Possible Naming Violation

[Macroscian]

As long as no one gets offended. Are we hearing ourselves here? What does "offended" mean? It is something you chose to be in your mind. What is "offensive" to some is not to others. If someone's name is not overtly referencing something against the naming rules, but is still "offending" someone, it's the offendee's problem, not theirs. And the world should not bow down and change to please a minority who choose to be offended by something. I always end up drifting into relevant real life issues somehow...

Again, if it's offensive AND against the terms of use, no problem reporting? I don't see your argument, sorry. We're not talking name filter dodging 'Biilboo' here in the opening post, but some drug thing =)

[RJFerret]

Might ya'll be conflating "offense" with a welcoming environment? There are lots of older folks who play with their children, or their children play, do you feel it's appropriate for in-some-places-illegal, rule-breaking names to be thrust in their children's faces? Sure, it's not relevant for kids young enough to not be able to read, but just after that is an impressionable age.

I have heard of parents hiding chat from their kids, if the rules were changed, perhaps it would include disabling showing names? Or...families no longer play, their kids don't play, their parents don't, friends of both don't, and the game diminishes. That is probably why they have the rule, and why it may be worth supporting the rule to some, obviously not to all. :-)

[Selebrimbor]

Maybe Riddermark is strictly a role-playing server but I don't think so. Like someone else said before this is trivial, and in my opinion kind of petty.

Nah, Riddermark isn't a RP server.

[Khafar]

As long as no one gets offended.

Yes, of course. This is report-based enforcement by necessity - GMs don't have nearly enough time to review every character created. And that means two things need to be true in order to get a forced rename of a character:

1. The name actually violates the Naming Policy.
2. The name offends some players enough to bother reporting it.

That's precisely how this system was designed to work. On rare occasions it will be enforced without #2, such as when a player reporting something has a name which violates the rules. But in general... it's going to be initiated by someone's opinion. This is actually how a fair amount of things work in real life too, so it's not exactly shocking to see it show up here.

People who pick names which aren't terribly offensive (but which break the rules) are far more likely to get to keep their names for longer than those who are more "in your face" about it. Working As Intended.

Khafar

[LaGere]

I of course wonder what level his character is? if he's say lvl 1-20 I would talk to him and try to point out the pros and cons of such a naming. But if he's over that lvl I would expect that turbine would take a hand in deleting his name already. And if they haven't wonder whether it was you job to nark him out or theirs to maintain proper naming rules. Regardless I would speak to him first!

[Khafar]

I would expect that turbine would take a hand in deleting his name already.

I know people grumble about forced renames, but you know what the penalty was for especially vile/racist names in their first game (Asheron's Call)? Deleting the character. This was of course a fairly effective deterrent .

Khafar

[Daragh]

If it bothers you and it's against the rules, report it. Why should one player get away with making others uncomfortable by breaking the rules? If no one stands up for themselves and what's right at the expense of making waves, then communities like Wow start to spring up.

[Nymphonic]

Might ya'll be conflating "offense" with a welcoming environment? There are lots of older folks who play with their children, or their children play, do you feel it's appropriate for in-some-places-illegal, rule-breaking names to be thrust in their children's faces? Sure, it's not relevant for kids young enough to not be able to read, but just after that is an impressionable age.

I have heard of parents hiding chat from their kids, if the rules were changed, perhaps it would include disabling showing names? Or...families no longer play, their kids don't play, their parents don't, friends of both don't, and the game diminishes. That is probably why they have the rule, and why it may be worth supporting the rule to some, obviously not to all. :-)

I cannot agree with thinking about the children when it comes to playing MMOs. I may be wrong(I'm on my phone as I type this), but I believe the age requirement to play LOTRO is 13.

When my kids were young I never played games with any adult material like MMO chat when they were around. That's the parents responsibility. Not Turbine.

[CookieArtisan]

Might ya'll be conflating "offense" with a welcoming environment? There are lots of older folks who play with their children, or their children play, do you feel it's appropriate for in-some-places-illegal, rule-breaking names to be thrust in their children's faces? Sure, it's not relevant for kids young enough to not be able to read, but just after that is an impressionable age.

I have heard of parents hiding chat from their kids, if the rules were changed, perhaps it would include disabling showing names? Or...families no longer play, their kids don't play, their parents don't, friends of both don't, and the game diminishes. That is probably why they have the rule, and why it may be worth supporting the rule to some, obviously not to all. :-)

That would be well and fine if this game were rated "E". The reality is that this isn't a children's game. That said, I do think that Turbine should keep some standards of behavior to stop the place from turning into 4chan but if you think all the LORE content is appropriate to small children, you are really, really mistaken.

If I personally saw a name as the OP suggested, I'd probably roll my eyes and move on deeding. Terrible behavior would be more important to me than a potentially offensive (potentially as in, it's not really offensive to me but someone else can deem it so) name.

If I saw a name like BigReproductiveMaleOrgan, I'd probably laugh really, really hard. and move on deeding.

The TOS is there more to cover a company's gluteus maximus than out of a service mindset. it simply gives terms that the company can in fact change names when they want to.

[yeldarb420]

I mean what is the big deal? we all choose names that suit us. some young some old how do you rate a player?...by his name or his actions?!

[Belechael]

I mean what is the big deal? we all choose names that suit us. some young some old how do you rate a player?...by his name or his actions?!

When you choose your name, especially in a roleplaying game, you define yourself.

This might not be true in our society, 'cause people usually stick with their given names, but when you play a game and you pick a role it's not only the race and class that define your character, it's your name, surname and titles, and what you want them to provoke in other people when they meet you.

This is not what should happen in the RL of course.

[Calico]

Players shouldn't pick stupid names for their characters for the same reason that game developers don't pick stupid names for the NPCs. You don't walk into The Forsaken Inn and buy goods from the "Chugs2UDrunkHic" vendor, or turn your quests in to the shady guy in the back named "xStabbyStabby McKillx". These are character names in a virtual world, not t-shirt slogans or bumper stickers. Props to all players who have the imagination to spend 5 minutes at character creation coming up with an original world name, rather than the Usual Suspects who just jot down the first thing that blows through their mind, adding enough X's to make it unique.

Report away and move on with your game, forgetting those losers ASAP. Plenty of other interesting people to interact with here.

[Khafar]

how do you rate a player?...by his name or his actions?!

Both. There are precious few real choices in MMOs where players get to express themselves outside of a narrow range of pre-defined selections. Character names are one of those, and if some guy uses that creative choice to go with "TinyWiminRHot" or something even more obnoxious/juvenile... I'm not going to have anything to do with him. In 15 years of experience playing these games, I've found a high correlation between stupid/obnoxious/immature names and stupid/obnoxious/immature players. YMMV, of course.

Khafar

[Barrynor]

Both. There are precious few real choices in MMOs where players get to express themselves outside of a narrow range of pre-defined selections. Character names are one of those, and if some guy uses that creative choice to go with "TinyWiminRHot" or something even more obnoxious/juvenile... I'm not going to have anything to do with him. In 15 years of experience playing these games, I've found a high correlation between stupid/obnoxious/immature names and stupid/obnoxious/immature players. YMMV, of course.

Khafar

...what he said!

[Barrynor]

I don't think you could really say drugs offend people, to be honest.
If I named a character "Drunky McDrunk" and it offended someone, what difference does it really make if it's illegal or not?
Maybe Riddermark is strictly a role-playing server but I don't think so. Like someone else said before this is trivial, and in my opinion kind of petty.

From a more personal experience, I was one of those lame player killers in diablo II HC, a decade ago, and I used character names like A_StrawberryPie because I thought "XXX was slain by A_StrawberryPie" was rather funny. I'm sure that "XXX was slain by XTC" is fun too untill its your friend that got killed because he ate the wrong pills at a hardcore rave.

[Aranglas]

He has an offensive name. He clearly breaks the rules and in particular the one regarding drug reference. Report him. It is every player's duty to do so when he comes across something which is against the rules and doing so will only make the game better.

[Dantrag28]

If your in a kinship that enforces RP I would press the issue with the kin leader. Personaly I can't stand people who take no pride in their toons appearance or name ex. Direoverninethousand or something along those lines. But they pay their money so they have a right to be there.

[Defiant1]

If it was a curse word or something offensive to religion or race then I'd say report it. In this case, I think you're making a big deal out of nothing.

[Boraxxe]

To all of you folks in favor of reporting this guy for having an out-of-bounds name;

Were you hall monitors in grade school?

Would you chastise me if I colored outside the lines?

Something is happening here, but you don't know what it is.

[RJFerret]

To all of you folks in favor of reporting this guy for having an out-of-bounds name;

Were you hall monitors in grade school?

Would you chastise me if I colored outside the lines?

Nope and nope, I encourage the latter. ;-) But if you flash underage children, or perhaps more relative to this situation, don't air out the house and hide the paraphernalia when children visit...

The rules aren't there for the few dolts who use the name system to promote an agenda, they are there to create a hospitable environment for most, so a business can make money rather than have their customers driven away. It's not our responsibilities to judge that, it's our responsibilities (according to the agreement we made to play) to enable the company to judge that (IE, bring it to the attention of the "hall monitors"), and make adjustments accordingly.

[Boraxxe]

...snip...But if you flash underage children, or perhaps more relative to this situation, don't air out the house and hide the paraphernalia when children visit...snip...

I respect your opinion, but frankly, how does that relate to an avatar name?

[whheydt]

To all of you folks in favor of reporting this guy for having an out-of-bounds name;

Were you hall monitors in grade school?

No.

Would you chastise me if I colored outside the lines?

No.

Something is happening here, but you don't know what it is.

There are conventions for what one considers to be "civil society". One may argue about what those conventions are, either in broad or in detail if the broad outlines are agreeable to all those discussing the issues.

In this particular case, Turbine has explicitly stated the game's rules for names. Some of those naming rules are purely for legal defense (no trademarks, no names from popular literature, etc.) other are to protect the ESRB rating (T) on the game. Those rules relate to drug references and strong language. Others are to keep the players away from each others throats (religion and politics restrictions).

Thus, the debate comes down to this: Since Turbine does not have the resources to actively enforce their own naming rules, and does ask that players report names that they feel violate the rules, to what extent ought players to do that? Should players report names that violate the rules but they, themselves, are not particularly bothered by? Should rules-violating names be reported regardless? Should players let all names slide on the grounds that if Turbine wants to enforce the rules, then Turbine should expend the money to do so?

In practice, every player will have to make their own judgment call. If a player thinks a character name shouldn't be used (rule or no rule) *and* they are willing to expend the effort to file a ticket on it, *then* they should do so. The mere fact that it takes time and effort (if modest on both counts) to actually file a ticket reporting a name will act as a moderate filter. If some players are abusing the name ticketing system, Turbine will probably figure that out pretty quickly.

[whheydt]

I'm not sure if this is a name violation or not, but certainly looks weird together with all kind of "title-like" name like AwesomeWarden, SteathyBurglar or something like that

Title "like" is okay. Including an actual title as part of a name is not, the actual rule states:

Names containing ranks, titles or denotation of power.

Thus, "SargeantShriver", "KingGillette" or "DukeEllington" are naming violations. (All three are, by the way, real people if you stick a space in the obvious locations.)

[Thorwyn99]

Might ya'll be conflating "offense" with a welcoming environment? There are lots of older folks who play with their children, or their children play, do you feel it's appropriate for in-some-places-illegal, rule-breaking names to be thrust in their children's faces? Sure, it's not relevant for kids young enough to not be able to read, but just after that is an impressionable age.

I have heard of parents hiding chat from their kids, if the rules were changed, perhaps it would include disabling showing names? Or...families no longer play, their kids don't play, their parents don't, friends of both don't, and the game diminishes. That is probably why they have the rule, and why it may be worth supporting the rule to some, obviously not to all. :-)

I don't have kids myself but i have an about 15 years younger cousin, anything i could have showed him in a mmo he learned years before in school. I always figured it's better to not keep him away from RL. That's why i figured the first time he's plastered and drugged up it's better if i'm around since i got at least some experience with it:P.

[Thorwyn99]

U should be flogged at dawn for even thinking to ratting on a kinnie! its a name let LOTRO deal with it what are u the hall monitor at school. Mind your own business if then leader don't care who are u to come here crying like a baby that skinned his knee. Man grow up there are more important things in life to worry about then some kinnies name.

I would think by now you would know nobody likes a rat, stool pigeon squealer take your pick. Unless Lotro start's to pay u by the hour to monitor names then worry about what others are doing for now mind your own P & Q's

Uhh you read it's a new kinnie right ? Not a friend known for years ? You also realize there is timid people around ? You do realize the OP might in fact have a history with the drug referenced, making it alot more personal ?
But hey blanket bashing is fun right ?