NPCs & Enemies Accidental Offensive Content with NPC Names

[GhostFez]

Hello! I thought I'd point out my concern about the name my cool slime spawned in with to see if anyone else agrees or can see my point. My cool slime spawned in with the name "Spazzy" (Seen here on the official wiki), which looks like it comes from the word "Spaz", and therefore "Sp*stic" (For reasons I'm about to go into, I don't feel totally comfortable typing out that word). In the US, I'm well aware that this word is quite common, and I'm not here to tell you guys how to speak. But I will say that in the UK, that word has a pretty bad history, probably being one of the worst slurs used against people with Cerebral Palsy. It's not uncommon for it to appear in American media that makes its way over here, Mario Party 8 had to reprint the PAL version of the game to remove that word, and it appeared in Weird Al Yancovic's song "Word Crimes", which he later had to apologise for. I might be seeing something where there's really nothing here, so I thought I'd post on the forums, and see if any other British people were even aware this name was in the game, and maybe see if Re-Logic could localise it out? It might not be necessary if nobody else sees an issue with it, but even if that wasn't the intention (which I'm sure it isn't, as I know Re-Logic is made up of a lot of good people who try hard not to offend), I worry that another person from the UK might see and be offended by the name in the future. That's enough of a ramble from me, I thought with 1.4.5 coming up, it might be a good time to mention this issue so if you guys want to you can patch it out of the game.
Thanks for reading!
(PS, just wanted to say that I do love Terraria, and I don't wanna sound like I'm complaining for nothing or trying to cause controversy, I just wanted to share what I've seen and find out if I'm crazy or not, the only real issue I have with terraria is how I end up playing it every summer when I'm supposed to be studying for my exams)

 

[Zyraphim]

I'm surprised you noticed a randomly generated name of an NPC and not, y'know, the giant metal eyeball you're required fight to progress called Spazmatism

 

[adjacent]

I'm surprised you noticed a randomly generated name of an NPC and not, y'know, the giant metal eyeball you're required fight to progress called Spazmatism

their wiki page says "Spazmatism's name is a portmanteau of spasm, meaning to twitch uncontrollably, and astigmatism, an eye disorder." So it could be the similar roots for the name of the slime, although I don't think an eye related pun is very applicable to the slime pet.

 

[GhostFez]

I'm surprised you noticed a randomly generated name of an NPC and not, y'know, the giant metal eyeball you're required fight to progress called Spazmatism

Basically what the other person said about the wiki, I was aware of the origin for Spazmatism's name from years back. Some people might say that name is offensive, but I think there's a clear justification for it so it's ok you know? If someone had a similar reasoning for the name the slime pet has, I'd totally understand why the name exists and doesn't necessarily need changing. But this is what the thread's for! I wanna find out if I'm the only person who sees the issue here

 

[Heath04🌳]

But this is what the thread's for! I wanna find out if I'm the only person who sees the issue here

You're not, there was this thread a bit of a while back, the name of the town slime pet could theoretically be changed. I don't think anyone would really take issue with it.

 

[GhostFez]

You're not, there was this thread a bit of a while back, the name of the town slime pet could theoretically be changed. I don't think anyone would really take issue with it.

Thanks for sharing this! It was quite an interesting read. I had a look at the posts and thought the discussion about Spazmatism was pretty interesting, but I feel the point about the slime got kind of lost in the shuffle. I think changing Spazmatism would cause a lot of uproar, but honestly removing one name for a town slime probably wouldn't make a big difference, and if it's gonna prevent offense I reckon it would be a good move (although I accept the idea that if nobody would be upset by its removal, few people would probably be upset by its inclusion)

 

[LisanPaez05]

What's the problem if someone could think that's offensive?

I'm sure than anyone find it offensive, only you

 

[GhostFez]

What's the problem if someone could think that's offensive?

I'm sure than anyone find it offensive, only you

Not entirely sure what you mean here. I definitely don't think Americans would find it offensive, because the word's in common use there. I do think a number of British people would be offended by the word, but it isn't necessarily something many players would experience I suppose. I think because the game is a global product, and the name seemingly does originate from an offensive term, it might be good to adjust it to avoid offending international players no? I'd be interested to see why you think it's not a problem though!