Dear Devs: Please make another pass at restricting offensive names

The amount of people lately with blatantly offensive names is too high. Every time I find one terrible enough to report, I notice that the same name and variants exist on pretty much every data center\server.

Report and move on. The GMs are quite good at cleaning those up.

The Scunthorpe problem makes automated restriction too hard.

Just one example of a name I've reported and seen nothing happen:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...lang=fr&order=

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Originally Posted by Doki

Just one example of a name I've reported and seen nothing happen:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...lang=fr&order=

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So you are broadly searching the term 'fetus' and want them all banned.

I had the name Dixie Normous, which was just a pun from an old Austin Powers movie, all it takes is a few snowflakes and those names would disappear real fast.

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Originally Posted by Doki

Just one example of a name I've reported and seen nothing happen

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So, from the names you highlight, it looks like you are not seeing the name in world but searching through lodestone and reporting ones that offend you?

Did you notice how they are low level and level 80 names? That means they have most likely not yet logged in to see the forced change. So lodestone stays with the old name until that happens.

https://i.gyazo.com/2c8458b8de6a23fa...e012489f1d.png

Report on ones you see in world, you will see results then.

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Originally Posted by DixieBellOCE

So you are broadly searching the term 'fetus' and want them all banned.

I had the name Dixie Normous, which was just a pun from an old Austin Powers movie, all it takes is a few snowflakes and those names would disappear real fast.

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If people want to report and remove names created by those that are mentally deficient I am all for it. Would you rather the game turn into the rotting cesspool that WoW is? Keep reporting people. Do it all day every day if it keeps this type of scum out of the game.

Yeah, i had a friend with an alt named "Bussy Magic". The character existed for months, seemingly no issue. Then one night he got drunk, and was annoyingly spamming emotes in a crowd. Next time he logged in, he was in gaol and when the GM showed up he was informed that he was reported and needed to change his name. Was it the name that offended someone, or did he just piss off the wrong person via emote and they got petty? Regardless, the way the interaction was handled gave me the impression that GMs cant actually change your name. They can just force you to do it. And if you dont log in, then they cant force you to do a thing.

When I first encountered the name it was actually a higher level name. Honestly, I fail to see how the level matters at all. If it's an offensive name running around, it's still offensive regardless of level. If anything, it's probably more visible and more of a problem at a lower level since it's likely to be in a starting town, where new players are.

"I'm so bored let me search for offensive names on purpose and report them"

Again... this is a name I first encountered IN GAME. Upon reporting it, I looked in Lodestone and noticed just how rampant offensive names are.

Those names don't even seem that bad tbh, they're not racial slurs or anything.

Jesus christ how do some of you survive on your own in real world

News at 10, guy with bad pun name gets offended at others with equally bad pun names.

In other news, it's rainin sideways

I think a name that is a sound effect of a heartbeat is a bit different than "Aborted Fetus" unless there's a pun in there somewhere I'm missing.

I can say that reporting a name does sometimes work... except, they'll handle the specific name on the specific server you report, and then not bother to go ahead and do a scrape of other instances of the same name. Why does this sort of thing have to fall entirely on user reports? I feel like everything bad in the game, the devs are like "go say something on the forums about it" as a catch all for things that in all honesty they should just be addressing themselves.

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Originally Posted by Doki

I think a name that is a sound effect of a heartbeat

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It's not really a 擬声語 / 擬情語 is it though? ドキドキ is correct and わくわく is correct but ドキわく doesn't become "excited heartbeat" - it's likely more accurate as something like "Time Slot". The Nine O'Clock News, so to say.

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Originally Posted by Doki

I can say that reporting a name does sometimes work... except, they'll handle the specific name on the specific server you report, and then not bother to go ahead and do a scrape of other instances of the same name..

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Yep, it works, see bad name, report bad name, GM makes a decision on *that* active person.

GM's are human, and doing it this way allows the affected player to dispute the action with another GM on their next login. If they've been seen in world, then it's a given they are an active player and this dispute can happen while it's fresh.

If they do a global change, someone might not log in for 10 years, and it's too hard to dispute then, all the details and the GM in question are likely long gone.


The advice; "if you don't want to be offended don't specifically search it out" applies here. It's a bit like a gay guy searching photos of beavers and then going "ewww".

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Originally Posted by Reap00

If people want to report and remove names created by those that are mentally deficient I am all for it. Would you rather the game turn into the rotting cesspool that WoW is? Keep reporting people. Do it all day every day if it keeps this type of scum out of the game.

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That collapse of WoW had absolutely nothing to do with offensive names or people trash talking each other in a competitive environment. On the contrary, those days were among its most profitable and most lively. It was the king of the hill. Look at it now though after it has been sterilized, casualized, and writers who do not care for the lore and only their head canons have taken over writing the story.

This sort of mentality will not help FFXIV. You think you are saving the game, making it cleaner, safer. What you're actually doing is poisoning it and stripping it of any humanity out of some misplaced sense of righteousness. The player-base didn't kill WoW. Blizzard killed WoW with a very slow death of constant mismanagement and overreaching.

I guess I'm just getting old. It seriously astounds me that anyone would defend this, unless you're taking devil's advocate just because.

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Originally Posted by Doki

I guess I'm just getting old. It seriously astounds me that anyone would defend this, unless you're taking devil's advocate just because.

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No one's defending it. They're just saying report them as you see them in game. Don't go on the lodestone and hunt them down.

Because here's the situation:

1. Could be permabanned for a reason other than their name and since they can't log in to change their name, they'll stay on the lodestone.

2. Inactive because they got bored with the game and the name will remain as such on the lodestone because they obviously can't change the name if they aren't even subbed and the player has no intention of returning.

is it just the word fetus or the way its used? for example aborted fetus versus funky fetus

also whats your stance on the word embryo?

Not sure about others, but I think there's a difference between offensive names and names that someone finds offensive.
Like, Offensive names that, as an example, contain some kind of rasist slure is offensive to a broader audience no doubt.
But then there are people who can find things offensive to them and then try to get it removed because they get offended, and maybe even perhaps offended for others, where it might actually not be offensive to others.

I'd say, just report when you see it ingame and don't try start a witchhunt.
Those often tend to backfire and just make "you" look bad instead.

Topics like these are why I'm so mean to this community.

Who cares? lmao...

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Originally Posted by Sebazy

News at 10, guy with bad pun name gets offended at others with equally bad pun names.

In other news, it's rainin sideways

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Sounds rough Sebazy, do you have an umbrella?

OP has to be having a giggle. There is no way they are being serious. lmao

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Originally Posted by Raoabolic

OP has to be having a giggle. There is no way they are being serious. lmao

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Have you been on twitter? lmao. Some people are absolutely like this who just go out of their way to look for problems. There's a reason I don't have any social media accounts.

idk, randomly banning words as a name is just dumb. That's how you ended up with some of wow's stupid naming restrictions. You can't name a character there certain colors anymore. Want to name your yellow hunter pet Yellow? Can't do it.

if you're offended, report it. It's up to the GMs to determine if it's inappropriate, not yours alone. Besides, offense is subjective.

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Originally Posted by Imora

idk, randomly banning words as a name is just dumb. That's how you ended up with some of wow's stupid naming restrictions. You can't name a character there certain colors anymore. Want to name your yellow hunter pet Yellow? Can't do it.

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I got yelled at by a GM once for taming a white gorilla and naming it Honkeykong. I regret nothing.

You do understand that this is harassment correct?

Is that where we are now?

A whole generation of puritans, who can't take a joke, take exception to a nickname that contains the word "fetus" (horror! Imagine if it was a colour) and hide their eyes from glamour that's a bit too risqué?

why am I reading this kind of subject to the end... just report the people you see in games

https://c.tenor.com/2uNhOa0IYJwAAAAd...it-mad-max.gif

You ain't getting me, OP.

Does this mean that you think abortion is an offensive word and should universally be considered bad? Cause this a whole can of worms here. So much to unpack.

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Originally Posted by Tlamila

Does this mean that you think abortion is an offensive word and should universally be considered bad? Cause this a whole can of worms here. So much to unpack.

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*tries to abort the plan*
*gets jail time and cancelled at the same time*
I deserve this. ;_;

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Originally Posted by Merrigan

Is that where we are now?

A whole generation of puritans, who can't take a joke, take exception to a nickname that contains the word "fetus" (horror! Imagine if it was a colour) and hide their eyes from glamour that's a bit too risqué?

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When did abortion become a joke?

I hope you understand that using phrases like "can't take a joke" is being disrespectful of someone feeling's and is a form of gaslighting. Abortion is a hot topic in both political and religious discussion, especially since Roe v. Wade was overturned. References to such topics is discouraged by the game's Prohibited Activities policy, especially when common sense says an expression, even as a character name, would be seen as offensive by others.

Common sense would tell you that "Aborted Fetus" is a name that most would find offensive. It's actually pretty pathetic that someone would identify themselves as such.

On the other hand, it's also not worth a Lodestone witch hunt. It should have been reported in game when the OP saw it then they should have moved on. There was no need to bring the topic up in the forums.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

When did abortion become a joke?

I hope you understand that using phrases like "can't take a joke" is being disrespectful of someone feeling's and is a form of gaslighting. Abortion is a hot topic in both political and religious discussion, especially since Roe v. Wade was overturned. References to such topics is discouraged by the game's Prohibited Activities policy, especially when common sense says an expression, even as a character name, would be seen as offensive by others.

Common sense would tell you that "Aborted Fetus" is a name that most would find offensive. It's actually pretty pathetic that someone would identify themselves as such.

On the other hand, it's also not worth a Lodestone witch hunt. It should have been reported in game when the OP saw it then they should have moved on. There was no need to bring the topic up in the forums.

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Been one for many, many years. Late 90s early 2000s internet was rife with dark humor and people didn't take things as personally. It was a much better time if you ask me. If you offended someone they blocked you. If you got offended, you blocked them. Simple as that.

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Originally Posted by Jagick

Been one for many, many years. Late 90s early 2000s internet was rife with dark humor and people didn't take things as personally.

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Ending in 1978 was the Black and White Minstrel Show on the BBC and affiliates.

But times change, society changes, and black face - in the case of the stated BBC show - simply isn't acceptable nor funny to most people any more.

People should Watch more south park. In this case the episode on WWE

I personally see nothing offensive about the example provided by the OP. I don't think it makes it to the "most reasonable people would find offensive" goal post.

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Originally Posted by Shibi

Ending in 1978 was the Black and White Minstrel Show on the BBC and affiliates.

But times change, society changes, and black face - in the case of the stated BBC show - simply isn't acceptable nor funny to most people any more.

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Eh, I disagree. Someone will always be offended by something, people need to get over themselves. As a thin, pasty ginger with a brain tumor I've received no end of cancer jokes, people equating me to the "starving african children" on TV, and no shortage of what most would call "bullying" based entirely on my ethnic phenotype and appearance even into adulthood. There was even technically "Kick-a-Ginger day until prohibited in 2016. It all taught me to stop taking things so seriously and to learn to laugh at even myself. Totally changed my outlook on life for the better. I think the problem is not that humor has necessarily changed today, but society as a whole and the prevalence of social media has made people afraid of laughing at certain things no matter how juvenile or offensive they might be. So in a way you're right I suppose, society has changed. However, I don't believe that means people should be shamed or cancelled or berated for what the find funny even if its in poor taste.

Honestly nothing annoys me more when someone tiptoes around the way I look or my health to avoid offending me. Look at me on one of my worst days and act like you're Gollum from LoTR in 'whiteface' to tease me. You'll make my day.

To return to the topic at hand: Distasteful and offensive names (which they objectively are) on the internet aren't hurting anyone. If someone his somehow "hurt" by this, hide them, block them, ignore them. Attempting to destroy them or force them to stop is not and should not be the answer. Now, ToS will be what they are, and that's something else entirely. Its the company's choice to allow, disallow, and enforce whatever they like and I'm sure this stuff will be handled eventually for better or worse.

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

I got yelled at by a GM once for taming a white gorilla and naming it Honkeykong. I regret nothing.

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I knew a guy that named his gorilla after Michelle Obama.