WARNING: NSFW
ArenaNet is working hard to keep Guild Wars 2 (GW2) a polite, respectable place to kill your enemies and humiliate your opponents’ entire server. Since its August 25 pre-launch, ArenaNet has given players three-day suspensions for offensive names and chat. To clarify their reasons for suspension, ArenaNet has set up a Reddit thread to discuss their policies. And in a move that I can only describe as hilarious, the company has been calling out banned players for their offenses.
It turns out that most of them haven’t been banned for offensive names but for offensive speech.
Here’s how it’s currently working: Redditors have posted to the thread asking to know exactly why they’ve been suspended, and ArenaNet has researched and responded.
Redditor gamer_vice, whose in-game name is Vice, was banned for “not OK” chat. gamer_vice had told another player, “shut the fuck up with non-english, geez >.< ”
Redditor Clouce wrote, “Hi, my in game name is Clouce and I was banned for inappropriate behavior. I think its because I said boner… but I am not sure.” ArenaNet let him–and all of Reddit–know that it was because Clouce wrote, “Oh I am gonna break dance on your anal intercorse.”
Redditor MolestingSandwich also wanted to know why he was banned. ArenaNet posted the offensive language: “he probably was gay so they banned him due to gay.” (In one of the Internet’s funnier disses, Redditor Jegorex was quick to point out, “Looks like you got yourself banned due to ‘gay.’”)
Less than .001% of GW2′s one million players have been banned. However, some of them do include names that go against ArenaNet’s naming policy. These names include “Adolph Critler,” “niegromancer,” and “Keira Knightley.”
Others still have been banned not because of offensive speech but because their accounts have been hacked. (If you’ve been banned in GW2, you might want to contact customer support to clarify.)
A few Redditors have taken offense at GW2′s offense policy, mainly because it they consider it unclear. To explain it plainly, Redditor Fleshgrinder wrote, “This is a very simple concept… ‘[F]uck’ is fine. ‘Fuck you!’ however is not.’”
Also, these bans are not without flaws. Redditor ryanjewell said his name, “Ryan Jewell” was likely banned because it includes “Jew.” Gay players are having problems putting the word “gay” in their character names.
Then there’s the word “negro.” An offensive word in English, the word also means “black” in Spanish. You’re a Spanish-speaking player who wants to name your deadly female assassin Black Beauty? You can’t–at least not yet. However, ArenaNet wrote, “It’s a difficult situation, but I was speaking with our Localization Specialist for Spanish about that very word. We’re going to work on the filter and try to make it more specific, so that words can be allowed in the languages in which they are harmless.”
But for the most part, the bans have been welcomed, even by Redditor, stakemeout, also known as the former Adolf Critler. “I thought it was funny, it was most definitely stupid and offensive, and I have now learned my lesson. I think this punishment is fair and I can’t wait to get back in game and start fresh. Keep up the good work!”
I applaud ArenaNet for their policy, which makes GW2 “safe for work.” Except that you really, really shouldn’t be playing GW2 at the office.
Thanks to Daniel Nye Griffiths.