So I've been enjoying playing on the Badwater/Goldrush server for a few weeks now, but today encountered the first instance of bigotry I've experienced there. I just wondered what the Aprilon stance was on that kind of behaviour.

Personally I think I should be able to do anything in life - whether it's as serious an endeavour as finding a job, or as trivial as playing a multiplayer video game - without being subjected to prejudice, discrimination and, specifically in my case, homophobic abuse. So when two players in particular - Darkviper and kazsymonds - took it upon themselves to criticise me for being gay (calling me a fag, telling me I was gay by choice and to expect people not to like it, suggesting that I should stop fucking men and start using my penis properly, ie on women) I was, uh, pretty taken aback. If any admin want to check the text logs, this occurred between 20:00 and 20:30 London time on 07 February 2010.

Needless to say I was the only one putting up any kind of resistance to this pair of idiots, while others began to get pissed off that I was taking their homophobia too seriously - 'it's only a game' etc etc - but homophobic abuse is a serious issue regardless of where it's encountered, and I certainly don't intend to tolerate it online. It was unfortunate that no one else on the server at the time felt inclined to speak up.

So hopefully someone will give me an idea of what the Aprilon stance is on homophobia, racism and any other type of discrimination being peddled on its servers. Is it something that's stamped out? Tolerated with a shrug? Encouraged?

it is a shame that you have been discriminated, by Darkviper and kaszysmonds, that is wrong of them.

i have read through all the chat logs and what is see is this:

you started by calling kazsysmonds a "homophobic little cunt" @2010-02-07 20:48:43 after he said (yeah i'm not gonna renew my premium, that's just queer) which sounds like something not pointed at you in person.

after that you say: you're one of the retarded ones?

after that they insult you. unfortunetely it looks like you were cursing at them first...

all together it just looked like you where wanting to have this discussion with them, that you were looking for it.

they just shouldn't have insulted you like that.

You're being incredibly selective there. I wouldn't have called him a homophobic little cunt for no reason, out of nowhere. He was using terms for homosexuality in a derogatory way, and yes I went after him for it. I guess you could accuse me of hypocrisy to an extent ('cunt' arguably being a misogynistic term, for which I'd apologise to anyone who found it to be discriminatory, unlikely as that is) but from what you've posted, it seems like you're excusing their bullshit because I had the audacity to pick them up on their bullshit and bitch them out. Is that it?

I don't have much to say for now, sorry. We don't have much of a ruleset for our TF2 servers other than "Don't be a douchebag", but other than that players can do or say whatever they want on our servers. Surely we don't appreciate inappropriate language (in this case homophobia) but we don't have administrators to monitor the chat at all times quite frankly we don't want too many just for that cause.

Personally I respect your sexuality, we've had a former staff member that is gay.

This is hilarious, in no way did i single you out and discriminate against you.

As said in the server, i have gay friends, i'm not a homophobe.

What i am is a douche-o-phobe, i was having a whinge because the DB guys got banned, and i really like playing with them, and then you jump on one comment i make and decide that you will take offense and escalate things from there.

I get on well with all the players on the servers, with the exception of you.

If you will keep biting i will keep going, this is the internet and if you show a weakness then that's where the next knife goes. You use the C word and then you expect me to be cool? "He who wishes to come to equity must do so with clean hands".

I don't mind you having a problem with me, just ignore me if you MUST play on the server, i won't say anything about you unless you decide to make my business your business.

Until Karl or any other mod says otherwise, i will play on the server and have fun and chat with the other players.

I should also point out that i wasn't even talking to you, i was just minding my own business, having a bitch in chat with the other members.

I used the word queer, which means odd, yet you automatically assume that i am being 'homophobic' and a 'bigot'.

to be honest, you had sand in your vagina from the moment you started chatting, it's clear for all to see that you wanted to have a problem.

You're going to have a tough old life my friend, very tough indeed.

Please, you weren't using the word 'queer' to mean odd - besides, I gave you the opportunity to explain yourself but you declined, choosing instead to call me a fag and all the rest.

It's true that you weren't talking directly to me at first - you weren't even aware of my existence - but I don't see how that's relevant. If I overhear a couple of strangers in a supermarket queue using language that's even slightly homophobic, I'm entirely within my rights to introduce myself to them and ask them to explain themselves. There is no place for homophobia in this world, and I certainly don't intend to tolerate it in my company.

So I brought you up on it, and instead of showing deference and humility to your homosexual superior, you instead regressed to a type of behaviour more commonly observed in adolescent deliquents, delightfully prodding at subjects very sensitive to minority groups and becoming ever more gleeful the more you succeed in upsetting them. And then brushing off any sense of guilt or contrition with weak justifications like 'it's just a game!' and 'well, it's the internet, what do you expect!'

You seem to have this perception of the internet as a virtual world where the strong take the weak aside and humiliate them for entertainment. You might have been hanging out on games forums for too long - that's not what the internet has to be about. I realise that's all Xbox live and Steam might contribute to social interaction on the internet, but it doesn't mean you have to enter wholeheartedly into the nasty spirit of it yourself. Congratulations on making online games just a little bit more discriminating, macho and hate-filled than they already are.

Loving the 'I'm not racist, I have black friends' line, by the way.

A developer at Valve (Zoid Kirsch) has described the usage of words such as gay and faggy as negative adjectives becoming more and more common rather well in his blog post: http://elitistjerks.com/blogs/zoid/308- ... nd_me.html

The main point he makes is that, while people using those words in a negative sense isn't right, the more accepted homosexuality becomes in the world, the less people will use these terms in a negative sense.

It took 30 years for the words "nigger" and "Negro" to become harsh and unaccepted. Perhaps we'll see a similar change with regards to homosexuality, although homophobia isn't the same thing as racism.

But I digress. Personally? Get a thicker skin. Don't let people get to you.

Whatever fionulla, you're a whinney little crybaby.

My point about having gay friends is that i'm good friends with gay people, as in i actually seek to spend time with them and i go to gay bars with them, nothing like that but i just like to hang out with them. Why do you have bring black people into it? Why do you have to keep calling me a homophobe and a bigot when i've stated i'm not?

How do you know i wasn't using it to mean odd? Would you have backed off if i'd said that? No.

What's this about giving me a chance to explain myself? Why would i have to do that, i'm not accountable to you! When i didn't respond because i was playing the game you started throwing specific insults! Pathetic.

People like you give gay people a bad name, and then go crying to teacher because everyone in that server dislikes you. Everyone was calling you fiona.

You're a piece of shit my friend, and what you can't take it that i'm not saying that because you're gay, i'm saying that becuase you're a whinney little cock. If this was anywhere other than the internet you would have been smacked stupid.

You just WANT to have a problem, that's the only reason you're here wasting your time.

Unfortunately for you i can say what i like, when i like, and there's nothing you can do about it. YOU BIG SILLY GOOSE!

fio, you want to make things like this a problem. You gave the example of people using the word queer or faggot in a supermarket, okay fine. But who in their right mind then starts asking these total strangers to explain themselves, just because YOU are gay?

Being gay is fine, nobody here has any problems with that. But you should really understand, and this goes for overly religious people too, being gay/religious does not give you MORE rights than others. Total strangers (in this case kaz is also a total stranger to you, or was) do not have to answer to YOU. You are a nobody, just like everyone else. Being gay doesn't change that.

In all honesty, and here comes that line again, I have a few gay friends, but they are nowhere near as whiny as you are. Get over yourself. You're not special. You intentionally make this whole thing a problem. I'd almost say you were attention whoring, but I don't like insulting people I don't know. And trust me, I can understand you feel bad/insulted if people directly call you a faggot, or a queer after they find out you are indeed gay.

My two cents.

This is blown way out of proportion. Stop looking for attention, it wasn't in anyway pointed at you don't take it personally but grow up ffs.

It's gone very quiet in here...

Gloating doesn't really help your case here..

There isn't a case i need to answer, what are you talking about? Karl's had his say...

If there isn't a case, why come back and gloat? Didn't think there was a problem here until you came back into the thread to gloat about how he stopped posting. Suddenly him calling you immature makes much more sense.



And you're just trying to be provoking now.

Not taking anyone's side here, just pointing it out.