- Target:
- Three Rings Design, Inc.
- Region:
- GLOBAL
- Website:
- puzzlepirates.com
The MMORPG "Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates" by Three Rings Design, Inc. includes chat filters to prevent users from saying certain words, instead changing them to either piratey alternatives or nonsense characters.
One such substitution is to change the word "gay" to "happy". On submitting a message to the designers of the game enquiring why the word was filtered, they responded that the word is used derogatorily more often than legitimately.
The filtering of the word can be disabled, but both users must select to turn off the filter if they wish to see the words, and turning off the filter means that other swearwords are not filtered either.
Putting the word "gay" in the same class as a swearword or insult is blatant discrimination and is entirely unjustified and unreasonable. Arguing that it is not discrimination and is necessary to stop people using the word as an insult is ridiculous - if people want to insult each other they can easily find other words, and if they want to use the word in a legitimate context it is made embarrassing and humiliating.
The issue is made worse by the fact that deliberately misspelling the word to evade the filter is a bannable offence in the game.
The undersigned call upon Three Rings to take action either to remove the filtering of the word "gay" from their games, or to make it an opt-in rather than opt-out feature of the filter.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Petition to Three Rings to stop anti-gay discrimination petition to Three Rings Design, Inc. was written by Sam and is in the category Gaming at GoPetition.