[Timberpoes] Dendydoom - Character name note appeal

[dendydoom]

BYOND account: Dendydoom
Character name: Dreary Doom
Ban type: Character name
Ban reason: I have asked them not to use their long-standing name of Dreary Doom as I feel it does not meet naming policy. The player was fully understanding, accepting and co-operative during the ticket and important context is that their name has been used for 120+ rounds before I asked them to change it. I agreed to allow the player to change their name after the shift this note was placed in is over. I have asked the player to read over naming policy at https://tgstation13.org/wiki/Rules - Specifically the section on "Rule 3(?|F) Precedents" I have asked the player to update their character preferences and advised them to ahelp if you accidentally join a future shift with the name by accident.
Time ban was placed: 2020-12-03 22:20:49
Server you were playing on when banned: Manuel
Round ID in which ban was placed: 151476
Your side of the story:

First off, I'd like to preface this by saying that I understand that the name is pretty silly and the reasoning behind being asked to change it. The reason I chose to make the appeal is not to argue that, but to request that I be allowed to, at the very least, keep the last name "Doom." The precedent itself states:

Make a minimum effort to have your name fit in a setting involving a wacky space station in the future.

I understand that, to many, the name takes too many liberties with what could be considered acceptable. But when I chose the name Dreary Doom, it was because I was brand new to the game and thought it sounded like a cartoon character that could exist in this universe. This is the first time its legitimacy has ever been called into question. If it truly is unacceptable, then I am perfectly happy to change the name "Dreary" to something that is more like a real first name. When I had asked to keep the last name "Doom" in the ahelp conversation, I was told that it would not be suitable for the MRP server.

I had played under this alias for 125 rounds, all on Manuel, without complaint from any staff or other players, and built up a large number of IC connections and friendships with that character. I initially chose not to appeal the staff decision, but after playing under a new alias, it has become clear that these connections are now left in some sort of confusing limbo where I have to somehow explain away ICly that my character is in fact this other person but for some reason or another now has a new name, and that the other name shouldn't be used. Other times I am no longer recognised as the same person. All in all, it's confusing and quite frankly a little frustrating.

I also feel it's worth noting that after such a long time playing under that alias, I have grown attached to it. It's not a throw away name. I don't play under any other character names except for this one, and it's the one that everyone who knows me will recognise. I feel like I am losing something valuable, something that I and others have come to recognise by being asked to change it at such a late point in its inception.

[Königstiger]

I mean, technically Doom is a last name of Anglo-Saxon descent, and its partially translates to "downhill". Apparently its also French Polynesian, and it's quite a common last name there. If admins let it go, maybe the compromise would be that you use that as some character background.

[Timberpoes]

Yo Double D, thanks for taking the time to compose this appeal.

I'll just preface that I effectively relied on this part from Rule 3 precedents:

Admins may get involved if your name is dumb and can approve or disallow names at their discretion while in-game.

Although I know you're not appealing the note or ruling itself, I am partly to blame for your name being utilised for so long without it being mentioned to you. I'm gonna open up with a bit of background and history as well as a little insight into the wonderful world of administration in light of the fact you've been asked to change a name you used almost exclusively for 125 rounds - So grab a drink, buckle up and enjoy your ride on Old Bastard Timber's Wild Appeal because we're gonna get wall-of-texty up in here.

The rule 3 precedent that I quoted above isn't exactly useful as a player in informing you of what names are and are not acceptable. It basically just gives admins broad, sweeping powers to deny names based purely on their own discretion.

In the same stroke, it's not exactly useful as an admin when informing players about what names are and are not acceptable. Admins endorsing a specific name does not mean that no future admin can come along and say "No, I subjectively think this is a bad name, please change it" - A last name like Doom's acceptability to any given individual admin will be weighed heavily on the context of the name as a whole.

As for how you've been able to log so many shifts with the name - I think it's correct to say that in general Manuelmins don't give two flying vomit geese about a player's name as long as it's not mind-blowingly against the rules and the player is operating in good faith throughout the shift so the admin has no explicit reason to bwoink them outside of their name. All the average Manuelmin really wants is for the players to enjoy playing in their sandbox together and to genuinely have fun playing the game.

Forced-renaming tickets on longterm staticnames are one of the least enjoyable parts of being an admin. However, it is also not fair to players who have been asked to have their names changed when other low quality names are kicking around on the server that admins won't bwoink because of some form of name tenure. When admins have "unofficially endorsed" certain names through interacting with the name's owner via in-game events or general adminbussery, it starts to reinforce the mindset of "Nobody else has asked them to change it and I'd feel bad to ask them myself after such a long time using it". That's applying double standards as an admin and I do not follow that approach in general.

It also gives a shield for people with genuinely poor and/or bad-faith names to argue that other people have dumb names too, so why should they change theirs. Of course that has argument has never actually changed an admin's mind, but it increases the burden on every admin when justifying their subjective decisions under a very broad and open naming policy.

Your use of the name Dreary Doom name would fall into this category of long-term staticname with a player whose conduct has never warranted enough admin attention for them to go "obvious shitter, bad faith name".

Of course, whether Dreary Doom at all is acceptable is not necessarily a universal opinion. When I originally brought your name up in October in the admin backchannels (Yes, I have intended on asking you to change it for awhile now but have never gotten around to it) - EPIC LEAK TIME - opinions ran the gamut from, I quote, "also dreary doom is another fuckin horrible name" through to "I have no issue with a name like Dreary Doom, it's kind've fun and isn't a penis joke". Of course "At least your name isn't a penis joke" isn't exactly the most presitgious of endorsements you can get. In general, the vast majority of opinions were that it was just a bad name as a whole and those discussions are what I used to inform my own decision to bwoink you for it.

So, with that bit of history and insight into the decision making process out of the way - Because I genuinely feel you deserve to know the breadth of context behind why it took 125 rounds for you to be asked to change your name - You're gonna hate what comes next!

I've swung by Scrubby to do a name search on Doom as well as running a search in the note and ban database against the word Doom to inform myself better about any other historic action taken against specific names using the word Doom. I've taken on board what Königstiger so kindly posted in support of your request to use Doom as a last name and done a bit of research myself.

The use of Doom as a last name is an exceptionally rare ocurrence on /tg/. Only yourself and John Von Doom have broken the 100-shift mark, there appear to be no players actively utilising the surname Doom since 2019 other than you and you appear to be the only player ever sporting a Doom lastname on Manuel.

So what all this comes down to is the following:

The suitability of using Doom as a last name is not a call I can make for you as it will always be judged in the context of your name as a whole. My note and ruling specifically covered the IC name Dreary Doom. While I accept I told you that Doom was not a suitable last name in general to use in the ticket, I should have emphasised that it was my subjective opinion. For that exact same reason, I cannot endorse your use of it in such a manner that no other admin may question it in the future.

My personal feelings are that if you must use a name including the word Doom, which has specific meanings both as a noun and a verb in ordinary English, it should be used in an unambiguous context because it's a borderline word to use in a name in general outside of the example given of French Polynesia, where the name has very little relation to the plain and ordinary meaning of the English noun/verb form of the word Doom that we use in the modern day.

[dendydoom]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response Timber, it means a lot and must've taken a lot of effort to go through all that on my behalf.

Of course I completely understand the initial reason for being asked to change the name - it IS a silly name, and knowing how much I've fallen in love with the server and its community, if I could go back in time and pick a more sensible name for my character I would. The reason I was pushed to make an appeal was that by changing the entirety of the name, I'm effectively blocked from playing my character that has grown to build connections and friendships with others on the server. Continuing to at least use the name "Doom" with a much more sensible first name is all I can do to maintain some sort of connection to that character, and stop people that I've known for ages from thinking I'm a different character. It's already happened a bunch of times in the very short amount of time I've been using a new name.

If it's allowed, then I'll take the risk and continue using "Doom" as a surname, it's that's acceptable.
Once again, thanks for taking the time to go through this with me.

[Timberpoes]

No worries!

I've seen your new name of Dorothy Doom in-game and I'm personally okay with it, so I'll be closing this up with a happy compromise. Of course you already know that because I just poked you in-game to give you this follow-up in person.

And I'll also state that our nicknaming policy will, to my understanding, allow you to use Dorothy 'Dreary' Doom. It would sort of make sense IC for you as well because it would allow people to continue calling you Dreary as they have been used to for 125 shifts thus far. How much life the nickname policy has in it I do not know, but you can definitely leverage it to ease the name switchover.

I'll also update your note accordingly with the above.