I do understand that this is the case, however myself and others do not have any way of predicting this. I’m not chronically online, I do not keep up with updated slang or lexicon, and I don’t really use social media. To expect that of players on the off-chance their name that’s been fine for multiple expansions suddenly becomes problematic is a tad ridiculous.
I’m still going to utilize the link you shared for OP because I have another character with the exact same name as the one that was reported, which I’ve spent the majority of my playtime on, and my e-mail was just as vague. The only reason I even know that the action includes character naming is because of the placeholder name template when I go into my armory. I do want to avoid this being an issue the moment I get back into the game since I do plan to name change my other character as well, and it seems like that link will be useful for that.
I’m not sure to what extent I’m allowed to talk about previous actions, so I won’t get into too many details, but I will reiterate that yes there have been previous sanctions on my account. I’ve had a 3-day silence which was deserved, and I’ve had a 3-day temp which was also deserved in the last 4 years. These were for things far beyond a character name being fine for years, and then at the whim of subjectivity no longer being fine.
It would be understandable if my character’s name was blatantly offensive, or very clearly against the rules, but that’s not the case. I’ve interacted with tens of thousands of players throughout the ~4 years I’ve been playing the originally named character, and not once has it been a problem until I attempted to gear up an alt with the same name.
To be fair, stuff doesn’t change that often. Most of the time if people chose a questionable name (meme, hit topic, current event) they are doing that at that moment because of the attention it’s getting. I doubt you named a character Hawk years ago and now all of a sudden it’s going to be offensive. But if you named a character similar to the current meme going around? Yeah that’s different.
Basically in general if people just use common sense and try not to be cute/smart about names, you’ll be fine.
As much as I would love for those examples to be the case, unfortunately it isn’t. The single-word name I used has something to the tune of 15 definitions, and having checked through all of them I still fail to understand where offense was found. Even checked if there was a new slang definition, and there is, but it’s almost perfectly in-line with the intended use of the original word anyways.
Regardless, I still plan on just changing my other character’s name as well since the general playerbase has deemed it problematic in some way.
As Jeysca pointed out - that while I laid out the case of things ever evolving, the likelihood someone gets nailed for something that took a sharp right turn into inappropriate is fairly low. Starting out with something questionable though, people are a lot less tolerant of puns, names toeing the line or just “clever” play on words or spellings to get around what filters may be in place these days then they were in the past. And Blizzard is finally coming down on these reports. Also, tacking this here just so no one thinks I’m blowing smoke out of my rear for my post above.
As to what may have been the meaning behind the name? Perhaps one of our SFAs will poke their head in this thread in the morning to perhaps enlighten you, and hopefully have an update for the OP about the disabled chat issue. I’d advise against posting the name here - just to avoid you potentially getting nailed for posting something against the CoC.
Regardless, I do wish you luck in your appeal(s) and in the game going forward from here.
If you have to ask is a certain name dodgy then the answer is it’s dodgy, as in the name would be a red flag. And I would say don’t use it. And don’t try lawyering it with the GMs
It isn’t that the name was fine for years, then suddenly wasn’t. It’s that it simply hadn’t been reported, and now it has.
It’s a fairly recent development. I’ve seen it mentioned a couple times in the past week or two that a reported name triggered both a name change flag and a chat silence. The silence isn’t intended, and an appeal should allow that unintended punishment to be removed.
To reiterate, I’m not chronically online. I do not keep up with what is or isn’t generally considered offensive, but something being offensive, outside of blatant racism/sexism/etcetera, is largely subjective. For example’s sake, let’s look at “Nut”. Is it the food item? The fastener that pairs with screws in construction and electronics? Perhaps referencing a crazy or eccentric person? Maybe in relation to a person who’s very passionate about something, like a football nut? Or is it the slang term for male genitalia?
The vast majority of definitions and uses for this word are in no way, shape, or form against ToS or the code of conduct. Let’s say I really, really liked playing death knight, to the point I could be considered a death knight nut. Now let’s say I went and made a mechagnome death knight, and I wanted to be an engineer as one of my character professions. Mechagnomes are half mechanical, it’s not a stretch that they’re put together with nuts, bolts, screws, and the like, which engineers also utilize. So with that in mind I name this rhetorical character Nut. Should I have avoided doing that because one of the multiple definitions, which clearly is not the goal of the name, can be viewed as vulgar and possibly offensive?
I’d love to get your thoughts on this in my reply above. My specific situation is strikingly similar.
Seems like the best course of action would be to continue attempting appeals then if that’s the case. By my understanding, sanctions stack up and get worse over time so players getting silences tacked onto their accounts when they shouldn’t be is rather concerning.
Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not interested in playing the ‘yeah, but what if…’ and ‘well, what about…’ games. Frankly, I doubt anybody is interested in your hypothetical situations. Your name was reported, a GM determined it was inappropriate for the game and flagged it for a rename. The fact that it hadn’t been reported in X years doesn’t mean it was ever not inappropriate, just that nobody had reported it.
To be clear, you’re still going to have to rename the character. That is the intended and correct response to an inappropriate name report, if verified. The only thing that might be removed is the account silence, as that is not intended.
Yeah, I’m not too hard pressed over a character name change. The one that got reported already has a placeholder name for when I get back into my account, and free or paid I plan to change the name of my other character that has the same name, and I’ve already got new names in mind that are soundly within CoC/ToS.
Sorry for the confusion, Xenlock. We use templates for policy violations to maintain consistent messaging, but it sounds like there was an issue where the name should have been.
The additional penalty silence is a known issue that is currently being looked into. We don’t believe it to be intended, but the penalty is currently being applied for naming penalties and not just chat penalties.
I’m afraid as it stands, I don’t believe Support is able to remove those unless the overall penalty is also overturned.
That would be unlikely. We tend to provide several chances for folks to adhere to our policies. You don’t have a history of violation, so at most you’d receive a temporarily suspension for another naming violation.
It isn’t offensive “to you”. Others may find it so, but the main factor is, it is a play on words and it isn’t directed at anyone, which makes it neutral, but it still doesn’t make it appropriate. It is a name that contains inappropriate language.
I’ve flagged the name again for you as a courtesy so that you don’t get reported for a second time for that name.
If you wish to appeal further you’ll need to submit a ticket. I can pretty much guarantee that this will not be overturned though, it is simply blatantly profanity. While mild profanity, it does violate our Code of Conduct. Hopefully, you can come up with a new name that is a better fit.
