profanity swearing vulgarity
Profanity is any language that is unacceptable. There are quite a few words that everyone knows are swears, and some of them do slip out on occasion as an accident, harming no one. We immortals understand, but ask that you respectfully keep such language on bitch channel, where young newbie ears cannot hear your dirty mouths. There are punishments for swearing on other channels, and they are outlined in help penalty_grid. Words that fall under this category are the reknowned F-word and S-word, and any variations upon them (including but not limited to variations on the spelling, or even 'masking' the profanity by hiding some letters behind *'s or other symbols), as well as certain vulgar terms referring to genetalia. When in doubt, use the bitch channel. There are also words that are considered 'almost swearing', things that you (should) generally feel uncomfortable saying around toddlers and grandparents, that are not considered to be crimes here. These are words like ass, hell, bitch, and even some 'less-vulgar' terms referring to genetalia. Any of these may bring forth a warning from the immortals, particularly if you are prone to using these words frequently on public channels other than bitch. When in doubt, use the bitch channel. *** SEVERE VULGARITY *** There are things that can be said, however, that are much worse than any mere swear word. There is NO TOLERANCE for words that slander any race/creed/religion/lifestyle/etc, EVEN WHEN SAID ON BITCH channel or via tells, says, emotes, or even clan if it is offending someone. The punishments for such language are also outlined in help penalty_grid, under "A2. Severe Vulgarity", and these penalties reflect the NO TOLERANCE policy taken by the immortal staff and supported by the mortal population. (Note that slandering someone's IN-GAME race is considered roleplay, so feel free to let your character have prejudices against gimps, orcs, etc.) There are two words that are probably the most common slurs that some people seem to use in daily conversation, and I'm going to mention them here (note the distinction between 'mention' of a word, and 'using' the word). The words words in question are 'gay' and 'fag'. Some people have argued with me on this, saying that they are often used without derogatory intentions, but in this day and age, they are most likely to be perceived as discriminatory in any circumstance. In order to be thorough in our NO TOLERANCE ruling, these words are considered UNACCEPTIBLE EVEN ON BITCH CHANNEL. While there is a place in society for curse words (and in this society, we use bitch channel for it), discrimination is absolutely unacceptable, and thus the use of such words MUST come to an abrupt halt. Also see the helpfile for 'why no profanity'.