New World Players Raise A Stink Over Bizarre Bans
Amazon's "New World" immediately caused headaches for fans with its long server queues, graphics card drama, and strange naming rules that were just asking for trouble. In other words, things have been looking really bad for "New World," and each piece of news coming out of the game seems to be less than flattering. Unfortunately, this piece of news isn't any different. It turns out that "New World" has been banning players who use the word "fart" in their names.
To most readers, using a childish word like "fart" probably seems like part and parcel of playing online games. Who hasn't been gunned down by a ridiculously named player in "Call of Duty" or "Halo?" Yet Amazon didn't take kindly to some users that included the vaguely naughty word in their usernames. One Reddit post racked up several hundred comments about that very topic. The post shared photos of a tweet that stated, "amazon game studios perma banned my bf from new world bc his name contained 'fart' LMFAO."
The banned player quickly jumped into the replies, sharing screenshots from their experience with Amazon's support team. The support technician referred to the game's terms of service, which state that players should not have offensive or inappropriate names. When the user asked for clarification on the issue, the support member said that "poop" was not offensive, but "fart" was. Fans seemed universally baffled by the incident, and pointed out the inconsistencies inherent in Amazon's handling of the situation.
Cultural barriers and inconsistency from Amazon
Players on Reddit noted that Amazon's approach to permanent bans in "New World" is completely antithetical to other companies' reactions to inappropriate or offensive names. "And for the record, every other gaming company deals with this by saying, 'Yo homie, we locked your account until you rename it. Can't wait to see you back online!'" one user commented. Instead of giving the player a chance to correct the name, Amazon immediately moved to permanently ban them, according to the original tweet. Other Redditors said that, well, the original name was silly, but not really appropriate for a roleplaying game. Still, most commenters agreed that having a bad (but inoffensive) name shouldn't be a bannable offense.
Some gamers saw the support staff conversation as proof of the cultural divide between Amazon's support team and the majority of "New World" players. One Redditor commented, "I've seen thread after thread of players trying to discuss their issues with nuance only to be met with brick wall support staff with limited written expression and basic English." It's possible that the support team is under pressure to make decisions quickly and, considering the potential for miscommunication between languages and cultures, often makes confusing rulings on nuanced situations. Others simply pointed out that Amazon programs its Alexa software to play rude noises on command, so the word "fart" shouldn't be that offensive.
It's unclear if Amazon will restore the account of "StinkyWetFart" or if they will be banned from "New World" forever.