Please? for the well being of all....

[Mimir]

I am not going through the COC again but.. wouldn't it be nice if everyone left their anti-American comments at the login screen?

I won't say what happened or why the reason for this post but...

You have every right to dislike me or any player as a player but when you start to make disparaging remarks about my or other's country of origin...I draw the line.

Remember the old saying that when you travel to a country other than your own you should NEVER discuss 1. Politics, or 2. Religion?

Keep that in mind and we will all get along as Istarians and not as Americans, British, French, Germans, or whatever... as it really does not matter in game.

This may be just me ranting but I think it needed to be said.

[Dhalin]

You have to admit that some of the things our country (yes I'm American too) is doing, and the attitudes of a large portion of our population is not winning us any friends in the rest of the world, to be honest.

I will agree with you, though, in that this is an MMORPG and that people should keep their comments for things like newspaper forums, political forums, OOT forums, etc. Offensive discussions about anybody's country/race/religion does not belong in an MMORPG at all.

Though, this begs the question: How did people know you were American? Or were they just saying anti-American stuff in general? I tend to shrug things off, but then I guess that comes from disliking my own country's government and how they run things, because a lot of times I tend to agree with stuff that's said. Whenever people start going all anti-American, I read that from the perspective of someone who happens to live in America, but yet someone who doesn't act like a typical American might (or, at least Typical American Stereotype?).

I suppose some of the more patriotic people might get offended more easily though. I just find it difficult to be patriotic myself when I vastly disagree with the government, the politicians, and I wind up disliking a large portion of my own country's population.

It could have been an American like me who doesn't like his government/peers blowing off some steam, or it could have been someone from another country...

But yeah, either way, it doesn't belong in an MMORPG.

Isn't that kind of thing reportable, though? Just file a ticket if it keeps going on?

[Northwind]

You have to admit that some of the things our country (...) is doing, and the attitudes of a large portion of our population is not winning us any friends in the rest of the world, to be honest.

Well, nobody's perfect and each and every country did things that were/are more or less condemnable.
So in your quote "country" can be basically any country.

The point is that comments like the ones Mimir complains off should not belong in the game world and VI should take a strong position over it.

PS:> I'm not American, nor pro- or anti-American.

[Mimir]

You have to admit that some of the things our country (yes I'm American too) is doing, and the attitudes of a large portion of our population is not winning us any friends in the rest of the world, to be honest.

I will agree with you, though, in that this is an MMORPG and that people should keep their comments for things like newspaper forums, political forums, OOT forums, etc. Offensive discussions about anybody's country/race/religion does not belong in an MMORPG at all.

Though, this begs the question: How did people know you were American? Or were they just saying anti-American stuff in general? I tend to shrug things off, but then I guess that comes from disliking my own country's government and how they run things, because a lot of times I tend to agree with stuff that's said. Whenever people start going all anti-American, I read that from the perspective of someone who happens to live in America, but yet someone who doesn't act like a typical American might (or, at least Typical American Stereotype?).

I suppose some of the more patriotic people might get offended more easily though. I just find it difficult to be patriotic myself when I vastly disagree with the government, the politicians, and I wind up disliking a large portion of my own country's population.

It could have been an American like me who doesn't like his government/peers blowing off some steam, or it could have been someone from another country...

But yeah, either way, it doesn't belong in an MMORPG.

Isn't that kind of thing reportable, though? Just file a ticket if it keeps going on?

I didn't even bother to read your post...ALL I ASK is to forget politics IN GAME...Stop the anti-American crap...

Ok I did read it...It was not directed at me...it pisses me off when ANYONE is singled out for where they happen to live...and it should you as well. Forget all the crap that you know nothing about or think you know from reading newspapers or watching TV. To play a game I am not French or German I am a friggin dragon.

[LOVWYRM]

as we are all Istarians,
as we have the priviledge to be wealthy enough, healthy enough and educated enough to play a game together without frontiers:

I say ban everyone
who does not appreciate that priviledge as much as the rest of our community does.

I have no understanding for that.

I still sometimes hold breath, if someone asks me where I`m from.
I NEVER heard a bad word (or THE bad word concerning our history) about my country in Istaria- which says a lot about the players

I heard the bad talking about US in a thread -not so long ago-
someone was faster than I was: The player has been banned within a sec.
And I shall not accept her back in the chat again.
No exceptions- no excuses

[Merrik]

as i told that person this morning.. i have all the log files of their discussion and statements. and one more word about it, he would be turned in for the devs to deal with. not heard a word since. hopefully that was enough. but i will save all log files to make sure. they were told to drop it, and if mentioned again, tickets will be filed.

[Garfonso]

I second the request to keep politics out of the game. Not just about countries and so on, but about everything.

I once was forced to listen to a lengthy discussion in market channel about how you should "protect" your children from the bad evil that "the internet" is. I really needed to bite my lips to prevent me from calling them blimpish morons. Involved in that were some pretty well known players.

We all have our different opinions and the reasons for them. That should not be discussed in a game. Especially if you are "shocked" by something, you should tell somebody, but not in a game... That's what webblogs are for.

[Mimir]

I second the request to keep politics out of the game. Not just about countries and so on, but about everything.

I once was forced to listen to a lengthy discussion in market channel about how you should "protect" your children from the bad evil that "the internet" is. I really needed to bite my lips to prevent me from calling them blimpish morons. Involved in that were some pretty well known players.

We all have our different opinions and the reasons for them. That should not be discussed in a game. Especially if you are "shocked" by something, you should tell somebody, but not in a game... That's what webblogs are for.

LOL this may have been me oops... but in my defense, I did quickly say I would post if anyone was interested. The post quickly was perverted into a (if you don't know about the dangers of the internet you get what you deserve) blame the victim instead of the perpetrator.

Not sure I agree but then again I am nobody.

[Frith-Rae]

Unforutnately, tyring to get people to stop discussing what are really "inappropriate" things to discuss online in a public chatroom is a frustrating battle at best..

LOL

The best thing you can do is if you see a topic that is getting out of hand; or just doesn't belong (like religion, politics, opinions about sensitive subjects etc) is to do what you did - just ask them to please not discuss that topic and then give them a brief reason why.

I've done it myself several times and seen it done in many public chat rooms effectively. MOST people, once you remind them (nicely) that "Hey you know..let's not get into that here too many opportunities for people to get upset/offended" then realize that you have a good point and let it drop.

And if they don't - yes file a ticket with logs.

People forget sometimes that what htey are saying might be offensive or inflammatory to others - they may think "hey this is everyone's opinion right!?" or other such silly things.

A simple reminder can go a long way - and you never know if the person on the other side of the chatbox is new to this whole "public chatroom" thing and not aware of hte pitfalls that come when you breach certain subjects.

And Dhalin - it isn't about what you are pro or anti anything; that's irelevant wether its your own country or someone else's. The point is you shouldn't bring it up - period. Its not a good subject to air out in a chat room LOL.

[Garfonso]

LOL this may have been me oops... but in my defense, I did quickly say I would post if anyone was interested. The post quickly was perverted into a (if you don't know about the dangers of the internet you get what you deserve) blame the victim instead of the perpetrator.

Not sure I agree but then again I am nobody.

Just don't be overprotective.

We all read/hear/see things that touch us or shock us and then we feel the urge to talk about them. I think most people do not have bad intents when they start such a discussion or do such comments...

I also had some occasion where I drove people out of a chatroom by discussing smoking... in the end I felt bad about it, because there were quite some people leaving.

As Frith-Rae said: Tell them to discuss that topic somewhere more appropriate but not in a public channel of an online game. And try to stay calm yourself. Won't help much if you react upset.