Hi all again!
There are going to be a few announcement threads today, so please bear with me!
I know that there has been a little bit of confusion when it comes to censorship on the Forums for things like swear words and hate speech. So, I thought I would clear a few things up.
Are We Allowed to Swear?
Well, strictly speaking, you are not allowed to swear on the General Forum. This is for the sake of keeping things PG-13 and advertiser-friendly! We aren’t trying to silence you or annoy you. It’s just to make sure the Forums stay consistent.
In the Restricted Section, though, you are free to swear like a sailor! You just need to unlock it either with money or by winning it and be an adult. Also, we can’t stop you from swearing in PMs without violating your privacy massively. So, just make sure that everyone in the PM is comfortable with the words you use. If they aren’t, they are free to flag in a mod and we will deal with it.
What Can We Do Instead of Swearing?
You may use asterisks (*) or other symbols in place of letters of the swear word. You’re allowed to say “f**k” or “$h!t” if you want. That is fine! As long as we don’t see the actual swear word. You’re also allowed to use made up or substitute words for swear words. I personally really like “Oh Fish” because I’m an Indian who loves Om Shanti Om 
What About Hate Speech?
For the most part, hate speech is usually only allowed when quoting another person or when a character in a story or RP says it. In those cases, it must be portrayed as a bad thing and most of them still need to be censored. For example, never say the N-word on the Forums without censorship. If it will make it difficult to understand and you need to use the word in your quote for the sake of clarity, make sure that you blur it.
How Do I Know If a Word is Bad?
That’s where our wonderful @ForumStaff team comes in! We have put together a list of words on the Forums and how we deal with them on Google Sheets. We are also open to adding any new ones as time goes on!
Please be considerate of others and make sure to censor your swear words. It still has the same effect even if you have to replace a letter for an asterisk!
