Jivalax Azon, Dec 23, 2015.

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  1. Jivalax Azon

    Jivalax Azon Avatar

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    I have hesitated to bring this up, not wanting to be seen a complete prude, but it has been nagging at me for a bit. So, sorry in advance if my morality offends anyone, that is not the intent.

    I get why we have some of the colorful names we do. There are a zillion things to name and some of this has been crowd-sourced, and that is frankly cool. What is not offensive to some, might be to others and while a great dev team has looked over these for obviously inappropriate names, some slip through.

    The one that has me a little off this release is a cat in Owl's Head named Menzies. I'm sure the name refers to the football player by that name ... or the stone supply place. Surely it does not refer to menstrual cycle. However, "Mensie" is a common urban term for menstruation, in a somewhat derogatory fashion. And while I get the humor of a pussy named menstruate, not everyone might find it so amusing. We don't have any dogs called "B!$@#" for example. No male NPCs are named Jig Allo, Nor female NPCs named Hoh Bahg ... that I have seen anyway.

    Please, I am not trying to be a party pooper here, I love 14 year old humor as much as the next balding middle-aged guy. (OK, totally bald and maybe more than middle-aged.) But in a world where everyone is taking offense to everything it might be best to err on the side of not poking the corpse with a stick.
     
  2. Kara Brae

    Kara Brae Avatar

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    Hmmm... I have never heard of that urban term, nor have I heard of the football player nor have I heard of the stone supply place. :confused:
     
  3. Selene

    Selene Avatar

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    I think the pets in the NPC towns are mostly named for devs' pets. I don't think anyone used that name in a way that was meant to be upsetting. Probably it was a pet named after the football player, but in this case, maybe they should change it to a dog to avoid any confusion. :)
     
  4. Cinder Sear

    Cinder Sear Avatar

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    Mensie... lol I like that. I don't think we can possibly try to account for all the slang and different meanings in different languages that will come to bother peoples delicate sensibilities. No need to be p.c. in SOTA.
     
  5. Jivalax Azon

    Jivalax Azon Avatar

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    I certainly don't mean to imply anyone on the dev team did this as a funny. Sometimes terms and names just mean different things than we think they do. There is a popular language dictionary whose publisher name in German (I think) means extremely large poop. Which is most humorous as they produce English to German dictionaries. So, like the guy in a green hat selling beer in China or the complete failure of the Nova to sell in Mexico, sometimes things have unexpected meanings. Perhaps Menzies the cat is like this. Then again, as SeleneNoctura said, changing the name to dog solves much of the problem.

    And while it would be interesting not to have to be PC in Sota, we certainly do. People have been banned from the site for abusive or derogatory language, and we don't see any NPCs with outright offensive names. This is a product that will sell to the public and that requires a certain sensibility with names.
     
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  6. Cinder Sear

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    Honestly, it's not much of a problem.. and I think since most ppl didn't know what mensies means in your slang, that it won't be a problem in the future. Not for this name and cat anyway.
     
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  7. Jivalax Azon

    Jivalax Azon Avatar

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    I am not up in arms about this, but if you don't know what the word means, it is not my fault. I assure you there are those that will and might take offense to it. But if there is not a problem, name your donkey Muhammad and see what happens.
     
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  8. Cinder Sear

    Cinder Sear Avatar

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    I will :) But seriously, I don't mean to ruffle any feathers either, but I'm sort of sick of the idea of worrying about what others think, before it happens. :) it is everywhere in the world right now, I guess I'd prefer it didnt come into our fantasy world.. should we worry about all religions and languages then?
     
  9. Cinder Sear

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    Who's authority should we trust that a name is offensive? Should they be a certain race or religion?
     
  10. Cinder Sear

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    It just seems like a can of worms we shouldn't open.. but that's my opinion
     
  11. Jivalax Azon

    Jivalax Azon Avatar

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    Actually I am with you on this one. At first I was like, "Hey that is kind of funny to me!" But as I saw the cat over and over, I got to thinking what if someone really takes this wrong. Is it a big deal? Well, no. But then again, there have been a lot of people getting offended over something I don't think is a big deal. :)

    Basically, I love games. I make games. But I can't code anything more complex than a counter. So, I have very little I can do with the big boys who make games like SotA. The most I can contribute is to test and proofread stuff. So, I report what bugs I find and if I see something that is spelled wrong or missing grammar I try to help. In this case, pointing this out is all I can do to contribute to what I think will be a fantastic game ... no matter what they name the stupid cat. :)
     
  12. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    Maybe we could just look it up and see that it's a Scottish name?
     
  13. Cinder Sear

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    Hehe nevermind googling my first name... but I know, it's only one cat :) I haven't noticed any other odd names..
     
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  14. ThurisazSheol

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    must be a regional 'urban' term.. here in the US, i haven't heard that one anywhere except on bbc shows.

    i think because this game has an older target audience, a little leeway should be allowed on things like that (assuming it was an unintentional reference). not saying some obviously profane names that will absolutely piss some people off should be allowed - but i don't think the devs should cater to the PC Police here, either. there are some people that simply get offended by anything and everything, (i haven't seen that happen in the game, or even on this thread, so far) and they simply need to be ignored.

    i mean hell, richard is going to win the fight, and cannibalism is going to be in the game, i'm certain of it. *grin*
     
  15. Sold and gone

    Sold and gone Avatar

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    I want to hug you>>!! :p
     
  16. Jivalax Azon

    Jivalax Azon Avatar

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    ThurisazSheol, I learned about it here in the US, from friends who come from a rather poor ethnic background. But, they also bought accounts! So, I know at least some here know what it means. And while I am not in favor of being PC police, I am in favor of not offending if it is something simple to correct.

    But, hey, we can all agree on cannibalism right? Dinner with Ravicus. :confused:
     
  17. Lum the Mad

    Lum the Mad Developer Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    I gave the cat Menzies its name because I thought it would make a cute name for a cat.

    I actually got the name from a Scottish acquaintance. As SirFrank noted, it is a common last name there and also in Australia.

    Trying to paint it as a reference to what you note is *really* reaching, IMHO. We currently have almost 800 NPCs and I'm sure some are going to offend someone somehow if they want to find a reason to be.

    Generally when I am asked about such a thing (usually in the context of player names) a quick check of Google and urbandictionary.com tells me whether or not it can be reasonably considered offensive. "Menzies" fails this test (in that it's not considered offensive).
     
  18. Jivalax Azon

    Jivalax Azon Avatar

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    Thank you for your input Lum. I am not trying to paint it as anything other than what it is. I stand by though that it could offend some people. If it is not a big deal, it could be given to a dog, as suggested by Selene.

    The dev team is doing a great job at what they are doing. I don't even question that. However, as someone who has stepped in the PC poo in business and personal life more than once and had to pay dearly for it, I am perhaps over vigilant. As I said above, it is what little I can contribute to SotA. I mean no slight.

    I think the connection between "CAT" and "Mensie" is where it struck me as odd. Not the name itself.
     
  19. Waxillium

    Waxillium Avatar

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    I walked by that cat yesterday and thought the exact same thing. Must be local slang.
     
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  20. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    Hi guys/girls. lol well I'll just jump in here. So for the name menzies for the NPC I didn't even think of it like that besides I am not sure it is a totally US term to say that. I think I've heard it called mensies not menzies on TV more of an English term maybe but I am not sure. I've never said it so timidly not that term just another term.;)

    I am not offended by it being a woman, but I don't get offended very often. I can have adult talk, if I don't like it I'd say. Thank you to the OP for showing respect and to stand up for women. It shows his true considerate nature. I don't think we can watch out for everything that might offend someone. It already gets too crazy in the world over so many things people get offended about that weren't meant to offend and that don't offend everyone just some people. I looked up the meaning of offended. See below:

    of·fend·ed
    resentful or annoyed, typically as a result of a perceived insult.

    I think the keywords are "perceived insult" which is usually not even the case in many incidents, people sometimes don't realize they are reacting to their perception and it is not necessarily how it was meant. Also no one can offend me if I don't percieve it that way. ;)

    I like this quote and I hope it's a great holiday week for all of you.

    [​IMG]
    edit
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2015
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