A player on our team who’s had the same name for 18 months just got “name banned” and had her name reset to “John”
Where are the regulations I can read?
I’m not sure if these cover everything, but I think these are probably most of the related rules:
https://support.smallgiantgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003970574-Chat-Rules-Guidelines
Terms of Service:
http://info.smallgiantgames.com/terms-of-service/
For the purpose of this thread, a reminder about this from Forum Rules
So please just keep any conversation to general terms, and not this specific case, or communication received from Small Giant Staff, so we don’t run afoul of that rule.
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I’ll have to talk in abstract then, And use analogies …
Since the rules seem to forbid “offensive or obscene” user names, would a name that references a common medical procedure done by paediatricians fall under “offensive” or “obscene”?
An analogy for a breast cancer survivor who was looking to take back ownership of her situation, if she chose a user name like “Madame Mastectomy” - would that be against the rules? I find it hard to deem a medical procedure “obscene” in the commonly used sense online.
Or if, as a 50 year old man with a dark sense of humour, I chose to name myself Captain Colonoscopy… is that offensive? I mean, I see words like “butt” in names every day.
If those are offensive is it because they refer to medical procedures? Would Timmy Tonsillectomy be equally bad? Or is it just medical procedures that deal with bums or boobs that are “offensive”?
Scrolling through usernames things similar to words like “bomber” and “rage” and “pillager” are common… all of which should be seen as at least as offensive as a surgical procedure, no?
Moving on - other than a ticket, how does one challenge what seems like it could just be an oversight, misunderstanding or in the worst case, a really, really tone deaf decision? What is the process for saying, “No, SG, I won’t pay 500 gems to change my name when it’s not actually offensive or obscene”…? Or is a ticket the only way for her to challenge this?
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The Small Giant Staff makes decisions about player names and such on their own, so I can’t speak to which names they hypothetically would deem appropriate or not.
We as players could debate that ourselves, but it wouldn’t really have any bearing on the decisions Small Giant makes.
I don’t think they typically will change their minds on administrative decisions like that, but the player could certainly submit a ticket to inquire about it.
Submitting a ticket is the only way to contact Support at all, so it’s definitely the only avenue for appealing, inquiring, or giving feedback on a particular decision they made.
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Do you have an opinion at all on a common medical procedure being deemed “offensive”?
Well, I guess I’d look at it this way: in other contexts, I don’t find other things like profanity or sexual innuendo offensive or inappropriate, but I recognize why they aren’t appropriate for the Forum or player names.
I also am aware that anatomical names for certain body parts are forbidden as player and Forum names.
So I can imagine that something that’s innocuous or even used in a professional environment in one context could be inappropriate for a player name.
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Is it even possible to report player names? I’ve seen one I thought was overly edgy but didn’t think I could do anything.
Yes, you can contact Support about it with a ticket. A screenshot of the player name and alliance name should be sufficient for them to follow up on it.
The instructions for submitting a ticket are here: How to Contact Support (Version 31 Onwards)
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Ah, it’d have to be seriously offensive for me to bother. Thanks
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So if someone were named Dave Appendectomy in the context of this game - you’d consider that offensive?
However the name Lucifer the Defiler, would be totally fine and dandy?
I am truly confused
It seems to fall under the category of the famous statement by a judge …
“I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it”
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No, I wouldn’t consider that offensive or inappropriate, but I assume that wasn’t the actual name. I’m also not personally easily offended. But something doesn’t have to be offensive to be inappropriate.
And again, my opinion on it doesn’t really matter, SG makes those decisions themselves.
My point was just that it being a medical procedure wouldn’t necessarily make it appropriate as a player name.
I’d suggest her sending a support ticket.
We all have preferences as to what we find okay to use, yet that same preference can be deemed offensive to someone of a different culture, etc, etc.
Perhaps that is why her name was changed?
Something to think about anyway 
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Groups
One thing staff has to consider is language/ culture/ generational/ geographical differences.
Repeated reports
Generally, repeated reports of the same name, or a name that is inappropriate for a kid’s game in a wide range of language/ culture/ generational/ geographical groups gets the naming hammer from staff.
Winnie the Pooh
What is okay for me, might be not okay in another region.
A weird one is Winnie the Pooh
(Why China censors banned Winnie the Pooh - BBC News)
Global Economy
This is one of the disadvantages with becoming successful in a global economy and one of the reasons being bought out was a huge advantage for a small game studio.
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Whats wrong with that name?
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Putting aside the issue of what is or is not offensive, which I understand we cannot really discuss here, I have a major issue with the warped incentive when name change decisions are made. Why is a generic name permanently chosen to replace the name deemed offensive? Why is that permanent name only changeable with a purchase of 500 gems?
When someone forgets a password, a permanent password is not created by the site… a temporary login is enabled to allow the user to pick his or her OWN password as a permanent login. Why are names deemed offensive not replaced by something temporary such that the player is then enabled to pick a new (hopefully acceptable) name free of charge?
Considering that decisions on what is offensive will almost assuredly be subjective, doesn’t making the situation punitive in a fashion that lines the game operator’s pockets offer a twisted incentive to profit off of controversial discipline?
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Its a frustration that in adhering to the rules of this forum, I can’t speak directly to either a) the user name she actually used or b) cite about 10000 examples of user names I’ve found which to my mind, are clearly “more” offensive than hers, and which are happily part of the game today.
But for some of the flavour - search either “butt” or “fudge” in alliance names… all of which have been approved at least tacitly by SG.
Not wanting to be someone who brings pain to others by going around reporting every violation I see, what I’d like is SG to allow our member to change their name to something not deemed “offensive” for no charge.
The member is going to quit the game entirely if the 500 gem penalty is enforced for a name that is not deemed offensive in medical school, grade school or her synagogue continues. This is a cash to play player. The name was clever and funny, and certainly not offensive by the definition of “offensive” or “obscene” in the dictionary.
Charging them is wrong - it hurts the player, penalized our alliance if we lose a strong player, and loses money for SG and builds client resentment from someone who was happily playing and paying for 18 months.
Ou player is quitting. Very disappointed.
Did she contact Support first?
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She did. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say that nothing was done and the ticket was closed, so I’ll simply say “she did”.
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