jack1974
Dec 20, 2014
One of my editors pointed out something, I'm not sure if I should change this or not, so I'm asking some opinions. In this game, the father of the three sisters is called "Sambo". My editor wrote:
Sambo is an offensive term for black person, especially in USA. I would not recommend using it for someone's name. ^^;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo_%28racial_term%29
Now I'm wondering, considering the character in game is white, and is a fantasy game, I should still change it? It's not a big deal at all, but I kind of liked the name
jack1974
Dec 20, 2014
Yeah is just a search & replace anyway
Thee Forsaken One
Dec 20, 2014
Personally I wouldn't bother. If you go searching for offensive terms for names in every country then you'll drive yourself mad. That one in particular is pretty archaic for a racist term, not to mention it is also a Russian martial art (Funnily enough the first result returned in Google is the martial art).
jack1974
Dec 20, 2014
Haha could do that indeed!
Even if in the game he is just a normal NPC, not a hero or powerful mage
iWeasle
Dec 20, 2014
Yeah, better safe than sorry, there are a lot of people in America who want to get upset, so if something is particularly easy for them to get upset about, it's sometimes best to just avoid it if it doesn't really matter.
Mad_Scientist
Dec 20, 2014
I'd definitely change it, there's too much bad stuff associated with that term. Especially in the US, you'd be risking hurting/offending a lot of people if you kept that name.
jack1974
Dec 20, 2014
Cool, no problems, will change it
thesleepykitten
Dec 20, 2014
Change it - even if it's an old word, it's still commonly known in the States (and other places too but I'm only familiar with a NA PoV...). Also it's not too difficult to Google names - I mean one of the first results you see is "Sambo (racial term)" from Wikipedia. It's probably best to avoid names that still have strong associations with it. ^^;
Edit - oh you just responded XD but yay!
Franka
Dec 20, 2014
It's also a racist term in other places than the US, just so you know.
Thee Forsaken One
Dec 20, 2014
It's also a racist term in other places than the US, just so you know.
I don't really care if it's more than one. It's a word of American English origin according to dictionaries and, as I pointed out, Google returns far more references to Russian martial arts than its racist use. The fact that the wiki page being referenced is full of dead links and missing citations tells you that the word clearly archaic and has little meaning. There are plenty of people called Sambo in the world (The Regional Director for the WHO in Africa is Dr Sambo) and most people seem to think its a martial art nowadays.
jack1974
Dec 21, 2014
Yeah but you know, considering that notoriously indie games are the "main source of corruption in the world" (tm), if I did that, FOR SURE I would face troubles. So better stay clear
Franka
Dec 21, 2014
I don't really care if it's more than one.
The problem is not really whether you specifically care, is it?
Thee Forsaken One
Dec 21, 2014
Yeah but you know, considering that notoriously indie games are the "main source of corruption in the world" (tm), if I did that, FOR SURE I would face troubles. So better stay clear
If I was a gambling person, I would put money on someone being offended by any of your games regardless of what you did. Someone somewhere will find a word or situation they find offensive. It just so happens this one was pointed out to you before you released. As it stands, it's a minor one and I've given examples of people in real life called Sambo. Are they racist or were their parents who were racist?
Also, Sambo in this game is white. If he were black then I might have some sympathy to those thinking the name should be changed but he's not black.
I don't really care if it's more than one.
The problem is not really whether you specifically care, is it?
So ignore the rest of my points? My point about not caring was that I didn't care about your counterpoint because it was irrelevant to my argument. I admit I could have made that more clearly than how I put it originally.
Maelora
Dec 21, 2014
Ugh, I think the whole thing is completely ridiculous. In this internet of age of the perpetually-offended, there's always someone who's going to get upset. Vast tracts of the world would be seething over the fact the games contain romances, let alone gay and lesbian ones.
However, it's probably best that Jack changes this one, just for a quiet life. As long as it's not the start of a slippery slope and he starts cancelling games because North Korea start hacking his account...
Franka
Dec 21, 2014
So ignore the rest of my points? My point about not caring was that I didn't care about your counterpoint because it was irrelevant to my argument. I admit I could have made that more clearly than how I put it originally.
I was ignoring your points because you were treating it as an academic case, while there are more than just a few actual people out there who'd smack you in the mouth if you greeted them with "Hey, Sambo." It's not that archaic.
However, I absolutely agree with you that there'll be people offended by something no matter what you do, a point that I have brought up myself before.
I'd still pick my battles over more important things than the name of a fictional character that can be easily changed with a search-replace.
Thee Forsaken One
Dec 21, 2014
So ignore the rest of my points? My point about not caring was that I didn't care about your counterpoint because it was irrelevant to my argument. I admit I could have made that more clearly than how I put it originally.
I was ignoring your points because you were treating it as an academic case, while there are more than just a few actual people out there who'd smack you in the mouth if you greeted them with "Hey, Sambo." It's not that archaic.
That's really not the same. What if their name was Sambo? It's like walking up to a black person and saying "Hello, Leroy". If that was their name then there's no issue. If it's not then I deserve a smack in the face.
I mean the Dr Sambo I mentioned before might be a little mad I didn't call him doctor but he couldn't accuse me of racism (Unless I proceeded to joke about his name also being a racist term in the US).
This isn't really about picking battles. I agree it is an easy change but my point is that starting down that road can lead to constantly changing yourself in order to not offend somebody. It just gives off the impression that you'll do anything if someone complains to you.
jack1974
Dec 21, 2014
This isn't really about picking battles. I agree it is an easy change but my point is that starting down that road can lead to constantly changing yourself in order to not offend somebody. It just gives off the impression that you'll do anything if someone complains to you.
Yeah, I won't do anything people ask. But only avoiding troubles, and if for me changes nothing, yes. There's a guy asking to put lesbian harem endings in all my games since years, but there isn't a single one out yet.
(not that it would be a bad idea in itself, but a bit unrealistic
)
Thee Forsaken One
Dec 21, 2014
This isn't really about picking battles. I agree it is an easy change but my point is that starting down that road can lead to constantly changing yourself in order to not offend somebody. It just gives off the impression that you'll do anything if someone complains to you.
Yeah, I won't do anything people ask. But only avoiding troubles, and if for me changes nothing, yes. There's a guy asking to put lesbian harem endings in all my games since years, but there isn't a single one out yet.
(not that it would be a bad idea in itself, but a bit unrealistic )
Not if you're playing a sorceress with hypnotic powers or queen who enjoys creating real harems.
