Guild Wars 2

Greetings GW2 Azuran Community

I’am here to see if i can get some support from the community on this cause i think is very unfair that my name was forceful demand of name change due to my name being Black Afro Mesmer,i have tried to understand how is that name bad?,im a Azuran Mesmer with an afro and the Afro is black so Black Afro = Hairstyle and Mesmer = My Profession and i have not yet to encounter negative reaction towards my toons names,and I Quote a Line that the GM Responded to me Via Support Quote"The subject is a delicate one. While the “afro” is indeed a hair style, it is one that has racial implications that have no bearing on the world of Guild Wars 2",Now my answer is Why did the Developers Create Azuran Race to have Cool awesome looking Afro’s and not have some 1 who love afro’s name he’s toon by it,as smart as they are i know they thought about it and did not see any wrong about it but i guess that individual person does.

Thank you All For your Time to read this and Mature replies to this topic and Good Luck In the World Of GW2.

Azuran ROCK!

This is kinda dumb, but you ARE right.
It’s not racist or anything, but I guess some ppl that are really stupid could think of the racial stuff. I dont know why they care for the stupids, but I don’t know.
Good luck in your case, but I doubt it will work

What i recon has happend (just a guess) is someone reported it as racist and and whoever reviewed it simply spotted “black” and decided it needed a name change, you see unless the person who forced the name change actully had context to see what it actully ment (basically seen the charcater as a black haired mesmer with an afro) then they’d have no idea.

I’d deffinatly file a dispute (is that even possible?) because that certainly IMO is not worthy of a forcefull name change at all. I mean would it have gotten changed if it was green afro mesmer or brown combover elemental?, we are talking about a hair color after all.

As a roleplayer, personally I wouldn’t like to see a character named “Black Afro Mesmer” running around in my server (the same way I wouldn’t want to see somebody named “Xx Dethslayr Xx” or “Captain Jack Sparrow”), but I agree that it’s not offensive in and of itself, so you’re within your rights to keep that name. Dispute the name change, and hopefully the CSR will relent.

MajorMelchett.6042:

What i recon has happend (just a guess) is someone reported it as racist and and whoever reviewed it simply spotted “black” and decided it needed a name change, you see unless the person who forced the name change actully had context to see what it actully ment (basically seen the charcater as a black haired mesmer with an afro) then they’d have no idea.

I’d deffinatly file a dispute (is that even possible?) because that certainly IMO is not worthy of a forcefull name change at all. I mean would it have gotten changed if it was green afro mesmer or brown combover elemental?, we are talking about a hair color after all.

Thank you for the great responses,i have appealed and i have been told Quote"While the “afro” is indeed a hair style, it is one that has racial implications that have no bearing on the world of Guild Wars 2" but im still fighting it cause now i see that why is the afro any issue on any name when it was implemented into the game for us to use in an appropriate matter and none offensive ways and i have been doing so with this names,i love afro’s and in every game i play and a fro is available im all in it and sporting it like a boss.

and

Zaxares.5419:

As a roleplayer, personally I wouldn’t like to see a character named “Black Afro Mesmer” running around in my server (the same way I wouldn’t want to see somebody named “Xx Dethslayr Xx” or “Captain Jack Sparrow”), but I agree that it’s not offensive in and of itself, so you’re within your rights to keep that name. Dispute the name change, and hopefully the CSR will relent.

till this day i have not gotten 1 single bad remark about my name otherwise people have been telling me how cool and downright fits my character race and style,so if you see my character face to face u will not think is in any way wrong but awesome

Well i had my guild “Sapped girls don’t say no”, and we asked if it was cool the name, and they also said no. What’s the problem with the drunk girls being easy!? Am I insulting anyone or lying? I think not to both.

well im not specifying any gender on my name or any comments towards anyone just a style like,Pink Afro Ranger or Blue Afro Mesmer etc,i can see how talking about a gender could be offensive in that nature.

Ultimately, someone DID take offence to it and reported it, maybe they mis-interpretted your intentions (Like an Asura might be named Mohammed for entirely innocent reasons :p) – but in sensitive cases like this it’s probably better for everyone to err on the side of respect.

Let’s be honest… it’s not like it was a great name to begin with ¬_¬

Didn’t you know? You’re not allowed to mention anything that someone might possibly interpret to be referring to any group of people with a skin color other than white…. If you do, you’re a racist.

That makes perfect sense, right? …welcome to today’s society

im sorry Ryuujin but naming a toon something like that would be offensive but point taken and is in the rules as a person or orientation etc,now if you create and azuran you will get the option of hairstyles and afro’s are one of them and chosen color black for all thats where the name comes from,not a person or anything of that nature but the style of the toon simple as cake and that i represent the Fro.

@DemonCow Your 100% right my Azuran friend, but if we all feed into the same spiral but in this case there is nothing wrong or offensive that any 1 should even consider,this would be the first mmo in history to consider that offensive,my son who plays other Rated G games he uses my name
and till this day won’t say the company cause of the rules but they have never had any issues with it .

Sad the times we live in…..

You should take the name change. You can then open a thesaurus and come up with something like:

Inky Bushy Hairstyle Mesmer

Or

Gloomy Bush Mesmer

Or any other combination of synonyms for your originally chosen name. It’s a compromise, and a funny one at that, if you can find the right combination for a name.

(Yes, I know, my suggested names are terrible.)

/sigh..

You really thought that would NOT be changed..

Sorry kiddo, you got what you deserved..

Dude, there’s nothing wrong with it… Why make him change it?

Lysico.4906:

/sigh..

You really thought that would NOT be changed..

Sorry kiddo, you got what you deserved..

yes i really thought i would keep it cause there is nothing wrong with it,Ask your 5 year old whats wrong with that name and i bet what he would say is"Funny Name Daddy"with a smile on he’s face,cause there is nothing offensive about it or wrong and any rule book,And im not a kid this is why this seems so childish,never seen a name so none offensive get treated this way,i would not give any example cause i follow the rules and there might be kids reading,so all i have to say Azura race uniqueness is the Golems and there Awesome looking Afro’s,and this is the reason why all my toons are Azuran.

Note:if you guys ever need a good lvl 80 ranger/mesmer and soon Warrior(in Progress)/Thief (In Progress), Let me know im always down to grp up with cool folks

Best Regards To all

EDIT: I had this big long rant going on about how stupid racism is and why it’s completely unjustified that caucasians are singled out as being racist, but then I thought I’d be reported by stupid, close-minded, PC fools like this guy:

/sigh..

You really thought that would NOT be changed..

Sorry kiddo, you got what you deserved..

And then subsequently banned.

Reknarok.7582:

EDIT: I had this big long rant going on about how stupid racism is and why it’s completely unjustified that caucasians are singled out as being racist, but then I thought I’d be reported by stupid, close-minded, PC fools like this guy:

/sigh..

You really thought that would NOT be changed..

Sorry kiddo, you got what you deserved..

And then subsequently banned.

Sorry to hear about that,there is no need to point the fingers at anyone many have there points of views but 1 thing is being ignorant and the other is being just plain blind and stuck on ways that in this day and age have no values,racism is the pure form of ignorance and if people are stuck on that note should not even get on the internet but that’s my world and sadly i don’t live in it,reason why i try to choose names none offensive and neutral to all,this is why i don’t see this name of being in anything but a style of a character and nothing more and many have as well,what i think is that some 1 wanted that name of the coolness of it and this was the reason for them reporting it but if we feed into reports like that omg,I know this game wants to set a new standard in MMO’s but this is not the way by being paranoid and punishing good players with unjust penalties like none offensive mandatory name changes,and i bet if the Staff took 1 minute and do a small investigation about the claim on how the player is causing issues ingame and be more hands on like looking at the character logged on and playing and interactions to see if they are breaking rules,atm i think none are logging ingame cause 55-65% (give or take) of most Azuran Toons have a Afro cause they look So Awesome.

The thing with names like these is, that while you may not be offended by certain things, others may be. The only logical thing for ArenaNet to do is to play it safe. I don’t understand why you’re so upset about that, because I feel you really can’t expect them to handle things in any other way. A grumpy player is less of a problem than being affiliated with racism. Your name may have been in a ‘grey area’ but like they say, better safe than sorry.

That’s just the way things are.

Let’s say I’m white and I really hate black/yellow/<put a color> people, finding my race as superior (white supremacy). Would I use name/character appearance related to them to offend them? I don’t think so, real white supremacist would never make his character any similar to hated ethnic groups, as those groups are considered as inferior beings

Let’s say I’m black and I made my character with dark skin (similar to mine) and afro, because it’s related to culture of my nation. I’ve put afro in my name, to show the others that I’m proud of my origin. Almost same as others are putting words related to their (mostly european) nations

Let’s say I’m white/random, yet very tolerant person. I love roleplay and I’m finding games having mostly white content, so I’m making a black/yellow/<put a color> character for some kind of balance and promotion of different ethnic groups. I’m clothing them up like the groups it’s supposed to belong to, I’m giving them a culture-specific name, trying to care about every little detail of roleplay

All those white racism restrictions are pointless. Remember, devs and random players you’re encountering every day can never know who is owning this account. What if this anti-racism code is turning against non-white people (who are meant to be protected by this code) or white, yet tolerant people? This is the biggest insult you can make. Silly paradox, multiculturalism promotion is killing any multiculturalism features in real life and virtual worlds

Even a 5 year old knows that name is wrong.

You are just trolling at this point, OP..

Their game, their rules. Deal with it. Or don’t and play something else

Either way, happy ANet slapped you with a well deserved, name change.

Lysico.4906:

Even a 5 year old knows that name is wrong.

You are just trolling at this point, OP..

Their game, their rules. Deal with it. Or don’t and play something else

Either way, happy ANet slapped you with a well deserved, name change.

You seem to be under the mistaken assumption that the OP chose the name to offend. As far as I can gather, he enjoys the afro hairstyle and, therefore, named his character to reflect his hairstyle/colour.

The name itself is not offensive. However, people’s perception have made it offensive for whatever reason. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a fact of life — people look for reasons to be offended. Sadly, you seem to be one of these people.

The name itself could easily be interpreted as racially-charged humor, like a “token black guy” joke, or a black stereotype. Whatever you intended it to mean at character creation is irrelevant, because nobody can read your mind. If you really didn’t know it could be offensive, I would just tell you that they aren’t punishing you for not knowing, they’re punishing you for breaking the rules, whether or not you knew you were. But it is nothing against you or your favorite hairstyle, it is just ANet sticking to their own rules, and they made an accurate call here.

BlackDeath.3457:

Lysico.4906:

/sigh..

You really thought that would NOT be changed..

Sorry kiddo, you got what you deserved..

yes i really thought i would keep it cause there is nothing wrong with it,Ask your 5 year old whats wrong with that name and i bet what he would say is"Funny Name Daddy"with a smile on he’s face,cause there is nothing offensive about it or wrong and any rule book,And im not a kid this is why this seems so childish,never seen a name so none offensive get treated this way,i would not give any example cause i follow the rules and there might be kids reading,so all i have to say Azura race uniqueness is the Golems and there Awesome looking Afro’s,and this is the reason why all my toons are Azuran.

Note:if you guys ever need a good lvl 80 ranger/mesmer and soon Warrior(in Progress)/Thief (In Progress), Let me know im always down to grp up with cool folks

Best Regards To all

A five year old might find it as funny. Any adult would think its immature, childish and borderline racist. Stupid name is stupid. Get over it.

People disappoint me. =/

Hi,

Please, contact Customer Support if you think the name change was unfair.
Thanks for your contribution. This thread is closed