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### Topic

#### Username Censorship

A couple days ago staff contacted me and declared that they felt my name wasn't appropriate for Glitch and required me to change it. I wasn't in love with the name (Blue Waffle) so I complied and submitted my alternative name choice (Clappy Funt). Well, apparently that was also unacceptable because it was "sexually offensive" and my name was changed to Round Waffle for the time being.
I believed this was ridiculous and argued that it was hypocritical for a game which contains blatant sexual innuendoes in interactions with wood trees and have items like High-Class Hoe to deny me from using Clappy Funt as my username. I also asked whether i was being unfairly penalized since they're several other usernames running around that are in a similar vein and why those who find my name offensive couldn't just block me.
Their response was they had to consider how the community will see things and that while clever innuendo was a part of Glitch it had to be clever, not vulgar or rude.
Again i complied, by giving another alternative name choice as i justed wanted to get it over with... Now here i am 5 days later without so much as a response. Every day that's passed i've felt more and more like this policy places unproportionate power into the hands of our resident puritans and pushes Glitch towards a descent into an undesirable nanny state. That i couldn't be the only one who found immature, playful names an amusing welcome addition or believe that this level of censorship is hypocritical and unnessecary in the decidedly adult world of Glitch.
So my question to the community is: How do you feel about username censorship?

Posted 12 months ago by Fur | Permalink

### Replies

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- Username censorship is lame. Though I have to ask...why were you asked to change "Blue Waffle"? Is there something I'm missing here?
  Posted 12 months ago by TrentSkunk | Permalink
- Don't google blue waffle if you know what's good for you. Some things can just not be unseen. 8\
  Posted 12 months ago by Saiai | Permalink
- Blue waffle is bad? I don't get it.
  Posted 12 months ago by WalruZ | Permalink
- My question is why do you insist on these types of names anyways? I just think its more trouble than its worth, just choose a regular name and be on with it.
  Posted 12 months ago by Vinchon | Permalink
- Sorry Round Waffle! Maybe you should change your name to Lemon Party.
  Posted 12 months ago by Sloppy Ketchup | Permalink
- So basically the censors at Glitch taught me something I didn't know before by banning it. Way to go!
  Posted 12 months ago by Pascale | Permalink
- lol...come on now...saying that guarantees I will. And from a quick search, ah I see. But errr, so what? Seriously, *lots* of words have alternate meanings that are either sexual, disgusting, racist, or possibly all three at once. Just spend some time on Urban Dictionary and you'll see what I mean.
  Posted 12 months ago by TrentSkunk | Permalink
- wait, wait... blue waffle was banned, and yet we have a longtime player called munchma kuchi? there's a guy called scroty mcballs or something like that, and blue waffle gets banned because SOME people know about something on the internet that has a shared name?
  are we back to sandusky?
  if we're not going to censor ALL of the sexually suggestive names, including everything that shares a name with any reference, intended or not, we shouldn't censor any.
  and then what if i don't like you and i START an internet meme using your name to represet something offensive? do you get banned?
  Posted 12 months ago by flask | Permalink
- @Vinchon because like everyone else who chooses a username, i liked it and it amused me.
  forgive me for believing a game which contains sexual innuendoes, references to drugs and alcohol and an age limit of 14+ would think it as so inappropriate that it required game-wide censorship.
  Posted 12 months ago by Fur | Permalink
- I literally lol'ed when i first saw you're original username. I think its awfully lame that you have to change it now. There's a lot of people who probably don't get the reference and now because of this, their censorship, its going to draw more attention to this supposedly 'to vulgar' for glitch name, and I'm sure google image searches for blue waffle is probably going to increase at least slightly today as people hear about this and wonder what the big deal is... SO This will have the exact opposite effect, good job glitch staff. Most people who didn't know, would have continued not to know, and for the people who already knew, the 'damage' was already done so it shouldn't be a big deal... i mean really, what an inane thing for the staff to be worrying about.
  Posted 12 months ago by Machiavelli | Permalink
- At least this thread has been educational!
  Posted 12 months ago by Shiromisa Kaya | Permalink
- Seriously not everyone knows what a blue waffle is! No one is going to look up your name to find out what it is either!
  Posted 12 months ago by DamitaJo | Permalink
- boys and girls! there is only one obvious solution: report EVERY sexually suggestive or possibly offensive username you see.
  EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
  that way either the staff will see the extent of such names in the game and relax, or they will be buried under gettind them changed.
  Posted 12 months ago by flask | Permalink
- Well... now i regret including the specific names because it's not really about that. It's about the censorship that i feel strongly is unnecessary and really only takes into account the feelings of puritans not the general community.
  Posted 12 months ago by Fur | Permalink
- uh, if they're going to start censoring names based on what's in Urban Dictionary, eventually EVERYONE will have to change their names. Ever been to that site?!?!?
  Also, what one person finds offensive another may not, where do you draw the line? Who decides how far the line goes? I think unless someone has a name like "giant a**hole" or "Harry Balls" hehe censorship shouldn't be used. It's just going to start a wave of trouble and probably more work thant TS wants.
  PS. I had no idea blue waffle was something gross til I read this thread.
  Posted 12 months ago by Hybie | Permalink
- A word only has power if we give it power. Stupid, stupid censors....every time they censor something they only bring more attention to it than if they had just left it alone. If I read of more censoring, I will cancel this game so fast. It's a freaking witch hunt going on around here.
  Posted 12 months ago by Pekoponian | Permalink
- I'm of two minds on this--on the one hand, I believe there should be a minimum standard of decency on usernames, but a very very very permissive one that excludes only the most offensive of combinations. On the other hand, I really don't think any of those should fall into that category.
  Posted 12 months ago by Shiromisa Kaya | Permalink
- I feel a little control on names is needed, there are LOTS of people who'd take offense with that name.
  Posted 12 months ago by Demetra | Permalink
- I am wearing a blue waffle (weave sweater) Right Now!!!!
  I think the censorship is lame and the joke is one TS might have made themselves, so it's doubly lame. Plus, who's to say you wanted to be round waffle rather than a square one?
  (I also think you are odd for wanting to identify with blue waffles, but respect your right to do so.)
  Posted 12 months ago by clare | Permalink
- @Demetra why couldn't those who found my name offensive just block me? there's not even the excuse of children to protect here (at least there's not suppose to be with the age limit).
  Posted 12 months ago by Fur | Permalink
- I guess the point in banning a name like 'blue waffle' is to get everybody to google it. Which I'm not gonna. My condolences to anybody who apparently knows what it 'means.'
  And the fact that said people 'know what it means' is their problem- the rest of us have no clue on the matter and so it's pretty lame for said name to be banned. Rephrased- if you 'know what it means' nobody is gonna care about you being offended- you're obviously one of the 'clueful' sorts for who that sort of stuff shouldn't matter. Similar names like 'Goatse Man' should also be permitted.
  Posted 12 months ago by Razzal | Permalink
- I don't think that many people see from this thread even know what blue waffle mean I don't ethier. The only thing making him change is name has done is make more people know XD
  Posted 12 months ago by koolaroo | Permalink
- On a completely and utterly unrelated note *cough* I'd like to invite everyone to my lemon party! We're going to use the fruit changing machines to make lemons^^ *blink*
  Posted 12 months ago by Machiavelli | Permalink
- One of the early street names, Eglesgown Wanks, contains a rude word. By British standards, anyway.
  Posted 12 months ago by Tiresias | Permalink
- This game needs goats. I want to have a goat, see?
  Posted 12 months ago by Rodger | Permalink
- @Koolaroo That's why I find this entire episode very bizarre. TS isn't asking people to remove names because they (unlike your mother, for instance) don't want you to know some things (for your own good, of course), but because someone could potentially be offended by it.
  I really can't see people getting offended by players named after shock sites / internet phenomenons. Hell, I've seen a lot more potentially offensive names. There is dear old Adolf Hitler running around Ur, as well as a unicode rendition of pedobear.
  Posted 12 months ago by Boom and Bust | Permalink
- ...holy crap. I would actually be a lot more put off by seeing a player named Adolph Hitler running around than a hundred Blue Waffles. Especially if the character in question was actually blue. :3c
  Posted 12 months ago by Shiromisa Kaya | Permalink
- Well, for what it's worth, even *I* don't think you should have been forced to change your name... and I really, really hated it (until I got used to it after a couple of days), as you know.... As other people already stated, it's two harmless and innocent words, unless you are already aware of the meaning, in which case your eyes have already been burnt anyway...
  I hope there will be some sort of agreement between you and the devs soon, since Glitch with you is much more fun than Glitch without you.
  Posted 12 months ago by Sumi | Permalink
- I want to have a goat farm on Christmas Island.
  Posted 12 months ago by Razzal | Permalink
- *stampedes off to google "blue waffle"*
  Posted 12 months ago by Sirentist | Permalink
- I had no idea what it was either... until I googled it. Sigh.
  Posted 12 months ago by Zira | Permalink
- whats this "blue waffle" thing?
  5 secs later
  OMG MY EYES
  Posted 12 months ago by argorn5757 | Permalink
- This thread is turning AWESOME.
  Posted 12 months ago by Sloppy Ketchup | Permalink
- *facepalm* XDD Okay, for those unaware--"blue waffle" is a slang term for a fungal vaginal disease that gives the tissue a bloated, blue appearance. It was sort of a thing online a bit ago. I honestly don't find the image that shocking; lotusboob disgusted me much more (don't google that one either!)
  Posted 12 months ago by Shiromisa Kaya | Permalink
- if it makes anyone feel better that condition is fake and not real just like the lotusboob. lemon party on the other hand..... :3
  @clare thanks for not being one of those people who are like "omg i don't like this must get it deleted off the face of the planet!"
  @Sumi that's the one thing i really miss.. the handful of awesome squishy people ive met like you. but logging in and seeing "round waffle" in chats and thangs makes my mood go red and sadfaced.
  Posted 12 months ago by Fur | Permalink
- Hahaha.
  I did what I was not supposed to do:
  Google "Blue Waffle".
  Posted 12 months ago by Tamarnouche | Permalink
- Hold up!
  It is a slang term for not a perverse sexual act, but a medical disease?
  Medical conditions can't be "sexually offensive", they're science!
  Well this blows, because it isn't even a sexual term. Or, at least, I certainly hope that nobody finds a fungal vaginal disease sexual! Ew!
  I get it with some terms that are sexually themed and also unpleasant, but this is an obscure reference to a disease. A gross one. Medically offensive maybe :P
  Edit: Put "fake" in front of "medical disease" apparently.
  Posted 12 months ago by Biohazard | Permalink
- Ohhh, is it really not real? That's a relief! XD
  Lemonparty is actually one I've never been tricked into seeing, hee. But I know the basic gist of it.
  Posted 12 months ago by Shiromisa Kaya | Permalink
- I agree with username censorship if it's a word that only can be interpreted as offensive.
  I had no idea about the waffles, I suppose the problem is that's something disgusting. A name like "Cherry Pie" should be accepted based on the clever wood tree sayings.
  Posted 12 months ago by Natalia | Permalink
- Actually, I think having a Lemon Party to demonstrate how foolish this is would be an excellent idea.
  Posted 12 months ago by TrentSkunk | Permalink
- I'm gonna change my name to FishTaco. How 'bout that?!
  Posted 12 months ago by Pekoponian | Permalink
- Deciding which names to censor is a very subjective call, and each time staff does so there are going to be people who disagree and agree with their decision. Recently there was a user who was asked to change her name because it also happened to be the name of a criminal who had been in the news or something like that, and I thought that was ridiculous. I personally agree with the staff's decision with "Clappy Funt," though, since it does strike me as vulgar. I would never report anybody over it, but it would make me uncomfortable if I saw it, so I see why the staff would ask you to change it.
  Posted 12 months ago by LittleMan | Permalink
- Okay, here is how it works.
  YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED!!!!!!
  If you don't like a person's name, avoid them, block them or ask them to change it. Do not go to Tiny Speck and whine about how someone else has a name that makes you sad. And TS should not be in the business of telling people what to call themselves. You should be able to call yourself whatever you want as long as it isn't intended to insight violence or discrimination.
  This game is 14+ and therefore everyone on here has been online for probably 10 years at least. Most of us have seen enough to be completely immune to a name like Blue Waffle. If that offends you spend a few days on 4chan, grow up a little, realize that Blue Waffle is pretty tame, and come back.
  Posted 12 months ago by Siderian | Permalink
- Siderian: Um, while I think Blue Waffle is totally fine as a username and agree with you on "You should be able to call yourself whatever you want as long as it isn't intended to insight violence or discrimination", I take issue with your logic. I am very glad Glitch is not 4chan; if it was, I would definitely not be here right now.
  Posted 12 months ago by Shiromisa Kaya | Permalink
- I googled blue waffle. My support goes to username censorship.
  Posted 12 months ago by Electric Wizard | Permalink
- I suddenly want to make a batch of waffles and dye them blue in protest....... Throw birch syrup everywhere. Dang num it.
  Posted 12 months ago by chelseaann | Permalink
- Shiromisa: I wouldn't either. All I am saying is that there is almost nothing that someone can put as a name that is going to be offensive enough to warrant forcing them to change it. Spending even five minutes somewhere like 4chan will show you worse things than anyone could call themselves here. Considering that a name that is gross only if you already know what it means or google it is not and cannot be disgusting or offensive on the level of half the things online is enough to make the censorship seem completely pointless. If going somewhere like 4chan doesn't prove my point that the names should not be censored because they are "offensive" then I don't know that anything will.
  Basically, what I am saying is that if you are offended by 'Blue Waffle' then you need to get out more.
  Posted 12 months ago by Siderian | Permalink
- Free speech, anyone?
  Posted 12 months ago by Fernstream | Permalink
- Free speech doesn't apply here. Free speech refers to government censorship. As a private company, TS is free to censor its own game however it wants.
  Posted 12 months ago by LittleMan | Permalink
- LittleMan is right.
  FWIW, I knew what "Blue Waffle" meant before this thread and have run into The Artist Formerly Known As Blue Waffle within the game. Whereas I thought it was odd for someone to WANT to choose that name, I'm apparently hard to offend.
  Usernames don't bother me much. I can always block if, one day, my sensibilities are offended. User actions that are intended to harass, annoy or grief other players bother me much more.
  Posted 12 months ago by ✰ Lorelei ✰ | Permalink

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