I got kicked for saying "thats retarded" in regards to low wages for servers in southern states on the basis that it falls under controversial words or terms. I see no section in the rules that I violated however, as it is not a curse word,
I was not speaking about a controversial topic, and it isn't hate speech.

I don't really care about the kick, I just want to know where the boundary is. If I knew that I could possibly be banned for talking about my mentally retarded cousin then I would have not used the term in the first place.

If I am wrong and I did violate a rule I'd love to know because the staff I was speaking to had only that to say to me and I honestly did not know how I violated a rule other than because the staff member did not like the term that I used.

Response to when I asked what rule I broke:

@WBlaine The rules that encompass the subject with which you are concerned are the following:

Be respectful to other players - Don’t use extremely derogatory terms or epithets...

Practice good chat etiquette - Don’t use caps, don’t spam, don’t discuss controversial, sensitive or offensive topics (e.g. sex, sexual identity or preferences, race, politics, religion, drugs, etc.)...

The word that you are speaking of is often used in a derogatory manner that is offensive some and insensitive to people who are affected by such conditions. If we were to form a list of all subjects and words that are not acceptable, it would be bound to be incomplete as some subjects would unintentionally be neglected, allowing people to use the absense of some offensive terms from the list as a defense for discussing them. Thus, we leave it intentionally vague to accommodate for all cases. If you are told by a staff member to drop a subject, it is for a reason. If you need further clarification, the best approach is to simply move on and send a personal message to the staff member involved so as to get your answer without continuing to disturb main chat. Avoiding a word that others find offensive will not harm your gameplay, while making the server more welcoming for all.

I hope this helps

I totally understand, I was a staff member many times before. I can't stand servers that attempt to name every conceivable situation and do not allow for interpretation.

My only issue was that I was not using it in a way to harm a person or attack a topic that fell into those categories named by the online staff and failed to properly explain what I had exactly broken. The area that they referred to does not exist in the terms they used to describe it.

And like I said, I wouldn't have said it had I known I could be kicked for using it in a seemingly passive way. Based on what you said, if I use retarded in any sentence regardless of context I could be punished, which I understand but I do believe that clarification by staff members or the rules could be improved.

Thanks for the response. I don't do this to break balls, I just was honestly curious as to the real reason why. I just wanted a real explanation other than a "drop the subject because you asked a question."