My account was recently suspended for “racial slurs” do to one of my characters name being “Adolph Healer”. About a week prior to my ban I contacted Arena net and asked if it would be possible to change my name before some offense was taken.
My initial ticket stated :
I have been told my name is offensive and would like to request a change. I meant no harm by my name Adolph Healer but it may not be a name to have. Is there any way for me to change it? I heard about a 72 hour ban and force name change if reported, while i haven’t been reported I believe the name change would be the best course of action. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your time.
They responded with an automated email stating I should ;
Login to the official website: https://account.guildwars2.com/login
Click the My Accountoption in red below your current display name.
Choose the Edit Profilesection.
Under personal info, there is now the option to Change Account Name. To do this, simply place your cursor on your account name and edit as needed!
In return I specified it was a character name issue and awaited a response. None was given.
Days later I was playing my level 80 story mission and got booted from the game, upon attempt to log back in I was informed my account had been banned for 336 Hours (two weeks) due to racial slurs.
I again tried to contact Arena net to address the issue extent of my ban. I felt it was a bit excessive for a first offense, one of which I attempted to prevent. I am still awaiting a response.
Thank you for your time.
~Mericc.
Also, my incident number is.
120901-020934
And the responding incident
120904-004780
If you had contacted them beforehand and expressed that you realise that your name may be offensive to some people and had indeed requested a name change, I can’t really see why they wouldn’t unban your account once they get around to dealing with your support ticket.
It would be abit harsh not to since you had already reconised and took steps to rectify the issue.
While I ultimately agree with the ban and think your name should be changed, a two week ban for “racial slurs” for a reference to hitler is really stupid. How is a name, regardless of who it belonged to, a racial slur? Offensive name, insulting name, sure, but how is it a racial slur in any way?
Is only a suspend… your character will be given back soon. It says on the Naming Policy that 1st offenders will receive suspension and a name change function will be given when you log back in.
I understand that much, what bothers me is that I have received no feedback from Anet regarding the duration or reason for my ban. As Prplcheez said, a name is not a racial slur and their reason for the ban is a bit irrelevant to the offense.
It could be that your offense did not have a proper category so they put it under ‘racial slurs’. Or, it’s not for the character’s name but something you said using the character’s name to accompany some ignorant racial slurs in chat.
Regardless, you got what you deserved. You’re in their playground, you have to play by their rules.
I do believe Offensive name is a reason to ban. Also if you read the prior comments I asked them to allow me to change my name 4 days prior to my ban.
I just don’t understand why i would be banned with an irrelevant reason for such long term. Their first offense policy states upon first offense a forced name change and minimal 72 hour ban is issued. I had no intention of them removing my ban but I was asking for it to be at least reduced due to the preventative actions that took place.
All details aside i would like to have an actual response from Anet. Who , still, have not responded to my initial ticket aside from an irrelevant automated reply.
It could be that your offense did not have a proper category so they put it under ‘racial slurs’. Or, it’s not for the character’s name but something you said using the character’s name to accompany some ignorant racial slurs in chat.
Regardless, you got what you deserved. You’re in their playground, you have to play by their rules.
I just read this. First of all, I agree their rules are law, that’s why i emailed them suggesting a name change and 72 hour ban. That being said, I never used any racial slurs in chat and i do not see how my name could be classified as such.
While I ultimately agree with the ban and think your name should be changed, a two week ban for “racial slurs” for a reference to hitler is really stupid. How is a name, regardless of who it belonged to, a racial slur? Offensive name, insulting name, sure, but how is it a racial slur in any way?
I think this name is offensive. For instance if your jewish and this name came on your screen you would be extremley offended.
Tis not what they can do for you
Tis only what you can do for all
This was my first offense and I actually tried to have them allow me to change it. They did not respond then suspended my account for 14 days, which is about 5 times the first offense penalty. I just don’t understand their reasoning and no one has contacted me to clarify.
Well i really like the nick, and i don’t think is offensive at all.
It’s even a healer re-interpretation... a sort of retailation :p
Gl
You may not create character names or otherwise transmit, post, link to or facilitate the distribution of any sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, hateful, vulgar, racially or ethnically offensive, invasive of personal privacy or publicity rights, or objectionable in a reasonable person’s view imagery or content.
The last part after the comma is what is the problem with this name I feel.
Saying that I agree with the OP that since you realised the error of judgment you tried to rectify the issue so its not your fault, you shouldent have been suspended.
Tis not what they can do for you
Tis only what you can do for all
While I ultimately agree with the ban and think your name should be changed, a two week ban for “racial slurs” for a reference to hitler is really stupid. How is a name, regardless of who it belonged to, a racial slur? Offensive name, insulting name, sure, but how is it a racial slur in any way?
I think this name is offensive. For instance if your jewish and this name came on your screen you would be extremley offended.
Not being Jewish myself, I honestly don’t know, but I do have Jewish family members who are not offended by holocaust/Hitler jokes.
It’s not as simple as “all Jews are offended by the slightest mention of the name ‘Adolf’”.
It wasent just adolf though, it was a play on words to do with an infamous historical figure who we all know. That beind said though its in the naming policy not to use names that are representitive of any historical figures good or bad. To quote:-
We want Guild Wars 2 to be a safe and fun space for everyone. Guild Wars 2 is a global game, played by people from different countries around the world. People may disagree about what names are offensive and a name that is not offensive to you may be very offensive to another player. When creating a character or guild name for Guild Wars 2, it is encouraged that you select a name that reflects the theme of the game. The guidelines listed below outline the types of names that you can NOT use, and apply to player, character and/or guild names..
We do not permit names that:
Have offensive racial, ethnic, or national connotations.
Include hate speech or bigoted slurs
Reference sexual acts or real life violence.
Are pornographic.
Make inappropriate references to human anatomy or bodily functions.
Reference illegal drugs or activities. Reference religious or historical figures.
Reference real-life people.
Reference names of copyrighted or trademarked characters, materials, or products.
Use misspellings or alternative spellings of names that violate any of the above rules.
Tis not what they can do for you
Tis only what you can do for all
It wasent just adolf though, it was a play on words to do with an infamous historical figure who we all know. That beind said though its in the naming policy not to use names that are representitive of any historical figures good or bad. To quote:-
We want Guild Wars 2 to be a safe and fun space for everyone. Guild Wars 2 is a global game, played by people from different countries around the world. People may disagree about what names are offensive and a name that is not offensive to you may be very offensive to another player. When creating a character or guild name for Guild Wars 2, it is encouraged that you select a name that reflects the theme of the game. The guidelines listed below outline the types of names that you can NOT use, and apply to player, character and/or guild names..
We do not permit names that:
Have offensive racial, ethnic, or national connotations.
Include hate speech or bigoted slurs
Reference sexual acts or real life violence.
Are pornographic.
Make inappropriate references to human anatomy or bodily functions.
Reference illegal drugs or activities. Reference religious or historical figures.
Reference real-life people.
Reference names of copyrighted or trademarked characters, materials, or products.
Use misspellings or alternative spellings of names that violate any of the above rules.
If it makes any difference my character was a healing spec’d Guardian.
i agree with you merric you should not have been banned as you tried to resolve the issue. Im just trying to make others understand why the name wasnt acceptable. I dont think that would make any difference hehe
Tis not what they can do for you
Tis only what you can do for all
one idea though that ive had that might resolve issues like this somewhat is during charcter creation, perhaps we could have a list of prefix’s and suffixs for each race in the name section. So we get giood ideas for what a name might consist of.
Tis not what they can do for you
Tis only what you can do for all
Out of curiosity, if you knew your character name was subject to a suspension, why did you continue playing that character while waiting for a response to your ticket? Why not start a new character using a name that would not earn you a suspension?
While i have already answered this question i fail to see the relevance.
I made several other characters to pass time while my ticket was awaiting response.
Reference real-life people.
Reference names of copyrighted or trademarked characters, materials, or products.
Use misspellings or alternative spellings of names that violate any of the above rules.
Okay. No misspelling means for example you are not allowed to take the name of one real life politician and change only a few letters? And will get banned for 2 weeks then? (They should be the same for everyone not for something like Adolph Healer more ban than for other stuff).
And reference means that even if you use completely different name and someone could think of that politician then you will get a ban? So for example Raback Boama someone would get banned because it sounds a bit like a real life person: Obama. And same they did with Adolph Healer because Hitler starts with H and ends with r?
That is pretty strict rules here. I can agree with the misspelling if it is really a well known person and you could not have known. But if someone really uses different namens? What if someone just is playing healer an wants to use Adolph as his first name and does not want to use a 2nd name like “healer” but only puts this in the name not as name but to indicate that he wants to support and likes to use heal skills that heal or regenerate others?
There should not be a ban. At least not 2 weeks. Especially not if the person is already dead and probably no one is going to sue the company for this. As long as he is not making some bad jokes in chat while using this nick and only playing the game like everyone else I don’t see a problem.
Edit: And here for example: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/938738-/63908975
I NEVER – NEVER heard of this. That beer they are talking about is probably not known everywhere. And even with it being known the name could just be a fantasy namen. Sounds a bit like fantasy and should be allowed. And they banned him. Thats crazy. Probably should make some systeem where you create your char and have to wait for a moderator / game master first to approve before being allowed to pplay to prevent bans. And if they decide to change their opinion later because they find somewhere some trademark and think the name should be changed it is their fault then because they approved first. Then no ban of course.
What if my name is Adolph and i play healer?? So ppl get banned just because Hitler got first and last letter same as Healer…Does that maeans all words with first letter H and last letter R gets baned if their name is Adolph?
rly stupid reason to get banned for 2 weeks, I hope u get ur account back soon.
I just wanted to warn you: Please don’t use the name Alice. Sounds not harmful first. But this could be a referencet to japanese eroge(pornographic stuff) publisher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AliceSoft
Probably could get you banned for 2 weeks because you did not know this well known company.
