Question of the Day, March 24, 2010

[The Escapist Staff]

Question of the Day, March 24, 2010



Do you think players should be able to indicate their sexual preference in their screen name (such as a Gamertag)?

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[BonsaiK]

Yes. Or anywhere else for that matter.

 

[Lowbreed]

I'm just not so sure why? Is it reckoned that it would cut down on the "******!" namecalling?

 

[Swaki]

yeah, if you find someone of the sex of your preference you talk and play well with then it would be nice to see if you even stand a chance.

its as good a way to meet people as going to a bar.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

As long as it isn't offensive, I don't see why not.
I'd probably prefer it if they didn't. Just like people don't tend to have real-life names to indicate their sexual preference...
Ok, I'm not sure :|

 

[Daystar Clarion]

You should be able to, but I can't see how it would be tasteful. All you would ever see are gamertags like:

No... I better not go down that road, I don't want to offend anyone.

 

[Trivun]

I don't see why it's such a big deal. If people are gay or bi or whatever, then fine. That's their life. If they want to state that so people know then I have no problem with it. I'm not going to leave a game because every other person on the server is homosexual. I'll pwn them anyway .

Seriously though, I reiterate my point. It shouldn't be a big deal. If people want to make that statement in their Gamertag or whatever, then let them. I have no problems with it either way.

 

[coldfrog]

I don't see any good reason for it, but I don't see any particularly strong reason against it. At the very least, it should not be an open text field for people to put anything they want, but while I could care less, it's like the info on facebook. It's there if you want to fill it out, no doubt some people want to know.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

As long as they keep it clean, I don't see why not.

 

[oppp7]

I think your religion, race, nationality, and sexual orientation are OK for name choices as long as they are not put in a way that are obviously meant to disrupt the community.

 

[TheFacelessOne]

Keep it clean,

And I won't care.

 

[SavingPrincess]

As long as people care about this, we're never going to advance as a race... even asking the question seems obnoxious and counter-productive.

There should have been an option for "who the f--- cares?"

 

[Anacortian]

I could not vote.

Does the facilitator of the medium have the obligation to allow it? No.
Does the user have the right to to it? No.
Do I care one way or the other? No.
Would seeing "gaygamer69" cause me to react? No.
Would I petition to have the name changed? No.
If the facilitator banned such a name, would I care? No.

In short: I don't care until the point that the person with the name which runs against the facilitator's rules (however absurd they are) attempts to legally compel him to allow it. Once "Fuckedurmom" presses or threatens to press suit over the matter, I am completely on the side of the facilitator.

 

[ReincarnatedFTP]

Yes, only in a subtext or profile field instead.
Well you say, we might have a problem with people discriminating against non-norm sexualities and roles (homo, bi, tranvest, transgend, asexual [they exist but not in the reproduction sense]) being discriminated against.
Easy. Report the dildos responsible for any discrimination.
This idea would actually probably straighten things out and avoid awkward situations as well, and encourage people to talk when they would hold back otherwise.

I don't see why this should be such a big deal. Now for those who find this indecent and prefer to only view things approved by Jesus Christ/Allah/Yahweh/whoever himself you could just make a "hide sexual preferences of other users" option.

Now this just means another description field. Not outright sexual advertising. Save that for your bio.

That's the way I'd prefer it done anyway. Not so much a screen as another field or sub-text under the screenname.
But if you want to indicate your sexuality in your screenname I have no problem, but it's more prone to cause outrage and those who would prefer to not see it can't do anything short of blocking your user.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

1. What has sexual preference got to do with gaming? What difference does it make if the guy shooting zombies with me is gay or straight?

2. Just like any other tag option a lot of people are just going to lie rendering the whole thing moot.

3. why isn't there a "why should I care" option.

 

[OmegaXIII]

Kept clean i can't see the problem per se. Of course it should be allowed because i disagree with most outright bans on liberties, i feel the question here is more - is it appropriate?

However i voted no purely on the principle that people that make an otherwise private matter public annoy me. Don't get me wrong, gay pride etc are fine by me because there is a difference between pride in one's person and needless flaunting of it. For this reason overly camp people annoy me and equally (if not more) so overly sexed up jocks who feel the need to tell me about their various conquests with girls irritate the shit out of me.

More to the point i feel that whilst some people would use a SN as a tool for pride and another extension of their persona, most would take it as an invitation to wave their willy in people' faces, if the XBox Live community has taught me anything is that given the opportunity, idiots will always brag about the stupidest things.

Oh and this:

As long as people care about this, we're never going to advance as a race... even asking the question seems obnoxious and counter-productive.

There should have been an option for "who the f--- cares?"

 

[JeppeH]

Sure, why not? ..
The pitfall people might see, is that some could feel forced to state information they deem private or feel they have to lie about, such as sexual orientation, but if the information is vulentary I don't see why not.
People who want to state their alternate sexual orientation are aware of the risk and are usually wellprepared to meet the awerage troll.

The positive impact this hopefully has, is that by stating the information, people might become more tolerant towards eachother. But thats probably just too optimistic of me

 

[fix-the-spade]

Why not. If political, gang based, nationalist and so on tags are allowed, why not which gender you prefer to hump? It's about the only thing on the planet that everyone has an opinion on.

I'm just not so sure why? Is it reckoned that it would cut down on the "******!" namecalling?

Short of cutting out half the gaming population's tongue, nothing will lessen that.

 

[Dys]

I prefer it when strangers refrain from forcing their sexuality in my face in the real world, why should my opinion be any different with online peers?