A "G" Rating...
Current mood: mischievous
Ok, so I play this game called Black Hawk Down online vs other people. There are public servers anyone can join and play in but they're privately owned and operated. So, they're open to the public as long as you follow their rules. The rules are, of course, arbitrarily formulated. There are simple general rules such as No Cheating, No Glitching(exposing or exploiting flaws in the code, mainly the way some objects are displayed or placed in proximity of each other, can cause all sorts of weird stuff to occur such as, being 'transported' to a place other than were you were standing or climbing, if on a ladder or stairs. Usually these glitches will put you through a wall or on top of an object or building. Some, ie: the Left Lean Glitch, allow you to shoot through corners and walls many servers allow left leaning, but disallow using the glitch to ones advantage, some allow the glitch and the advantage. It is extremely difficult to kill someone while they're LLG), No Swearing...But then there is another type of server, The 'G' Rated Server. To me, a "G" rating has always meant Disney, for the entire family, appropriate for kids, little kids I mean. You know the content of stories like Snow White, Cinderella, Jungle Book, The Nutty Professor...Black Hawk Down is a video game depicting and simulating War. The object of this game is to kill your enemy more times than he kills you. There are 4 character types, Close Quartes Battles Specialist, or CQB, Gunner, Sniper, and Medic. CQB is highly trained to be an effective killer with diverse means in which to dispatch his enemies. M16, M16/203 (203 s a grenade launcher built into the M16, the launcher barrel fits under the rifle barrel), CAR15, CAR15/203, G3 frag grenades, knife, claymore anti-personel mines, satchel bombs with radio detonators...Gunners are heavy machine gun specialists. Definately the most dificult character type to use. They are slow, and use fully automatic machine guns such as the M60, M240, and the M249SAW. Gunners also loadout with frag grenades, but no claymores. Instead they can have one AT-4 a Rocket Propelled Grenade, looks like a bazooka. Medics are very fast but carry only light semi-automatic rifles, and frag grenades. They're fast so they can get to victims and 'revive' them before the allotted time runs out. The speed also helps to evade gunfire while rushing to fallen comrades. Snipers...Well these are the shy ones, FKN COWARDS!!! Go run and hide and shoot from relative safety while people are shooting at each other. In this mans' opinion, 'Snipers are the lowest form of shit in this video game.' These players use their OWN TEAMMATES as bait. And if they kill an opponent as they are engaged in a battle with a teammate, then they are taking that players intended kill...Whatever...
Ok so there is a crash course in the types of players one can use to KILL other players with. The point I was building up to is WAR and KILLING is NOT "G" RATED!!! The game has a "T" rating on the box for Blood and Violence...So I guess that, as their perogative, they let their kids play the game. I do, and he is 8, hes been playing it for about two and a half years, not steadily, but enough. he knows what it is all about, and how to be an effective "killer". My son and I were playing in a "G" Rated server, he was at home with his mother, I was at my home, he typed in lmao and got punted (forcibly disconnected) from the server. the reason was lmao means laugh my ASS off, and that is considered a breach of the language rule. It is a violation of the 'Masking" rule where you try to get the essence of a dirty word across without actually typing that word in. For example: fkn, azz, sh!t...He should have typed in, lmBo, because butt instead of ass changes the meaning COMPLETELY and thus renders that phrase harmless...Yes I know what your thinking and Arse is just English for Ass so its out too. In fact I made a boo-boo by typing in Fo Sho and got a warning. Seems that Ebonics is a form of masking. I mean that if I try to be cute and spell anything phonetically, I might be committing a major crime against the server, its owners, and all of it's guests. I made the mistake of being playful and typing in something about someone being a "bad mother", and then immediately after typing in "But Im just talking about..." alluding to the Shaft song lyrics. So I got reminded that I was in a "G" rated server and to please keep it clean. No Masking, No Swearing. I asked where I masked or swore, and got scolded, and threatened with being punted...Look, I see their point, Im no dummy, but sometimes I just find stuff like that to be ridiculous. 11:30 pm pst, all kids should be in bed, well all kids in the USA except Hawaii maybe...I just dont understand who is being protected with these restrictions on speech and expression...I agree with no outright swearing, and maybe no masking to an extent, I like the fact that some servers like to keep it clean, but what I experienced earlier felt more like an action taken by the Thought Police. Someone even asked me, '..a bad mother what?" Well the song never mentioned anything after Mother. so I dont really know. I do know, that, with that ultra conservative policy, everything said is not only looked at with expectation, but with a zealous scrutiny. Look, you know, if you really want to find something behind every corner, after a while, whether or not it is's really there, you will see it there. A "G" Rated Server hosting a "T" Rated game, L.M.A.O!!! I LOVE the hypocricy and the irony, I really do, until it hits home, then it's really annoying.
