On use of strong profanity in games

Exactly.

One thing that I find hard to replicate is the "mofo" line. In full. Either you shorthand it as shown here (and hope they don't notice) or you switch the f-bomb portion for its nearest equivalent in the established vernacular. But in either case, it's gonna be near-borderline obvious. And the "***dammed son of a *****" situation is just as much a cadaver in its own right.

I think it can work if it suits the character, a lot of media has everyone coursing and when everyone is doing it it ends up feeling forced. Ironically I think a good example is Conkers Bad Fur Day, a game known for its profanity, but it never comes from the player character, its always from bitter characters around him and that greats a really nice juxtaposition in the world.

I'm generally not big in swearing in fantasy or medieval games because it usually doesn't feel natural, unless its this guy.
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I also just thought of another potential snag when it comes to extremities. This isn't necessarily about the script per se but let's say you have a cockatrice-type boss in your game and you're wanting to have something in your quest log (assuming you're using one from Yanfly, Galv et al) to mark the accomplishment as a consequence of being part of the plot. For me, the best I could end up with literally reads "Insert C**k Joke" because a neutered variant unfortunately didn't have the same effect because context (or in other words, there went the fourth wall).

See, my thought process has always been this: We are making a fantasy world in a made up land. So why would their swear words be the same as ours in the first place? In fact, you can even see some of this in our world, as there are some words that are not swear words in one culture, but are extremely insulting in others (or you can use gestures too if you wish). We watched a video about this in Social Psychology, and there is one country touching under your eye with a finger is seen as a grave insult to the others, but here in the US, we'd not even think twice if someone did that.

In fact, there is one country where it is seen as insulting to offer to shake hands with your left hand. But most of us, that means nothing to us. So insults and swears can vary even in our own world, so why do we get obsessed with using the same words in our fantasy worlds?

Cause we're usually still writing in our own language and those words need no explanation. Smeep El nark ved mezek leevt < see that would need to be explained if that's supposed to be curse words. Also adding a lot of made up words can also sound silly if the rest of the game is in plain language. Like the Ar Tonelico Qouga Knell of Ar Ciel (extreme example, but come on that title is super silly.)

Yes, but that doesn't even match reality still. The USA and Great Britain have different swear words, but are considered to use the same language. And most of us here didn't need any explanation to understand that Ron was swearing in Harry Potter when she chose to use a Brittish swear word.

Context can work just as well, as long as you have enough of the usual language so people can catch on. I remember a Sci-Fi series I read ages ago that turned clot into a swear word. Sure, for about 50 pages I didn't get it, but I caught on really fast by the context in which it was used.

There are different swear words, but there are also common ones. As for Harry Potter, I wouldn't know cause I didn't like it. As for context, while people will understand it adds an unnecessary barrier to that understanding for little gain. It also seems a bit like how cartoons tend to force their own expletives which comes off kinda cringy to me.

why? because the whole idea is to convey something to the user and if they user doesn't recognize the significance of the insult the meaning is lost. even if you explained how insulting something was its not the same as personal experience and understanding.

this is the same line of thought you can use to understand why we follow tropes.. and why its naive to believe you should or could be entirely original. people expect certain things and understand certain things through the clues provided that align with the tropes. we follow patterns. even in fantasy worlds a lot of things are the same as our own world because thats how we think..

Man do you assume your players have 0 reading comprehension skill or something? If you did the following

Player : sty gtyb hjkur hftuamsn

Crowd: gasp. How dare he talk like that!

Merchant: no one insults my mother like that!

I think you'll find 99 to 100 of players get that what you had them say is a swear word. And its much more effective yet another overused f bomb too. Now sure you can't use them by themselves easily but I myself think that's just lazy writing when it's overdone like many want to do these days.

Plus there is another perk to made up words. You have to think about how to use them well. So it will stop you from overusing them at least if you know how to write well it will.

Ok cool you do that. Maybe by the end of your game goobidy gak will be as offensive as a middle finger.

@Countyoungblood if it's cleverly written it might even be more offensive. You seem to underestimate both writer and audience here a bit

There was an old SCI-Fi show from BBC called 'Red Dwarf' and in it they would exchange all the swear words t the word 'smeg'. One of the biggest uses was 'Smeghead' (refering to the character Rimmer). Is that what you were thinking of?

yeah, no. i don't underestimate either nor do I think the reader has zero comprehension. its a difference of opinion and I don't see any point in going into more detail with someone who'd attribute such to my logic. so gook yourself. really gook it right in there put a big shling in your wubbet and mind your own business.

@Countyoungblood posting on a public forum then tell someone to mind their own business? Yeah sure, good luck with that logic. But seeing as a civil conversation is out of the question here I will stop spending time & energy in this.

you and me both you big muddle gooker

I understand that people will understand it, but personally it doesnt feel "diagetic" i wouldnt feel anything from it even if the characters do. It takes me out of the story because no matter how much i understand that its meant to be rude or offensive ive got no feelings or expirences toward those words.

Well said, I honestly envy the articulate. Understanding without being able to explain is frustratingly lonely.

@trouble time fair enough. Let's call this a difference of opinion then and I'll drop that part of it here so we don't derail it more.

Back to the question at hand...

Whatever you do it has to be used well. I remember one movie that so overused the f word that i started to wonder if the writer knew any other words. As it is I stopped watching at the 30 minute point and gave it a 0 of 5 star review for immature characters. So whatever you do use it well it else your game will probably get panned.

I feel that the choice between made-up curse words and real ones depends quite a bit on the tone of the game and the desired effect of the act of swearing. If the aim is to emphasis the impact of profanity, using something that's used in real world might be better because players can have connotations to the word and it can thus evoke more feelings (as @trouble time suggested). If the scenario is more akin to the one @bgillisp mentioned (i.e. character says something forbidden and others react to that), made-up words (or foreign language, as it seems to be quite popular choice too) work just fine because the consequences are more important than what was actually said.

Whatever the case, moderation is the key. I'm not sure if it's just my translator's brain, but I feel like words gain more emphasis when they are written down, hence why I would hesitate to use the F-word or other strong profanity in a text-based game. Made-up words on the other hand can come off as silly if they are used excessively and/or without care.

Just a thought, but what if the intention was for the characters to be immature? a well written immature punk slinging f-bombs would likely be offensive to you but that doesn't make the movie or the writing bad.