NationStates

I was wondering, is there any particular lines on where cursing ends and flaming begins?

I mean, I know regular curse words are allowed, but are statements like "take your head out of your a**" tolerated but borderline, or is it considered flaming?

That specific example skews into flaming/flamebaiting. The thing about swearing is you really need to take care to make sure that the statements with the swearing aren't targeting other users, and aren't being used simply to inflame the discussion. Telling someone their argument is stupid, for instance, is fairly mild; telling someone that their argument is "fucking stupid" escalates the statement simply because the cursing makes it way more incendiary. Calling someone's favored candidate "an idiot" is pretty mild; calling that candidate "a fucking shit-eating twat-waddle" is ... not. Another example might be the internet's favorite exclamation of "What the fuck?!"; that's pretty safe, because the common connotation for that is pure disbelief not directed at anyone in particular.

I'm going to hazard this post of mine is what prompted the query; you'll note that the intensifiers are all applied to objects- the fucking forum, flaming bullshit, and so on; the closest any of the cursing gets to actually being aimed at Huswyae is the "you just had to fucking cross the goddamn fucking line and fucking flame the guy" line, which is attacking his actions, not him the player. (That is pretty much the textbook definition of "tapdancing RIGHT on the edge" though, since the intended overall effect was to be almost satirically absurd with the sheer volume of swearing but it could potentially be misread in a different set of circumstances. I would not advise skirting that close to the line!)

Like pretty much any other word, it's not necessarily what or how much of it you use, it's how you use it. My post was an intentionally over-the-top and highly exaggerated demonstration; in everyday use, someone who isn't trying to be as incendiary as possible probably won't be dropping language like that constantly. When in doubt, just don't curse; there are a wide variety of less-incendiary intensifiers you can use in your writing to get the point across that aren't as loaded as a lot of cursing tends to be.

Reploid Productions wrote:That specific example skews into flaming/flamebaiting. The thing about swearing is you really need to take care to make sure that the statements with the swearing aren't targeting other users, and aren't being used simply to inflame the discussion. Telling someone their argument is stupid, for instance, is fairly mild; telling someone that their argument is "fucking stupid" escalates the statement simply because the cursing makes it way more incendiary. Calling someone's favored candidate "an idiot" is pretty mild; calling that candidate "a fucking shit-eating twat-waddle" is ... not. Another example might be the internet's favorite exclamation of "What the fuck?!"; that's pretty safe, because the common connotation for that is pure disbelief not directed at anyone in particular.

I'm going to hazard this post of mine is what prompted the query; you'll note that the intensifiers are all applied to objects- the fucking forum, flaming bullshit, and so on; the closest any of the cursing gets to actually being aimed at Huswyae is the "you just had to fucking cross the goddamn fucking line and fucking flame the guy" line, which is attacking his actions, not him the player. (That is pretty much the textbook definition of "tapdancing RIGHT on the edge" though, since the intended overall effect was to be almost satirically absurd with the sheer volume of swearing but it could potentially be misread in a different set of circumstances. I would not advise skirting that close to the line!)

Like pretty much any other word, it's not necessarily what or how much of it you use, it's how you use it. My post was an intentionally over-the-top and highly exaggerated demonstration; in everyday use, someone who isn't trying to be as incendiary as possible probably won't be dropping language like that constantly. When in doubt, just don't curse; there are a wide variety of less-incendiary intensifiers you can use in your writing to get the point across that aren't as loaded as a lot of cursing tends to be.

Alright, that's a good clarifier. Thank you very much for answering this!

*leaves cookies*

So just to clarify, the normal rules about the forum being PG-13, as it is used by school children (how effective the rule might be notwithstanding), don't apply to swearing? I ask because I've been keeping myself in check.

Swear-words aren't banned from the forums; however, they almost always make a post more angry and they can easily veer into flaming. If someone is using excessive profanities, we will tell them to stop, even if they're not directed at an individual, as it raises the temperature of a thread and makes further angry replies more likely.

Sedgistan wrote:Swear-words aren't banned from the forums; however, they almost always make a post more angry and they can easily veer into flaming. If someone is using excessive profanities, we will tell them to stop, even if they're not directed at an individual, as it raises the temperature of a thread and makes further angry replies more likely.

So... it's allowed, but we're supposed to use it as little as possible?

It's allowed, but within reasonable limits that most sensible people won't have any problems with.

Sedgistan wrote:Swear-words aren't banned from the forums; however, they almost always make a post more angry and they can easily veer into flaming. If someone is using excessive profanities, we will tell them to stop, even if they're not directed at an individual, as it raises the temperature of a thread and makes further angry replies more likely.

What if they were used in a non-aggressive sense... Well, by that i mean not in an ANRGY sense like "damn this fuckin shit is the bomb fuck man i got shitted fuck the uppity idk what im talking shit fuck lick lick fuck man dis so good it fucked me up shit man fuck"... Well, I hope you kinda catch my drift

Reploid Productions wrote:Like pretty much any other word, it's not necessarily what or how much of it you use, it's how you use it.

This is pretty much the best litmus, combined with "Swear Sensibly™" that you're likely to find. Intent is terribly important in posts, so players need be careful in how they phrase things. I doubt, "This is fucking awesome!" would be considered flaming/baiting. Beyond that, we're not going to entertain an endless list of hypotheticals here.

Hope that answers your question.