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Hey~!

I wanted to adress a matter that I tought was important...

I don't know if it is just me, but whenever I hear (read) someone using the F word in context (and all they ways to conjugate it), it really turns me off. I mean, there are so many ways to be creative about swearing and cursing, to make it personnal and more suitable to the character than just going about adding f*cking just every two sentences to represent that your character's angry.

I can't say I see it a lot of times, but whenever it happens, it breaks the mood a bit.

I would agree, in the case I saw this. Also gonna say, a well placed, rarely used F bomb can really spice things up, too.

I fucking agree.

DerkDerkistan wrote:

I fucking agree.

Very_Svensk wrote:

DerkDerkistan wrote:

I fucking agree.

Dead wrote:

Very_Svensk wrote:

DerkDerkistan wrote:

I fucking agree.

Remember when the Obama administration put up a picture of Obama shooting a rifle and asked people 'Not to photoshop it' ?
Or when beyonce wanted one of those ugly pictures of her gone from the internet ...

Well. This is also a prime example of how the internet works

I'm not really sure if there's any complaint to be had here... how people choose to make their PC curse is just that. Not everyone is a Natural 20 Cha who can call you a a squandering waste of skin, soul, and sentience. Somtimes you just gotta call people fucking fucks. Because they are.

Really, though, I'm not seeing a direction for this thread, other than the impending quote pyramid.

Well fuck, Mirv, you're going to take all the fun out of it! It's a fair point though, if it gets overused. Luero is an example where he generally sticks to more creative curses, but if something surprises or really just makes him loose it, fffff will come out.

It's not because the character doesn't have a 20 CHA score that the player cannot give it a bit more flavour, and some difference. There's nothing funny in a "fucking fucker!". But, if you can come up with creative insults, make sure to use them.

Direction? Well, why not give it one? If people want to share their creative curses, please do!

Calling somebody a troll in the forgotten realm should probably be enough to warrant a bitch-slap in the face... with a chair

Really?

There are characters who use this word and I cannot imagine them without using it. It is just a word, and if it is just a word that turns you off, well...

I'd rather talk with someone who's "fucking" all the time than with someone who is using //lol, teh fun or party chat after every sentence.

mirvala- wrote:

Direction? Well, why not give it one? If people want to share their creative curses, please do!

Oh there's nothing wrong with that. My contention was mainly that a lack of creativity in cursing is a very small facet to judge. People from the same background, same cultures might curse the same way, but there is no reason to expect characters to constantly reference Chessentan bitch-hounds when a simple asshole will do. Why not encourage the greater usage of FR-specific phrases in general? Yoss had a whole thread about that way back when.

As for the word fuck, I actually don't see it used that often ICly. At least not so often to warrent singling it out as its own issue. I might once recall a PC or two using it gratuitously in the course of many, many years, but I always took it more as the character, rather than laziness on the players part because their RP in general was up to snuff.

Guardian wrote:

I'd rather talk with someone who's "fucking" all the time than with someone who is using //lol, teh fun or party chat after every sentence.

QFT. (That's "quoted fucking truth.")

Well...shit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq7Vj3GMd1M

Remember kids, it's just a word.

I enjoy creativity, but I enjoy believable character portrayal more. Not everyone is creative at cursing. It takes a certain kind of a person to say "Oh by Bane's black balls, that's preposterous!" while another would say "That's fucking bullshit." And by this I mean PCs rather than players. Staying true to your character may often call for a fuck, literal or rhetorical, because it's the most mundane, unrefined, down-to-earth thing there is.

Its overused.

My genasi, hashim, once wanted to put up a little conflict. He first parahprased a long calishite curse.
The character it was directed at asked my toon "what does it mean" snd got the simple answer "Fuck you" .

Holy hells! What followed was amazing! Horrible! Deadly! Woooow.

My advice? - Use it more often.
But be careful - i served a weekly ban after using the word "Cunt" in an ic situation.

Used in the appropriate context, the word is fine. Used excessively, the word loses significance. Used to spur discussion, the word rustles jimmies.

Cool pic bro ^ ^

My dwarf character will tell you to fuck off or piss off depending on how he reacts to another character. Its just him, not like he has wit or anything.

Other characters of mine will just hate you and plan to skin your face.

Best of all is a paladin if he tells you to fuck of he's pretty pissed.

Very stereotype.

Time to steer topic a bit!
Beeeest IC insults, besides "Fuck you!" ?

I find it entirely out of place in the setting.
Is a damn, or hells not equally easy to use?

Dergaii wrote:

I find it entirely out of place in the setting.
Is a damn, or hells not equally easy to use?

That feeling is completely arbitrary and unjustified, though. There's no factual reason it should be out of place in the setting.

Democracy is sometimes very out of the setting. Especially on amia. Many try to imitate the medieval lifestyle, with knights and what not, and during the proper medieval era in europe there was no democracy
Still people proclaim it icly.

Same goes with fuck, cunt, bitch etc.
We are all affected by our presence in history. We cannot imagine a world where people are owned, but try to imagine it in a dnd setting.

See my point?

I try not to use the word IC, but I have seen people use it from time to time with mixed succes. Personally, I just find it a tad easy to go with "fuck you/off/etc," but it doesn't ruin anything for me to see someone else use it, unless it's a constant in which case it just gets tiresome.

During the resent event at Barak Runedar, I saw a couple of people dropping some serious f-bombs when others weren't following orders. I laughed a little, admittedly, because it almost seemed to be player frustration bleeding through the keys, but I don't know the characters in question well enough to actually know if that was the case.

The biggest mood breaker for me, when it comes to words, is when someone says "ok" IC.

As for fucks, dicks and butts, it's not the word that's important, it's how you use it. Some folks i encountered using curse words just used them because they could, not because they served a purpose within the sentence and made it complete.

mirvala- wrote:

There's nothing funny in a "fucking fucker!".

I beg to disagree. You just need to illustrate the diversity of the word.

Suhjet wrote:

Used in the appropriate context, the word is fine. Used excessively, the word loses significance. Used to spur discussion, the word rustles jimmies.

I agree, my character tends to use this word when aggravated, otherwise he usually goes for less vulgar insults.

Also I worship the ground your avatar pic stands upon, that's one of the first computer games I ever played.

As far as I can recall, I've got along just fine without ever needing to use the word. In my house, swearing is commonplace, and let me tell you that it becomes an everyday thing so easily. But when I was taking part in a theatre production a while back, the guy doing the casting calls who was a very pleasant, down to earth middle aged man once swore in frustration, and the shock of hearing him say 'Fucking fuck!' was really astounding, and I at once knew he must be seriously pissed to resort to swearing. If you give it the respect and place the word deserves, it can have a surprisingly strong effect in conveying just how angry you are.

Meanwhile I think I avoid using them in-game because modern day swearwords seem really immersion breaking to me. Family honour tends to be important in medieval settings, so 'bastard' was a big deal even though it seems to have taken something of a back seat on today's swearing scales. 'Shyte' and 'feck' are alright to me, but when I see someone saying 'Fuck off' it seems to stand out like a sore thumb. Just makes me think of angry football dads having a fight at the pub, or mouthy little shits I so often see gracing the local town, something not particularly conducive to my forgotten realms roleplay.

I seem to remember seeing quite a few threads about this in my considerable forum lurking career. In the end, everybody's most likely going to carry on doing what they want regardless of this discussion, so eh.

Pretty sure this is in reference to a player using the word heavily last night. I noticed it. Although I agree with Iron, there are times when the situation doesn't seem to warrant it. When that is the case, it earns the "you're trying way too hard" response. Like the kid who keeps trying to tell the same joke over and over again until someone laughs.

Granted my main character makes a point of not acting out on his feelings and remains undeadly calm through most events. But when I play him angry I usually insult the person by their looks, behavior or how they conduct themselves. The F word I rarely use.

I found this nifty list I'll copy paste from a txt-document I have

SWEARING
General exclamations
--------------------
“By the hells!”
“Hellfire!”
“By the fiery gates of Gehenna!”
“Gods above 'n' fiends below!”
“Shyte!” [Generally seen as a better variant of “S***”]
“Damn / Damnation!”
"Dark" or "Dark and empty" [roughly equivalent to "crap"; prevalent in Sembia]
“Dented shields and broken swords!” [curse, esp. used by warriors and military folk]

Personal abuse - men
--------------------
“Whoreson” [questions someone's parentage, but a general term of abuse]
“Knave”
“Orcwit” [fool, idiot]
“Orcsnack” [a green recruit]
“Badblood” [a troublemaker]
“Troll dung” [abusive, esp. used by dwarves]

Personal abuse - women
----------------------
“She-goat”
“Harpy”
“Harlot”

Now personally, getting the chance to call a woman a she-goat rather than a F-word idiot. Brings some more BAM into the insult :p

The issue is that maybe that character wants to seem like an angry football dad at a pub.

Just as any good writing, try to use it in moderation. Yes, its just a word, but our society has deemed it a curse word. So there's this interesting aspect to it that can really draw on some unique emotions/responses when used as a tool for emphasis. Whether you buy into the "Curse" aspect of it or not, others likely do. The word still holds some potent power, so use it like it does.

This was posted in another thread some time ago, though Silkelock already listed the swears and insults from said link.

Also, have some fucks.

onni wrote:

This was posted in another thread some time ago, though Silkelock already listed the swears and insults from said link.

Also, have some fucks.

Oh thanks for the source!

I swear maybe as much as a pissed off Scottsman who's heavily under the influence and in the middle of a slanging match in real life, but in game (IC) it just doesn't feel the same to me, it makes me feel a little put off on occasion and when the server was no longer under the 'PG 13' ruling I did notice some rise in people using swearing more often, I too used swear words on occasion if I felt the situation called for it (some of my characters though, the foulest thing one of them ever said was something was a cretin :lol:

), I tend not to indulge in swearing much at all in game, but it doesn't bother me too much when others use said word(s).

But I like the idea of more creative insults and swear words being used, I do also remember the thread with the specific phrases, but I'm doomed to not recall any of them.

wolfurt wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq7Vj3GMd1M

Remember kids, it's just a word.

Classy.

I'll see your video and raise you this gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDWzGm1W0WY

Personally though, if I have a character use the good ol' F-bomb it's just because. I try to avoid swearing IG most of the time, but swearing doesn't phase me to the point that using them in RP isn't 'spicy' to me, it's just a mode of my character's mood/reaction. And hell, I have one char now that's a surly, grumpy, irritable old fart (in adventurer years, since he's only over 30) and he will swear like a sailor in the right mood.

And yeah, I just looked at my logs from last night's event, and holy fuck all was there a lot of f-bombs.

The word just has such a different use in written and spoken language. "Fuck" on paper automatically conveys an immature and overreacted sentiment about almost anything, especially since written language is such a broken tool that it cannot convey tones and other subtleties of human interaction. But on a side note, I greatly enjoy shouting out totally obscene profanities because it's so far out there that you require a very poor sense of humour not to get it. Naturally, error estimates happen an awful lot on the Internet.

This alludes to why it seems so wrong to use it IG even; we perceive it as letters, void of tone or basically any emotion whatsoever. I think in the RP context "fuck" is a splendid word to insinuate, e.g. the unsophistication of your character. Language is a powerful tool and even words like "fuck" don't deserve a downright denial; on the contrary, they deserve deliberation.

EDIT: What Iron said.

Doppelpost?

Is there such a thing as a sensible discussion that doesn't just serve as a reason for people to spam the word repeatedly in their sentences because they can?

Mr. Hackums wrote:

The issue is that maybe that character wants to seem like an angry football dad at a pub.

Football dads in pubs don't exist here, though. That's my issue with it. In my head, I just see that archetype of person saying something different in this setting. I know that trying to make a character as easily relatable as possible by partially basing it on a modern-day stereotype is a sensible thing to do to perhaps give people a better understanding of your character, but I'd rather they were based on a medieval stereotype which seems more appropriate. Again I stress this is my opinion and I hold nothing against people who do or do not make good use of the F word. I rarely see it used IG anyway.

But fuck it, I'll just play however the fuck I want and let other fucking people fucking play as they fucking want to, because fuck it, we're all going to fucking die anyway. Fuckety fuck.

666WaysToHell wrote:

Is there such a thing as a sensible discussion that doesn't just serve as a reason for people to spam the word repeatedly in their sentences because they can?

I admit, I use the world sometimes myself. I was simply remarking that every time there is a thread like this that is meant to serve as a discussion, it just turned into a spam-fest of the discussed word. I use it when it's appropriate, of course.

Of course we all use it when it is appropriate. The point is that there are characters from which I am not buying it, that's all. There is no over-use or under-use or middle-use of the word, it either fits your character or it doesn't.

When a bookwormish nerd tells you to fuck off, you laugh in his face. When GR shouts at you, using the charming word, it's just... natural.

My main issue when it comes to RP in the realms is that it just sounds so... unnatural. It's not really a word I expect anyone in a medieval-fantasy setting to use. Any time I see the word in RP, I feel like I'm being yoinked out of the setting and back into my normal life. It breaks the immersion.

On that note, I also simply find the word offending as well as cursing in general. I see it as a lack of self control as well as being plain rude. I keep an open mind though when I know the person I'm talking with uses it when they are going through hard times.

Careful with the "medieval setting" justification. Forgotten Realms is not a medieval analog by any stretch of the imagination. It has robots and giant bugs and varying forms of government in different nations and international trade and synthetic music.

Daimondheart wrote:

My main issue when it comes to RP in the realms is that it just sounds so... unnatural. It's not really a word I expect anyone in a medieval-fantasy setting to use. Any time I see the word in RP, I feel like I'm being yoinked out of the setting and back into my normal life. It breaks the immersion.

On that note, I also simply find the word offending as well as cursing in general. I see it as a lack of self control as well as being plain rude. I keep an open mind though when I know the person I'm talking with uses it when they are going through hard times.

Some of us play characters that, in given situations, lack control and really don't care about conversational etiquette.

Last edited by Theander on Tue, Feb 19 2013, 4:38 AM, edited 1 time in total.

The earliest written reference to the word dates to 1503. By that time the word had already developed it's meaning and was known enough to be understood by its contemporaries, in fact known well enough to be banned from written literature. This suggests the word AND it's meaning in COMMON use dates back to at least the 1400s, if not earlier.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?all ... hmode=none

1400s Medieval enough yet? Mass witch burning hadn't even started yet by that period and yet a lot of characters here are inspired by this period and that incarnation of inquisition.

It comes down to two things, what we 'think' as players, and what we don't think as characters. What we 'think' and what we 'feel' as medieval does not mean anything overall in this conversation. Using words like f*ck may jar us because we are so familiar with it in the modern day world, but then referring to the planet as a sphere would jar many other people even though the world was known to be curved since Greek times, probably Egyptian times knew it was at least rounded if not spherical, and the story of 'the medieval world was believed to be flat' is mostly from the protestant reformation of accusing the catholic church of being backwards, it was propaganda based on the biblical reference of the world having 4 corners and/or being tent shaped. Just to explain how this can have an effect on RP, explain why people refer to days as 'cycles' here when the 'medieval' concept is supposed to not recognize the world as round and the FR universe KNOWS that it is not the only planet given that there are spells that allow you to teleport to other planets as easily as other planes?

And yet, in character, we don't always know the characters that are using the words and should be affected In Character by their use. Maybe it's actually telling us more about the character in that he's using them and it's not actually in any way OOC or meta.The pub dads referenced earlier, or the frustrated librarian, or any number of characters can use that word to convey a lot, and sometimes it may seem totally inappropriate or stupid, but let's face it, people do use it inappropriately or stupid.

Oh, that second part was an OOC note in regards to me, personally. IC you can use whatever curses you want and how often so long as they make sense to the setting. I don't let myself think IC actions equals player's personality.

Edit: And be careful what sources you quote on the internet. I did a little research of my own out of curiosity and found out there are a lot of unfounded urban myths on the word. For example, the ever popular For Unlawful Curse Knowledge (or whatever variation thereof) is not true. The 1500s are also considered the end of the medieval era.

The F Word

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