I chose the term "non-het" (short for non-hetero) to not get into the confusion over "what term did they mean when they got blammed?" I could have used, "same-sex snugglebunnies" but that is even longer and could have caused a disruption in itself. I could have used "LGBT" but I am not a big fan of using fashionable terms to pigeon-hole people who are diverse and individuals. Using an atypical, non-rule breaking, non-filter-dodging, description in order to express oneself is not filter avoidance. If the point of the profanity filter is to avoid/block crass, crude and typically non-productive terms, phrases, slurs and other-wise abused portions of our vocabulary, then it is not (IMO) a rule-violation or problem to use our vocabularies in order to use a less inflammatory or otherwise prohibited term. I don't believe that the topic given as an example/link was disruptive, I don't believe that the term that I used was inflammatory, but rather it was descriptive and allowed the conversation to proceed without any filtered terms or potentially judgmental or prejudicial skew. We got to discuss the topic at hand, not the term as it applied to the people involved and making ugly statements about them and who they are. If the phrase "non-het" or any other term is used in order to slight, slander, inflame, offend or just be a jerk... then it's not the word(s) in question that are the issue. It's the post and the posters intent/outcome. IMO, this is yet another "angels on a head of a pin" discussion and I can't believe that I've made such a wall in order to ask "are you kidding me?"

Do you have any idea how volatile the subject is on The Flood? Threads with this subject are great...up until one person says something that others don't agree with. There's debate in every thread subject, but there's no debate in this subject, only arguments. All it takes is one little "I don't agree" and the whole thread lights up in flames. Face it, The Flood has this "How dare you not share my opinion on this subject you bigot!" mentality when it comes to [i]exactly[/i] these threads, and I [i]hate[/i] how they think it's justified. It doesn't matter if your side is right or wrong, you aren't justified in any way to insult someone on here or think you are above some on here, and it pisses me off to no end seeing The Flood behave just like that and thinking it's acceptable. "But just leave The Flood, or ignore what you see if you don't like it!" No. I have no problem with the thread itself, but I'm not going to turn a blind eye to people acting likes asses knowing full well they're going to get away with it. [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Telec So we shouldn't allow any discussion of gender preference because that can lead to problems? Well, I do hope that you also want to prevent discussion of BR spread, melee mechanics, AR starts, shotgun placement on Snowbound, rap music, the superbowl, and whether barbecue is better with honey glaze or BBQ sauce - because all these topics can become just as acrimonious. As for tasteless - the forums already operate an NSFW policy, why should there be any further rules? If people take if off the rails then we have ninjas to deal with it. So long as they stay within bounds, there is no reason why discussion should be further limited. [/quote]

The OP said he wanted to use "non-het" as an alternative to -blam!-. You said that it shouldn't ever be discussed on a video game developers forum. Either you completely missed the point of the question (usage of a piece of vocabulary in a manner that wasn't at all specified) or you approached the question with a pre-formed view that you wanted to espouse and didn't bother to actually ask whether that view was at all relevant to the OP. The example I gave is an entirely valid example of a way that the piece of vocabulary in question can be used legitimately. So we shouldn't allow any discussion of gender preference because that can lead to problems? Well, I do hope that you also want to prevent discussion of BR spread, melee mechanics, AR starts, shotgun placement on Snowbound, rap music, the superbowl, and whether barbecue is better with honey glaze or BBQ sauce - because all these topics can become just as acrimonious. As for tasteless - the forums already operate an NSFW policy, why should there be any further rules? If people take if off the rails then we have ninjas to deal with it. So long as they stay within bounds, there is no reason why discussion should be further limited. Bear in mind here that I've done my best to respond to your post, but the fact that you failed to add any detail to the "possible problems" you had in mind, it's not entirely possible for me to address whatever you are thinking.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] spartain ken 15 Why would you even need to use that on a video game developers website? [/quote] The Flood is an Off Topic forum. Key word(s): Off Topic

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Telec I know that this isn't the flood, but maybe we should discuss one of my favourite video game series, Tekken. I'm not a fan of the character Lili. Her fighting style looks weird, and many of her moves require too much time spent reading the moves list for my taste. As a character within the canon she is rather irritating. Her backstory is poor even by the wafer-thin standards set by other characters, and the -blam!- overtones she exudes in cutscenes smacks of tokenism. Oh look, I managed to make a post where usage of a word that describes gender preference is entirely legitimate (and for bonus points, within the context of a video game! Go me!). So, rather than just going "pff, why would you ever need to discuss that? This is the website of a video game developer", why not try to be a bit more imaginative than simply spewing clichés?[/quote] But the topic is about the character herself, the main focus is not the gender of the character. That can be an aspect but I don;t think gender should be the only thing discussed because it leads to possible problems because that kind of topic can diverge into something rather tasteless.

Using a different word isn't by-passing the filter. It would be using brackets or other means to stop the word from getting blammed. So yeah, I can't see a reason why you couldn't use that word. [Edited on 01.01.2013 11:55 AM PST]

I know that this isn't the flood, but maybe we should discuss one of my favourite video game series, Tekken. I'm not a fan of the character Lili. Her fighting style looks weird, and many of her moves require too much time spent reading the moves list for my taste. As a character within the canon she is rather irritating. Her backstory is poor even by the wafer-thin standards set by other characters, and the -blam!- overtones she exudes in cutscenes smacks of tokenism. Oh look, I managed to make a post where usage of a word that describes gender preference is entirely legitimate (and for bonus points, within the context of a video game! Go me!). So, rather than just going "pff, why would you ever need to discuss that? This is the website of a video game developer", why not try to be a bit more imaginative than simply spewing clichés?

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Telec I don't do sarcasm, I am a very serious man. Yes, some things are inappropriate. In fact, we have a whole bunch of forum rules to tell us what is and isn't appropriate. Last I checked (30 seconds ago), there is no rule saying that gender-preference may not be mentioned in any context. Hate speech / flaming, NSFW, political / religious contexts, yes - but there are myriad other ways that gender-preference could be an entirely permissible topic of discussion. Blindly parroting the "this is a video game developer's website" line is an exceptionally simplistic approach.[/quote] Normally they are not allowed because many threads of that nature fall into nsfw/immature discussions and flame wars.

I don't do sarcasm, I am a very serious man. Yes, some things are inappropriate. In fact, we have a whole bunch of forum rules to tell us what is and isn't appropriate. Last I checked (30 seconds ago), there is no rule saying that gender-preference may not be mentioned in any context. Hate speech / flaming, NSFW, political / religious contexts, yes - but there are myriad other ways that gender-preference could be an entirely permissible topic of discussion. Blindly parroting the "this is a video game developer's website" line is an exceptionally simplistic approach.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Telec [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] spartain ken 15 Why would you even need to use that on a video game developers website? [/quote]I agree with this post. In fact, while we're here, I'd like to propose that the word "McDonalds" be added to the blam filter. It has no relevance to any current Bungie games, and given their stated intention to continue making games in a sci-fi / fantasy setting, it strikes me as incredibly unlikely that the (trademarked) word is going to appear. There is absolutely no reason why it should ever appear on a video-game developer's website.[/quote] The sarcasm is strong with this one Some things are not necessarily appropriate to talk about on Bungie.net.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] spartain ken 15 Why would you even need to use that on a video game developers website? [/quote]I agree with this post. In fact, while we're here, I'd like to propose that the word "McDonalds" be added to the blam filter. It has no relevance to any current Bungie games, and given their stated intention to continue making games in a sci-fi / fantasy setting, it strikes me as incredibly unlikely that the (trademarked) word is going to appear. There is absolutely no reason why it should ever appear on a video-game developer's website.

Why would you even need to use that on a video game developers website?

I don't really think it's a good idea to create a thread just for that question, OP. If you really want to know you should try and get an answer from a forum ninja via PM.