Real-world sensitivities and game names

[HoneyBadger]

JimMorrison: You're not the only man to ever become sensitive about his big one eyed monster. [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Cold.gif[/img]

I'm also anti-PC. I'm pretty sure it's sucking out the soul of the human race through our eyeballs.

People get offended easily. I think it has something to do with it being illegal to chop at each other with battle axes, without a permit. In centuries past, you tended to let things go, because people hadn't yet perfected the reattachment of limbs and organs that we enjoy today. PC has grown from that, because now we've denied most violent recourses once open to our race, and have replaced them with video games, and you just can't simulate kicking someone in the nuts because he said your mother was fat. So we have to be careful about stepping on others' emotions, lest they blow things up, out of all proportion to the relative plumpness of their dear old mums.

But artistic expression remains artistic expression. You can choose to agree or disagree about art, and argue over how profound or significant or worthy a particular example of it is. You can hate it, and if you have the power to do so, you can even destroy it, but that doesn't change it's nature, or the deepseated desire and indominable demand and right and necessity and drive for humans to express ourselves in ways that go beyond-and yes, even if they also include-the needs of the animal.

[chrispedersen]

Ooooh how about a politically incorrect game...

A game where ALL commanders have to be named liberace (still planning that one, just for you Jim), hitler.

Stick a finger to PC!

[Lingchih]

I wasn't aware that anyone has ever said they were offended by anything in the game. Except for the sexy banner ads.

Why bring this up when it seems to be a non-issue?

[HoneyBadger]

I'd argue that the game is better for including "potentially offensive" material. It's a lot more educational that way, since exactly those sorts of things happened, and worse. Murder, rape, and torture happened. And then racism happened, and slavery, and genocide, and Eurocentrality in fantasy gaming.
Fun things happened, like the privelage of a noble to rape his vassal's bride on their wedding night, and the kidnapping and selling of children who had set out with the intention to free the holy land, in the Children's Cruisade. The Inquisition happened. Honest old women were burned at the stake. Heroes were crucified-and not just Christian ones, either. Entire species of animals were exterminated for purposes of entertainment. People tried their damnest-and I mean that term literally-to summon up demons from the pits of Hell, because they thought it was a good idea, having plum run out of ideas for evil things to do, themselves.

And bad things still do happen, believe it or not.

As far as using "potentially offensive" names in the game-please keep in mind that all publicity is good publicity. How many non Jews here had any idea what a Kohen was? How many non Indians know that the Rakshasas were an actual historical people? A better question might be: How many people here appreciate the works of H. P. Lovecraft, without sympathising with his racist, antisemetic viewpoints?

In the words of Plato, or maybe Socrates: "Knowledge is the only good I know of, ignorance, the only evil." Another good saying is "Beware the man who would keep knowledge from you, for he would be your master". I don't know who said that, off the top of my head, but I do have the power to look it up, and the will to form my own opinions about that saying, and the person who said it, separate the two, and take value from each, individually and as a sum.

[lch]

Zeldor said:
Me, Sombre and probably whole IRC channel think that Ulm should be banned.

Huh?

Zeldor said:
Namind commander Adolf? Man, that offends not only Hebrews, but whole Eastern Europe. And progressive nation of Germany too!

Boy, we should all be glad that the guy wasn't named "Michael" or "Martin". Or "John", "James", "Robert" etc.

I don't see a reason why the name "Adolf" would incite hysteria. It became largely unpopular, that's true, but I don't think that it causes offense or should be a taboo.

[HoneyBadger]

People with the given name Adolf or Adolph(e), who are unconnected-to the best of my limited knowledge-to the Nazi party.

copied pretty much directly from Wikipedia:

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, King of Sweden (1594 - 1632)
Adolf Albin, Romanian chess player (1848 - 1920)
Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (1818 - 1879)
Adolf Appellöf, Swedish zoologist (1857 - 1921)
Adolf Bastian, German anthropologist (1826 - 1905)
Adolf Born, Czech artist and filmmaker (born 1930)
Adolf Brand, German journalist (1874 - 1945)
Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist (1835 - 1917)
Adolf Busch, German violinist and composer (1891 - 1952)
Adolphus Busch, American businessman and co-founder of Anheuser-Busch (1839 - 1913)
Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist (1903 - 1995)
Adolf Cluss, German-American architect (1825 - 1905)
Adolphus Cusins, fictional character in "Major Barbara" by George Bernard Shaw
Adolf Daens, Belgian theologian (1839 - 1907)
Adolf Dassler, German entrepreneur and founder of Adidas (1900 - 1978)
Adolf Deucher, Swiss politician (1831 - 1912)
Adolf Dymsza, Polish comedy actor (1900 - 1975)
Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (1905 - 2004)
Adolf Etolin, Finnish explorer (1799 - 1876)
Adolf Eugen Fick, German inventor (1829 - 1901)
Adolph Fischer, German labor union activist (1858 – 1887)
Adolf Abraham Halevi Fraenkel, German-Israeli mathematician (1891 - 1965)
Adolf Galland, German fighter pilot (1912 - 1996) Although a German pilot in WW2, Galland was critical of his superiors and distanced himself from the Nazi party. Infact, he seems to have pissed them off, to a significant degree, and was almost tried for treason. He later served as technical advisor during the filming of Battle of Britain. I hardly consider him a Nazi.
Adolf Glassbrenner, German humourist (1810 - 1876)
Adolf Grunbaum, philosopher of science (born 1923)
Adolf von Harnack, German theologian (1851 - 1930)
Adolf Hempt, founder of the Pasteur Institute in Novi Sad, Serbia (1874 – 1943)
Adolf Bernhard Christoph Hilgenfeld, German theologian (1823 - 1907)
Adolf Hedin, Swedish newspaper publisher and politician (1834 - 1905)
Adolf von Henselt, German composer (1814 - 1889)
Adolf Hurwitz, German mathematician (1859 - 1919)
Adolf Kneser, German mathematician (1862 - 1930)
Adolph Kolping, German priest (1813 - 1865)
Adolf Lande, drug-control official
Adolf Lindenbaum, Polish mathematician (1904 - 1941)
Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (1870 - 1933)
Adolf Lu Hitler Marak, Indian politician (born 1948)
Adolphe Menjou, American actor and anti-Communist activist (1890 – 1963)
Adolf Meyer (psychiatrist), Swiss-American psychiatrist (1866 - 1950)
Adolf Meyer (architect), German architect (1881 - 1929)
Adolphus Warburton Moore(A. W. Moore) (1841 – 1887), British civil servant and mountaineer.
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer (1832 - 1901)
Adolf Oberländer, German characturist (1845 - 1923)
Adolph Ochs, American newspaper publisher (1858 - 1935)
Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician (born 1942)
Adolf Overweg, German scientist (1822 - 1852)
Adolf Pilar von Pilchau, Baltic German politician (1851 - 1925)
Adolf Reinach, German phenomenologist (1883 - 1917)
Adolph Rupp, American college basketball coach (1901 - 1977)
Adolphe Sax, Belgian musician and inventor of the Saxophone (1814 - 1894)
Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet (1815 - 1894)
Adolf Schärf, President of Austria (1890 - 1965)
Adolf Schlagintweit, German explorer (1829 - 1857)
Adolf Schmal, Austrian fencer (1872 - 1919)
Adolf Schreyer, German painter (1828 - 1899)
Adolf von Sonnenthal, Austrian actor (1834 - 1909)
Adolf Stieler, German cartographer (1775 - 1836)
Adolf Stoecker, German theologian (1835 - 1909)
Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro 24th mayor (& 2nd Jewish mayor) of San Francisco (1830 - 1898)
Adolphe Thiers French Prime Minister, President, and historian (1797 - 1877)
Adolf Tolkachev, Soviet engineer and CIA spy (1927 - 1986)
Adolf "Dado" Topić, Croatian singer (born 1949)
Adolf Wilbrandt, German novelist (1837 - 1911)
Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist (1876 - 1959)
Adolf Wölfli, Swiss artist (1864 - 1930)

[dirtywick]

JimMorrison said:
I'm actually very confused. Is this intended to be a serious discussion of whether or not Dom3 is PC enough? The entire notion of PC seems to just be another layer of American neo-Puritanism struggling to insulate "innocent" minds against the reality of the world.

Perhaps, but in America I also have the right to be as thoroughly offensive as I'd like. Unfortunately, I don't run Wal Mart, GameStop, Hasbro, Nintendo, etc.

Self imposed censorship is actually a pretty big issue in gaming in my opinion. I'm actually sure the original issue that started this discussion would never have been allowed if this was a AAA title. There's likely many things in this series that wouldn't be there if they were counting on certain retailers and a certain rating from a certain committee to be successful...Luckily, it's not and we're not playing a watered down Dominions.

They're in such a rare position both to be doing what they want and being successful without having to worry about PC, and it's not like it's gratioutiously offensive for the sake of it either. But the point is they don't need to cave in to PC pressure or flop, which is nice and I hope they take advantage of that in realizing the vision of the game.

[triqui]

I don't see a reason why the name "Adolf" would incite hysteria. It became largely unpopular, that's true, but I don't think that it causes offense or should be a taboo.

I dont know anyone named "Judas". Some names became *really* unpopular.

[lch]

You'll notice that there seems to be a hard limit on the DoB for names of prominent people given by HoneyBadger above, too.

[Strider]

As MaxWilson says, this is a valid topic. Shrapnel and some mods are interested in people's views concerning this. We just aren't interested in people making it personal against one another. Most understand that when it comes to religion and politics, it's difficult, at times, to control tempers...even so, we ask that posters please do so.