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LANGUAGE IN GAMES
Posts
Dark Gaia
3474
Dark Gaia
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CloseHey all,
Just thought of something interesting (or not) that I'd like to get your opinions about: how appropriate do you feel bad language is in your games? What is the absolute point where you will draw a line? What do you consider to be "bad" language?
I ask this because, to some, it seems to be an important issue. Now, I don't generally have a problem with it (unless there's a fuck in every sentence and it loses all meaning or something like that) but I recently received an email from a player claiming to be under the age of 16, who was pretty offended to see the words "damn" and "bastard" in my games.
He/she raised the point that "40%" of my players are people in the same age group, and that although these are relatively tame words, they may be considered inappropriate to some players (to the extent that he/she claimed my "popularity was rapidly dropping" because of this.
Basically, this was my response to the player:
That's my stance: I at least expect people to make their own judgment. If the word "damn" offends you, don't play. I use the words that I feel are appropriate.
What do you guys think?
Just thought of something interesting (or not) that I'd like to get your opinions about: how appropriate do you feel bad language is in your games? What is the absolute point where you will draw a line? What do you consider to be "bad" language?
I ask this because, to some, it seems to be an important issue. Now, I don't generally have a problem with it (unless there's a fuck in every sentence and it loses all meaning or something like that) but I recently received an email from a player claiming to be under the age of 16, who was pretty offended to see the words "damn" and "bastard" in my games.
He/she raised the point that "40%" of my players are people in the same age group, and that although these are relatively tame words, they may be considered inappropriate to some players (to the extent that he/she claimed my "popularity was rapidly dropping" because of this.
Basically, this was my response to the player:
Dude, chill out. I'm a writer. I've published many stories with "bad language" in them and have a book with similarly "bad" language. I don't write or make games for kids, I make games for mature people who can handle mature material. I don't get paid to make games, and to be honest, I don't care if my popularity is "dropping".
I expect people who access my material to make their own judgments. If you don't like the content of the material, don't access it, and I trust that any parents who feel that my material is inappropriate will also not allow it to come into the hands of their children.
That's my stance: I at least expect people to make their own judgment. If the word "damn" offends you, don't play. I use the words that I feel are appropriate.
What do you guys think?
Billwilliams
1159
You really have to seek the middle ground. 'Fuck' really is the most important word in the English language but you have to use it with care. Don't just add extra swears to make a character 'look tougher,' there's other ways to do that.
My opinions on this topic have been well-documented elsewhere.
I am more concerned that your response to the player was basically "I don't care what you think."
I am more concerned that your response to the player was basically "I don't care what you think."
Billwilliams
1159
I'd better expend on my thoughts here.
My early attempts at RM games were some of the most profanity filled trash you could imagine. This was partially due to characters that really would swear like drunken tugboat captains but mainly due to the sudden unexpected freedom the medium gave me.
After a couple of years I started toning thing down pretty sharply and actually tried to make a game without any swearing. (I found I couldn't do it.)
Anyway I've decided to seek the middle ground and swear when a character would swear but to always look at other options. I find I'm actually saving F-bombs for the one of two points in the plot where they'll have the most effect.
My early attempts at RM games were some of the most profanity filled trash you could imagine. This was partially due to characters that really would swear like drunken tugboat captains but mainly due to the sudden unexpected freedom the medium gave me.
After a couple of years I started toning thing down pretty sharply and actually tried to make a game without any swearing. (I found I couldn't do it.)
Anyway I've decided to seek the middle ground and swear when a character would swear but to always look at other options. I find I'm actually saving F-bombs for the one of two points in the plot where they'll have the most effect.
There's been this topic a lot over the years. It usually devolves into arguments about realistic dialogue/good writing vs. crass/lowbrow, and old school games not feeling right with swears vs. esrb imposing edits that caused that.
Cue inevitable FFVII Barret self-censoring swears as example of "good use", although I wouldn't argue this.
Basically you can get away with it in the 3d realm, good examples would be GTA IV or LA Noire (Rockstar has good writers).
For 2D/SNES-esque it's probably a bad idea, and invokes the mark of an amateur. A better approach is appropriating your own slang to add flavor to npcs etc. Contributes to a more unique world.
Cue inevitable FFVII Barret self-censoring swears as example of "good use", although I wouldn't argue this.
Basically you can get away with it in the 3d realm, good examples would be GTA IV or LA Noire (Rockstar has good writers).
For 2D/SNES-esque it's probably a bad idea, and invokes the mark of an amateur. A better approach is appropriating your own slang to add flavor to npcs etc. Contributes to a more unique world.
Dark Gaia
3474
I agree. I tend to basically follow something I call the "Final Fantasy rule", where I won't use anything that wouldn't appear in a Final Fantasy game. I'll use "damn", "bastard" and "hell" (all of which I've seen in "classic" RPGs) but I certainly personally don't really think "fuck" or "shit" fit the tone of a 2D J-RPG style SNES game.
Swear words can be effective in some instances, but the tone of the games I make (except for horror games of course) generally aren't a good context for them.
@Solitayre: Why *should* I care? If it was an aspect of the gameplay that he wanted to change, it would be a different story, but asking me to change a game simply because he finds a word offensive? The fact remains that when I'm making my games (or writing my books/stories) I *don't* have the intention of having young children play them and I *don't* consider them my target audience. Hence, I'll leave it at "if you don't think it's for you, it probably isn't."
Here is the email in question that I received:
In a previous email, he suggested I replace the word "damn" with "darn" and "dang" - and the instance he refers to where I insert the word over a bunch of apples is referring to a scene where the protagonist forgets something he left behind and says "damn" out of frustration.
Swear words can be effective in some instances, but the tone of the games I make (except for horror games of course) generally aren't a good context for them.
@Solitayre: Why *should* I care? If it was an aspect of the gameplay that he wanted to change, it would be a different story, but asking me to change a game simply because he finds a word offensive? The fact remains that when I'm making my games (or writing my books/stories) I *don't* have the intention of having young children play them and I *don't* consider them my target audience. Hence, I'll leave it at "if you don't think it's for you, it probably isn't."
Here is the email in question that I received:
Hey Dayle (my real name)! This is <redacted on sender's request>. I just wanted you know something -
1. Over 40% of the people that play your games are children under 16. That includes me. If you 'feel' like you need bad language in your games, little children won't play them. I took a survey on MANY people (122 people of different ages) and they don't like the word damn or bastard in ANY games. Just wanted you to know your populatrity is DROPPING with the little people. Parents do check these games sometimes, you know.
2. Love your game ideas, but really? In Legionwood 1, you put in the word damn over a bunch of apples? Come on, that sucks. That doesn't even need to be in there.
Hey, just trying to help here, though someone at your age of, what, 19? 20? would allow language to be put in there for no apparent reason.
In a previous email, he suggested I replace the word "damn" with "darn" and "dang" - and the instance he refers to where I insert the word over a bunch of apples is referring to a scene where the protagonist forgets something he left behind and says "damn" out of frustration.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Assuming you're not a completely shitty writer, I'm sure you can curse without being crass and without sounding like an idiot. At that point, the issue comes down to demographics.
Fact: if a pro game developer arbitrarily adds elements to their game to increase the rating from teen to mature, it will sell better, all other things being equal. Indie games don't get the same level of market studies put into them, and aren't given official ratings, but I'd wager that the same principle applies. The element that increases your game's adultness can be nudity, violence, or swearing. Of these, violence is usually the least offensive, but in this case you're making an RPG, so that's probably not reasonable. Swearing is second best.
This phenomenon occurs because changing the rating changes who players perceive the game as being designed for. If it comes across as a kiddy game, adults will enjoy it less. The inverse is also true. Teenagers are a middle ground in that they almost universally prefer adult-rated material, but some of them may not be able to obtain it; however, if you're making an indie game and releasing it online, they can get it just fine, so you can lump them in with adults.
As an example, the Phoenix Wright series includes only one curse word in the entire 4-game series, but it's in the very first text box when you start the first game. This curse word tells the player, "Hey, this game is not a kiddie game. This is for serious." It immediately sets the tone for what eventually becomes a conspiracy of murders, police coverups, and sex scandals - a theme that otherwise wouldn't begin to emerge until the second chapter, an hour or two into the game, which is why they added the cursing early on. Despite the cartoony, ultra-animated characters with horrible puns for names, and the fact that you cross-examine a parrot after swearing it into a court of law, the game successfully comes across as serious.
Note that the average video game player in the USA is about 30 years old. The average indie game player is about the same age, but has a much narrower bell curve - senior citizens and schoolkids don't play indie games, they stick with the Wii.
That doesn't mean you necessarily need to make games for an adult audience. If you want to make kids' games, that's great. Make the games you're passionate about, and they'll come out better. But if you're just concerned about attracting more players, targetting adults makes more sense.
Also, if you do feel like you want to self-censor, don't use darn or dang. No one actually says that crap. Use man, or ugh, or tsk.
Fact: if a pro game developer arbitrarily adds elements to their game to increase the rating from teen to mature, it will sell better, all other things being equal. Indie games don't get the same level of market studies put into them, and aren't given official ratings, but I'd wager that the same principle applies. The element that increases your game's adultness can be nudity, violence, or swearing. Of these, violence is usually the least offensive, but in this case you're making an RPG, so that's probably not reasonable. Swearing is second best.
This phenomenon occurs because changing the rating changes who players perceive the game as being designed for. If it comes across as a kiddy game, adults will enjoy it less. The inverse is also true. Teenagers are a middle ground in that they almost universally prefer adult-rated material, but some of them may not be able to obtain it; however, if you're making an indie game and releasing it online, they can get it just fine, so you can lump them in with adults.
As an example, the Phoenix Wright series includes only one curse word in the entire 4-game series, but it's in the very first text box when you start the first game. This curse word tells the player, "Hey, this game is not a kiddie game. This is for serious." It immediately sets the tone for what eventually becomes a conspiracy of murders, police coverups, and sex scandals - a theme that otherwise wouldn't begin to emerge until the second chapter, an hour or two into the game, which is why they added the cursing early on. Despite the cartoony, ultra-animated characters with horrible puns for names, and the fact that you cross-examine a parrot after swearing it into a court of law, the game successfully comes across as serious.
Note that the average video game player in the USA is about 30 years old. The average indie game player is about the same age, but has a much narrower bell curve - senior citizens and schoolkids don't play indie games, they stick with the Wii.
That doesn't mean you necessarily need to make games for an adult audience. If you want to make kids' games, that's great. Make the games you're passionate about, and they'll come out better. But if you're just concerned about attracting more players, targetting adults makes more sense.
Also, if you do feel like you want to self-censor, don't use darn or dang. No one actually says that crap. Use man, or ugh, or tsk.
Dark Gaia
3474
Well, it pretty much comes down to what is appropriate and suits the tone of whatever you're writing/creating and who you consider to be your target audience. I DON'T consider my games to be "kiddie" games (similarly to how my published book isn't marketed to children) and I don't consider kids to be my target audience.
If people outside my target audience are accessing material that may not be intended for them, they're doing it at their own risk, I reckon.
Stephen King uses "fuck" and "cunt" all the time, and they fit the tone of his work and are effectively used for emphasis, though he doesn't use them in every sentence.
Likewise, I generally stick to things like damn and bastard and hell but I certainly don't turn off a work just because I see the curse word in there, whether it's offensive to me or not: I NEVER say the word cunt in normal conversation, because I consider it to be a genuinely offensive word, but if I see it used in a story, it often serves to enforce the gritty tone for me.
If people outside my target audience are accessing material that may not be intended for them, they're doing it at their own risk, I reckon.
Stephen King uses "fuck" and "cunt" all the time, and they fit the tone of his work and are effectively used for emphasis, though he doesn't use them in every sentence.
Likewise, I generally stick to things like damn and bastard and hell but I certainly don't turn off a work just because I see the curse word in there, whether it's offensive to me or not: I NEVER say the word cunt in normal conversation, because I consider it to be a genuinely offensive word, but if I see it used in a story, it often serves to enforce the gritty tone for me.
author=Dark Gaia
@Solitayre: Why *should* I care?
You shouldn't necessarily, but telling someone who took the time to write to you point blank that you don't care is fairly unprofessional.
Just a thought.
Essenceblade
19
Depends on the genre of game. For the sake of the thread I'm going to talk on the basis of RPGs.
Mild language. It's not necessary, but it's also not UN-necessary. I think it's better that generally, in RPGs, players should be able to express their emotions without having to go "Oh man.. you blarsted flooberwoofer. I'll send you back to the pits of fire!"
But they also don't have to swear blindly. That's the thing I hate the most. When people think it's "cool" to swear in a game. It's not cool. It just makes it seem like you don't know how to portray a character's emotion without having to substitute to the 5 general swear words. Which in turn shows bad story literature.
What I'm saying is. If you're going to swear, make it not too often, but not too little, and use words that generally people would use. You wouldn't hear people saying "Stand down you fucking piss taker (Excuse me)" in the medieval era, now would you? (This isn't to say that this applies to ONLY games set in the medieval era, but you get my point.)
There's better ways to go about "language" than just blindly saying "Oh shit!" when a boulder is about to fall on someone. It's just been ingrained into every day life to think that swearing is a way to quickly express your opinion for that situation. Really, swearing was only meant to be for when you experienced pain.
I don't really see how stronger swear words like Fuck and Shit can fit in an RPG game. Though I do pay a LOT of attention to dialogue (as I like writing, I read a lot of text so I know when things stand out and when things blend). When someone decides to gamble and toss a swear word where it isn't necessary, I'm just like, "Okay...?"
I don't like it when people try and mash together real day context with games which inhibit people using swords and magic, dragons and flying castles which shoot magic geysers out of the ground. It just instantly saps the feel and atmosphere of the entire game. Then again, that's just me, and probably me alone.
For the sake of maturity and that most RPGs are around the 12-16 Age rating, mild language is a good option. Just don't overuse it because you can't substitute it for another word or expression, and don't think it's "cool" to swear, because it isn't. It's meant to be there for a meaningful explanation. When a protagonist is killing everyone around you, that's when you generally input the word "bastard".
"What do you think you're doing? You bastard!"
When a guard pushes you over because you're in his way. You CAN say bastard, but it's better to say "Hell"
"What the hell (or heck) is wrong with you?"
When that annoying little animal runs away with your locket in the jungle fairy forest place with mischievous music, and you have to chase after him, swear at the T.V screen, not in game.
"Dammit, come back here you furry little bastard! I'mma stamp the hell outta you when I catch you!"
Funny, but not necessary.
Mild language. It's not necessary, but it's also not UN-necessary. I think it's better that generally, in RPGs, players should be able to express their emotions without having to go "Oh man.. you blarsted flooberwoofer. I'll send you back to the pits of fire!"
But they also don't have to swear blindly. That's the thing I hate the most. When people think it's "cool" to swear in a game. It's not cool. It just makes it seem like you don't know how to portray a character's emotion without having to substitute to the 5 general swear words. Which in turn shows bad story literature.
What I'm saying is. If you're going to swear, make it not too often, but not too little, and use words that generally people would use. You wouldn't hear people saying "Stand down you fucking piss taker (Excuse me)" in the medieval era, now would you? (This isn't to say that this applies to ONLY games set in the medieval era, but you get my point.)
There's better ways to go about "language" than just blindly saying "Oh shit!" when a boulder is about to fall on someone. It's just been ingrained into every day life to think that swearing is a way to quickly express your opinion for that situation. Really, swearing was only meant to be for when you experienced pain.
I don't really see how stronger swear words like Fuck and Shit can fit in an RPG game. Though I do pay a LOT of attention to dialogue (as I like writing, I read a lot of text so I know when things stand out and when things blend). When someone decides to gamble and toss a swear word where it isn't necessary, I'm just like, "Okay...?"
I don't like it when people try and mash together real day context with games which inhibit people using swords and magic, dragons and flying castles which shoot magic geysers out of the ground. It just instantly saps the feel and atmosphere of the entire game. Then again, that's just me, and probably me alone.
For the sake of maturity and that most RPGs are around the 12-16 Age rating, mild language is a good option. Just don't overuse it because you can't substitute it for another word or expression, and don't think it's "cool" to swear, because it isn't. It's meant to be there for a meaningful explanation. When a protagonist is killing everyone around you, that's when you generally input the word "bastard".
"What do you think you're doing? You bastard!"
When a guard pushes you over because you're in his way. You CAN say bastard, but it's better to say "Hell"
"What the hell (or heck) is wrong with you?"
When that annoying little animal runs away with your locket in the jungle fairy forest place with mischievous music, and you have to chase after him, swear at the T.V screen, not in game.
"Dammit, come back here you furry little bastard! I'mma stamp the hell outta you when I catch you!"
Funny, but not necessary.
The way I see it, I can think of a few options:
A) Keep the swearing in, screw everyone else and keep making games with the language you want to use regardless of what they think.
B) Take the swearing out. Characters will show no reaction to stubbing their toes or accidentally leaving the oven on.
C) Tone the swearing down. Use different words. Instead of "fuck you" make it "screw you" or "up yours". It doesn't contain such a blatant swear word but still gets the point across. So long as it's not "you spoony bard", all is well.
D) Create your own swear words in the world. I've not read his books, but I'm constantly told how great Terry Pratchett is. I hear he uses a lot of weird, funny alternatives to swearing. I found this list of "swear words" and where they come from. Some of them do contain modern English swears, but I'll let you be the judge of how tacky they sound.
E) Very similar to D: use a different language. The characters in Firefly swear in Chinese. I mean, most of the time you don't know what on Earth they're saying, but you get the jist that they're saying something bad.
A) Keep the swearing in, screw everyone else and keep making games with the language you want to use regardless of what they think.
B) Take the swearing out. Characters will show no reaction to stubbing their toes or accidentally leaving the oven on.
C) Tone the swearing down. Use different words. Instead of "fuck you" make it "screw you" or "up yours". It doesn't contain such a blatant swear word but still gets the point across. So long as it's not "you spoony bard", all is well.
D) Create your own swear words in the world. I've not read his books, but I'm constantly told how great Terry Pratchett is. I hear he uses a lot of weird, funny alternatives to swearing. I found this list of "swear words" and where they come from. Some of them do contain modern English swears, but I'll let you be the judge of how tacky they sound.
E) Very similar to D: use a different language. The characters in Firefly swear in Chinese. I mean, most of the time you don't know what on Earth they're saying, but you get the jist that they're saying something bad.
I don't really see what genre has to do with this. If I'm writing a group of soldiers (which I currently am), they're going to use a lot of foul language. If I'm writing a socially isolated teenage girl (which I also currently am), she won't swear much at all. It would seem weird if my soldiers talked like teenage girls, or if my teenage girl talked like a soldier. (Well, unless one influenced the other--it's important to remember context.)
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
FIREFLY, ON SWEARING.
(Simon is a prissy, slightly stuck-up doctor who ran away from his rich family.)
Kaylee: Come on, admit it. It's true.
Simon: No, I won't, because it's not. I use swear words, like anybody else.
Kaylee: Oh really? See, I never heard you. So when is it that you do all this cussin'? After I go to bed, or...?
Simon: I swear... when it's appropriate.
Kaylee: Simon, the whole point of swearin' is that it ain't appropriate.
Later in the same episode, the party enters a quarry town to find a lifelike giant stone statue of Jayne, a member of their crew who is a notorious slimebag and a complete thug, erected in the town square to honor him as the town's legendary savior.
Mal: *raises eyebrow*
Wash: *looks around to make sure everyone else is seeing what he is seeing*
Simon: Son of a BITCH.
(Simon is a prissy, slightly stuck-up doctor who ran away from his rich family.)
Kaylee: Come on, admit it. It's true.
Simon: No, I won't, because it's not. I use swear words, like anybody else.
Kaylee: Oh really? See, I never heard you. So when is it that you do all this cussin'? After I go to bed, or...?
Simon: I swear... when it's appropriate.
Kaylee: Simon, the whole point of swearin' is that it ain't appropriate.
Later in the same episode, the party enters a quarry town to find a lifelike giant stone statue of Jayne, a member of their crew who is a notorious slimebag and a complete thug, erected in the town square to honor him as the town's legendary savior.
Mal: *raises eyebrow*
Wash: *looks around to make sure everyone else is seeing what he is seeing*
Simon: Son of a BITCH.
@LockeZ: This must be what going mad feels like..
I forgot secret hidden super obvious option F) censoring. Self-explanatory. Though I think it would really, really detract from being able to take a scene seriously..
I forgot secret hidden super obvious option F) censoring. Self-explanatory. Though I think it would really, really detract from being able to take a scene seriously..
Usually I take the route of cutting off, toning down or new words. Sometimes, depending on the setting and characters, I'll use full on language, maybe.
Cutting off:
"Oh for-! Get yer ass down from there!"
Toning down:
"Damnit, Avia! What the hell were you thinking?"
New words:
"By the Third's arse and eyes! Where in the Seven Hells did you get to? You look like an entivar chewed you up and shat you out again!"
Full on?
"For fuck's sake, Meria, what do you think you're doing? No, nevermind. I don't care. Get the fuck back to the ship and get yourself checked out! Stupid bitch. Can't believe I'm stuck with this crew of ass-backward dipshits."
Swearing should always be used in context and you should try to avoid overuse. The full on version I added would probably only swear when he was very annoyed by something or someone, though he'd be very grumpy most of the time.
Most of the time, if all of your characters swear then you have an issue. Congratulations, you've created clones! One way around this is to give people few sayings that they use in certain situations. "By the Third's arse and eyes!" for example.
When you do make characters who swear a lot, don't make them swear all the time. Make characters who might swear in certain situations and have their own speech patterns. Even someone who swears all the time usually only uses a handful of words a lot. (From experience I use Fuck, Arsehole and Bloody a lot. I never use Cunt, rarely use Shit, sometimes censor myself -fish-sticks, frickin', great googly-moogly - and don't tend to mix'n'match: Fucking bloody ass-licking cunt-sticking fish-fucking asswipe! as my mother's boyfriend likes to say.)
That's my two cents anyway.
Cutting off:
"Oh for-! Get yer ass down from there!"
Toning down:
"Damnit, Avia! What the hell were you thinking?"
New words:
"By the Third's arse and eyes! Where in the Seven Hells did you get to? You look like an entivar chewed you up and shat you out again!"
Full on?
"For fuck's sake, Meria, what do you think you're doing? No, nevermind. I don't care. Get the fuck back to the ship and get yourself checked out! Stupid bitch. Can't believe I'm stuck with this crew of ass-backward dipshits."
Swearing should always be used in context and you should try to avoid overuse. The full on version I added would probably only swear when he was very annoyed by something or someone, though he'd be very grumpy most of the time.
Most of the time, if all of your characters swear then you have an issue. Congratulations, you've created clones! One way around this is to give people few sayings that they use in certain situations. "By the Third's arse and eyes!" for example.
When you do make characters who swear a lot, don't make them swear all the time. Make characters who might swear in certain situations and have their own speech patterns. Even someone who swears all the time usually only uses a handful of words a lot. (From experience I use Fuck, Arsehole and Bloody a lot. I never use Cunt, rarely use Shit, sometimes censor myself -fish-sticks, frickin', great googly-moogly - and don't tend to mix'n'match: Fucking bloody ass-licking cunt-sticking fish-fucking asswipe! as my mother's boyfriend likes to say.)
That's my two cents anyway.
ivoryjones
75
It really doesn't depend on the genre of your game, but you should put swear words realistically. Sure putting the f bomb would be annoying in every sentence but there are people like that irl, so why not? It could be used for the NPCs and you can make your character have some witty remark just for humor's sake.
While some people might think there is 'no need' to swear or there are "better ways" to express something, swearing would help save a lot of dialogue and can help emphasize pain/anger.
Now in TTHW, Vance and Clifton aren't exactly the gentleman but they don't curse all the time.
(When going to Tharsele Shrine)
Tatum: See? The others agree with me. Besides, now's your chance to fulfill your
promise to me, Anderson.
Anderson: What promise?
Tatum: Hahah. Funny. Well, if you don't WANT to spend anytime with me...
Anderson: I never said that.
Tatum: Well, I hear there's some interesting stuff over here to my left. :)
(Anderson follows Tatum)
Clifton: That bitch had him wrapped around her little finger.
Vance: I'm sure she's looking to wrap some things around him, too.
North: I didn't just hear that.
Surely bitch sounds better than "That girl had him wrapped around her little finger."
While some people might think there is 'no need' to swear or there are "better ways" to express something, swearing would help save a lot of dialogue and can help emphasize pain/anger.
Now in TTHW, Vance and Clifton aren't exactly the gentleman but they don't curse all the time.
(When going to Tharsele Shrine)
Tatum: See? The others agree with me. Besides, now's your chance to fulfill your
promise to me, Anderson.
Anderson: What promise?
Tatum: Hahah. Funny. Well, if you don't WANT to spend anytime with me...
Anderson: I never said that.
Tatum: Well, I hear there's some interesting stuff over here to my left. :)
(Anderson follows Tatum)
Clifton: That bitch had him wrapped around her little finger.
Vance: I'm sure she's looking to wrap some things around him, too.
North: I didn't just hear that.
Surely bitch sounds better than "That girl had him wrapped around her little finger."
Dark Gaia
3474
I agree with you. Sometimes (particularly if you're writing something set in a modern environment) swearing can be used effectively to enhance the realism.
An example would be someone saying "he wanted to fuck her" over "he wanted to have sex with her" - the first one is considered more taboo, but it also sounds more realistic in certain contexts.
My main gripe with someone asking me to censor my game is that the "swears" were all justified in the context of what was happening. The protagonist calls someone a "bastard" because they've killed his lover right in front of him etc.
They weren't just in there for no reason, but this person failed to see that.
An example would be someone saying "he wanted to fuck her" over "he wanted to have sex with her" - the first one is considered more taboo, but it also sounds more realistic in certain contexts.
My main gripe with someone asking me to censor my game is that the "swears" were all justified in the context of what was happening. The protagonist calls someone a "bastard" because they've killed his lover right in front of him etc.
They weren't just in there for no reason, but this person failed to see that.
The project I'm working on deals with very, very angry characters, and as such, there is violent swearing. A lot of it.
I'll probably work on making some swears unique to each character like Liberty suggested, but for the most part as my game's heavily influenced by absurdist, nihilistic shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia there's little chance of me toning it down.
I'm not trying to say people should 'man up' and simply accept that swearing is, uh, a thing, but my project has a very specific feel to it, and as such using lighter language would sort of ruin it.
Will probably avoid using the word 'cunt' though, as I'm not a fan of it IRL.
I'll probably work on making some swears unique to each character like Liberty suggested, but for the most part as my game's heavily influenced by absurdist, nihilistic shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia there's little chance of me toning it down.
I'm not trying to say people should 'man up' and simply accept that swearing is, uh, a thing, but my project has a very specific feel to it, and as such using lighter language would sort of ruin it.
Will probably avoid using the word 'cunt' though, as I'm not a fan of it IRL.
I'd have skipped bastard and gone straight to asshole, myself.
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In context like that, swearing is justified. I mean, you think Knights and Kings were above swearing back in ye olde ages? Nay, I tell thee, nay. The words have changed a bit, but the meaning behind the words hasn't.
Cur may not mean much if you call someone that nowdays, but it was the equivalent of bastard, back in the day - which was a pretty low shot back then considering it aimed at not only yourself, but your mother and father as well. Same with slattern, wench and, le gasp!, coward.
Just remember that sometimes people do censor themselves. Are you going to bust out swears around people you want to think well of you or respect? Little old grandmothers and little kids. Sure there's some asshats out there that do, but most people will try to reign themselves in at some points. Just... keep it in mind. Ask yourself who your characters would repress themselves for. (Me, I try not to swear around my mother, grandparent and best friend.)
>.>
<.<
^.^
In context like that, swearing is justified. I mean, you think Knights and Kings were above swearing back in ye olde ages? Nay, I tell thee, nay. The words have changed a bit, but the meaning behind the words hasn't.
Cur may not mean much if you call someone that nowdays, but it was the equivalent of bastard, back in the day - which was a pretty low shot back then considering it aimed at not only yourself, but your mother and father as well. Same with slattern, wench and, le gasp!, coward.
Just remember that sometimes people do censor themselves. Are you going to bust out swears around people you want to think well of you or respect? Little old grandmothers and little kids. Sure there's some asshats out there that do, but most people will try to reign themselves in at some points. Just... keep it in mind. Ask yourself who your characters would repress themselves for. (Me, I try not to swear around my mother, grandparent and best friend.)
