"Fixing" taunts in Sm4sh For Glory

[Kikaioh]

You're offended by them because the dictionary says to be?

They're called taunts. If they're not meant to be offensive, then they should be called something else. English words don't suddenly take on new meanings just because Smash Bros. players will it to be (though, that would be kind of cool).

 

[Roukiske]

You say this, and it should really be this simple, but the sad thing is that adding in actual messages that you can actually say wouldn't help the communication situation at all.

"Nice hit" "Oops" "sorry" "Good game" imagine someone saying any of these after a kill and they almost immediately take on a sarcastic connotation. It's all about the way you choose to perceive what the gesture means. Whether it's a taunt or a premade message, people will take offense to it if they just happen to be in the right mood.

424

Actually now that I think about it, they have this system in Mario Kart 8. It's done before and after races. I think it could work if it was during CSS instead of in-game then.

 

[Code Bread]

I think you're missing the point of what he is saying. The word taunt, by definition, is supposed to be insulting. So people saying it's not supposed to be offensive, they are wrong by definition. Whether they meant it to be offensive or not is a completely different argument.

They're called taunts. If they're not meant to be offensive, then they should be called something else. English words don't suddenly take on new meanings just because Smash Bros. players will it to be (though, that would be kind of cool).

They are called appeals by the Japanese version, right? What's your perspective on that?

 

[Kikaioh]

They are called appeals by the Japanese version, right? What's your perspective on that?

Well I said in an earlier post I think it would be good if they had just used "appeals" for the English translation, or something else neutral like "poses" or "gestures", that would have been fine. I'm not sure why they chose something as provocative as "taunts", since it carries such negative connotations.

Even then though, I personally don't mind the existence of a dedicated taunt button in the game, so long as it's balanced out with something positive, like the OP is suggesting.

 

[Flaxr XIII]

They're called taunts. If they're not meant to be offensive, then they should be called something else. English words don't suddenly take on new meanings just because Smash Bros. players will it to be (though, that would be kind of cool).

Why not? We made "main" a verb (though it may not be a Smash term entirely).

 

[Kikaioh]

Why not? We made "main" a verb (though it may not be a Smash term entirely).

The thing is, all the other vocabulary that's been adopted into the smash vernacular is at least based around the meaning of the original words. Like using "main" to refer to the main character you play as, or "Dash Dancing" because you're dashing in a way that resembles dancing, etc. What you're suggesting, though, is that the word "taunt" not base itself around the fundamental meaning of "taunt" --- in which case I'd think there are probably better words to describe it.

 

[Code Bread]

Well I said in an earlier post I think it would be good if they had just used "appeals" for the English translation, or something else neutral like "poses" or "gestures", that would have been fine. I'm not sure why they chose something as provocative as "taunts", since it carries such negative connotations.

Even then though, I personally don't mind the existence of a dedicated taunt button in the game, so long as it's balanced out with something positive, like the OP is suggesting.

o

Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention to most of the posts.
I still don't really see the point of being offended just because they're called taunts. Most taunts aren't provocative at all to me. Perspective, I guess.

 

[SevenYearItch]

Well I said in an earlier post I think it would be good if they had just used "appeals" for the English translation, or something else neutral like "poses" or "gestures", that would have been fine. I'm not sure why they chose something as provocative as "taunts", since it carries such negative connotations.

Even then though, I personally don't mind the existence of a dedicated taunt button in the game, so long as it's balanced out with something positive, like the OP is suggesting.

Because taunt has been the video gaming term for ages. Any game that has a button that allows an animation that doesn't do damage during gameplay is typically called a taunt and always has been, just how its been. To change it now because some people decided to take video game taunts to heart would be absolutely ridiculous. My view on it is....don't take it so serious

 

[tmonty17]

Because taunt has been the video gaming term for ages. Any game that has a button that allows an animation that doesn't do damage during gameplay is typically called a taunt and always has been, just how its been. To change it now because some people decided to take video game taunts to heart would be absolutely ridiculous. My view on it is....don't take it so serious

Nobody is saying to change anything? We're just saying it would be cool to add a different kind of taunt.

 

[SevenYearItch]

Nobody is saying to change anything? We're just saying it would be cool to add a different kind of taunt.

The post I quoted was saying to call them appeals like the japanese translation, I was addressing that. It was literally right above the words I had typed lol

 

[tmonty17]

The post I quoted was saying to call them appeals like the japanese translation, I was addressing that. It was literally right above the words I had typed lol

Haha yeah... I completely didn't even read that... I just assumed you were talking about the original post. Whoops >.<

 

[Kikaioh]

Because taunt has been the video gaming term for ages. Any game that has a button that allows an animation that doesn't do damage during gameplay is typically called a taunt and always has been, just how its been. To change it now because some people decided to take video game taunts to heart would be absolutely ridiculous. My view on it is....don't take it so serious

You seem uncomfortable with expressing the idea that 'taunts' are meant to egg on an opponent, which has often been the chief motivation for the mechanic's existence in the history of gaming. Considering your restraint to even mention that the word has negative connotations, I would think you'd be on board with suggestions for expanding the mechanic to something more positive.

The point is that it's not sportsmanlike to 'taunt' an opponent, either in real life or digitally. The word 'taunt', whether you like it or not, has always had inflammatory connotations, and clearly it resonates negatively with a broad swathe of the community if it still continues to dredge up arguments and debates amongst individuals. More importantly, for people with that sort of perspective on the terminology, a 'taunting' mechanic isn't very fitting for expressing things like congratulations or admiration. I've already seen on this forum a number of people mentioning how they like to think their taunts can express things like 'good luck' at the beginning of a match or 'well done' after having lost a stock, but with the mechanic being labeled a 'taunt' the meaning can easily be lost or mis-communicated. If the name was different, or if there were at least other ways for communicating different meanings made available in the game, those sorts of misunderstandings could be alleviated.

Wanting to return to the original Japanese meaning for the word is anything but ridiculous. Oftentimes people prefer translations to remain faithful to their original meaning. The fact that the game originally used neutral terminology to refer to the poses better captures the idea that they weren't necessarily meant to be taken negatively, in which case it stands to reason to use that sort of label since it's a better fit. If Nintendo had simply translated them as 'appeals' in the first place, I doubt we'd have a 'taunt'-supporting demographic up in arms that the company didn't follow an ill-fitting, negative tradition.

In any case, this thread is chiefly about expanding 'taunting' to other more positive forms of competitive expression. "Tradition" has never been a good reason for holding back improvements. You should offer a better reason than that for continuing to pigeonhole 'appeals' into negative terminology like 'taunting'.