[Ryan722]

This is an interesting thread, and even though it's clearly a divisive topic, I think it's an important discussion to be had.

To speak to codifying exactly which slurs are allowed/not allowed, as people have said it would definitely create extra work for staff to look into, discuss, and document countless words. People would also inevitably complain and point to the potentially non-exhaustive list if gagged at staff's discretion for slurring ("it's not in the list!! abuse!!"). However I think it can be counterintuitive to players that some slurs are allowed while others are not. "Retard" and the non-hard-r n-slur would be banned as well if the rule truly was "don't say slurs", and... well they're not. If we're striving for clarity and consistency, it might be helpful to be more explicit about what can and cannot be said. Personally I take the approach of just not saying slurs, but if a newcomer were to join the server and hear regular players saying other "softer" slurs, I could see it being confusing for them.

As for taking context into account when it comes to slurs, I'm personally in agreement with Jammin. That being said, I recognize that especially alongside many other rules that have to be enforced on the server, it's easier sometimes to cut corners and simplify things. If there are six active reports and multiple people mic spamming, is it worth the (arguably marginal) extra effort to determine the context of a slur? Hell, when a lot of people are talking at once it can be hard to tell who even said a slur, let alone the context. Also, given that the context when Steel Waffle slurred seems pretty dubious, I'm not really sure it's even relevant to this ban. I'm well familiar with "tranny" as an abbreviation of "transmission", but I also avoid saying it given the hateful connotation, and would have also warned for it given the current guidelines for handling slurs.

Steel Waffle, I get where you're coming from and why you're upset. You seem authentic in not having known about the word being used as a slur, and I would be supportive of your warn being appealed given the context of the situation. If it isn't though, now you know better, and try to watch the slurs on the server :)