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On the subject of profanity/vulgarity in the forums, I have a few questions. Recently, a thread was locked due to one user posting a picture with profanity in it...(the R.I.P. 40k humor thread)

Since I didnt see the picture, I am a little confused.

What are the Dakka mods defining as 'profanity' and 'vulgarity'? I mean...profanity is (as I understand it) bad words with a religious bent (the root word being profane)
So, does that refer to all religions? Would the picture I have seen multiple times on this website which shows a Scientologist religious symbol being compared to the 8 pointed star of Chaos be 'profanity'? A scientologist could take offense...

How strict are the rules on vulgarity? Again, as i understand it, vulgarity here would mean words or images which are vulgar. I hate to say it, but gamers in general are a pretty vulgar crew. The ever popular image of the Eldar army backlit by an exposed cleavage would by most standards be considered vulgar. Where are the mods drawing the line?

I went into the FAQ and looked up the rules I was supposed to abide by when posting. It claimed that the rules on profanity/vulgarity were there to foster an environment fit for people of all ages, to make this a family friendly site.

How family friendly? I may be out of line, but it seems to me that a child who is capable of playing the games this site is meant to discuss would probably be capable of dealing with the errant 'damn' or 'ass'. I am not trying to excuse something like the F-bomb or similarly over the line phrases, but how much shielding does someone who is already dealing with the rather extreme background of our games need?

I am not trying to rouse the rabble, just get some clarification. When posts are removed before people have time to view the offending material, it removes the risk of offending the populace, but it leaves us with the problem of not knowing where exactly the line is. A line which, by the by, I am happy to toe. I dont pay for Dakka, so it is a free service to me. As such, I am willing to abide by the rules as laid down by the mods. I just want to know what the rules are.

Look, all you have to do is gain a Masters Degree in Innuendo and Euphenisms, and you can swear your head off with no one else catching on.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Look, all you have to do is gain a Masters Degree in Innuendo and Euphenisms, and you can swear your head off with no one else catching on.

Heehee... innuendo. Remember Lunahound's 'beaver on the highway o_-' thread? Oh, that was a letdown.

But yeah, outright swearing is bad here. Most of it gets filtered, but putting a curse-word with another word without a space gets through.

Mod:

We try to keep Dakka a friendly forum; that includes protecting children (our youngest user is 11) and people who genuinely are offended by swearing. We also stop racist and offensive comments.

The swear worlds we care about get filtered automatically and converted to 40K derived equivalents (gak, feth.) The others, such as crap or WTF, are allowed through.

People soon learn the limits by observation, trial and error.

You can make a post consisting entirely of swearwords, see which ones get trapped, and delete the content immediately.

If swearwords are in an image, the filter can't see them, and we have to crack down on that or everyone would be doing it.

We also crack down on people who knowingly evade the filter by changing spelling slightly or other tricks.

Thanks for the clarification. Sorry to be a bother.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Innuendo

No, in your end-o!

jimsolo wrote: A scientologist could take offense...

Protip: Scientlolgists aren't people.

jimsolo wrote:...(the R.I.P. 40k humor thread)...

Wait... They killed it?!?!?!?

captain.gordino wrote:

jimsolo wrote:...(the R.I.P. 40k humor thread)...

Wait... They killed it?!?!?!?

They killed it AND it's epitaph/eulogy thread. They're now on a highly watched 3rd incarnation.

Seems kinda pointless reaslly.

When I write "Jesus mother fething Christ on a God-damned mother fething pogo-stick", everyone knows what I'm writing.

It's like talking with oven mitts on - everyone knows your hands are inside. Ok... that analogy didn't make all that much sense, but you get what I'm saying.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Seems kinda pointless reaslly.

When I write "Jesus mother fething Christ on a God-damned mother fething pogo-stick", everyone knows what I'm writing.

It's like talking with oven mitts on - everyone knows your hands are inside. Ok... that analogy didn't make all that much sense, but you get what I'm saying.

Well for a good while, I thought that everyone on here was just extremely clean mouthed. :p

Cheese Elemental wrote:

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Look, all you have to do is gain a Masters Degree in Innuendo and Euphenisms, and you can swear your head off with no one else catching on.

Heehee... innuendo. Remember Lunahound's 'beaver on the highway o_-' thread? Oh, that was a letdown.

But yeah, outright swearing is bad here. Most of it gets filtered, but putting a curse-word with another word without a space gets through.

Well how on earth am i supposed to label it???
It is a beaver on a stupid high way! that is a miracle it didnt get ran over.

H.B.M.C. wrote:When I write "Jesus mother fething Christ on a God-damned mother fething pogo-stick", everyone knows what I'm writing.

Classic

OT - If in doubt as to whether the filters will catch what you are trying to say, just type it how you'd say it, but remember to PREVIEW your post before you submit, giving you a chance to clean up your post before it goes public.

Just my 2p worth. It's not often I feel a need to swear, but when I do I try to be "audience aware" and preview my posts.

Bah! The preview button is only for people who don't know they're flawless

btw. that's a pretty cool Avatar you got there Reaper.