BioWare apologises for forum policy

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 29th April 2009
Comments (11) Stumble
BioWare apologises for forum policy

BioWare has apologised for any offence caused by the previous blocking of homosexual discussion on their forums.

BioWare has had a rethink on the forum policy that caused so much uproar yesterday, loosening guidelines and automatic filters to allow discussion of homosexuality that the moderators had previously dismissed as not being relevant to the Star Wars universe.

The RPG developer found itself in hot water yesterday when community manager Sean Dahlberg claimed that homosexuality did not exist in the Star Wars universe and that discussion was therefore not relevant to BioWare's Star Wars games - despite the fact that previous BioWare Star Wars games had included gay relationships.

BioWare forum moderators then started closing threads that mentioned homosexualty, as well as those that discussed the closure of such threads. Words such as 'Gay' and 'Lesbian' were also banned on the forums through an automatic word-filter.

Sean has since apologised for his actions and BioWare has moved to allow appropriate discussion on the forums, removing terms from the automatic word filter.

"My intention was not to demean anyone but simply to help promote a community that could discuss topics in a mature fashion," Sean wrote in a public apology.

"[i]When I first built the word filter list, I added a variety of terms to the word filter that have been used numerous times in derogatory messaging. There were some words added to the filter that should not have been...there was never any intent to limit discussion," he added.

Have you ever created a gay character within a computer game or do you think sexual content in games is inappropriate? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Quote Paradigm Shifter 29th April 2009, 11:03
Just think - if they'd just banned any sort of sexual discussion, they wouldn't have gotten in trouble. And they could have justified it with 'hey, these forums are public, kids can view them'.
Quote p3n 29th April 2009, 11:07
That image is great. Political correctness wins another worthless battle in a virtual world...
Quote johnnyboy700 29th April 2009, 11:12
Does this mean we're being watched by the PC PC police?
Quote perplekks45 29th April 2009, 13:04
I don't think it's worthless. If we ever accept everything, then the internet is worthless. At least in my opinion.
Quote Star*Dagger 29th April 2009, 14:58
@Paradigm, that bird doesnt fly, many conservative organizations use the "Think of the kids" excuse to limit rights.

If anything the Star Wars universe would not only have hetero-homo-bi-trans-etc sexuality, but sex with totally different species. Kudos to BioWare for stepping back and realizing their mistake, apology accepted!

Yours in Force Plasma,
Star¤Dagger
Quote leexgx 29th April 2009, 16:32
hmm, i agree that it should not be alowed, due to miners as all miners put that thay are 18 in so thay can access all parts of sites that norm get hidden (what every one does on xbox360 as you have to make 2 accounts so you can limit the kidy account)

should not be alowed on an gameing fourms, when you agree to terms when you join an fourm norm there is an rule for not talking about sex stuff be it homos as well, better have its own forum (if its in the US not take long untill some one sues them for alowing it)
Quote FeRaL 29th April 2009, 16:37
I thought Star Wars was a kids story, well at least the first three episodes (the most recent garbage) were.
Quote delriogw 29th April 2009, 17:50
Quote:
Originally Posted by leexgx
hmm, i agree that it should not be alowed, due to miners as all miners put that thay are 18 in so thay can access all parts of sites that norm get hidden (what every one does on xbox360 as you have to make 2 accounts so you can limit the kidy account)

should not be alowed on an gameing fourms, when you agree to terms when you join an fourm norm there is an rule for not talking about sex stuff be it homos as well, better have its own forum (if its in the US not take long untill some one sues them for alowing it)

lol i just now have a mind full of guys covered in coal dust and helmets with torches on sitting at their computers telling everyone they're 18
Quote perplekks45 29th April 2009, 17:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by leexgx
hmm, i agree that it should not be alowed, due to miners as all miners put that thay are 18 in so thay can access all parts of sites that norm get hidden (what every one does on xbox360 as you have to make 2 accounts so you can limit the kidy account)

should not be alowed on an gameing fourms, when you agree to terms when you join an fourm norm there is an rule for not talking about sex stuff be it homos as well, better have its own forum (if its in the US not take long untill some one sues them for alowing it)
I hardly get your point... maybe grab a spell checker somewhere, mate?

Anyways, I agree that on any family forum [almost every game forum is frequented by minors] talk about sex should be supervised. See the "Demotivational pictures" thread with [NSFW] in the title to highlight the content so you don't stumble upon some boobies.

But this is of course no guarantee that minors won't see it. Well, there've always been ways of getting what you wanted even if you were too young [alcohol, movies, games, porn,...] and there always will be. I don't think age restrictions really help, for example check Diablo3.com: You need to pick a random date in 3 drop-down menues. Wow, how secure. :| :p

Let's just say, I still think it's good they apologized for the useless ban.

Ninja edit:

@ delriogw! Nice one!
Quote mandy_modded 30th April 2009, 03:57
FeRaL, i 1st saw Star Wars in 1977 at the young age of 10, and even i knew instantly that C3P0 was, to use a vernacular, "camp as a row of tents". (apologies to the gay crowd i am L & T myself)

one could argue over it being a kids show, by episode 2 (or rather 5) empire strikes back, we found that luke was leia's sister, making his lust for her incestuous desire, real childrens stuff there.
Quote thehippoz 30th April 2009, 04:07
yeah but luke knew in his heart because of the force.. then he got his hand caught in that toilet scene and they had to put on a fake hand- and the ewoks spoke filipino
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