Japan relives dark past in MMORPGs

[VGsatomi]

The Sonno Joi movement- a movement taken by young radical samurai as the end of the Tokugawa period which aimed to expel or kill all foreign "barbarians" from the shores of Japan. So it seems that that movement has now carried to this day in into the world of MMORPGs.

Almost Every person who’s played MMORPGs knows how frustrating it is to lose a character. Whether it be through server resets, accidental deletions, banning, game discontinuation, and so forth. I have just lost my second R.o.s.e. online character. First was through a sever reset that took place right after the game left beta stages. My second was due to an account banning.

My crime: Speaking English.

R.o.s.e. Online’s Japan branch has recently begun a campaign to purge all accounts used foreigners from their servers (even those who reside in Japan). So far already thousands of accounts belonging to PAYING CUSTOMERS have been deleted for nothing more then the language spoken during online play...even if you send another player a PM in anything other then Japanese- you are banned.

That’s right, they are purging thousands of legal, paying clients just to get rid of us unwanted "gaijin" from their online experience. Cultural discrimination to this magnitude is a first in the history of online gaming.

Unbelievable...absolutely un-%$##ing believable. I would expect this sort of thing if the server was in China. (i.e. a communist nation with strict nationalistic/anti-foreign traditions), but not Japan. They tried to use IP blockers to block out all non-Japanese IP addresses, but proxy servers got around that. Now they are using language as a basis to determine who is a foreigner and who is not. Now do keep in mind that English is the second language in Japan, where students learn it as a regular part of the school curriculum starting in early elementary school. So who knows how many native Japanese already got banned for a simple slip of the tongue. And in addition, every other Rose client servers, in Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, North America and Europe, all have no rules governing who can and cannot play on their severs. To them, the money is all the same.

The GMs are actually out on patrol, looking for anyone speaking non-Japanese (even in private clan-chats), and players are instructed to report non-Japanese speakers to the GMs so that their accounts may be blocked. I've heard of in-game plagues and in-game riots...but an in-game witch-hunt?? Where players lose their accounts if caught?? Yes...that’s how bad it’s gotten.

I lived a year in Japan and I loved the place very much. Even to this day if I had to pick a second place I'd want to live- it would be there (well, that and maybe Denmark). I never encountered even the slightest bit of discrimination during that time, which is why I find this all the more surprising. Go figures it hits us full force once we enter one of their MMORPGs.

I mean, this is an English-dominant forum, so what would you all do if I suddenly started banning every member who dared to speak a word of non-English? Even over PM?

Rrrgg....I hope they go bankrupt...those black van-driving ultra-nationalist &%$#s at Gravity's Japan branch...you would think that perfeclty good money money would take more importance then location...

Even Blizzard takes better care of their paying customers...
-VGsatomi

 

[Matt540 sheep god!]

http://www.wc3sear.ch/viewtopic.php?p=114457#114457

Im to lazy to post my complain, so come here to read how i feel and my debate on the arguement (no, i did not talk about freedom of speech ki, so sthu about that forum)

 

[Dr Super Good]

NEVER trust none big company games even if you are paying them.

A simalar thing happened in a game called freelancer, where many german run servers hunted people who spoke english even as a second language and banned them from their servers but then again that game had 100s of servers and it didnt matter if you got banned from one.

Big games like World of Warcraft are run by the walet not by nationalists as a hobbie. Companies like blizzard rely on income to ceep it running so they want more people to play on their games (especialy WoW) thus they will not ban people for such rassist thing as language so that they attract a larger population of diffrent people.

Im not saying that WoW is a bad game im saying why it wont start banning for people's language.

And V.G. I dont want to put the Japenies down or anything but many of them were know to have done "inhumane" things to forigners in the past, espicaly during the second world war. I think they thought everyone else was sub human (like the germans in ww2 thought they were the "uber mench"). This might still be the atitude of some people in japan today although it was some time ago.

I recomend you eithor just let them enforce their Sonno Joi movement or you arrange a boycot / goverment action but I dought that would work.

 

[Cookie]

You might be able to sue such company, but for that you might need more legal information

Besides yeah, Japan is a stuck-up country IMO, a second shake-up would be fine (warning from international community, boycot...)....even the germans at least admitted their errors in the warcrime past, yet Japan just smudges the past....while their atrocities is one of the blackest pages in their history...

(and yeah, Im one of those guys whose grandpa's wife got kinda killed by those Japs....)

 

[hellochar]

what do you mean chinese?

Don't mean to be rude but...
OMFG IF YOU THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE CHINA IS A COMMUNIST COUNTRY THAT THEY WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN THE JAPANESE THAT DID THIS, JUST DISCRIMINATING AND STEREOTYPING SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD!!!!!!!!!! I'm ashamed of you VG... I thought there were still people online that weren't bent on killing all the jews, simply because of what they've heard.

 

[Afronight_76]

OMG CAPS MAKE THIS POST MORE INTENSE AND MAKES ME LOOK SAMRTER!1

 

[Ki]

DISCRIMINATING AND STEREOTYPING SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD!!!!!!!!!!

I think I said something similiar to that before.

But all in all, ROSE Online isn't that great of a game in my opinion. It becomes pretty repetitive.

But for all of you that are still able to play it, try scamming those gems. I did that and gained around 3 million money.

 

[Drain Pipe]

this is addressed to hellochar:

what the f*ck is with you man? VG wasn't being discriminatory, she was stating fact. China was merely used as a comparison, because it's a COMMUNIST country, not because chinese ppl live there. My god you dumb people who rave about all this inhumanity shit are just as bad as a PETA member (for those who don't know, PETA is an orginazation bent on protecting animals rights and is against anything that goes against animal freedom. The only thing is they kill thousdands of animals they claim to protect, they vandalize and destroy governement and scientific property as vigilantes unlawfully to promote their cause, and they are hypocrites to their own maxims, which means they are full of bs) in the sense that, those poeple make idiotic claims and to make themselves feel morally superior when they in fact, are not. And for the record, what the hell does killing jews have in comon with this. F*ck man you're not even making any sense. I'm sorry for my profanity but this guy really needs a reality check.

Also, we usually base our opinions off of information gathered. VG is well read and as such she can develop generalizations about certain things (such as gouvernment function). As such it's not far fetched that a communist country would inhibit outside influence in an effort to keep their cultures and traditions/values etc. within the country itself, unchanged. Therefore, they'd make sure the online users wouldn't interact outside the country. That's not discrimination, that's just a smart assumption.

VG wasn't being discriminatory to the chinses people, she simply stated that because of their governemnt, they would be more prone to act in such a fashion, while Japan does not opreate in the same, way, hence why she is surprised. How that makes her, someone who posts an opinion on a forum, as bad as a company that hunts down and bans people, stealing their money for a stupid reason, i don't know at all. Don't make stupid conenctions like that. I know you tried to out do VG, thinking you'd be a smartass, but you just end up sounding stupid. Good day.

PS the caps make you sound like a moron. or a retard. Whichever you prefer.

 

[hellochar]

I overreacted

China was merely used as a comparison, because it's a COMMUNIST country, not because chinese ppl live there

Dear Drain Pipe,
Yes, i was too quick on opinionizing VG (being a bit of a discrminator myself) but... China's a communist country, SO WHAT?! I am talking about VG thinking that, simply because china IS a communist party, that they hate everyone else and are in total isolation (which they were for a some time but that's not the point). Simply because of the governemnt china is ruled under, doesn't reflect the people that live there.

Oh yes, and one more thing

Ty for the feedback, even if it was criticism

 

[Ki]

Simply because of the governemnt china is ruled under, doesn't reflect the people that live there.

Right again.

From what I can see, a lot of countries on the west have adopted capitalist and constitutional governments and a lot of countries on the east have adopted communist governments. This is talking comparatively, however. Each of these two extremes have problems, and while being on the other extreme it is hard to see how communists can live the way they do. History explains the logic behind each of these ideologies.

Are Chinese people comfortable with their government? I don't know. Opinions probably vary.

 

[VGsatomi]

Sorry if I sounded as though I was descriminating against the Chinese. I was merely pointing out that communist countries, like China and Cuba, have a history of nationalistic policies that make people wearly of foreigners which continues to this day, while Japan hasnt since the end of the second world war.

I am talking about VG thinking that, simply because china IS a communist party, that they hate everyone else and are in total isolation (which they were for a some time but that's not the point). Simply because of the governemnt china is ruled under, doesn't reflect the people that live there.

Well obviously. But guess how much say the Chinese people have in government policies towards foreigners? Go on, take a guess. Here, I'll give you a hint: 0

I mean, I'm gearing up to go tom China in a few months to teach, and I've already been told by representatives of the Chinese government NOT to critizise communism and NOT to promote capitalism (even though its already got a stong foothold here) and NOT to promote democratic ideals to my students. It is a country with no free speech, and still only meager political freedom. You dont see that sort of stuff in Japan at all.
-VGsatomi

 

[hellochar]

Are Chinese people comfortable with their government? I don't know. Opinions probably vary.

Yes, opinions do vary. But i think that a majority of the population is happy with their government. this is because china isn't communism to the extreme (even though it was a few decades ago), i think that china has begun to stray from communism. I just did some research a few months ago and there was a website telling on how local town officials are appointed by the people; just an example that china isn't all communism.

Dear VG,
don't worry, i overreacted, as said above

btw, this is one of the first forums i've gone into where people are actually reading the posts be4 3 days after they're posted gj all

 

[Ki]

It seems to me as if most countries today are nationalistic, not just Japan and China. We can thank Napoleon for the birth of that.

I mean the only time people weren't nationalistic was when countries were still in development and especially when the Holy Roman Empire still remained divided. To give an example, Americans pledge to their flag. That's nationalism.

 

[VGsatomi]

Are Chinese people comfortable with their government? I don't know. Opinions probably vary.

Generally, yes. But keep in mind that China has very strict media that only puts out what the government wants the people to hear. The propaganda machine is very heavy there. So when you have an entire populace thats told that a certain aspect of the outside world is undesirable without a rebuttle or another side of the story, you will see the shift in popular opinion toweards what teh government thinks. Every piece of news passes through propaganda departments, where conficting ideas or quickly edited out. Even the internet is heavily censored now.
-VGsatomi

 

[hellochar]

Generally, yes. But keep in mind that China has very strict media that only puts out what the government wants the people to hear. The propaganda machine is very heavy there. So when you have an entire populace thats told that a certain aspect of the outside world is undesirable without a rebuttle or another side of the story, you will see the shift in popular opinion toweards what teh government thinks. Even the internet is heavily censored now.

exactly. There's no free speech in China (and i think i'm gonna contradict myself from here on), eg. my grandparents live there, and i know that neither them nor anyone for that matter can make any public act or demonstration opposing the governemnt (counts as treason :O), there's even commercials running on TV talking about how "honorable" and "holy" the current president is (every new president says that he's the best, and sense no one can contradict him, everyone just agrees). But that's just china for you

 

[Ki]

That is correct, and the lack of freedom of speech nullifies any expressed differences. The fact that they can't say how they feel towards their government only gives one impression, and that is what the government leaves.

Yes, the governemnt controls media and even internet. That leaves ample oppurtunity for multiple misconceptions. In that way, the people of the communist government are tained in the wrong way, but that isn't to say that they are uninformed of their own government.

Many Chinese people are hardcore on studying; I'm sure some of them can quietly apply their knowledge to current events. They just can't say anything about it.

 

[VGsatomi]

Well, sorry, all I didnt mean for this to turn into a political topic or Japan bashing. I was just steamed that something like this actually happened, angry towards that one particular company, and wrote this topic while I was a little...upset. I guess I was incorrect in thinking it was the first time that it happened (re: freelancer and germany).

I'll go ahead and lock this.

...but Gravity's Japan branch is now my new enemy.
-VGsatomi