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Just hitting reply.
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Get some roomies with various language skills.
An easier way would be to learn some foreign languages.
Perhaps some day, the dev's will let us copy and paste from the chat window and we could use AltaVista.
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It takes longer to learn a language than to find roomies who know a different language. Sure, its a good idea for the long run, but not for the short.
An in-game translator would be a great idea though! I can only imagine the what the coding would be for that *cringe*. But yeah, cutting and pasting would help greatly.
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Why should free players even be in tc when they don't know what they are doing to test and have no incentive to post bugs and such. Say, why have free accounts at all?
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To have enough people to stress test the new code on the servers, including connections from other countries. What causes lag in Chile doesn't necessarily cause lag in New York and vice versa.
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Being a foreign language teacher, I pretty much hate it when anyone get's PO'ed that anyone DARE know another language other than English. Seriously people, Americans aren't the only people who live on this planet or play this game. Get a grip.
I realize that English is the language spoken by most who play the game (or at least that is how it appears), but there was nothing in the fine print that I read when I signed up my account that said English was a pre-requisite to play.
Wouldn't you be a better global citizen if maybe *you* asked to learn a few words in their language? Making an effort to learn *their* language would NOT be telling them you think they shouldn't learn English. Rather, you'd be showing them that you are interested in them, and they in turn, will most likely be prompted to reciprocate that level of interest.
As the old saying goes, you don't draw flies with vinegar.
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*applauds Rafficat*
I don't normally say much on this board, but having been at the sharp end of discrimination and prejudice all my life, this really touches a raw nerve.
For others on this thread:
I've personally witnessed utter rudeness mainly against Vietnamese and Portugese players by some home owners. A skill house I loved to go to, popped up an "English Only" notice on their property description after treating these players rudely, not realizing they were talking to each other and telling the newbies how to play. Its not hard to find biligual and multilingual roomies, not if you're willing to put in a little effort. Isn't this game supposed to be about "building community"? How does segregating/banning/booting the non-english speaking population "build community"?
And since the OP played the "foreign player card" by saying "who don't even speak english": If you don't want foreign players on your property, then put "English Players Only" in your prop description. Go to an online translator and translate that phrase into several languages so these so-called "free" foreign players (I'm still confused how you know all know they are free and not premium) will know they aren't welcome.
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Oh please, get off your high horse. The concerns that people have about free players are valid. Saying people are prejudice against free players is ridiculous. Obviously for the people that don't own a skill or money house in EA free players are NOT an advantage to them. It isn't discrimination. If a solution isn't found then the houses that are tired of the free players coming in and eating and disrupting their house will close. How is that helping new players evaluate the game? Don't devalue other peoples concerns without coming up with a valid solution.
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Free players don't count toward visitor hours in TC3 either. Is that what this game is all about? Catering only to those who give you an advantage? What about playing the game just to play game? How about moving the game forward in development? Doesn't fall under "prejudice"? Look up the word. It means "1. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable. 2. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group. 3. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason." We're all guilty of it one way or another.
By saying "Obviously for the people that don't own a skill or money house in EA free players are NOT an advantage to them." is pure discrimination. That's saying they'll welcome the guy with the Beamer (preimium player) but not the guy with the Pinto (free player) because the guy with the Beamer obviously has more money to spend (gives them advantages). But the kicker is, the guy with the Beamer leaves a mess and no tips, when the guy with the Pinto was actually willing to give you what little he had once he figured out how to play the game. No offense to those who own Pintos.
How is THAT helping new players evaluate the game? Besides telling them its not worth paying for and definitely not worth playing.
Well, there goes the game, the Devs tried, but the callous and elitist attitudes from the players killed it. See you in SL or There.
If they are truly being disruptive (by which case you would need to define what YOU consider "disruptive") then by all means, boot and ban them. But to boot or ban someone merely for not picking up plates, speaking a different language, not tipping, not saying hello back to you, for being a FREE player, is purely childish.
If houses close because they are tired of free players, then so be it, it'll open the doors for friendlier houses, houses run by people who realize its just a game and just want to have fun. Valid solutions are easy, charge for food, charge for entering the property, charge for using the bathroom, heck put up a charging door to every area of your house, and put in your property description that free players are not welcomed there. That will deter some of them but then most will just start saying they are premium. Or set your property to Admit List only and have people message you before you let them in. There's only one way for you to know if a player is free or not in EA Land, tell them to meet you at a Money or Skill house. But then if you're at that point, it means you're taking the game way too seriously.
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couldnt have said it better myself...had a few azzhole people come to my house eat food leave plates everywhere then leave all together but one thing ive been wondering all this time is...wouldnt this happen regardless of free accounts? ive ran both welcome and skill houses for years so i know this happens all the time....how the hell would you know its a free account anyway? couldnt it be someone just trying to "F" with you? people do that ya know lol so honestly i think its good for the game and the people that actually wanna learn...i mean really if everything was "perfect" why would you even come and play? it would be sooo boring without at least a little entertainment...come on guys learn to laugh
to get rid of them and they still keep coming - seriously - I can't bloody take it. There is no visitor-bonus for having them - they just eat all your food and never tip - I am so sick of it.
