Chat language Rules

[Barney_Google]

Not talking about different languages per se, I am saying that regardless of your Country and its Official language, foreign words and short phrases creep into daily use
So since we are an English sever the, converstions should be in English, however a word or phrase that is commonly used in America, such as ciao (Italian Hello) Adios (Spanish good bye) or manana (meaning later) should be allowed. Not as a means to bypass the filter, or to mock anyone, rather as a means to express one's self more fully.

[Trafik]

...How does one determine if it is an English word? The only way I can see is to pop the word into a translating tool and see what an unbiased translator comes back with. Or you look it up in a dictionary and see whether it is mentioned in a current English dictionary...

Not counting Latin, I speak three languages and am somewhat familiar with others. English borrows heavily from Latin and French in particular, other tongues, too. Aside from being unwieldy and prone to varying results, running words and phrases through automated translators or dictionaries would be a sure chat-killer for its time requirement alone. Further, at what point does a widely-used term become English when its origin is clearly French? When one dictionary accepts it but another doesn't yet?

All we want is the ability to use non-English words and phrases that already enjoy widespread use in common English conversation without the risk of a no-warning chat-ban for saying "good night" in Italian. (Yes, it's happened.) We're not asking to converse in tongues other than English, just to use common non-English words and phrases that the majority of native English-speakers already understand and use in daily English speech.

We believe the English-only rule was originally implemented to constrain the conversation to English. We support this interpretation. But we believe the current no-non-English-words-ever interpretation is overreaching and serves to strangle chat when participants must carefully consider each word lest a lurking moderator take offense at a passing "adios."

That we are even having this discussion is absurd.

[KingHomer]

This conversation is making me tired. In Canadian, I'm fatigued.

Reasonable use of a common-use word or phrase where the majority of English-speaking players understand both the words and the cultural reference should be acceptable use. Even the occasional one we don't all get should be allowed unless bypassing obscenity filters - which the mods can quickly check google translate since they are "working" the chat rooms, it's not too hard.

Anyway, "Hasta la vista, baby" is a perfect example. This phrase has it's own wikipedia page noting multiple references in American culture (Bob Hope - music - the Terminator series). Neither of my kids (16 and 18) was around when these movies first came out, but they know the phrase...

[Dorotheus]

OK confused here, is UK English allowed ?

[Trafik]

OK confused here, is UK English allowed ?

Stressing that I am not trying to speak for BB, one would assume U.K. English is the standard, the baseline. The issue we're discussing here is that the U.S. server should allow popular U.S. terms like adios, hasta la vista, buongiorno, bon jour, cerveza, et. al. -- terms that are not English words but which are very commonly understood and used in U.S. speech. There are hundreds of them. Currently, using such terms can result in no-warning chat bans.

We are asking that the English-only rule be interpreted to require chat conversation be conducted in English (which we support) instead of the current interpretation that prohibits all non-English words (which is heavy-handed and impractical).

Sorry, Barney, not trying to commandeer your virtue train. :-)

[Dorotheus]

Stressing that I am not trying to speak for BB, one would assume U.K. English is the standard, the baseline. The issue we're discussing here is that the U.S. server should allow popular U.S. terms like adios, hasta la vista, buongiorno, bon jour, cerveza, et. al. -- terms that are not English words but which are very commonly understood and used in U.S. speech. There are hundreds of them. Currently, using such terms can result in no-warning chat bans.

We are asking that the English-only rule be interpreted to require chat conversation be conducted in English (which we support) instead of the current interpretation that prohibits all non-English words (which is heavy-handed and impractical).

Sorry, Barney, not trying to commandeer your virtue train. :-)

I would have thought American English would be the baseline on the US servers, as Queen's English has different words for some things, and if we was to throw in certain regional words the situation gets worse. Indeed I've known the EU mods to throw a wobbly at the use of some of those.

The problem here is what is corporate policy. The company tells the mods what is allowed and the mods enforce that. Their guideline appears to be what is the official language for that servers region period with no other considerations which may exist which say they can't do that.

[Trafik]

I would have thought American English would be the baseline on the US servers, as Queen's English has different words for some things, and if we was to throw in certain regional words the situation gets worse. Indeed I've known the EU mods to throw a wobbly at the use of some of those.

The problem here is what is corporate policy. The company tells the mods what is allowed and the mods enforce that. Their guideline appears to be what is the official language for that servers region period with no other considerations which may exist which say they can't do that.

Sorry, I really need to learn to speak more clearly.

Since the nature of U.S. English is a hodgepodge of Latin, U.K. English, French, Spanish and many others (not that U.K. English is not, itself, a pastiche), my assumption is that the baseline of English is choate U.K. English with an allowance for geographic idioms. Because our gracious hosts are native Deutsch-speakers, my next assumption is that our hosts allow their appointed moderators, who presumably (yep, another assumption) are native speakers of whatever language on which servers they operate, broad latitude to interpret local idioms and vernacular. In this case, the moderators are prohibiting all words they perceive to be non-English, an impossible task given the turbid murk of U.S. English. Since the punishment for such infractions is typically a no-warning chat ban, we are trying to get our hosts and moderators to relax their interpretation of the English-only rule to mean that conversation be conducted only in English, not that all non-English U.S. idioms are completely banned.

Simply put, I believe our BB hosts allow their volunteer moderators broad latitude to interpret company language rules. I wish this one rule would be more focused on keeping chat in English and less focused on the legalistic minutiae of ensuring players never use any non-English word, ever, even if the term in question is a popular U.S. idiom.

Good grief.

[Narasn]

I am curious: is there a Canadian server where both English and French are accepted?

Both English and French aren't really even accepted in most parts of Canada I don't know why they would be accepted on a server. Also with two NA servers there isn't likely a 'canadian' server.

Simply put, I believe our BB hosts allow their volunteer moderators broad latitude to interpret company language rules. I wish this one rule would be more focused on keeping chat in English and less focused on the legalistic minutiae of ensuring players never use any non-English word, ever, even if the term in question is a popular U.S. idiom.

I have never seen a problem on the Ares server so I am assuming there is a tiny group of people on the Zeus server wanting to use non-English words.

[Trafik]

...a tiny group of people on the Zeus server wanting to use non-English words.

LOL. Yes, we wanted to be able to say bizarre things like "hasta la vista," "ciao," "see you mañana" or even "confit de canard" without earning bans or chiding from moderators. It's amazing what happens when one expands one's vocabulary beyond the monosyllabic.

Fortunately, we held an affable chat between the tiny group, a BB representative and three moderators yesterday morning. I believe we might have reached a consensus.

[Narasn]

LOL. Yes, we wanted to be able to say bizarre things like "hasta la vista," "ciao," "see you mañana" or even "confit de canard" without earning bans or chiding from moderators. It's amazing what happens when one expands one's vocabulary beyond the monosyllabic.

Fortunately, we held an affable chat between the tiny group, a BB representative and three moderators yesterday morning. I believe we might have reached a consensus.

English words only have one syllable? How odd that I never noticed that. Anyway glad you got your language issue sorted out.