Profanity filter in zoo naming?
- Thread starter Roxxsmom
- Start date
Goodness! The profanity filter has the dirtiest mind I've ever seen. Even a class of seventh graders would be unlikely to snicker over the "naughty bit" in Saltwater.
I think I see it then with "clASSic," as that's a crass slang term for an anatomical part (in the US). It is also a word for a donkey, and as such it is sometimes used as an insult for being silly without referencing one's hind end.
As "naughty" words go it's not considered all that bad these days.
Classic is also the name of one of their architectural themes in the game, which is why I wanted to put it in the zoo name.
What are they going to do if they ever, um, have an African Wild A__ in the game?
I think I see it then with "clASSic," as that's a crass slang term for an anatomical part (in the US). It is also a word for a donkey, and as such it is sometimes used as an insult for being silly without referencing one's hind end.
As "naughty" words go it's not considered all that bad these days.
Classic is also the name of one of their architectural themes in the game, which is why I wanted to put it in the zoo name.
What are they going to do if they ever, um, have an African Wild A__ in the game?
How about the well-known Cumberland Gap that gets the fail in the filter?
When I've had the Idea for a Zoo without any Guests, I wanted to name it Welt ohne Menschen (german for World without Humans) and there was also some Problem and I have no clue what it could've been
I want a Easteregg where the Education Speaker always makes a Beep at some Point while it's connected to this Species
In all seriousness, it shouldn't be that hard to design a filter that knows the difference between words that are offensive on their own vs. parts of words that are not problematic. I don't think I've encountered a profanity filter that is this, ah, obtuse for a couple of decades. Seems like one could even make one that picks out contextual differences with a particular word.
I can't help but think of that old cartoon Beavis and B---head (Is b--- considered a bad word here) where they snicker and say, "He said _________" heh, heh, heh.
I can't help but think of that old cartoon Beavis and B---head (Is b--- considered a bad word here) where they snicker and say, "He said _________" heh, heh, heh.
I'm imagining someone trying to open Big Bass National Park and being confused because they can't open their Park that's named after a FishIt's rediculously easy to implement, which makes me think it has to do with some industry standard for a PG rating rather than laziness of the developers, as it literally means ~2 more lines of code to fix this.
Many games have the same problem. Maybe it isn't sooo easy to implement....
But AFAIK, some of these words are allowed with PG. In movies, at least. I know rules differ between countries, though, and it can be confusing to draw a line. I've done a bit of forum moderating, and oh the arguments over whether a word is actually offensive and which words are MOST offensive, even between British or American English (there is a word that can be a woman's name in the US that is a fairly rude slang term for certain body parts in the UK), or regional differences within a country regarding which words are most offensive.
But note that in movies, words like classic, cumberland gap and so on would not be banned.
It could also be a matter of the squeaky wheel getting the oil, and if even a handful of people complain about a word like ClASSic, or if someone finds a "clever" way to name their zoo that uses a legitimate word in a not so "nice" way, they decide this is why none of us can have nice things.
Game filters are extremely .... strict. It's to do with the way that live chat folks try and get around them in various ways combined with a certain sub population of annoying adults who think that games are tools of the devil, and any little issue that is going to poison the minds of Youth, draws a lot of negative attention. It's easier for the game developers, when making all ages games, to simply blanket ban anything that could even remotely be construed as obscene or Bad For Children.