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Site Update
As you are aware, Aywas has been making some changes - some big, some small - to some of the past elements of the site. One of the most notable changes is the NPC switch.
Despite the successful rolling out of our new cast, there are a lot of things that remain from the earlier days of the site, and while some of them are quite benign and we're happy to keep them as a curiosity, some are not things we're comfortable keeping on site.
Specifically the Handguns.
These are an extremely old item that users were told to collect for a future trade-in opportunity which... well, it never came. With staff changes and idea adjustments, this has left that suggestion and promise to the wayside as the original plan for these items was never passed on.
As Aywas and its lore continues to grow we've found that both staff and users alike don't feel that there is a place for these items on site any more. They are a symbol that reminds us of the violence and tragedies that we face every day - and it's jarring for most of us to cook up such an item while the news tells us of another mass shooting, another police incident, and so on.
We are not trying to make a political statement or a stance on gun ownership - but we are paying attention to those that tell us this makes them feel uncomfortable, and as such we are choosing to take on an old adage: make love, not war.
As I post this the four handgun items are being changed into four snapdragon items. They will come into play in an upcoming event, where we will fulfil the promise of their trade-in being beneficial to the collectors of these items.
For those wondering why we are changing these items but not other gun-based items, this is because the other items are either HA items or an extremely rare find, making them less likely to be obtained, or unobtainable, from games. At this time we have no intent to adjust them or make them unavailable, but should they become an issue we are open to discussing options.
If you have any questions, please feel free to post them below and we will try to have answers for you!
Posted by Eve
(#2775) on Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:30pm
- AremRae
(#3998)
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Posted on: Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:47pm
I think it might have been missed that the guns were promised (a very long time ago) to be used in some sort of exchange. If the site were to honor that promise and have an exchange themed around the guns? It would really be inappropriate right now. Staff want to honor the exchange that was promised, but don't want to have it centered around handguns. A good compromise is turning those items into something new that would be positive and not play into the charged climate right now around guns.
I would have a hard time seeing this choice affecting anything else on the site, customs/pets/etc. This is specifically because of a group of items that were promised a use (and are still a reward from some site features), and they want to honor that use without it being centered around guns. That's entirely different than having guns on pets or part of ha sets/etc.
I completely support staffs choice to make this change without polling the community, there is no actual harm done by the change. If you do want to collect items like that, there's always the choice to make your own. If it reminded you of a loved one, make a memorial item to celebrate their life or a pet to honor them.
- Herobrine
(#76984)
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Posted on: Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:09pm
This is an amazing change! I am anti guns online and offline. So this was an amazing change!
A bit disappointing that some people are actually mad this update happened. Seems they wished to ignore all the perfectly good reasons it happened!
- Tyrian Callows
(#6821)
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Posted on: Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:07pm
Can we get an option to disable the gender with the q slur in it from appearing as a random pet gender next? Because the use and acceptance of a slur aimed at myself and other LGBT+ people makes me /way/ more uncomfortable than the drawings of weapons, and I want it out of my lair.
If you're removing things/adding options to remove things that make portions of the site uncomfortable because of their use in real life, I mean.
And I specify 'option' because I know there's a chunk of people who, for reasons beyond my comprehension, /like/ using that slur on themselves and others.
Because my discomfort shouldn't take something away from everyone - I just want the ability to /personally/ prevent pets being randomly assigned it when /I/ catch them or hit 'random' when hatching/buying them from the site shops.
((Less serious note, seconding the idea that the guns should've turned into roses, ehehehe))
- August
(#14735)
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Posted on: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:07pm
Pavel Chekov (#6821)
Your phrasing is a little hostile, to be honest. Your post would be a lot more friendly would the kind of wording you used to describe people like me who've reclaimed the word. But beyond that, there are word blockers that would work to effectively block the word entirely if you're bothered by it.
- Gwennafran
(#22320)
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Posted on: Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:07am
Pavel Chekov (#6821)
You do realise what you're requesting quickly could be "weaponized" into only getting male and female pets by certain users, if applied to all the genders?
Not that it'd be all bad if users just did it for personal play and didn't try rubbing it in others faces, but... This is Aywas. We know that's not going to happen.
- ♎ Astra ♎
(#16365)
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Posted on: Fri Nov 17, 2017 2:08am
For those wondering about whether the community was consulted ahead of time, support for the removal of these guns that were wholly inappropriate and ill-fitting to the theme of this pet site (one that has shifted over time to be more peace-loving and inclusive) was rather overwhelming when I broached the topic here: https://www.aywas.com/forum/topic/2004504743/ <---admittedly, only a small portion of the community responded, but everyone had a chance to check it out in Suggestions regardless. They were probably planning on doing something with the guns even before I brought up how uncomfortable it made me having them here, but there's some community feedback re: handguns for those of you who were curious anyhow! :)
- Tyrian Callows
(#6821)
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Posted on: Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:41am
I wrote my previous post just after I got up, and honestly, yeah, it is a lot less tactful than it should've been, sorry about that.
Gwennafran (#22320) this is specifically about the one with the slur in it, because it has a slur in it, one that's been used against LGBT+ people for decades - how does that effect the others, unless they, too, have slurs in them? There's only one other gender that I can see falling into this category. It has nothing to do with the gender itself, and everything to do with the slur within it. We removed mentions of the slur referring to Rromani people from site items, I don't see how a personal-choice option to disable one gender from being randomized onto one's captured pets is any different, other than not removing site mentions of it altogether.
This gun-removal thing can be weaponized, too - most of the weapons depicted on here have been used in some killing or another, and a good chunk of non-weapon real-life items. The slippery slope argument is, well, a slippery slope. *shrug*
🍬Calix (#14735) Reclaimation is a personal choice, and by no means changes the impact of the word on those who have not and/or will not reclaim it. I'd be far more personable if my stance on this weren't something I've been attacked for in the past, but no matter how I word it, - even when it's 'hey please don't use it as an umbrella term for the LGBT+ community, there are a lot of us still affected by it', which I said on a different site - I get people at my throat. I'm a wee bit defensive and hostile bc of this, especially since it's a no-doubt-is-this-a-slur situation. Last time I was basically told to sit down, shut up, and stop thinking of it as a slur, and I guess I pre-emptively went on the attack this time because of that. I'm sorry for my last post's phrasing, and I'll do my best to not do that in the future ^^"
It was part just-woke-up, part past experiences, and part frustration that this issue hadn't been addressed yet.
To clarify: This would be an opt-in thing that only removes the gender with the slur in it from the randomization pool. It would have literally no effect on anyone who doesn't opt in, and it wouldn't remove it altogether - it'd just make it easier for those of us who don't want to see that slur in our lairs.
Hopefully this is less tactless and better worded, and makes it clear what I'm suggesting.
- Gwennafran
(#22320)
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Posted on: Fri Nov 17, 2017 11:04am
Pavel Chekov (#6821)
For starters, I've seen people complain about the hermaphrodite option (despite being used to classify animals, and this being a pet site).
The moment that code exist, crazy drama would start if it wasn't applied to every single gender option, because "User A is specifically opposed to this one" and "User B is against that one", etc etc. These sort of things tend to end in all or nothing.
It's been proven repeatedly, that the Aywas userbase - as a whole - simply does not have the mental maturity to handle any attempts at doing anything that changes coding or just celebrates events involving this topic.
Frankly, your simple and easy drama-free fix would be the suggested word-block.
- caveSalamander
(#64257)
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Posted on: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:19pm
Pavel Chekov (#6821)
As someone who IS queer, I really resent the idea that my identity is a slur that should never be used. So if you have an issue with that word, please install a browser extension to change it for you.
Posted on: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:47pm
I kinda feel like this should've been voted on by the community instead of this type of decision by the staff...as there were people who collected them.....Are you going to be banning all items that might make people feel uncomfortable?