Lgbt Discrimination On The Game

MarciaZee - Raging Tide

I recently wrote an email to pwi concerning LGBT discrimination my faction has been receiving. This is what it said:

Dear PWI,

I am a member of a faction on your Perfect World online game called GayRights. Recently it has come to my attention that this faction has received some harassment on the game because of our political beliefs. I noticed on the chat the "homo" in homosexual has been censored as well as the word "***."

Is the company aware that according to wikipedia: "Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them?" Basically, "homo" means human. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo

Also, censoring the word "***" only empowers the social stigma that being *** is a shameful thing. Is the company also aware of the fight for equality the LGBT community has been forced by our society to undertake.

"****, ***, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007)." http://www.thetrevorproject.org/suicide-resources/suicidal-signs

My first impression upon hearing this was that the company MUST have undertaken this censoring policy to protect youth from cyberbullying BUT I was made aware by a high ranking faction member that they started a faction called LGBTRights some time ago and was told by the game to change it or risk having the faction forcibly disbanded because of complaints from other players on the game.

I noticed that many factions have names like JesusSAVESus and other such religious declarations. Is it the companies policy to allow people who have chosen a religion to express support for that religion but LGBT players can not even express who they are even though it has been proven time and time again that being *** is not a choice but something one is BORN.

I hope to be relieved to find that your company supports equality for ALL it's players. I will be uploading a video about this to youtube so that when this discrimination is remedied the world can see that your game is fairly run by people who take human rights and equality seriously.

Thank you for your time and attention.
http://pwi.perfectworld.com/
email: customerservice@perfectworldinc.com
Their twitter. Do feel free to tweet this video to them:
http://twitter.com/#!/PerfectWorldEnt


I also have a channel on YouTube where I do LGBT Rights advocacy. I made a video about this and here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQT7MvaiH_U

LenieClarke - Heavens Tear

yes, sexism and homophobia are built into the very game mechanics of this game. this is not new. the chinese developers are not planning nor willing to change that. this is not new either. the U.S. based management of this version of the game agrees, more or less actively, with all this, and are complicit in sustaining and enforcing these sexist, homophobic policies. they always have been, it's not new.

yes, it sucks; it's unjust, unfair, and wholly on the wrong side of history. PWE and their game will be remembered badly, some day. they're not willing to change their ways just to do the right thing, however, because they just suck that badly.

...now let's see how much of this post gets censored by the forum software...

_Ink_ - Raging Tide

First off, let me say that I in no way agree with Perfect World's current policy of discriminating against any sexuality. However, in China homosexuality is illegal and the base company(PWE) is maintained in China. It may not be exactly progressive, but those who call the shots are bound to be, and obviously let themselves be, hindered by the country they are based in.

Now, I could go on to define the literal meaning of "homo" and explain how in modern day it has become a slanderous word to describe certain people's sexual orientation which could be the cause of the censor if you're wearing rosey shades but at this point I believe it all to be kind of moot. I can't imagine any experienced player in the game isn't aware of this issue by now, and obviously even you still play the game. Since there aren't masses leaving the game(Which means PWE isn't losing mass amounts of money because of it.) it's unlikely to be changed any time in the near future.

I think truly the best thing to do is for the players to be more progressive than the game is allowed to be. As much as we have the right to support all sexual orientations, PWE and whomever happens to work for them has the right to view any sexual orientation they want to as wrong. Equality is a door that swings both ways and that's not always good but it is what it is.

LenieClarke - Heavens Tear

_Ink_ - Raging Tide wrote: »

However, in China homosexuality is illegal

people keep saying this. the real world situation seems to be more nuanced. it is, at least, not clear from this distance that Wanmei Beijing would immediately be in legal difficulties were they merely to change the internal rules of a simple video game, and one aimed at the U.S. market at that; the societal and legal climate of mainland China appears to be more complex than that.

PhantomThief - Archosaur

The problem with PWI is that everything pretty much has to be cleared through China first. So, unless China decides to change things, it most likely won't get done.

However, that kind of begs a question... What if someone sued PWI over this issue? I'm not saying or advising anyone to do as such. I am merely wondering how a law suit over the issue would play out.

There's a growing trend of LGBT support on the web (most recently portrayed by Google adding a rainbow image when a user searchers for LGBT related topics) and I think this trend will only grow and maybe one day LGBT won't be discriminated against in video games (which is slowly become a reality).

chaoticshelly

First of all, you posted in the wrong section, so I'll move that in a few.

Second, as others have mentioned, PWE is the US branch of PWB, that resides in China. Since the game is coded in China whose government made Homosexuality illegal (and as such, games are not to include homosexual relationships etc.), PWE is inclined to follow regardless of its representatives opinions about the matter. That said, the main reason these words are censored is the avoid people from using them in a offensive manner (which is more so than often the case).

Lastly

12. No inappropriate discussion types.
Inappropriate discussion-types include, but are not limited to, the following discussion types: Politics, Religious issues, Abortion debates, etc. Common sense should dictate what is appropriate or not.

Hopefully you will get a reply from PWE, but this topic will now have to be closed.