Racist Account Names

[Palsgraf]

This is in response to the "off topic" discussion that was going on in the ban appeal here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6281&start=10

While it may have been off-topic in the ban appeal, I think it is important to have a discussion. Some mods feel that punishing people for these account names is draconian - and they have a point. But there is a counter-point, and I will lay it out below.

I am not black, but if I were I know I would be unhappy playing with or against someone with the name "Ilynchblacks" or "Ikillblacks". The same goes for names like "meinkampf" (if I were jewish) or "aznsarefags" (if I were asian). People with racist account names tend to be the worst in the community--often flaming, leaving and maphacking. But on top of that, these names violate the spirit of ENT itself.

From uakf.b:

Our mission is two-fold. First, we of course aim to provide the best free-to-use Warcraft III hosting service. Moreover, though, we hope to establish an active and friendly gaming community that makes players feel at home.

(See ENT rules: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3)

For emphasis: "an active and friendly gaming community that makes players feel at home.

These names are a form of flaming in itself, and undermine the stated mission of ENT (not to mention the ENT rule against "Excessive Racism/Extreme Impoliteness"). They were picked by players with the purpose of offending others, and the message the names send is clear: "you are not welcome." Racist account names cannot be dealt with the !ignore command. A black, asian, gay, jewish or you-name-it player has to see this name the entire game - regardless of what is said in chat.

I believe the names should be purged from the community with a policy of permanently banning the names. The ban would only apply to the name itself -- leaving players on the violating IP free to make a new account name that is not bigoted. If they then break a rule with their new name, they can be banned based on IP for the appropriate period of time - just as anyone else.

To be sure, this policy is not a panacea for all bigoted conduct on ENT - but it would go a long way to fostering "an active and friendly gaming community that makes players feel at home."

Please feel free to weigh in and give your opinion.

EDIT:

I see that there was already a discussion and poll on the matter here: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=5405&p=23861&hilit=racist&sid=e82de872a17988b86a53a065167532e8#p23861

First, the make up of the mods has changed since this discussion, and it would be good to hear new voices on the matter. Second, the vote to ban excessive racism actually passed. The fact that it wasn't implemented is neither here nor there -- but it is important to note that the majority is in favor of something like this.

[karasu.]

Oh you're the attorney, well I'll argue with you after I finish my workout lol. Till then any other mods feel free to weigh in.

[EdgeOfChaos]

Yeah, I agree. Racist account names are still a form of racism, which ENT bans for. Those names should not be allowed.

I think that if someone is found that their username is unacceptable, should have to make a new account, which their old stats could be transferred to. That's a fair way of handling it.

[Palsgraf]

I think that if someone is found that their username is unacceptable, should have to make a new account, which their old stats could be transferred to. That's a fair way of handling it.

This is actually a good idea. It would encourage respect within the ENT community in a non-draconian manner. People who have had racist accounts for a long time need not worry about their stats.

However, there are some who simply create new racist accounts for the purpose of flaming. They may even have a non-racist name as their main account name where they actually care about stats. In these cases, if it were possible to match the IP of a long-standing player with a new racist account, the IP should be banned for a short period of time -- just as if they had played under their normal name and excessively flamed during a game.

[karasu.]

Why not compare this with other communities and see how the idea adds up outside of ENT? Quite frankly I'm against this but I respect you guy's right to an opinion. Me being against this does not make me racist in any way, shape, or form but I'm against it nonetheless.

Feasibly of course if you feel that strongly about it, then you would want to compare with other communities.

[teller55]

My only thought on this is this: you are dealing with a game, where the maturity of said users is sub-par, you can expect these kinds of things from some users.

Secondly, you would have to come up with every possible combination of derogatory word with every type of symbol that could get around it. It's not possible which is why Blizzard doesn't. It's not necessarily that they don't care, it's that it's impossible unless they made an approval process that every new user account had to be approved by them before it was allowed onto the server.

If accepted, this would have to be on a case by case basis and would be a huge headache of trying to monitor everyone's username that ever plays on ENT.

[Palsgraf]

In response to teller55

you would have to come up with every possible combination of derogatory word with every type of symbol that could get around it

I know that it is not feasible to block every racist name. I am only suggesting that it be a bannable offense to play with such a name. That is, people would have to report the account in the same way they would report a player for excessive racism and flaming in game -- with a ban request.

These requests would be the easiest to process because there is no replay to look at or chat log to peruse. All you need to do is glance at the account name and ban. Simple and elegant.

Again, this is not a panacea for all offensive conduct, but it's a big step in the right direction and in the spirit of ENT's mission.

[karasu.]

You also have to take into account that dozens of people have names like this, if you banned for racist or offensive names we would get swamped with appeals. Racist names will offend that targeted group of people no matter what, but I feel if they haven't verbally assaulted anyone or broken a rule that they should not be banned.

[teller55]

Right, but "offensive" is a very gray area, which as an attorney I'm sure you know. For instance, if someone made a username "blacksrock" and he is black himself or has black friends, it may not be offensive to him or to his friends, but it may offend someone. Or millions of other examples that could be offensive to one person but no one else. Someone could say "Your name offends me palsgraf because it has graf in it which reminds me of graph paper and I was raped once by a piece of graph paper and it now offends me." (Obviously a huge over-exaggeration, but you get the picture.)

Some people in the US get really anal about "politically correctness" and I'm sure it gives you a ton of work as an attorney, but personally I believe it's a load of crap and there is far too much gray area to effectively enforce anything.

In my opinion, there is too much he-said-she-said involved with "politically correctness" especially in a game setting.

(EDIT: My post was in response to pals's not karasu, just fyi)

[karasu.]

Oh teller, either way I agree with you 100%. Your words are very wise.

[EdgeOfChaos]

You can't know every name that would be in violation to this, so you would have to rely on the judgment of the moderators, but ENT already does rely on the judgment of moderators for things like choosing time for bans. If a certain moderator is making bad judgments or abusing power, that person would be told to stop, or demoted.

Also, the excessive racism rule is, in the first place, subjective. The same arguments could be made about that policy. Yet, the majority want it. (Shown by the poll)

Why would it be OK to go into a game with the name "IHateNiggers" or something like it, but not OK to go into a game with a normal name and repeat the same in chat? The second would be a violation of excessive racism, but the first would be just fine with the ENT rules right now. It doesn't seem right that naming yourself something offensive is an easy way to get around the ENT racism policy.

[karasu.]

You couldn't go into the game with IHateNiggers, it would have to be nlggers with an L.

[Palsgraf]

Right, but "offensive" is a very gray area, which as an attorney I'm sure you know. For instance, if someone made a username "blacksrock" and he is black himself or has black friends, it may not be offensive to him or to his friends, but it may offend someone.

I only propose to ban names that are patently bigoted. To take your example - "blacksrock" could really only be construed as offensive if the person behind the name was white and was being facetious. Of course, for that to come out there would have to be some discussion in game indicating that this person doesn't really believe in his own name and that he really believes the opposite. Thus, this name would not be patently bigoted, as you would need additional context to understand the intended message.

On the other hand, a name like "Ilynchblacks" or "meinkampf" is patently bigoted. You do not need to ask any questions to understand the meaning behind these names. Aside from the racial undertones of the word "lynch" itself, lynching is basically just killing. The intended message is that they kill a specific group of people based on the color of their skin. The same goes for meinkampf, which was Hitler's manifesto. These names are patently bigoted.

To be sure, people may be offended by the use of "potty" words like penis or balls - but those are not patently bigoted. There is no racial undertone. It does not target minorities. They are just silly words that a particularly uptight person might be offended by. But offense is really not what we're banning here. We're banning the names that are purposely chosen to make others feel unwelcome -- which is the nature of bigoted language.

I do not think this is as gray as you make it out to be. If you need additional context to understand why it is offensive, it is not in violation. If it is clear on its face, it is in violation.

[teller55]

I suppose, I just feel it will be more of a "Wow, that guy killed me 3 times in row, oh, his name looks a little offensive to some minority group I'm not a part of. I know ENT bans offensive names so I'll just put in a Ban Request even though the real reason is because he killed me."

Regardless it may be warranted to you, a must-always-be-politically-correct type person (as an attorney, you kind of have to be, no offense to you) but I feel it will be more of an attack-back, vs. that really "offends" me.

[Palsgraf]

I feel it will be more of an attack-back, vs. that really "offends" me.

I understand that, but the same can be said for someone who was killed three times and then submits a ban request for flaming, though his motivation for submitting the ban is revenge. A rule violation is a rule violation.

In any event, the only penalty is a name ban -- not an IP ban. And that's only if we find it to be patently bigoted. The violator is free to change his account name and have his stats transferred - so really all this "vengeful" reporter is doing is helping us weed out the bad account names.

I just do not think the parade of horribles you (teller) and karasu are likely to occur if this is implemented.