Embracing different cultures ?

[Daeron Stonewall]

Greetings,

I will keep this short and to the point, but before voting please read :

http://cove.fantasyworld.nl/forum/index.php/topic,8631.msg66350.html#new

I have recently joined BoC, but unfortunately my hair colour would appear to be causing problems with some members of the community. Without making to much of a fuss it is to be understood that I will not be changing my hair colour, for several reasons, but I would not want to upset the members of BoC and as such I am prepared to leave the guild and move on to pastures new, although this is not my preferred choice.

Put simply BoC is a Role Play guild within an ever changing environment and I firmly believe that if guilds and indeed UO is to survive and flourish then people will need to embrace changes and look upon them as 'addition stitches in life's rich tapestry'. Isolationism leads to nothing but a fragmented world (as seen in real life) and surely the very basis of UO is a cohesive community.

I agree wholeheartedly that some 'rules' need to be in place to avoid an imbalance within the game - Basic armour, Basic arms, NO artifacts etc. as this would present a definite problem and give certain people advantages over others. However my hair colour gives me NO benefit whatsoever and in my opinion anyone should be allowed to dress and behave in whatever manner they wish, as long as it does not adversely impact upon others.

UO is not that different from real life, and it would be dreadful if UO started to replicate some of the prejudices that we come across in everyday life. Could you imagine a place in the world where your hair colour or skin colour excluded you from society ? Well I can, and its happened, and it took decades to rid these places of their bigotry and the people which practiced it.

I consider my hair colour to be justified and acceptable, more particularly because it has a rational and interesting reason (see profile).

Anyway I've said my piece and if after reading this and the story in my profile people can make an objective decision, and they can 'voice' their opinion via a vote, let the majority rule.

On a final note, I can only say that I consider and will make sure that the colour of my hair will have NO detrimental effects on the guild and if anything will provide diversity and interesting situations and further story lines from myself.

The poll runs for 7 days, at the end of which I will accept the majority vote and either stay and help to make BoC a better and more tolerant guild, or I will move on .... like so many people classed as 'different' have had to in the real world.

I leave the choice to you, thank you for your time.

[qom_riyadh]

Wow...

1st of all, accepting your hair colour is not a matter of choice of players, but a matter of some rules which all of us agreed to follow (not necessarily accepting some of them, but that's not the point).
You're right that it might be observed as unfair to force people to have (or not to have) a specific hair colour. But as in real life, some social groups might not accept fellas with neon green hair.
Although your story is fun, enjoyable and explaining, and neon colored hair doesn't change things in context of fighting, green hair are not something common among a simple peasant-based society like Cove.
Of course I'm most far from saying you should leave, I don't want it to finish like that. I find you're a good RPer, with a long experience in UO - it's important to have such people in our guild.

So maybe consider dyeing Dearon's hair to other shade of green? (Not neon-bright, specifically)

[Jack Sinist (•̪●)]

You dare to compare real life biggotry with a medieval set role playing guilds rules on hairs?

We're a low fantasy role playing guild set in medieval times, what this means is that we want to keep it as medieval as possible and as realistic as possible. That's why we don't ride polar bears or have glowing neon hair in BoC.

Yes, Ultima evolve, but BoC should not be forced to "adapt" to the things that EA decides to put into the game. BoC choose what to add and what not to add because we want to stay as medieval and dark as possible.

If you want to be an ML elf with neon hair, riding a polar bear and a pimped out gear; then feel free to join Vesper or Trinsic.

If you do however wish to role play a Covian set in medieval times, then feel free to stay, but follow our rules. We don't want you to leave, we don't want anyone to leave, but we if we bend on the rules we wont be unique anymore.

[Zoie Hayden]

It is a posted rule on the site, so it's not like anyone is being out of line by disliking it. And as Qom said, some people in the real world will discriminate against you and call you a danger to society without even meeting you because of wild hair or clothes; especially in the period of history BoC is set in.

In my opinion, if you're a civilian, weird hair and clothes should be tolerated as you're a free person of Cove. Just be aware and be ready for the countless people who will be prejudiced against you and treat you harshly for your weird hairstyle. Just think if you had a neon green mohawk in real life, old people and posh high society women will look at you as if you're a criminal; and police will pay more attention to you as you walk past. If you want green hair, you have to be able to handle that.

However if you're a member of the army, it's easily understandable that something that unique wouldn't be allowed as it undermines the purpose of a cohesive army. I'm not really sure what part of Cove your character belongs to...

[Erik Arkay/Evinyatar]

Not disrespecting your character profile...But people can always find RP reasons to 'bend the rules'

I can find a perfectly logical RP explenation on why my character should be able to ride a polar bear, but that doesn't mean it fits the RP atmosphere BoC promotes.

Like Jack sais, we promote a medieval fantasy style and that has certain consequences on how we must act. Hence the BoC rules.

Moreover, as Qom said, you can dye your hair in an acceptable green and still retain your character background. We don't do neon, for quite obvious reasons if you ask me.

[Octiovus]

Command permitted Daeron to be added. While I understand he wanted to get feedback on his hair colour choice, I'm sure he's got enough to be going on with.

Anyone who wants to discuss this further can contact myself.

Thread locked.

Cheers,

Octiovus.