A Public Service Announcement for Veteran Members!

Killer Joe

Killer Joe

New member
Hi Guys!
Hey, I was just sorta kinda wondering if we could all pitch-in on cleaning up the foul language that some of our newer members are writing. What I mean is, could anyone of us, who come across this silliness, gently nudge some etiquette and protocol to those who feel the need to express themselves with low self-esteem generated language.
We've got some great folks here with massive amounts of integrity and it would be nice if we could all try to live up to those standards; To name a few of CPA's great role models:
-Chaos Turtle
-theorgg
-Gizmo
-TomB
-etc...
I'm not trying to blow sunshine up anyone's butt, I just thought it would be nice to recognize some of our outstanding members and let new folks know who some of our best are, that's all.

<in an N.P.R. kind of voice>
"This has been a Public, Service Announcement."

Thanks Guys & Gals, and I hope the CPA is still your number one choice, let's keep it clean.
 
Y

Y The Alien

Guest
Tag Guard

What, I'm not a shining role model for the young sheep of the CPA :D? Seriously, a person's point is valid enough without the rampant profanity. If it isn't valid, the profanity won't make it so. It's not necessary and can only serve to turn off people who don't have any tolerance for that sort of thing. Which is a lot of people, though they're usually not Magic players. Magic players cuss like sailors :D. But don't do it on the Web.
 
A

Apollo

Guest
Sigh. I'm not a role model.

Both Yellowjacket and Y spoke truly. Profanity adds nothing to a post. If your point is a good one, you won't need to swear to prove it. If you very rarely swear, and you get mad enough that you do, people will take notice and realize that you're really ticked off. But if you swear all the time, what will you say to get people's attention when you really are furious?

Apollo
 
I

Istanbul

Guest
I like pie.

It's catchy, and you can dance to it.

Seriously, kids. Magic is a GAME. You know, game? Fun? Whee? Don't tell me I've lost you here. I KNOW you used to play games when you were a kid. So, since when is a game something to swear about?

If you aren't having fun...stop.
 
C

Chaos Turtle

Guest
Actually, I swear an awful lot in real life, but I take care that the language is "appropriate" for the people I'm with. I swear at work, but not around the customers. I swear at Magic tournaments, but not around the kiddies, and not too loudly. I swear at home, but... uhm... well, it's my house, so... ;)

Consider the alternative. Do we really want a bunch of ****ing asterisks (or those irritating little red squares) stuck into our posts everytime we sound off? I certainly don't, those things **** me off. You can't even use the name of one of my favorite authors, Philip K. ****, if we have to resort to that.

Seriously, though, since it's impossible to know who exactly will be reading this stuff, I think that it's inappropriate to fill these pages with the kind of gratuitous filth that we expect from Al Pacino films.
I doesn't make one sound mature, or cool, or even particularly bright, to use vulgarity with excessive frequency. Try to be a little more creative.

Thanks all, and as always...
Peace and Love and (especially) .\\agic. :)
 
TomB

TomB

Administrator
Staff member
Hey, thanks Yellowjacket! :D

I've never really thought about being a role-model (and certainly not in terms of language!), but I do try to make sure things are spelled right and sorta' make sense when I post. I can't say that I've ever been mad enough to use profanity in a post.

It's always seemed to me that if you've a point to make it makes sense to present it as intelligently as possible, and the use of profanity in a public forum like this would make someone sound really stupid.

And I think it reflects poorly on the whole site. :(

If we can discuss these issues like adults, and present our thoughts in a cohesive, well constructed manner, WotC and the world are far more likely to take us seriously than if we swear like truck drivers at the track. Or like teenagers who've just learned they can tick off the adults, and impress their friends, by mouthing off at the most inappropriate times.

Maybe their friends are impressed, but I think it sounds childish. And for the good of the site I wish they'd stop. I have done a little nudging myself, adding a bit to something posted by Istanbul and Ura in the "Blue" thread in this forum, but if the objections we voice get ignored I think our Founders/Admins should step in and either clean up the profanity without a purpose, or just delete the whole post if it appears to be nothing more than a vehicle to get the profanity posted.

I know that sounds harsh, but I believe our reputation is at stake here. And, as our younger members will soon learn, in life, reputation is everything.

Please, don't ruin ours.
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
I second the motion... (or I guess 6th it in this case). I was wondering how to bring this up or how the general feelings of other members were about this topic. Now I know... :)
 
S

Seeker of Truth

Guest
I agree with everything you all are saying. Profanity gets people nowhere, and I've often noticed that people who use profanity in posts are often met with a decided lack of response. I know that I'm uncomfortable even reading posts with profanity in them, and I tend not to respond to them at all, because I feel that if the person posting the profanity really wanted a serious response and not some flame about how vulgar it is to swear online, they would have written their comments without including the profanity in the first place.

I never swear in online posts, and I hardly ever swear in real life. I just think that if you want to talk about something and you expect people to take you seriously, you need to show everyone that you're not just some immature punk who uses a lot of "four-letter words" to get peoples' attention. I think we're attentive enough and serious enough about this site that we can just say what we need to say, without all the extracurricular swearing.

I really hate to single anyone out for this offense (and it really is only one or two people who are currently resorting to profanity on the site, as far as I can tell), but this is a very serious issue, not only in terms of the way this site is viewed by others, but in terms of the way we view each other also.
 
M

magicman_moe

Guest
heheh yeah some of that is kinda my fault
i get po'ed sometimes when i see sumthin ignorant on the other boards then i come here and see something else kinda
like that and it just
sets me off a little bit thats all
so i apologise
for using words like f++k mutha+++=a and all the other ones
so there ya have it man im almost to veteran
 
D

Duel

Guest
The thing about message boards is that they give you time to think before you write. If everyone looked at their messages before they sent them and took out everything that made them sound like an idiot, we'd have a lot less swearing. Of course, I'd never be able to post...

Anyways, I think that the founders might do something. Editing and sending little reminders in the private mail.
 
D

Dune Echo

Guest
Actually, the swearing issue has already come up with the Founders. We were hoping it would tone itself down before we had to take action. It looks as if it hasn't though. Basically, whenever I run across a post that is a lot of swearing, I'm going to delete it if it has no real relevance to the thread. Plain and simple. I'm not going to spend my time (And I don't get much of that here lately) editing childish threads. If you have something to say, say it maturely. I don't mind an "Awww, damn! Why didn't I think of that wonderfully casual idea for a deck." interjection once in a while, but it has really gotten out of hand lately.

I think Ed will deal with this more thoroughly once he returns.
 
C

Child of Gaea

Guest
I agree whole heartedly. I have been editing WAY too many posts lately and it has only been a chip off the iceberg. I have only deleted a few, which were in the battle arena, and were absolute filth. We do not want to be communist here in the least, but, we also do not want potential members seeing all the trash, and deciding not to join because of the immaturity that is shown in some posts. I HOPE that this thread is all that is needed to hep clear up this problem, but if it is not, we will have to take further action. Please try and spread the word, that swearing will no longer be an acceted activity. Thanks.
 
A

Almindhra

Guest
Well, I don't swear on here...But, is my quote offending anyone?...Its just something I like to say...
 
S

Seeker of Truth

Guest
Duel:

I think Child of Gaea was referring to having to censor people's posts. It's not something that should have to be done on a regular basis, if at all, but with the amount of profanity increasing on this site, it's something that has to be done for the sake of decency. The thing is, it SHOULDN'T have to be done at all, because I think everyone has it within themselves to keep their profanity in check. It's not really that hard, is it?
 
C

Cateran Overlord

Guest
This seems like the kind of thing I don't shut up about, but my sentiments on this parallel all of yours. Several of the very new members, who will remain nameless, have been using more curses than not in some posts. That is when it seems pretty obvious that it has gone too far.
 
C

Child of Gaea

Guest
LOL! All I meant was that, none of the founders, including myself, like to censor anything. We do not want this place to feel like it has any rulers. BUT, when it comes to profanity, something must be done.Fascist, communist, pick whatever word you like, just stop the need for me to even speak on this matter. I still hope this is all it will take. Ed did mention something about a code that would censor everyones posts as they are submitted, but PLEASE do not make any more work for Ed. He just got off of vacation for Pete's sake!
 
Ed Sullivan

Ed Sullivan

CPA Founder, Web Guy
Staff member
...but I have done some work since I got back :)

Anyway - we have several options:

1. censoring - automated, replacing words with ******
2. admin edits - not automated, annoying, tedious, but foolproof
3. "self" policing - just kindly suggest to the offender (in thread or via PM) that their word choice is a little suspect

I vote for #3
 
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