Owned by Blizzard policy

3-dEMON

3-dEMON

New Member
Well I knew this was coming, and many of you probably saw this coming as well. I came to work this morning, opened up my email, and found the following:

####################################
Greetings,

Account Name: **********
Realm: Terenas
Old Character Name: Yahweh

Account Action: Warning

Offense: Violation of naming policy
Major Religions or Major Religious Figures
This category includes both clear and masked names which:
.. Is based on or alludes to major religions or religious figures (i.e. Jesus, Christianity, Buddha)


The name selected for this character, pet or guild has been deemed as inappropriate for World of Warcraft by the In-Game Support
staff of Blizzard Entertainment. Upon your next log-in, you will be prompted to select a new character name. Unfortunately we will
be unable to offer name changes for pets. If this notification is in regards to a guild name, the guild has been disbanded and will
need to be reformed under a different name. For further information, please view the World of Warcraft Naming Policy and Terms of
Use Agreement: (http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/?id=agm01722p) and (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/termsofuse.shtml).

For any concerns or disputes on this matter please E-Mail WoWGMFeedback-US@blizzard.com (mailto:WoWGMFeedback-US@blizzard.com) and
we will be happy to assist you.

Be aware that additional inappropriate actions may result in further disciplinary action, leading up to or including account
closure. We thank you in advance for respecting our position.


Regards,
Grybbs
Game Master
Blizzard Entertainment
<http://www.worldofwarcraft.com>
####################################

I am not defiant, I completely understand the sensitivity of the issue. It appears as if someone reported me to the GM otherwise I wouldn't have made it to lvl 36 after 1 month of playing without action. Such is life. Next time I log on I'll be sure to inform everyone of my name change. I have no idea what it will be yet. Suggestions are welcome. ;)
 
Last edited:
Sad. ppl can have evil based names, or sexual referenced names, but nothing happens to them. I bet one of the guilds I belong to will be or has been disbanded....Heroes of Grace
 
I see guilds all over the place with sort of ambiguous religious names like:

Defenders of Faith
Holy Guardians
Wrath of Heaven

I changed my name to Zebidiah, derived from "Zebadiah" or "Endowed by Yahweh (God)". Think they'll catch that one?

Ariel m.f. "Lion of god."
Daniel m. "God is my judge."
Elijah m. "My God is Yahweh."
Emmanuel - Immanuel m. "God is with us."
Ezekiel m. "God strengthens."
Isaiah m. "Yahweh is salvation."
Jeremiah m. "Yahweh has uplifted."
Joel m. "Yahweh is god."
Joseph m. "He will add."
Judith f. "Woman from Judea"
Saul m. "Asked for" or "prayed for."
 
Maybe I am just being crabby today... I have had some tough times as of late... This just irks me, I mean I can understand the changing of offensive names that contain vulgarities. But this?!?! How far do you take it? Cannot name because it may be found in some religion somewhere. (Matthew, Mark, John and Paul) I mean is there not some common sense to this? k, someone is being just rude in their name... or kids may be playing so being sensitive to that. But I do not see any offense in the name Yahweh? Oh... God is everywhere is He not? "In God we trust" etc... so much for religious freedom? Well everyone else except Christ? I find it annoying that they try to keep him out, yet in doing so they take on a religion of their own...

k, I am a little cranky... I admit it. I mean, where is the line between common sense and utter stupidity. To be frank as long as they do not have vulgarities in the name I could care less what they named their character... even if it is a non-existent god... who cares.

Anyhow I am glad that Yahweh does not take offense and changes his name... it just irks me that some twisted person thinks that God is somehow offensive! The one who died for our crimes, yup... we were guilty and deserving of death... and God comes in to help. And He is the bad guy!?!?

How about this version of the good samaritian... the robbers are not so bad, the guy beaten is ok. The pharise is just busy and did not have the time.. but that offensive pig that actually stops to help the guy and heal him up... man... he offends me!?!? That is broken! Even if you do not believe in Christ, why would you get offended then? The story is still the same... just fiction instead of reality.

Anyhow sorry for my vent... I mean there is enough things in life to get offended over. People killing each other, etc... no we nitpick over someones name in a game! Anyhow I am stopping now... sorry again.
 
The reason it does not bother me is because the lines are drawn to keep the game fun for everyone. People with names like Yahweh, Hitler, Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Stalin, Judas, Gandhi, Napoleon, or whatever have to potential to create misdirected anger. Let's face it, in the online world where anonymity breeds immature and foolhardy behavior we have to accept the fact that in order to protect our own sensitivities we have to respect other's sensitivities. I know it’s ludicrous to put Jesus and Hitler in the same group. When I think of Jesus it evokes thoughts of reverence, humility, forgiveness, or love. To someone else it may evoke thoughts of war, bigotry, racism, inquisitions, or injustice. The reality of the matter is that institutionalized religion has done a lot to tarnish the concept of Christianity.

I didn’t mean to turn this into a theological discussion, but I imagine that it’s unavoidable at this point. Some questions I think would be good to ask yourself would be:

How would you feel if someone used the name Lucifer or Satan to name his or her character?

How about Hitler?

What sort of paradigms or historical figures should be avoided?

The problem with policing the thoughts and expressions of others is that you have to decide where the lines should be. Can I name myself after Michael Jordan, or will Larry Bird fans get upset? Well I doubt that will spark anything more than a short flame war in the general chat and maybe a few whispers here and there. I’ve seen theological and political debates occur in the general chat where I feel like reaching through the internet and strangling some dolt with a high opinion of himself, but that is little more than a bunch of words scrolling across my screen that eventually fade into cyberspace and never seen again.
 
I would also add, that I work for a corporation here in Los Angeles. There are a lot of people from all different countries and religions here. We have to be sensitive to this fact because any jokes or even discussion about race, religion, or sex has the potential to offend someone and create a hostile work environment. I know that for myself I often feel like the only Christian in the world as I sit in my cubicle and listen to the conversations in the hallway. It's very hostile sometimes and I feel like saying something but I think some of us have certain reservations about rocking the boat in situations where you have to work. I'm really close to tipping the boat over though. ;)
 
Sorry to hear they changed your name sometimes they take the policy a bit to far. About a month after the game came out the ToJ clan got disbanded because we had the name "God's Peon's". They seem to be selective in who they punish though as I see many guilds with names just as questionable by there policy and nothing ever happens to them.
 
The #1 reason people get their guilds disbanded, or their names changed, is because someone has reported them. They don't actively look for name violations, if they happen to notice one while doing some other ticket they will take action, but they don't purposely look for name violations. This was posted on the official forums. They said many reports of names are just people being spiteful, and no action is taken, but if the reporter can give any valid reason(religious, sexual, etc) they have to change it.
 
Steel is very much dead on. Somebody reported the name, probably out of spite. As a Christian, I don't report other christian names...I will throw out a /tell to them saying that I really like their name. Sometimes it opens up an opportunity to witness to them, sometimes not, sometimes I find a brother or sister playing the game.

If you find a name that is offensive...report it. Don't report it out of spite...give a very detailed and well thought out reason why you find it offensive.
 
Some good points raised, guys. Just to share quickly... If I saw an avatar running around with the handle "Jesus", "Jebus" or even "Yaweh", and saw him acting meanly or typing abusive things, I'd probably be extra offended. It seems like the Blizzard naming policy acts as a nice safeguard against that potential for offense (agreeing with 3-demon)
=Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top