Rules Update Ruling Recall & Explanation

[Tefka]

A new update addressing the recent ruling banning homophobia, racism, and misogyny in roleplay. This will be addressed in several parts.

1. The Site Owner’s conduct.

It has been brought to my attention that my conduct in relaying this ruling, and its subsequent discussion, is unacceptable by the SWRP Staff Team’s standards and in violation of our Staff Code of Conduct. That I trivialized, to some extent, the issues subjected by the ruling - and also how I portrayed the discussion with Staff. As a community leader, and some might say a Star Wars RP cultural icon, I agree my penchant for humor got the better of me. The Staff Code of Conduct, and our Staff positions, is not just something I wrote. It is something we communally agree to, so that the foundations of SWRP CHAOS can stand strong and support the entertainment we all come here for. I apologize, and will strive to be more cautious of when I employ that personality-driven humor in the future. I will also attempt to hold myself to the same level of responsibility that I ask of our writers when diving into these subjects, such as the ones described in the recent ruling and further below.

2. Homophobia

This definition is clear and the ruling stands. Homophobia remains banned in SWRP roleplay. It was always abusive, so General Rule #4 already covered it, but I personally prefer to outright clarify it so there is zero confusion. I do not want it in Chaos. We all know what homophobia is. It is a very clear definition, and even the most charitable questioning of it would be in bad faith. Therefore, it is banned.

3. Racism

While most people are in agreement racism = bad, there is some confusion on the definition. I will direct you to Wookieepedia, where many of us get our information. When you type “race”, it directs you to “subspecies”. It seems the founders and writers of Wookieepedia agree with me. Race is a subspecies, so racism is hatred or contempt of members of a subspecies towards other members of the same species. But here is where it gets convoluted, a bit.

A. Speciesism. Xenophobia. Racism. “The human race” referring to all humans as a common entymology. It can make the brain hurt, because depending on who you argue with on the internet, all of these are different, and all of these are the same, and all of these are interchangeable. This makes the definition more muddied, and easy to start twisting words and meanings.

B. Ssii-Ruuk. A few members, and Staff members, brought this up. It appears to me that yes, the Ssii-ruu employ racism, the separation of species by color, to quantify their caste system. Simply put, brown dinosaurs are lower caste and looked down upon.

So what do I do with this? Honestly, its easy for me, maybe not so much for you. But this is a “spirit of the rule” situation. Most of us Westerners know what racism is. Discrimination based on race. Wookieepedia defines this as a subspecies. Good with me. Ssii-Ruu, aka the Expanded Universe, supports exploring racism in writing - eh, I’m good with ignoring that like we banned Hypergates and lightsaber rifles. I don’t think “racism” is so confusing that we need to remove it. I think people get it, and new members too, and I personally don’t want it at Chaos. It’s just not something we need. Its not Star Wars, or in the spirit of, for me and there’s been no strong enough argument to convince me or the Staff Team otherwise.

Racism’s out, and banned per the rules update.

4. Misogyny.

This one is the troublemaker. I will keep this one brief, because the explanation is pretty brief. I personally dont want it on Chaos. I dont think “I hate women” is an important enough topic to explore in Star Wars nor at Chaos. However, it is the SWRP Staff Team and I’s determination, upon closer look, that the definition is simply too unclear and all encompassing for us as Staff to enforce and for you the writers to understand. It’s not a matter of intelligence, the fault doesn’t lie with you or us, the definition is simply too large and confusing. “Contempt, hatred, or prejudice for.”

As muddied as racism might be, misogyny is a hundred times more confusing to simply have as a one-off rule. It might have been well intended, but it was not a well thought out inclusion to the rule.

Misogyny has been removed from the ruling.

 

[Darth Athora]

I'm fine with none of these being banned, really. It's when they become a central point of one's character does it become a problem, in my honest opinion.

But this is fine too. Big ups, staff team. Ws all around.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

I hope I don't get bullied for this. I just want to say thank you. It personally makes me feel a lot more comfortable here when everyone in charge is held to a standard and they apologize when they mess up and they try to clarify stuff. It makes it a lot better to be here. So thank you.

 

[Desbre Gensan]

Okay, so Arkanians just suddenly accept Arkanian Offshoots like this character? And it's all cool now? They're not second-class citizens and barely little more than slaves in a society that actively oppresses them?

So we're just throwing out entire character arcs, just because someone feels they shouldn't exist? (And sure, it shouldn't exist.) Just trimming a little fat off of the canon/legends, are we?

 

[Corbin Vasher]

Ok, just so I'm clear on this, my Sith (species) isn't allowed to hate other Sith? Bc that was kinda his whole background. He was looked down on for looking too human and not being Force-sensitive. Do I have to scrap that character?

 

[Aloy Vizsla]

Guys i think there's a big difference between having a character who was oppressed in their backstory and making characters whose entire identity revolves around oppressing a specific subspecies for their color. everybody can calm down

 

[Desbre Gensan]

Guys i think there's a big difference between having a character who was oppressed in their backstory and making characters whose entire identity revolves around oppressing a specific subspecies for their color. everybody can calm down

The ban was IC and OOC in any form, regardless. There is no gray area. There is no wiggle room. Whether it's in a character's backstory or with them RPing NPCs that are racist/xenophobic for them to be an opposing force/antagonist.

Which is the main thrust of the argument against banning it.

The whole thing is that we don't agree with racism/xenophobia etc, and therefore it should be actively opposed. It should be shown, as a real and present thing, and how to oppose it. Those stories are powerful and uplifting. You don't get rid of it by shoving the things we don't like, or might be sensitive or triggering into a dark corner and trying to forget about it. You kill that disease by shinning sunlight on it and showing everyone how bad it actually is and how to kill it. You treat it like a vampire. You don't just sweep it under the rug and hope it goes away.

This is the very nature of storytelling. You show the bad guys. You show why they're bad. And what it takes to overcome that. You don't turn a blind eye to it. You don't run away from it. You fight the demon.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

I think Aloy Vizsla has it right. Intent matters.

If you are writing a character or culture which has these biases, it's acceptable to write them.
However, if you are using it as a means of glorifying real life prejudice, or being a jerk about it then staff can and will censure you.

If in doubt, ask. If you see something from this moment on which you are uncertain about, report it. The Admin team has received direction on how to handle these issues.

 

[Desbre Gensan]

"We're from the government and we're here to help."
"trust us."

 

[Corbin Vasher]

I think Aloy Vizsla has it right. Intent matters.

If you are writing a character or culture which has these biases, it's acceptable to write them.
However, if you are using it as a means of glorifying real life prejudice, or being a jerk about it then staff can and will censure you.

If in doubt, ask. If you see something from this moment on which you are uncertain about, report it. The Admin team has received direction on how to handle these issues.

Okiedokie, thank you Sir.

 

[Tefka]

"We're from the government and we're here to help."
"trust us."

"I posted more in this announcement thread than I have in the past 7 months on this character and I'm VERY ANGRY"

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Desbre Gensan
Literally, yes. It's always been that way going back to the start of this site.

If you don't trust us, I don't know what to tell you. These rules have always been there, and we have always punished this stuff when we've seen it. We are merely making it explicit now because the general online discourse of the Internet has made it necessary.

If you are writing in good faith and are not trying to Trojan Horse real life views into your writing then you have nothing to fear. Authors and actors can portray things they do not believe, there is a separation of fiction and non-fiction.

 

[Desbre Gensan]

"I posted more in this announcement thread than I have in the past 7 months on this character and I'm VERY ANGRY"

Just because I'm not RPing on Chaos, doesn't mean I'm not watching, and no I'm not "VERY ANGRY". If I were, I'd just back up everything and delete my account(s).

I'm only pointing out that while the intention is good, the execution is very poor. Or at least the wording is poor. Heart's in the right place, Tef.

 

[Desbre Gensan]

Desbre Gensan
Literally, yes. It's always been that way going back to the start of this site.

If you don't trust us, I don't know what to tell you. These rules have always been there, and we have always punished this stuff when we've seen it. We are merely making it explicit now because the general online discourse of the Internet has made it necessary.

If you are writing in good faith and are not trying to Trojan Horse real life views into your writing then you have nothing to fear. Authors and actors can portray things they do not believe, there is a separation of fiction and non-fiction.

One person's good writing is another person's Trojan Horse/personal insert.

The problem is subjectivity and interpretation.

If a writer is working on an arc that covers these issues over multiple threads, it can easily, at face value appear that they're glorifying those ideals. But then the Staff decides to ban them because that's all they see. The arc wasn't complete yet, but that writer/RPer gets banned for an incomplete work that was eventually going to tear the whole thing down.

What actually prevents that? What stops that premature reaction? That subjective interpretation?

Do you actually have a calm, rational discussion? Do you want a 3-Act Structure, 24 chapter/thread outline or something? What do we need to do for an insurance policy so we don't get shot in the head (figuratively) over a misunderstanding or misinterpretation?

 

[Tefka]

I'm only pointing out that while the intention is good, the execution is very poor. Or at least the wording is poor.

The wording is "racism is banned".

I understand this infringes on some aspects of story telling. We meet eye to eye on that. But bluntly put, as well as I did during the VC the other night when we had a cool and collected discussion on the subject, the question isn't "can we do it", it's "Do I, Tefka, owner of the website, allow that content to be curated here."

That's where we leave the realm of Star Wars. And that's why we get fiery responses from players like you, because up until now, you had no reason to believe "freedom of speech" or "writer creativity" was infringed upon outside of the usual norms you find in a Terms of Service.

I told them, I told Staff, I'm telling the community, that's ultimately what it comes down to. Most things get caught in Staff discussions or community rulings, etc. But this is ultimately a "What will I, the owner, allow." I wanted to go further. Staff took me aside and talked me out of a lot worse.

Yeah, it's a bit Orwellian, OOC. Some would tell you its super police state tyranny reigns. Some would say eh cmon man not a big deal.

But IC, it's Star Wars. How many Star Wars stories deal with racism? Like legit. Be real. Be fair. Even if I were as charitable as possible, I could probably count them on one hand. It's just straight up bad faith to say racism is a Star Wars story.

If you gotta scrap a character, scrap a character.

If you gotta quit and roll a new community, do that. Big world out there.

But if you wanna work with us, you have a few options.

1. Be creative. Write around it. Retcon, skirt some angles, walk some lines, test the fences on some issues, sure. We're roleplayers. We're creative. Think outside the box, not "fix that dumb rule or I'm leaving."

2. Talk to us. Don't get heated, outline your thoughts and take the OOC angle. Go to the suggestion forum, paint a picture, see if people agree with you. I listen to the community, Staff listens a lot better, we'll all talk about it and see if ideas or brains or thoughts change on subjects. We're all human. Culture changes. People change. Rules change.

 

[Tefka]

That's my charitable response, my non-charitable response is you've now posted with that account in this thread more than you have in the past year IC lol.

If I were a numbers guy, losing a 10 post account/year to racism is a worthy sacrifice.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

One person's good writing is another person's Trojan Horse/personal insert.

The problem is subjectivity and interpretation.

If a writer is working on an arc that covers these issues over multiple threads, it can easily, at face value appear that they're glorifying those ideals. But then the Staff decides to ban them because that's all they see. The arc wasn't complete yet, but that writer/RPer gets banned for an incomplete work that was eventually going to tear the whole thing down.

What actually prevents that? What stops that premature reaction? That subjective interpretation?

Do you actually have a calm, rational discussion? Do you want a 3-Act Structure, 24 chapter/thread outline or something? What do we need to do for an insurance policy so we don't get shot in the head (figuratively) over a misunderstanding or misinterpretation?

Yes, I have calm and rational discussions with writers about issues all the time. Sometimes there's an innocent explanation for it, sometimes not.

The rules have always been open to subjectivity and interpretation, as you put it. That's literally how rules and laws work.

So, if anyone has concerns about anything. We're here to have discussions to keep the community safe. That's all that needs to be said on this issue.

 

[Tefka]

And Val, the admins, and I will be here to explain things and talk and listen but I again want to reiterate this single point. And explain why this single point matters most.

Its not “what are we free to explore or how far can I push these issues.”

It’s “how far are we allowed to go.”

The reason for this is because I own the website, I am therefore responsible for the content curated within.

With the help of Staff, and members of the community, I have outlined my expectation and limits. While they can change, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon, and impossible to happen without tons more discourse and education.

If you want to educate myself and the community, the suggestion forum is open to all. I strongly suggest any members interested in doing so do so in a calm, collected, and educated manner so I don’t start making jokes and not take it seriously, thus leading to Staff being forced to reprimand me back into the next century.

 

[Roth Likonis]

A point of clarification (I found your breakdown of racism a little confusing).

So, do these rules preclude xenophobic characters and character arcs? Xenophobia being defined as "Xenophobia, also known as speciesism, or anti-alien bias, was dislike or prejudice toward individuals from other species or cultures." A character might be intensely anti-human, for example, due to actions of a mostly human government.

Or is this really for situations more like: "Hey, don't roleplay literal Nazis wearing Nazi uniforms, wearing the iron cross, who are also avid baby killers - that's not Star Wars yo."

Tefka

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Roth Likonis
Xenophobia is not covered, since that's a more common SW theme. Xenophobia as being directed to other species in this case.

However, if you go too far with the comparatives to the real world we reserve the right to act on it if required, as we always have.