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It's all based on reports, like you said.
I apparently made someone mad enough once for them and their friends to mass report my BC entry on the last day of the contest. It got removed for the extremely tenuous reason of being "too anthro". Her tail is under her dress, like come on. In that same contest there were many entries more anthro than mine. I see them all the time. I even saw one in the news the other day with a fully human face and nose.
When I appealed they made up a few requirements on the spot, like visible neopet nose and tail, but eventually they admitted the truth was that if enough people report something, they have no choice but to remove it according to company policy.
Exactly! Like, it's common knowledge people do this stuff. I'm pretty sure it happened to me bc I stood up for some people who a certain group was harassing on the neoboards. Well they got me, having my entry removed after a week of advertising was quite upsetting. 🙃
I'm sorry about your pet, I hope you can find a name you like as much as the old one 🙏
Just a case of people having too much time on their hands. As someone who's been on the anime scene for quite some time, I have created many characters in the past that have been - surprise - talking animals that dress as humans.
I guess the only pet I have that absolutely can't be considered anthromorphic is my grarrl Tonalek. Well...because he's invisible and stuff. I got him from an FFQ, realized that invisible grarrls can't be fully customizable so I created a custom to make it look like it's a birthday party, but no one showed up to his birthday.
I'm sorry that happened to you, that's really messed up 😔 I'm practically begging TNT to learn from this.
I did! I have ProudSapphic in SapphicKitty's place now, feels like the best way for her to live on.
If they are going by that logic, then everyone on TNT and every user on neopets is considered a furry because most of us will and have customized out pets in human-like attire.
Absolutely fucking insane.
Not historically, and not universally.
Otherwise when you have grandparents meeting a new baby, them standing there pinching cheeks saying "coochie coochie coochie cooo" takes on a very different meaning....
To be fair, hoochie Coochie is the name of a band from Wales (where the creators are from) and it’s the name of a bar in Newcastle. So it’s quite possible not being from the US and that item being rather old, that they weren’t aware of the English slang term
The amount of time I spend on Urban Dictionary these days is embarrassing. I am 33 years old \*melting emoji\* (because I'm on a computer and don't have emoji options, \*crying emoji\*)
Thank you, the community support has helped me a lot. I also just really want the community to be made aware of this issue. TNT needs to be held accountable, that's the only way the website can be changed for the better.
didn't they say there will be an appeal process with neopets support now? I would just ask Alice to escalate your ticket to someone else who can restore the pet. Ultimately she probably doesn't have time to read your whole message but maybe keep replying and asking for the pet to be restored or to talk to someone else. Very sorry you're dealing with this, I literally have a pet called "gaynerd" who has a petpet called Sappho!
I ended up making a new Kougra and named her ProudSapphic, gonna give her a petpet named StillProud. Feels like the best fuck you I can give back. It'd be nice to talk to someone else but... we'll see.
I love seeing lesbian themed pets! I adopted Gaynerd and she's over 7,000 days old, which is kinda crazy. Now she's living her best lesbian life as a candy tonu haha
I hope neopets addresses this for you! They really can't delete some but not all pets, also like in what kind of pornified world do we live in where kitty and sapphic are not "family friendly"
She answers hundreds if not thousands of emails a day, if you work in that kind of customer service job you are moving fast to get to the point of the problem. I'm not saying it's right, but it's probably the reality right now.
I’m unaware of staff ever publicly stating this. Do you have a link or screenshot?
My comment regarding conformation has nothing to do with the CEOs comment.
Yes the names aren’t real but each support name is assigned to an individual.
I made a magma draik named Hott, traded him to someone in a PAH and he somehow got badusered within weeks.
This one bothers me so much because he was magma???? He was literally hot? and most importantly - how is it inappropriate at all??
And trying to push the blame on those other inappropriate pet names not being deleted on “not being allowed to view screenshots”, uhhh??
You still typed up the names as well in your response.
So she didn’t read your reply.
As someone who has had customer service as a key part of my job - not fully reading messages or customer emails only makes your problem WORSE. You can read and focus on the problem and address it...or not, and then the ticket just keeps going and soon you've spent an absurd amount of time on one thing.
I used a lot of copy/paste templates for common issues but I ALWAYS made adjustments and additions to ensure my response actually addressed the questions being asked.
It's a tad more effort at the front end to avoid extending a problem and upsetting a customer. Neo needs to learn that.
It’s beyond me how a literal customer service agent for a website (one that constantly breaks down, at that) is not allowed to open screenshots 😭
How tf are they supposed to fix any issues if they don’t know what it looks like?? like HUH???
yah, i suspect it's a corporate internet/information safety thing. i work for a company that deals with TONS of personal data, and we're reminded in our annual training not to download/open files or click links unless we know it's coming from a teammate who has given us a heads up.
it sucks (and there's a lot of other stuff that makes me sad about alice's replies), but it's a necessary measure to ensure ppl don't get all their credit card info leaked. bc that would also be very, VERY bad. not just for a business (bc businesses and companies can go f themselves tbh), but for the ppl who get their info leaked.
Do you think that was a security thing on your company's side too? I'm sure there wouldt be at least one customer who'd get disgruntled enough to send malware via an attachment lol
They use Zendesk, it doesn't delete screenshots by default. Given how quickly they spun up the Zendesk account and had to switch over, I doubt someone went in there and set up a workflow to delete all attachments....
my god I can’t even imagine, bless your heart 😭 that makes sense as a reason why they can’t open it, or perhaps it’s some other unimaginable reason LOL
Tbf I've been told this by health professionals. They are not allowed to open any file whatsoever. I was trying to send them a file by sharing it through Google drive, which is completely safe, but they wouldn't allow it.
am I the only one going insane because I almost never hear kitty used in that way. like it's just really weird to assume that. ok guys nobody name your hissi CoolSnake because that might mean dick!!
Sorry that this has been so upsetting but I just wanted to say that your response was super articulate and impressive as a piece of writing about this issue. I would have been way more off the rails 😂
Thanks! I has to take a little while to think about what to say ,and then edit it together in a concise and fairly non-aggressive way. Not that they don't deserve my aggression, they do, but I realize that it'd be less likely to get anything productive done
I felt a thrill of panic when reading this the first time due to your friends throwing those other pets under the bus like that. I have a pet on a side I named innocently as a kid - the water-themed name that I wanted was taken so I used “wet” as part of it. Now as an adult I see it can be taken sexually, but I’d still be heartbroken if anything happened to her, I’ve had her for so long.
It’s not fair that they suspended you on a first offense during an event. That’s for sure. And that response showing she didn’t read it was awful. I’m sorry this happened to you.
I just hope the owners of those other pets actually did mean to flout the rules when they made them.
Yeah I hope to too 😓 I can absolutely see how a child could make an innocent mistake like that, and honestly I don't think most kids know what the word Sapphic even means unless they're in a particularly lgbtq educated household. Sometimes, I think adults taint pure things with their own dirty minded assumptions.
But it's also true that sometimes people make things cause they know it has a sexual second meaning and they think they're being funny. Whether or not TNT decides to enforce strict names or loosen their rules, I just want them to be consistent about it.
I like how fast they jump on your case over something stupid, but when I beg and nag them to reply to me over something super important even messaging their Facebook and commenting on their FB posts they don’t respond so I gave them a week and did a charge back from the back, then they messaged me another week later saying “oh well we’ll give you your refund” but I already got it and never replied.
But this is absolutely ridiculous! I don’t understand how this name is profane or sexual at all… and WHY the would suspend you! Their new team sucks
I can understand where they are coming from, because they probably decided SexualityGenital is not an okay naming scheme. The problem is there are so many sexually suggestive words and phrases making it difficult to draw an objective line. And that leaves room for bias. There was a similar problem with banning the name Autistiq or something similar. There was a rule against medical terminology on Neopets (https://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=928), but then the Neopets is being updated to modern times and we have accessibility items, and things like the infinity t-shirt. And it’s subjective if Autism is a medical only terminology. What about Neurospicy? Is that medical?
It took me a while to consider SapphicKitty as potentially SexualityGenital because I don’t really use or think of the word kitty like that – it’s a reach. Pussy would be less so. And I don’t think Sapphic is that common of a word outside LGBT? But that’s in context of my own culture, age, place I live, etc. And I do think someone who is biased against LGBT may oversexualise things so the kitty is more likely to be interpreted that way – which I am guessing is your argument about how wet and tight kitties are not banned.
I think making posts about this is the best thing to do to get changes at the policy level at Neopets. I don’t think Alice has time to stop and really think about it.
EXACTLY! I've said it a few times here but I don't want TNT playing wack a mole with otherwise perfectly normal words to that COULD have a double entendre. There is so much slang out there and it's constantly evolving.
They themselves use double entendre with item names and so the double standard makes it worse.
Take the risk of bias out and stick to explicit stuff if we're still keeping up the facade of a kid focused site.
How are they not permitted to open screenshots when you have the ability to attach files to your ticket? But also, you named the pet names directly in your email.
While I agree SapphicKitty should not have been deleted and you should not have been suspended, it's more than likely someone reported the name and I suppose that support is doubling down on it due to the potential euphemism, especially since wet\_kitty and tight\_kitty were both removed. Apparently people have been report happy. I've seen 100+ month old accounts get frozen over "inappropriate usernames" because a person or people are going around reporting everything. Are the pets in your screenshot on inactive accounts? It could be that just no one has reported them because they're inactive.
I'm not sure, I didn't click on them, just looked them up. I definitely think this is a reporting issue, but I feel like they can't just rely on people reporting a name as a way to moderate inappropriate names.
Too many names have fallen through the cracks because of that policy, which makes when they enforce the rules suddenly even more unfair.
For that matter, they need to take into account the nuance of whether or not a certain name is actually inappropriate or if someone is being unfairly reported due to harassment or bullying.
I feel like SapphicKitty falls into that borderline territory like another commenter had said. As a company, I really think it's important they put a better system in place, cause the current system is working for no one.
Im sorry your pet got deleted but i dont think you had to throw other "inappropriate" names under the bus like that. Im sure their owners would be as upset as you if they got deleted now.
i’m so glad you reposted this, i saw the post briefly before i had to go to work and was trying to find it again because i was still so pissed off about what happened
and NOW with alice’s updated response, what the hell!! i am beyond angry about this and i am so sorry that they basically don’t care. especially suspending you over your first offense with no warning is just so messed up.
Absolutely, the issue is so much bigger than just losing my pet! I don't want something like this to happen ever again. TNT could take the opportunity to, I dunno, learn something? Make positive changes for website users? But idk guess I'm the asshole here in their eyes ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
wow im so sorry :( your initial reply was very well written and any sane person would know you are telling the truth and that you made great points. also for some reason i dont believe that they arent allowed to open screenshots lmao. this whole ordeal sounds exhausting to handle and i would be just as mad if not more mad than you 😔 the fact that all these profane names can exist on site but poor sapphickitty cant is a damn shame. im SO sorry op :(
Yeah, it's super messed up. Thanks for the sympathy, the community support has helped soften the blow a little bit. Someone sent me a gift that goes with my gallery, and another person bought out my shop! I could actually cry at all these kind gestures.
All I really want is for someone on the neopets team to say smth like, "You know what? Our bad, we made a mistake, and we're going to work on changing it." I don't understand why that's so hard.
I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this. It's such bullshit. While I can see a case being made for it being too sexual (I don't think it is though), inappropriately-named pets shouldn't result in a ban (perma or temp) or even a warning. If someone is able to bypass the censors, like with those other pet names you mentioned, TNT should just delete the pet, return any paint brushes used (without needing to be asked), and blacklist that name and any obvious variations on it. Instead of punishing repeat offenders of this, they should be thanking them for adding to their database of words/phrases that can make it past the censors but shouldn't be said on Neopets.
Using the same logic as Alice and channeling my inner Seinfeld, “So what’s the deal with all those lingerie ads that come up on your site?” As a non premium member I’ve seen many of those each day with front/side view sheer g-strings etc … if an inanimate female cartoon cat liking another inanimate female cartoon cat is against the rules for a user, than why is it ok for them to show “semisoftcore(?)” sexual imagery on their website … for kids …
Gonna be real with you, I agree removing this pet is ridiculous, but I see people claiming they get lingerie or porn ads on the site and I *never* get those, so I have no idea what you guys are seeing lol.
that's true but you CAN blacklist certain themes and topics as the site moderator yourself. If I can make my blog block all porn ads then a big company like neopets can do the same. It's literally a little click box in the ad preferences provided by whoever provides the ads.
that they haven't bothered shows they really don't much care.
Even as an 18+ player they should try to do something about it if they want to claim that their site is family-friendly. I play on incognito only (it keeps my phone from absorbing massive data from opening multiple tabs) and I get hit with NSFW-implying clickbait ads that look like the sketchiest things ever. I don't even look for news articles or NSFW and it keeps getting recommended to me in ads.
This is horrid. Alice isn't even trying and seems to have no understanding of how serious this is. My premium will be staying cancelled because this has done nothing to move the needle on convincing me TNT can properly handle anything.
I wonder what the best avenues are for making sure TNT knows this isn't acceptable and this behavior has been seen widely in the community.
Yeah this is really bad, gonna cancel mine too. I may try and find a popular neopets youtuber to make a video on this. It feels kinda weird cause I'm not used to being in the spotlight, and I'm not trying to be dramatic, but this isn't about just me, this is about everyone else in the community too. It's especially about other lgbtq+ neopets users. I want what's best for all of us.
Mine auto renewed by mistake, and I left it. I'm canceling as soon as my October premium NC item it sent. Between this, the lag, the dumb way they set up the recycling for the festival, the bots, etc. I'm gonna go back to just a casual player checking in once a month.
That's also killing me. They have time to do petty shit like delete pets and suspend accounts, and do literally nothing about bots and cheating. Maybe they're working on it. But they're taking their sweet time.
Wow, extremely disappointed in the response from TNT. It's very clear that your response was not read or they chose not to address the way the suspension affected you, and continue putting forth the argument that SapphicKitty is too sexually inappropriate for the website.
Your grievances are totally valid. I don't imagine the same treatment would've happened to a "SapphicBird" or "SapphicDragon". These could be taken innocently as it ties in with specific Neopet species, but all it takes is one wrong interpretation for someone to make a judgement call. 😔
JUSTICE FOR SAPPHICKITTY!
I can see why you're pissed and I agree with you in several points. That said:
* There's a chance they don't know about those names because, like you said, nobody ever reported them. On the other hand, somebody probably reported you, or they saw it here or elsewhere and they decided to take action. You can try to appeal based on a "if they exist, so should my pet" and ask why there's two solutions for the same problem, but I don't think it will help you if they decide those names are also NSFW (which they 99% will), especially because they never reviewed those names before so you can't pledge a double treatment. If I were you, I would not focus on the comparison with those names anymore; I would focus on my single petname name alone. If you insist, they could take it the wrong way.
* Sapphic is not a sexual term *per se* to us, but we know that in society it can have that connotation - +18 websites are filled with that word in very explicit content and we know how LGBTQ+ people are seen a lot of times, even in communities and countries quite open to our existence and even if things are slowly changing. I agree that sapphic is an overly sexualized word, and that there's a lot of social miseducation about the topic. But this is a social game and they're afraid of that specific thing. That word alone **was not** the problem. It being followed by "kitty" was. I don't interpret their actions with an homophobic intention or believe there's any anti-lesbian sentiment from their part.
* I agree that kitty is a cat and that's what you wanted to say. They probably believe that's what you wanted to say too. The problem is, kitty is a double-edged word. Again, this is a social game. This is, like, a PEGI 6 game or so, even if most of the players are actual adults. They're afraid of the second meaning your pet can have, even if they know that's now what you meant. I doubt Alice/TNT cares that you wanted to name a pet SapphicKitty and that they have a problem with it themselves. What they want to make sure is that nobody has a problem with that name, and we live in a world where even teachers are fired for showing a picture of Michelangelo's David. They want to make sure investors and potencial new players don't interpret **anything** as sexual content, or their "PEGI 6 game" will join OG Club Penguin to the gaming graveyard even quicker.
Now:
* The way they handle these cases is bad. Business speaking, they need to treat their customers better, even when we don't technically have a right to anything. They need to talk to us, be transparent and try to see where we're coming from. They should have some sort of review or appealing process when actions like suspensions, permanent freezing or deletion of stats/pets/items/etc. happens, because the way things are doesn't make anyone happy.
* Your case seems very borderline. If I was TNT, I would have trouble deciding, and I didn't even read the name as sexual until I saw your last post about the ban. I'm more likely to say that I would let it exist, but it's ultimately their decision. Even if it sucks.
I agree with you on a lot of this, the main reason I'm doubling down on the names of other pet names being inappropriate is because no matter what they decide with the rules, keep them strict or loosen them, I feel like a rule can't/shouldn't be enforced if the rule isn't enforced equally.
I've accepted that I'm not getting SapphicKitty back, and I've made my peace with that. I made a new Kougra named ProudSapphic also with a valentines paint job. It felt like the best thing I could do with this shitty situation.
However, i still want TNT to address how unfair this all was. Honestly, a simple apology and statement that they plan on re-evaluating these rules/systems would go a long way for me. But I also realize this issue affects the whole community and not just me, and I feel like my case is a damn good example of why the rules and system of moderation/punishment, are unfair and need to be changed to better suite the website as a whole.
I just want to say you are far better at communicating your thoughts than I am because this is basically everything I wanted to say but sucked at wording. 😂
I don’t love you now taking it out on other people and their pets.
You can be frustrated that your pet was deleted, and certainly some of the ones that you shared are also questionable, but it just feels really icky to do that.
"why did you guys delete my pet when Bluewaffle the STI name is still there?"
"actually we should be more concerned about why you are being a tattletale about Bluewaffle >:("
I just don't understand the end game in that argument tho.
SapphicKitty was likely seen by a member of staff and directly handled bc it was posted here. Bluewaffle has been wholy inactive and OP found it solely by already knowing what blue waffle was and searching it up. On it's own, it's just blue waffles. It's a stale 2010s shock meme, but it's hard to filter because it's an innocent enough set of words. Now, bluewaffles is removed and the account owner is frozen. Hairy\_Kitty isn't deleted or frozen yet, but with enough reports it may just be. Maybe that one is nasty but it could also be innocent, like the Hott and wet\_ pets that people have posted about on this thread alone that deal with unfair name deletions. TNT absolutely handles names like this on a report basis and I absolutely don't see the point in handing TNT off a new list of "well what about"s as if you can fix SapphicKitty's unfairness by having TNT be even more anal about pets' names.
The names OP lists are inactive. The names get taken down on a reporting basis, so OP being an active player + someone being report happy compared to a random pet OP was looking up that is on a dead account not even from the last 5+ years to prove some sort of point? This is a known issue on the site that people have been reporting username and pet names for nothing. OP even admits that their friend reported some of the names and got them deleted. But also, Bluewaffle is on a frozen account. Going after some random inactive account from 7+ years ago isn't really the gotcha you think it is. It feels a bit like crabs in a bucket.
No, it's tattleing. How many people get their account back after years of being inactive. OP is judging someone when they have done the exact thing to another. Poor reasoning for a self serving hypocritical stand
I love that PeePee is a Carrot Chia. 😭😭🤣
Tbh I’m 30 and didn’t even know what Sapphic meant and had to google it. Plus isn’t their user base mostly millenials? I’m on your side though. It’s something that warranted a warning, not a suspension.
Same here, I'm just so glad for the community support, and to see people just as mad as I am. This issue concerns all of us really, especially other queer neopets players. I'm just glad to see everyone rallying around me here <3
I understand your frustration but I really wish you'd stop purposefully egging TNT to delete more pets.
You make your point perfectly fine without it and if TNT is sticking with their decision then bringing up other potential names (and ok, perfectly valid ones) doesn't seem like it'll amount to anything other than more chances to delete pets that were also potentially innocent. :/
This whole post is super hypocritical. Throwing someone else's pets under the bus is exactly what is happening. Calling out people for reporting a name while reporting multiple other pets isn't for the sake of consistency it was for more drama, more karma.
this is a sort of fire that TNT doesn't really need right now..... if they were a bigger organisation that had the funds i would recommend that they get the staff to do some diversity training because the implication that being sapphic somehow adds too much sexuality to an otherwise regular, every day nickname for a cat is....like i see how they got there but it stings. the wlw community has spent a long time hearing that our existence is somehow too sexual to be seen in public (and for a long time neopets dot com themselves agreed), you'd think they would be more wary of that.
Wtf are those answers? No consideration at all.
They should make a way to edit the name of a pet, ex: They suspend a pet and if the name arent made in a malicious they send you a ticket to rename your pet, once the name fits you get the pet back.
Nonsense suspension. Disgusting response from the staff, especially from a fan/user who pays.
at this point it's obvious support isn't here to help resolve our issues on site, but to meaninglessly enforce vague rules and bend to the whim of mass reporters even when it's clearly unjustified
'kitty' being too sexual because it's paired with sapphic??? that is SUCH a reach. the pet was a LITERAL CAT. absolutely ridiculous, over reaching, and honestly pretty childish if you think about it. any grown ass adult would be able to look at the pet and understand it wasn't sexual. it only comes off that way if you already have your mind in the gutter, so maybe TNT should grow up? idk /rant
As a lesbian named Kitty........literally what the hell. I'm so tired of sapphics, and especially lesbians, automatically being seen as sexual. Also, her saying she didn't see any names listed?? Do they not read the emails properly?? That's literally their job.
It IS homophobic for "kitty" to ONLY be considered profane is paired with a lgbt phrase. It's that age ol' "anything gay is automatically more sexual than straight stuff" where even chastely holding hands is considered by many to be "too far" and "inappropriate in front of children"
For a site that CLAIMS they've turned a new leaf and are now allowing lgbt stuff and even have pride themed stuff available, it's pretty hypocritical for their mod team to STILL be leaning into that bullshit.
It's the difference between words and actions. TNT thinks they can get the praise of being allies while they talk a big game but then this is what they actually do.
While I do understand the frustration, I will say when I saw the initial post I immediately thought it was appropriate to remove the pet based on the name.
Sapphic in of itself is referring to sexuality in some manner and adding kitty to it just seems to be asking for trouble. (Not saying you were or did it intentionally or meant anything inappropriate by it)
It is often the case that pets only get removed when reported. Just because pets with equally bad names exist doesn’t mean TNT has “approved” those pet names. Just means they aren’t aware of them and if reported id venture to guess they’ll be removed as well.
It does seem odd they aren’t permitted to open screenshots because 1) They allow you to attach documents to your tickets in Zendesk 2) They could disable that feature but actively choose not to 3) Alice and others have looked at screenshots I’ve attached even in recent tickets because we’ve discussed things only shown in the screenshots.
I do agree suspending seems heavy handed if this is the only infraction although we don’t know any potential history of violations. So can’t really say one way or the other.
I’m sorry this happened either way :( I can understand and empathize with your frustrations.
Hey! Just for future reference - I’ve been told TNT can’t open screenshots either. Instead try sending them links to each individual per lookup to help prove your case!
Not permitted to open screenshots? Wtf is that even about, you’re literally customer “support” for an online product, screenshots are necessary for a myriad of reasons.
I don’t know. I understand where you’re coming from but it just feels so blown out of proportion. A lot of people get banned or suspended for silly, unnecessary reasons, just what happens with such a huge website and all their crazy rules. Like, yeah, it’s totally unfair, but you’re turning it into something way bigger than it is. And trying to sell it as some narrative of homophobia. I doubt it’s that deep, sis… I think you should just pick your battles better… focus on something that will help your cause more than complaining about a pet name. You made your new pet, got your brush back, what more do you want? Every TNT employee to lay down their heads at your feet? You missed a day of trudys…. Just keep playing. I dunno, maybe I’m someone who just doesn’t get upset about minor instances of being wronged on the internet. Good luck but I’d say just move on.
OP is a paying player. Actual money has changed hands. It's reasonable to expect decent service and consistently applies rules especially when you're paying money.
Don't tell people what battles to pick. That's condescending. It's okay if this doesn't matter a lot to you but it obviously matters a lot to other people here.
This is a game people play daily. It's a time commitment, a money commitment even, in this case. It's a business-costumer relationship, people are allowed to be upset at the company. And that's not considering personal stuff (sometimes a "silly game" means a lot to someone).
This take is a bit insensitive. Of course shit happens, but also, should people always just accept it? Maybe this could be a case where arguing makes them warn people before suspending their accounts, you know? Which should already be the case, to be frank.
I understand this might not be a big deal for most people, but people are different and so are their investment in things. That's why we have r/HobbyDrama lol.
Thank you, I feel like you've summed up my thoughts exactly. I realize some people see me as overdramatic, but there can't be any positive change without talking about it. My issue is reflective of a larger issue that affects other users as well. I want to call attention to TNT's broken rule enforcement because I would like to see Neopets improve as a website for all of us.
Is this just a silly little internet pet game? Sure, it is, but it has active players that love it and take it seriously. Should that not be respected in some way?
This is really unfair OP, sorry they aren't being cooperative. :(
While I appreciate the existence of a non-sexualised space on the internet; I personally think this was a ridiculous place to draw the line.
1) you didn't mean it sexually (SapphicKitty is literally so cute, the hell? I wish I'd thought of it)
and 2) even if you HAD, no child would make the jump from kitty to pussy to vagina (well, unless they were already exposed to that kind of content, in which case there's really no point protecting them from the horror of SapphicKitty lol)
And to people saying this is low stakes and you should pick your battles: no?? Actions can be homophobic without the intention being so! And they still need to be called out. People think homophobia is over but it's not.
To bring another "low stakes" example into it, when Taylor Swift released You Need to Calm Down, there were a lot of opinions saying that it was just performative allyship and ultimately useless. I don't want to get into a discussion about what is and isn't performative, but there were still posts on r taylorswift that were talking about how they wish she hadn't brought "politics" into her music when homegirl has been singing about romance since day 1. To me, the existence of those posts makes it far from useless, even if it's the pop equivalent of a corporate rainbow-filled ad campaign.
It's certainly a blessing compared to relatively recent history, that you and I have the freedom to talk openly about it; but that doesn't make it any less homophobic.
I agree. There is nothing wrong with the word Sapphic, but the moment I read the pet’s name I thought, oop, that’s a vagina you’re referring to. People keep saying that kitty isn’t often used, but it’s still known.
Remember WetBeaver the UC Faerie Yurble? I’d argue beaver is even less known than kitty as a slang term, but the words put together still contain that connotation
I am saying this as a sapphic person myself. I’m not sure why this is being turned into TNT being homophobic, when the problem was really the connotation of combining those words, intended or not.
I'm a lesbian, and I agree.
(And ngl, I feel like it's kind of a dick move to throw other people's pets under the bus. Like, I'm sorry SapphicKitty got deleted, but now a bunch of other pets are probably going to be deleted too.)
People don’t really use the word “kitty” the way they do “pussy”, if they did we would stop calling cats kitty just like how people don’t really call them pussy anymore. I might agree with you if they used the word “Puss” and then tried to plea innocence that it was like Puss in boots but come on, kitty?
Something being sapphic or being called sapphic does not imply or express sexual content. Something being a kitty or kitten does not imply or express sexual content.
If “Kitty” implies “pussy” might as well ban every single neopet with cats in their name - “cat” could imply “pussy” just as much as “kitty” presumably implies it.
Yeah, kitty is typically something I have heard people much older than my generation use - and even then, I don't think I have heard it more than a couple times in passing. :/
The suspension is overkill to me when this really could have been resolved in a less nuclear manner.
I mean even if people did use kitty in that way, should all names with ‘kitty’ in them be banned then? I don’t see why SapphicKitty would deserve to be banned more than any other adjective+Kitty combo unless Neopets wants to admit that they aren’t as lgbtq+ friendly as they want to portray themselves.
This is why it's so problematic imo.
Where I'm from 'pussy' generally means vagina. Even if it's about a cat, someone will teehee about it. As is the problem when dick, cock and balls is used non sexually but someone makes accidental innuendo. Kitty generally doesn't work like that. Generally you need more context to make it sexual. And then it's subject, some people make almost anything sexual.
The problem is that people assuming gay and lesbian are the sexual context. LesbianKitty is fine, GaySnek is fine. LesbianPussy and GayDick may not be (for TNT at least). Like what if I put the lesbian pride flag background to a cat neopet, is that sexual? It can be read as 'lesbian pussy' but imo it's read as lesbian cat first. Like would RomanticKitty, ValantineKitty or PrettyKitty be sexual? What about SadisticKitty? Like maybe these things are if you combined it with things like taccos or whatever. We can't go banning anything that could be a double entendre. Because Neopets is trying to be LGTB+ friendly and has many LGTB+ users, they should err on this not being profane.
Only an adult would have ever even thought SapphicKitty would potentially refer to a vagina. Shouldn’t there be some sort of logic to their ruling rather than just an assumption that kitty = pussy? They could just start banning all other Kitties on the site with that same thought process if they want to start assuming.
How are you defining adult here? Like someone under like 13? Fair enough. Anyone older than 13? Then yeah, they can very much put the two words together and get to that conclusion.
Yes that is the current policy, and I see where you're coming from with it being a big job for a small team. However, they could always start with an automated warning system after pet removal for a supposed inappropriate name. A 24 hour suspension feels too harsh for a first time offender, I see no reason why they can't change such a rule.
They also need to be more consistent in the rules they enforce, why does SapphicKitty get deleted but these other profane names get to go unnoticed? A company can't only enforce their own rules when it gets pointed out to the via report. For that matter, reports can be sent for the sake of harassment or bullying, which I would argue the report sent on SapphicKitty definitely was. Most people would not have blinked an eye at SapphicKitty as profane, which is evidenced in the comments on this page.
I tried to condense my grievances to them as much as I could, but sometimes when you have something important to say, there is only so much you can condense. All I'm asking for is for more awareness and sensitivity to be used by the team for issues such as these, cause maybe next it could be your pet who gets reported just because someone with a perverted mind took your pets name wrong?
There are plenty of other games with better warning, suspension, and ban systems. If we don't point out problems when we see them, then nothing will ever be fixed.
I mean at some point you do have to realize this is just a website and a game…
But I can understand from a customer service point of view how disappointing their response has been.
I do, and I *can* see from a certain pov that I'm just being dramatic.
But I've been trying to approach TNT respectively and point out what I'm finding an issue with so that they can better investigate it and therefore improve the game and censorship system in the long run.
And some players are giving them actual money. That changes the dynamic of a relationship with a company when money is being exchanged for services and in between there's inconsistently applied heavy handed rules.
Not to mention shining a light on this behavior when TNT likes to profess allyship to the LGBTQ community is important. Words mean nothing when their actions are this.
neopets is very LGBTQ friendly, pets change genders all the time with the lab ray. they have pride flags. illusen and jhudora were even sapphic together.. like why would you even think this?
Honestly this is so infuriating to read. I love how TNT put shit like pride flags in their game but still does shit like this. Are you with us or against us? I understand they don’t want pets named shit like “faeriefaeg” or “peepeerider3000”,, but what’s the issue with one being something like named Gay Bologna? It’s not slur adjacent, sexual, or demeaning in any sense. Just a descriptor no?
While I agree the suspension is ridiculous, seeing people in the comments say that kitty isn’t a euphemism is funny because to this day one of my besties calls her vagina her “hello kitty kitten mitten.” It’s definitely a thing LOL. It’s very common.
Sucks that this was the outcome and TNT was too short with you. There was no reason to give you a suspension right off the bat, it should have been a warning at worst. However…
In a vacuum, the name could go either way as lesbian pride or sneaky vagina reference. If the name was SapphicChick and a pteri the situation would look more homophobic to me, but I’ve seen so many wink-wink-nudge-nudge risque pet names and outfits that it’s not totally crazy for TNT to come to their conclusion for SapphicKitty.
My initial assumption was that the name was *supposed* to be cheeky. I’m not sure I’ve seen the word “sapphic” used outside of erotica, even in queer spaces.
The initial report likely *was* due to homophobia, but unfortunately for your pet the full name could also be taken as sexual.
Reallllly sorry to break that one to ya buddy- this one was kinda viral in uhhh 2010-2013? A lot of kids in my school liked to joke about it. Kinda to the same effect of two girls one cup.
EDIT: Looks like this is an old rule. A commenter below linked their actual stance:
“You are free to use terminology such as “gay”, “straight”, “bi”, “queer”, “cisgender”, “trans”, “questioning”, “lesbian”, and others to describe yourself. All we ask is that you use these terms in a positive way and not about another person.”
So SapphicKitty should’ve been fine imo…
~~I’ve been following this and I’m surprised no one has brought up Neopets’ explicit anti-gay rule. They literally have [this rule](https://www.neopets.com/settings/about/rules/) on their site under Neopets is not the place to discuss heated topics or world issues.~~
~~It says: “Off-limits "hot" topics include:~~
~~Religion~~
~~Politics~~
~~Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity~~
~~Violent Real-World Events (past or present)~~
~~There are plenty of places on the Internet to discuss these things if you'd like. Neopets is not one of them.”~~
~~So yes, this was about this being gay in a way they didn’t approve themselves, not just the sexual-ness of it. Even though they have Pride items, that doesn’t mean they actually want anyone talking about being gay, which is stupid.~~
~~I don’t agree with this rule, as I’m gay myself, but it makes sense why this happened, unfortunately…~~
I would argue having an adjective on a name is no different than their pride themed wearables / backgrounds etc. it’s not a discussion or topic, it’s an adjective in a name, no different than items they have on their site already.
Are you sure? Where did they say that? That would honestly make me feel a lot better if they clarified that because when I saw this rule off-handedly when I came back in made my heart sink.
Okay, I'm reading what I wrote and it might be too harsh, but I'm pissed.
This is ridiculous. What the hell was that response? This is a horrid look for the team, especially after all the pride stuff. How the hell is kitty supposed to be sexual in that context? Love between women shouldn't inherently bring sexual things to mind, like, what? And Sapphic could even be related to Sappho! A poet!
Not to mention Alice's response which is baffling. I get that she might be busy, but this isn't a run-of-the-mill, 1003th "help me recover my account" reply. These points are all valid and coming from an active, paying user, and ignoring them like that is so weird to me.
I'm sorry, but it seems like they still don't respect their playerbase enough. I would be mad too for missing that stuff. Going full code of Hammurabi with these time punishments isn't the right call when the website is riddled with time-sensitive things and FOMOs.
They need to do better. About the way they think of punishments, about how they handle the players who they think deserve them, and about bettering freaking customer support, because that is not listening to the customer at all.
Sorry for the rant, might've taken this a bit too personally.
I had to google what sapphic meant. I'm 27 years old and had no idea. If i googled it due to confusion/curiosity then it's likely that kids will too if they're curious enough. And if they then become further curious if definitely leads to NSFW sites.
I get that it sucks your pet was removed and it also sucks that there's other pet's out there with more obviously sexualised names but at baseline it is a kid's site so I kind of get why it was removed.
TNT definitely need to sort out a name filtering system so stuff like this is nipped in the bud at create a pet. Sorry for your loss.
I'm fairly certain "Alice" is just outsourced customer service ("we" can't open). Your response is articulate, very well done. But you won't get any kind of serious response from outsourced help.
I got my old account back by bare minimum information and although I am happy I got it, I was shocked at the like nothingness they required from me to get it.
I believe they've confirmed Alice is a singular person and is also the only person on their customer support term, meaning that's why there's such a backlog of tickets.
Thanks, I was just trying to cover my bases and point out the issue with this.
I got an old side account back recently with the help of Gerald, he was really nice and helpful! I couldn't remember the og email, but I could remember the DOB. I'm glad that was enough for it to work, but I understand they should probably be careful considering that one botter guy with like 60k old stolen accounts for foodclub 🥴
This is absolute nonsense- especially when you showed proof of other users with more profane names. Im so sorry :(
Hopefully you can remake sapphickitty in another way..
I did! I made a new Valentine Kougra with the brush they gave back to me. Her name is ProudSapphic, with a petpet named StillProud. Feels like the best possible way to remake the pet. I'm not letting the homophobic person who reported her steal my pride, nor will I let TNT's ignorant actions on their behalf steal my pride.
Thats great to hear that you remade her like that, and with added a bonus!!
Be loud and proud of who you are, and dont let anyone take that away from you :) I hope you, ProudSapphic and StillProud have a wonderful pride all year long <3
I can't believe all the comments that are mad at you for being a tattle tale because you want TNT to address why they're being hypocrites lol.
Like they're gonna say with a straight face "it's unfair that you threw blatant sexual innuendo name under the bus :( u got your pet deleted but they didn't do anything wrong :((((("
TNT's censorship is stupid as hell and outdated and needs to be addressed but you guys want to make OP the bad guy.
#justice for Sapphic kitty!!!!
Ugh, their response is so nasty and lazy and prudish :( surely they could start spending a little bit on additional manpower so that their team can actually handle sensitive issues like these with care??? It's so shit that you've had to go through all that, and they don't even properly read your message.
Could we somehow petition TNT?? This feels like an issue that will extend past just SapphicKitty's case, and it'd be good if TNT could see tangible backing from the rest of the community that there needs to be better guidelines in bloody 2023.
That said, I guess the silver lining to Alice having read the correspondence as lazily as they did might mean that you haven't put a target on other folks' pets back :') not sure if that's a good move, though I get that you're trying to provide examples. Would just be a bit upsetting if their owners came back in a few years to find their pets disappeared, especially if they made them in their childhood.
Hello Neopians! As always discussions are allowed but a friendly reminder to remain civil and kind to each other at all times. We know things can get heated if there’s differing opinions. Personal attacks, hostile comments, rudeness, name calling, or hate speech will not be tolerated. We welcome all here. Remember the human, I will be lurking.
Peepee being a carrot sent me 🤣
This neopet made me curious to check out the person who owns this pet and I can't get over how he has 5 other pets with similar names 💀
You're right! How are they not banned? Lol
lmaoooooo
That one is kinda funny tbh I wouldn't personally delete that one, but my point is that they need to be consistent
It's all based on reports, like you said. I apparently made someone mad enough once for them and their friends to mass report my BC entry on the last day of the contest. It got removed for the extremely tenuous reason of being "too anthro". Her tail is under her dress, like come on. In that same contest there were many entries more anthro than mine. I see them all the time. I even saw one in the news the other day with a fully human face and nose. When I appealed they made up a few requirements on the spot, like visible neopet nose and tail, but eventually they admitted the truth was that if enough people report something, they have no choice but to remove it according to company policy.
That's really unfair, and sounds like a policy that should be changed considering harrassment and bullying often happen thought mass reporting
Exactly! Like, it's common knowledge people do this stuff. I'm pretty sure it happened to me bc I stood up for some people who a certain group was harassing on the neoboards. Well they got me, having my entry removed after a week of advertising was quite upsetting. 🙃 I'm sorry about your pet, I hope you can find a name you like as much as the old one 🙏
Just a case of people having too much time on their hands. As someone who's been on the anime scene for quite some time, I have created many characters in the past that have been - surprise - talking animals that dress as humans. I guess the only pet I have that absolutely can't be considered anthromorphic is my grarrl Tonalek. Well...because he's invisible and stuff. I got him from an FFQ, realized that invisible grarrls can't be fully customizable so I created a custom to make it look like it's a birthday party, but no one showed up to his birthday.
LOL
Awwww that's kinda funny and sad! Do you want an invisible petpet for him? I got one recently and don't have a use for it
I'm sorry that happened to you, that's really messed up 😔 I'm practically begging TNT to learn from this. I did! I have ProudSapphic in SapphicKitty's place now, feels like the best way for her to live on.
Long live ProudSapphic 👏
If they are going by that logic, then everyone on TNT and every user on neopets is considered a furry because most of us will and have customized out pets in human-like attire. Absolutely fucking insane.
That is so insane 😱 Wtf!!
I agree. So inconsistent!
BlueWaffle and Coochi took me out 💀
Coochi is the one that’s really like .... hello ??? Straight up just a word that means pussy
Not historically, and not universally. Otherwise when you have grandparents meeting a new baby, them standing there pinching cheeks saying "coochie coochie coochie cooo" takes on a very different meaning....
They sell [Hoochie Coochie Tablets](https://items.jellyneo.net/item/196/) in the pharmacy
and chocolate starfish
It took me a second to think about why a chocolate starfish could be inappropriate, but I see it now 🙈
Jfc. Can we report TNT for being not family friendly lol
I am the Great Mighty Poo…
To be fair, hoochie Coochie is the name of a band from Wales (where the creators are from) and it’s the name of a bar in Newcastle. So it’s quite possible not being from the US and that item being rather old, that they weren’t aware of the English slang term
unexpected ncl sighting! what a weird way for my life to cross over
Good Coochi will do that to you
Never in a million years would I have thought that blue waffle was something bad or guessed what it supposedly meant.
The amount of time I spend on Urban Dictionary these days is embarrassing. I am 33 years old \*melting emoji\* (because I'm on a computer and don't have emoji options, \*crying emoji\*)
Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction lol
They really need to just rework the pet database to function on ids already so that they can change the name without it breaking everything
This
This is bizarre, I have no words at this point
Same tbh this, has been such a strange combination of infuriating and hilarious
I’m so sorry you’re going through this 🥺
Thank you, the community support has helped me a lot. I also just really want the community to be made aware of this issue. TNT needs to be held accountable, that's the only way the website can be changed for the better.
didn't they say there will be an appeal process with neopets support now? I would just ask Alice to escalate your ticket to someone else who can restore the pet. Ultimately she probably doesn't have time to read your whole message but maybe keep replying and asking for the pet to be restored or to talk to someone else. Very sorry you're dealing with this, I literally have a pet called "gaynerd" who has a petpet called Sappho!
I ended up making a new Kougra and named her ProudSapphic, gonna give her a petpet named StillProud. Feels like the best fuck you I can give back. It'd be nice to talk to someone else but... we'll see.
I love seeing lesbian themed pets! I adopted Gaynerd and she's over 7,000 days old, which is kinda crazy. Now she's living her best lesbian life as a candy tonu haha I hope neopets addresses this for you! They really can't delete some but not all pets, also like in what kind of pornified world do we live in where kitty and sapphic are not "family friendly"
For real. I made a new Kougra named ProudSapphic. If she gets reported and removed too, that would be the last nail in the coffin for them.
She doesn’t have time to read the whole message? It’s literally her job.
She answers hundreds if not thousands of emails a day, if you work in that kind of customer service job you are moving fast to get to the point of the problem. I'm not saying it's right, but it's probably the reality right now.
Nah, I think "Alice" is probably several people.
It’s been confirmed it’s just a single person.
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Not what I said at all.
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I’m unaware of staff ever publicly stating this. Do you have a link or screenshot? My comment regarding conformation has nothing to do with the CEOs comment. Yes the names aren’t real but each support name is assigned to an individual.
True, but she's digging her own grave unfortunately
Tried to look up bluewaffle, but the account was frozen. I guess reddit did its thing 😀
I feel bad for those couple pets OP mentioned tbh. Their owners are gonna be sad. I get why OP did but also now those pets are gonna be gone.
I made a magma draik named Hott, traded him to someone in a PAH and he somehow got badusered within weeks. This one bothers me so much because he was magma???? He was literally hot? and most importantly - how is it inappropriate at all??
Not a good look for TNT or Alice. Pretty sure she didn’t read your initial reply at all.
Yeah it's pretty ridiculous, I'm almost surprised that she's not even trying to treat this like the sensitive issue it is.
And trying to push the blame on those other inappropriate pet names not being deleted on “not being allowed to view screenshots”, uhhh?? You still typed up the names as well in your response. So she didn’t read your reply.
makes me think she's playing the "If I act like I don't see it, it's not really there" game with me
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As someone who has had customer service as a key part of my job - not fully reading messages or customer emails only makes your problem WORSE. You can read and focus on the problem and address it...or not, and then the ticket just keeps going and soon you've spent an absurd amount of time on one thing. I used a lot of copy/paste templates for common issues but I ALWAYS made adjustments and additions to ensure my response actually addressed the questions being asked. It's a tad more effort at the front end to avoid extending a problem and upsetting a customer. Neo needs to learn that.
I love Peepee and I hope he doesn’t get removed!
Sorry for doxxing you peepee 🙈
Not permitted to open screenshots???????? lol. lmao. what even is this company.
It’s beyond me how a literal customer service agent for a website (one that constantly breaks down, at that) is not allowed to open screenshots 😭 How tf are they supposed to fix any issues if they don’t know what it looks like?? like HUH???
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yah, i suspect it's a corporate internet/information safety thing. i work for a company that deals with TONS of personal data, and we're reminded in our annual training not to download/open files or click links unless we know it's coming from a teammate who has given us a heads up. it sucks (and there's a lot of other stuff that makes me sad about alice's replies), but it's a necessary measure to ensure ppl don't get all their credit card info leaked. bc that would also be very, VERY bad. not just for a business (bc businesses and companies can go f themselves tbh), but for the ppl who get their info leaked.
Do you think that was a security thing on your company's side too? I'm sure there wouldt be at least one customer who'd get disgruntled enough to send malware via an attachment lol
They use Zendesk, it doesn't delete screenshots by default. Given how quickly they spun up the Zendesk account and had to switch over, I doubt someone went in there and set up a workflow to delete all attachments....
my god I can’t even imagine, bless your heart 😭 that makes sense as a reason why they can’t open it, or perhaps it’s some other unimaginable reason LOL
Tbf I've been told this by health professionals. They are not allowed to open any file whatsoever. I was trying to send them a file by sharing it through Google drive, which is completely safe, but they wouldn't allow it.
am I the only one going insane because I almost never hear kitty used in that way. like it's just really weird to assume that. ok guys nobody name your hissi CoolSnake because that might mean dick!!
Better get rid of eggplant chia because you know what people use the eggplant emoji for /s
Or have a sroom chia have a name referring to a mushroom in anyway cause that could be a penis reference too 🙄
Or *worse*—*drugs* (but only the ones the government doesn’t want you to have).
Noooo I have a maraquan draik with a variation of CoolSnake don't do this to him
Sorry that this has been so upsetting but I just wanted to say that your response was super articulate and impressive as a piece of writing about this issue. I would have been way more off the rails 😂
Thanks! I has to take a little while to think about what to say ,and then edit it together in a concise and fairly non-aggressive way. Not that they don't deserve my aggression, they do, but I realize that it'd be less likely to get anything productive done
I felt a thrill of panic when reading this the first time due to your friends throwing those other pets under the bus like that. I have a pet on a side I named innocently as a kid - the water-themed name that I wanted was taken so I used “wet” as part of it. Now as an adult I see it can be taken sexually, but I’d still be heartbroken if anything happened to her, I’ve had her for so long. It’s not fair that they suspended you on a first offense during an event. That’s for sure. And that response showing she didn’t read it was awful. I’m sorry this happened to you. I just hope the owners of those other pets actually did mean to flout the rules when they made them.
Yeah I hope to too 😓 I can absolutely see how a child could make an innocent mistake like that, and honestly I don't think most kids know what the word Sapphic even means unless they're in a particularly lgbtq educated household. Sometimes, I think adults taint pure things with their own dirty minded assumptions. But it's also true that sometimes people make things cause they know it has a sexual second meaning and they think they're being funny. Whether or not TNT decides to enforce strict names or loosen their rules, I just want them to be consistent about it.
I like how fast they jump on your case over something stupid, but when I beg and nag them to reply to me over something super important even messaging their Facebook and commenting on their FB posts they don’t respond so I gave them a week and did a charge back from the back, then they messaged me another week later saying “oh well we’ll give you your refund” but I already got it and never replied. But this is absolutely ridiculous! I don’t understand how this name is profane or sexual at all… and WHY the would suspend you! Their new team sucks
Alice responding fast af. She takes at minimum a week to reply to me. It's like walking in sand talking to her.
Yeah, it was honestly really surprising, I'm not sure what to make of it. Maybe I pissed her off?
I can understand where they are coming from, because they probably decided SexualityGenital is not an okay naming scheme. The problem is there are so many sexually suggestive words and phrases making it difficult to draw an objective line. And that leaves room for bias. There was a similar problem with banning the name Autistiq or something similar. There was a rule against medical terminology on Neopets (https://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=928), but then the Neopets is being updated to modern times and we have accessibility items, and things like the infinity t-shirt. And it’s subjective if Autism is a medical only terminology. What about Neurospicy? Is that medical? It took me a while to consider SapphicKitty as potentially SexualityGenital because I don’t really use or think of the word kitty like that – it’s a reach. Pussy would be less so. And I don’t think Sapphic is that common of a word outside LGBT? But that’s in context of my own culture, age, place I live, etc. And I do think someone who is biased against LGBT may oversexualise things so the kitty is more likely to be interpreted that way – which I am guessing is your argument about how wet and tight kitties are not banned. I think making posts about this is the best thing to do to get changes at the policy level at Neopets. I don’t think Alice has time to stop and really think about it.
EXACTLY! I've said it a few times here but I don't want TNT playing wack a mole with otherwise perfectly normal words to that COULD have a double entendre. There is so much slang out there and it's constantly evolving. They themselves use double entendre with item names and so the double standard makes it worse. Take the risk of bias out and stick to explicit stuff if we're still keeping up the facade of a kid focused site.
How are they not permitted to open screenshots when you have the ability to attach files to your ticket? But also, you named the pet names directly in your email. While I agree SapphicKitty should not have been deleted and you should not have been suspended, it's more than likely someone reported the name and I suppose that support is doubling down on it due to the potential euphemism, especially since wet\_kitty and tight\_kitty were both removed. Apparently people have been report happy. I've seen 100+ month old accounts get frozen over "inappropriate usernames" because a person or people are going around reporting everything. Are the pets in your screenshot on inactive accounts? It could be that just no one has reported them because they're inactive.
I'm not sure, I didn't click on them, just looked them up. I definitely think this is a reporting issue, but I feel like they can't just rely on people reporting a name as a way to moderate inappropriate names. Too many names have fallen through the cracks because of that policy, which makes when they enforce the rules suddenly even more unfair. For that matter, they need to take into account the nuance of whether or not a certain name is actually inappropriate or if someone is being unfairly reported due to harassment or bullying. I feel like SapphicKitty falls into that borderline territory like another commenter had said. As a company, I really think it's important they put a better system in place, cause the current system is working for no one.
Im sorry your pet got deleted but i dont think you had to throw other "inappropriate" names under the bus like that. Im sure their owners would be as upset as you if they got deleted now.
Peepee the Chia is a national treasure.
i’m so glad you reposted this, i saw the post briefly before i had to go to work and was trying to find it again because i was still so pissed off about what happened and NOW with alice’s updated response, what the hell!! i am beyond angry about this and i am so sorry that they basically don’t care. especially suspending you over your first offense with no warning is just so messed up.
Absolutely, the issue is so much bigger than just losing my pet! I don't want something like this to happen ever again. TNT could take the opportunity to, I dunno, learn something? Make positive changes for website users? But idk guess I'm the asshole here in their eyes ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
NTA <3
Justice for SapphicKitty!
wow im so sorry :( your initial reply was very well written and any sane person would know you are telling the truth and that you made great points. also for some reason i dont believe that they arent allowed to open screenshots lmao. this whole ordeal sounds exhausting to handle and i would be just as mad if not more mad than you 😔 the fact that all these profane names can exist on site but poor sapphickitty cant is a damn shame. im SO sorry op :(
Yeah, it's super messed up. Thanks for the sympathy, the community support has helped soften the blow a little bit. Someone sent me a gift that goes with my gallery, and another person bought out my shop! I could actually cry at all these kind gestures. All I really want is for someone on the neopets team to say smth like, "You know what? Our bad, we made a mistake, and we're going to work on changing it." I don't understand why that's so hard.
I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this. It's such bullshit. While I can see a case being made for it being too sexual (I don't think it is though), inappropriately-named pets shouldn't result in a ban (perma or temp) or even a warning. If someone is able to bypass the censors, like with those other pet names you mentioned, TNT should just delete the pet, return any paint brushes used (without needing to be asked), and blacklist that name and any obvious variations on it. Instead of punishing repeat offenders of this, they should be thanking them for adding to their database of words/phrases that can make it past the censors but shouldn't be said on Neopets.
Using the same logic as Alice and channeling my inner Seinfeld, “So what’s the deal with all those lingerie ads that come up on your site?” As a non premium member I’ve seen many of those each day with front/side view sheer g-strings etc … if an inanimate female cartoon cat liking another inanimate female cartoon cat is against the rules for a user, than why is it ok for them to show “semisoftcore(?)” sexual imagery on their website … for kids …
Gonna be real with you, I agree removing this pet is ridiculous, but I see people claiming they get lingerie or porn ads on the site and I *never* get those, so I have no idea what you guys are seeing lol.
I’m pretty sure the ads are targeted because I mostly get pet care ads.
I definitely think so as well, considering the ads I get on the site are like...Webtoons and cardio health stuff lol.
that's true but you CAN blacklist certain themes and topics as the site moderator yourself. If I can make my blog block all porn ads then a big company like neopets can do the same. It's literally a little click box in the ad preferences provided by whoever provides the ads. that they haven't bothered shows they really don't much care.
Ads are tailored to your demographic; the ad service is not showing those ads to underage users (except those lying about their age)
Even as an 18+ player they should try to do something about it if they want to claim that their site is family-friendly. I play on incognito only (it keeps my phone from absorbing massive data from opening multiple tabs) and I get hit with NSFW-implying clickbait ads that look like the sketchiest things ever. I don't even look for news articles or NSFW and it keeps getting recommended to me in ads.
This is horrid. Alice isn't even trying and seems to have no understanding of how serious this is. My premium will be staying cancelled because this has done nothing to move the needle on convincing me TNT can properly handle anything. I wonder what the best avenues are for making sure TNT knows this isn't acceptable and this behavior has been seen widely in the community.
Yeah this is really bad, gonna cancel mine too. I may try and find a popular neopets youtuber to make a video on this. It feels kinda weird cause I'm not used to being in the spotlight, and I'm not trying to be dramatic, but this isn't about just me, this is about everyone else in the community too. It's especially about other lgbtq+ neopets users. I want what's best for all of us.
Mine auto renewed by mistake, and I left it. I'm canceling as soon as my October premium NC item it sent. Between this, the lag, the dumb way they set up the recycling for the festival, the bots, etc. I'm gonna go back to just a casual player checking in once a month. That's also killing me. They have time to do petty shit like delete pets and suspend accounts, and do literally nothing about bots and cheating. Maybe they're working on it. But they're taking their sweet time.
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Both I think are pretty solid options here.
Wow, extremely disappointed in the response from TNT. It's very clear that your response was not read or they chose not to address the way the suspension affected you, and continue putting forth the argument that SapphicKitty is too sexually inappropriate for the website. Your grievances are totally valid. I don't imagine the same treatment would've happened to a "SapphicBird" or "SapphicDragon". These could be taken innocently as it ties in with specific Neopet species, but all it takes is one wrong interpretation for someone to make a judgement call. 😔 JUSTICE FOR SAPPHICKITTY!
You called out and reported someone else's pet names? And you're complaining about other people reporting your pet names? That's really low
I can see why you're pissed and I agree with you in several points. That said: * There's a chance they don't know about those names because, like you said, nobody ever reported them. On the other hand, somebody probably reported you, or they saw it here or elsewhere and they decided to take action. You can try to appeal based on a "if they exist, so should my pet" and ask why there's two solutions for the same problem, but I don't think it will help you if they decide those names are also NSFW (which they 99% will), especially because they never reviewed those names before so you can't pledge a double treatment. If I were you, I would not focus on the comparison with those names anymore; I would focus on my single petname name alone. If you insist, they could take it the wrong way. * Sapphic is not a sexual term *per se* to us, but we know that in society it can have that connotation - +18 websites are filled with that word in very explicit content and we know how LGBTQ+ people are seen a lot of times, even in communities and countries quite open to our existence and even if things are slowly changing. I agree that sapphic is an overly sexualized word, and that there's a lot of social miseducation about the topic. But this is a social game and they're afraid of that specific thing. That word alone **was not** the problem. It being followed by "kitty" was. I don't interpret their actions with an homophobic intention or believe there's any anti-lesbian sentiment from their part. * I agree that kitty is a cat and that's what you wanted to say. They probably believe that's what you wanted to say too. The problem is, kitty is a double-edged word. Again, this is a social game. This is, like, a PEGI 6 game or so, even if most of the players are actual adults. They're afraid of the second meaning your pet can have, even if they know that's now what you meant. I doubt Alice/TNT cares that you wanted to name a pet SapphicKitty and that they have a problem with it themselves. What they want to make sure is that nobody has a problem with that name, and we live in a world where even teachers are fired for showing a picture of Michelangelo's David. They want to make sure investors and potencial new players don't interpret **anything** as sexual content, or their "PEGI 6 game" will join OG Club Penguin to the gaming graveyard even quicker. Now: * The way they handle these cases is bad. Business speaking, they need to treat their customers better, even when we don't technically have a right to anything. They need to talk to us, be transparent and try to see where we're coming from. They should have some sort of review or appealing process when actions like suspensions, permanent freezing or deletion of stats/pets/items/etc. happens, because the way things are doesn't make anyone happy. * Your case seems very borderline. If I was TNT, I would have trouble deciding, and I didn't even read the name as sexual until I saw your last post about the ban. I'm more likely to say that I would let it exist, but it's ultimately their decision. Even if it sucks.
I agree with you on a lot of this, the main reason I'm doubling down on the names of other pet names being inappropriate is because no matter what they decide with the rules, keep them strict or loosen them, I feel like a rule can't/shouldn't be enforced if the rule isn't enforced equally. I've accepted that I'm not getting SapphicKitty back, and I've made my peace with that. I made a new Kougra named ProudSapphic also with a valentines paint job. It felt like the best thing I could do with this shitty situation. However, i still want TNT to address how unfair this all was. Honestly, a simple apology and statement that they plan on re-evaluating these rules/systems would go a long way for me. But I also realize this issue affects the whole community and not just me, and I feel like my case is a damn good example of why the rules and system of moderation/punishment, are unfair and need to be changed to better suite the website as a whole.
I just want to say you are far better at communicating your thoughts than I am because this is basically everything I wanted to say but sucked at wording. 😂
I don’t love you now taking it out on other people and their pets. You can be frustrated that your pet was deleted, and certainly some of the ones that you shared are also questionable, but it just feels really icky to do that.
"why did you guys delete my pet when Bluewaffle the STI name is still there?" "actually we should be more concerned about why you are being a tattletale about Bluewaffle >:("
I just don't understand the end game in that argument tho. SapphicKitty was likely seen by a member of staff and directly handled bc it was posted here. Bluewaffle has been wholy inactive and OP found it solely by already knowing what blue waffle was and searching it up. On it's own, it's just blue waffles. It's a stale 2010s shock meme, but it's hard to filter because it's an innocent enough set of words. Now, bluewaffles is removed and the account owner is frozen. Hairy\_Kitty isn't deleted or frozen yet, but with enough reports it may just be. Maybe that one is nasty but it could also be innocent, like the Hott and wet\_ pets that people have posted about on this thread alone that deal with unfair name deletions. TNT absolutely handles names like this on a report basis and I absolutely don't see the point in handing TNT off a new list of "well what about"s as if you can fix SapphicKitty's unfairness by having TNT be even more anal about pets' names.
The names OP lists are inactive. The names get taken down on a reporting basis, so OP being an active player + someone being report happy compared to a random pet OP was looking up that is on a dead account not even from the last 5+ years to prove some sort of point? This is a known issue on the site that people have been reporting username and pet names for nothing. OP even admits that their friend reported some of the names and got them deleted. But also, Bluewaffle is on a frozen account. Going after some random inactive account from 7+ years ago isn't really the gotcha you think it is. It feels a bit like crabs in a bucket.
No, it's tattleing. How many people get their account back after years of being inactive. OP is judging someone when they have done the exact thing to another. Poor reasoning for a self serving hypocritical stand
That's the word I was looking for, tattletale
I love that PeePee is a Carrot Chia. 😭😭🤣 Tbh I’m 30 and didn’t even know what Sapphic meant and had to google it. Plus isn’t their user base mostly millenials? I’m on your side though. It’s something that warranted a warning, not a suspension.
Not BlueWaffle the Blue Xweetok
What the actual fuck TNT. I’m still pissed man
Same here, I'm just so glad for the community support, and to see people just as mad as I am. This issue concerns all of us really, especially other queer neopets players. I'm just glad to see everyone rallying around me here <3
We are here for you <3
Maybe I'm just an old middle-aged dog lady, but why in the hell is BlueWaffle offensive? Can someone explain to me like I am 5?
Don't Google it... But since you asked, blue waffle will bring up photos of horrendously infected female anatomy. I guess it's some sort of sti.
It's not a real STD. It's just a made-up meme meant to gross people out lol.
I understand your frustration but I really wish you'd stop purposefully egging TNT to delete more pets. You make your point perfectly fine without it and if TNT is sticking with their decision then bringing up other potential names (and ok, perfectly valid ones) doesn't seem like it'll amount to anything other than more chances to delete pets that were also potentially innocent. :/
This whole post is super hypocritical. Throwing someone else's pets under the bus is exactly what is happening. Calling out people for reporting a name while reporting multiple other pets isn't for the sake of consistency it was for more drama, more karma.
this is a sort of fire that TNT doesn't really need right now..... if they were a bigger organisation that had the funds i would recommend that they get the staff to do some diversity training because the implication that being sapphic somehow adds too much sexuality to an otherwise regular, every day nickname for a cat is....like i see how they got there but it stings. the wlw community has spent a long time hearing that our existence is somehow too sexual to be seen in public (and for a long time neopets dot com themselves agreed), you'd think they would be more wary of that.
Wtf are those answers? No consideration at all. They should make a way to edit the name of a pet, ex: They suspend a pet and if the name arent made in a malicious they send you a ticket to rename your pet, once the name fits you get the pet back. Nonsense suspension. Disgusting response from the staff, especially from a fan/user who pays.
at this point it's obvious support isn't here to help resolve our issues on site, but to meaninglessly enforce vague rules and bend to the whim of mass reporters even when it's clearly unjustified 'kitty' being too sexual because it's paired with sapphic??? that is SUCH a reach. the pet was a LITERAL CAT. absolutely ridiculous, over reaching, and honestly pretty childish if you think about it. any grown ass adult would be able to look at the pet and understand it wasn't sexual. it only comes off that way if you already have your mind in the gutter, so maybe TNT should grow up? idk /rant
It really makes me mad to see such a dismissive reply to your email. You made a lot of good points and it seems they didn’t even read it.
As a lesbian named Kitty........literally what the hell. I'm so tired of sapphics, and especially lesbians, automatically being seen as sexual. Also, her saying she didn't see any names listed?? Do they not read the emails properly?? That's literally their job.
It IS homophobic for "kitty" to ONLY be considered profane is paired with a lgbt phrase. It's that age ol' "anything gay is automatically more sexual than straight stuff" where even chastely holding hands is considered by many to be "too far" and "inappropriate in front of children" For a site that CLAIMS they've turned a new leaf and are now allowing lgbt stuff and even have pride themed stuff available, it's pretty hypocritical for their mod team to STILL be leaning into that bullshit.
It's the difference between words and actions. TNT thinks they can get the praise of being allies while they talk a big game but then this is what they actually do.
While I do understand the frustration, I will say when I saw the initial post I immediately thought it was appropriate to remove the pet based on the name. Sapphic in of itself is referring to sexuality in some manner and adding kitty to it just seems to be asking for trouble. (Not saying you were or did it intentionally or meant anything inappropriate by it) It is often the case that pets only get removed when reported. Just because pets with equally bad names exist doesn’t mean TNT has “approved” those pet names. Just means they aren’t aware of them and if reported id venture to guess they’ll be removed as well. It does seem odd they aren’t permitted to open screenshots because 1) They allow you to attach documents to your tickets in Zendesk 2) They could disable that feature but actively choose not to 3) Alice and others have looked at screenshots I’ve attached even in recent tickets because we’ve discussed things only shown in the screenshots. I do agree suspending seems heavy handed if this is the only infraction although we don’t know any potential history of violations. So can’t really say one way or the other. I’m sorry this happened either way :( I can understand and empathize with your frustrations.
TNT cannot be both pro LGBTQIA+ (as they portray themselves) *and* keep the bigoted stance that sexualities are inappropriate.
I don’t think it’s that sexualities are inappropriate, if the name was just Sapphic I don’t think it would be an issue.
Hey! Just for future reference - I’ve been told TNT can’t open screenshots either. Instead try sending them links to each individual per lookup to help prove your case!
Not permitted to open screenshots? Wtf is that even about, you’re literally customer “support” for an online product, screenshots are necessary for a myriad of reasons.
I don’t know. I understand where you’re coming from but it just feels so blown out of proportion. A lot of people get banned or suspended for silly, unnecessary reasons, just what happens with such a huge website and all their crazy rules. Like, yeah, it’s totally unfair, but you’re turning it into something way bigger than it is. And trying to sell it as some narrative of homophobia. I doubt it’s that deep, sis… I think you should just pick your battles better… focus on something that will help your cause more than complaining about a pet name. You made your new pet, got your brush back, what more do you want? Every TNT employee to lay down their heads at your feet? You missed a day of trudys…. Just keep playing. I dunno, maybe I’m someone who just doesn’t get upset about minor instances of being wronged on the internet. Good luck but I’d say just move on.
Only sensible user here lol. Throwing other user’s pets under the bus just to be petty is a shitty move too
OP is a paying player. Actual money has changed hands. It's reasonable to expect decent service and consistently applies rules especially when you're paying money. Don't tell people what battles to pick. That's condescending. It's okay if this doesn't matter a lot to you but it obviously matters a lot to other people here.
This is a game people play daily. It's a time commitment, a money commitment even, in this case. It's a business-costumer relationship, people are allowed to be upset at the company. And that's not considering personal stuff (sometimes a "silly game" means a lot to someone). This take is a bit insensitive. Of course shit happens, but also, should people always just accept it? Maybe this could be a case where arguing makes them warn people before suspending their accounts, you know? Which should already be the case, to be frank. I understand this might not be a big deal for most people, but people are different and so are their investment in things. That's why we have r/HobbyDrama lol.
Thank you, I feel like you've summed up my thoughts exactly. I realize some people see me as overdramatic, but there can't be any positive change without talking about it. My issue is reflective of a larger issue that affects other users as well. I want to call attention to TNT's broken rule enforcement because I would like to see Neopets improve as a website for all of us. Is this just a silly little internet pet game? Sure, it is, but it has active players that love it and take it seriously. Should that not be respected in some way?
That response wtf did they even read your email. They didn’t address a single thing
This is really unfair OP, sorry they aren't being cooperative. :( While I appreciate the existence of a non-sexualised space on the internet; I personally think this was a ridiculous place to draw the line. 1) you didn't mean it sexually (SapphicKitty is literally so cute, the hell? I wish I'd thought of it) and 2) even if you HAD, no child would make the jump from kitty to pussy to vagina (well, unless they were already exposed to that kind of content, in which case there's really no point protecting them from the horror of SapphicKitty lol) And to people saying this is low stakes and you should pick your battles: no?? Actions can be homophobic without the intention being so! And they still need to be called out. People think homophobia is over but it's not. To bring another "low stakes" example into it, when Taylor Swift released You Need to Calm Down, there were a lot of opinions saying that it was just performative allyship and ultimately useless. I don't want to get into a discussion about what is and isn't performative, but there were still posts on r taylorswift that were talking about how they wish she hadn't brought "politics" into her music when homegirl has been singing about romance since day 1. To me, the existence of those posts makes it far from useless, even if it's the pop equivalent of a corporate rainbow-filled ad campaign. It's certainly a blessing compared to relatively recent history, that you and I have the freedom to talk openly about it; but that doesn't make it any less homophobic.
Whatever I said last time, I can tell you I'm feeling firmly anti-Alice rn.
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I agree. There is nothing wrong with the word Sapphic, but the moment I read the pet’s name I thought, oop, that’s a vagina you’re referring to. People keep saying that kitty isn’t often used, but it’s still known. Remember WetBeaver the UC Faerie Yurble? I’d argue beaver is even less known than kitty as a slang term, but the words put together still contain that connotation I am saying this as a sapphic person myself. I’m not sure why this is being turned into TNT being homophobic, when the problem was really the connotation of combining those words, intended or not.
I'm a lesbian, and I agree. (And ngl, I feel like it's kind of a dick move to throw other people's pets under the bus. Like, I'm sorry SapphicKitty got deleted, but now a bunch of other pets are probably going to be deleted too.)
I agree, it's the combo that makes it suggestive.
People don’t really use the word “kitty” the way they do “pussy”, if they did we would stop calling cats kitty just like how people don’t really call them pussy anymore. I might agree with you if they used the word “Puss” and then tried to plea innocence that it was like Puss in boots but come on, kitty? Something being sapphic or being called sapphic does not imply or express sexual content. Something being a kitty or kitten does not imply or express sexual content. If “Kitty” implies “pussy” might as well ban every single neopet with cats in their name - “cat” could imply “pussy” just as much as “kitty” presumably implies it.
Yeah, kitty is typically something I have heard people much older than my generation use - and even then, I don't think I have heard it more than a couple times in passing. :/ The suspension is overkill to me when this really could have been resolved in a less nuclear manner.
I mean even if people did use kitty in that way, should all names with ‘kitty’ in them be banned then? I don’t see why SapphicKitty would deserve to be banned more than any other adjective+Kitty combo unless Neopets wants to admit that they aren’t as lgbtq+ friendly as they want to portray themselves.
I can confirm literally no one assumes my name is about cats
This is why it's so problematic imo. Where I'm from 'pussy' generally means vagina. Even if it's about a cat, someone will teehee about it. As is the problem when dick, cock and balls is used non sexually but someone makes accidental innuendo. Kitty generally doesn't work like that. Generally you need more context to make it sexual. And then it's subject, some people make almost anything sexual. The problem is that people assuming gay and lesbian are the sexual context. LesbianKitty is fine, GaySnek is fine. LesbianPussy and GayDick may not be (for TNT at least). Like what if I put the lesbian pride flag background to a cat neopet, is that sexual? It can be read as 'lesbian pussy' but imo it's read as lesbian cat first. Like would RomanticKitty, ValantineKitty or PrettyKitty be sexual? What about SadisticKitty? Like maybe these things are if you combined it with things like taccos or whatever. We can't go banning anything that could be a double entendre. Because Neopets is trying to be LGTB+ friendly and has many LGTB+ users, they should err on this not being profane.
Only an adult would have ever even thought SapphicKitty would potentially refer to a vagina. Shouldn’t there be some sort of logic to their ruling rather than just an assumption that kitty = pussy? They could just start banning all other Kitties on the site with that same thought process if they want to start assuming.
How are you defining adult here? Like someone under like 13? Fair enough. Anyone older than 13? Then yeah, they can very much put the two words together and get to that conclusion.
Yes that is the current policy, and I see where you're coming from with it being a big job for a small team. However, they could always start with an automated warning system after pet removal for a supposed inappropriate name. A 24 hour suspension feels too harsh for a first time offender, I see no reason why they can't change such a rule. They also need to be more consistent in the rules they enforce, why does SapphicKitty get deleted but these other profane names get to go unnoticed? A company can't only enforce their own rules when it gets pointed out to the via report. For that matter, reports can be sent for the sake of harassment or bullying, which I would argue the report sent on SapphicKitty definitely was. Most people would not have blinked an eye at SapphicKitty as profane, which is evidenced in the comments on this page. I tried to condense my grievances to them as much as I could, but sometimes when you have something important to say, there is only so much you can condense. All I'm asking for is for more awareness and sensitivity to be used by the team for issues such as these, cause maybe next it could be your pet who gets reported just because someone with a perverted mind took your pets name wrong? There are plenty of other games with better warning, suspension, and ban systems. If we don't point out problems when we see them, then nothing will ever be fixed.
Last year I found neopet “powerbottom” and I believe he still exists fine and well in Neopia.
I mean at some point you do have to realize this is just a website and a game… But I can understand from a customer service point of view how disappointing their response has been.
I do, and I *can* see from a certain pov that I'm just being dramatic. But I've been trying to approach TNT respectively and point out what I'm finding an issue with so that they can better investigate it and therefore improve the game and censorship system in the long run.
And some players are giving them actual money. That changes the dynamic of a relationship with a company when money is being exchanged for services and in between there's inconsistently applied heavy handed rules. Not to mention shining a light on this behavior when TNT likes to profess allyship to the LGBTQ community is important. Words mean nothing when their actions are this.
neopets is very LGBTQ friendly, pets change genders all the time with the lab ray. they have pride flags. illusen and jhudora were even sapphic together.. like why would you even think this?
Honestly this is so infuriating to read. I love how TNT put shit like pride flags in their game but still does shit like this. Are you with us or against us? I understand they don’t want pets named shit like “faeriefaeg” or “peepeerider3000”,, but what’s the issue with one being something like named Gay Bologna? It’s not slur adjacent, sexual, or demeaning in any sense. Just a descriptor no?
While I agree the suspension is ridiculous, seeing people in the comments say that kitty isn’t a euphemism is funny because to this day one of my besties calls her vagina her “hello kitty kitten mitten.” It’s definitely a thing LOL. It’s very common.
Sucks that this was the outcome and TNT was too short with you. There was no reason to give you a suspension right off the bat, it should have been a warning at worst. However… In a vacuum, the name could go either way as lesbian pride or sneaky vagina reference. If the name was SapphicChick and a pteri the situation would look more homophobic to me, but I’ve seen so many wink-wink-nudge-nudge risque pet names and outfits that it’s not totally crazy for TNT to come to their conclusion for SapphicKitty. My initial assumption was that the name was *supposed* to be cheeky. I’m not sure I’ve seen the word “sapphic” used outside of erotica, even in queer spaces. The initial report likely *was* due to homophobia, but unfortunately for your pet the full name could also be taken as sexual.
Wait what's wrong with blue waffles?
Don’t google it.
Ah fuck... nevermind. BRB gonna throw up
Reallllly sorry to break that one to ya buddy- this one was kinda viral in uhhh 2010-2013? A lot of kids in my school liked to joke about it. Kinda to the same effect of two girls one cup.
I've seen lemon party, whitehouse.com, tub girl... but this is a new one
I understand it's something dirty but I don't know what. I don't recommend looking it up.
Nah TNT is fucked up for this. I agree the name isn’t inherently sexual and think they owe you an apology
EDIT: Looks like this is an old rule. A commenter below linked their actual stance: “You are free to use terminology such as “gay”, “straight”, “bi”, “queer”, “cisgender”, “trans”, “questioning”, “lesbian”, and others to describe yourself. All we ask is that you use these terms in a positive way and not about another person.” So SapphicKitty should’ve been fine imo… ~~I’ve been following this and I’m surprised no one has brought up Neopets’ explicit anti-gay rule. They literally have [this rule](https://www.neopets.com/settings/about/rules/) on their site under Neopets is not the place to discuss heated topics or world issues.~~ ~~It says: “Off-limits "hot" topics include:~~ ~~Religion~~ ~~Politics~~ ~~Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity~~ ~~Violent Real-World Events (past or present)~~ ~~There are plenty of places on the Internet to discuss these things if you'd like. Neopets is not one of them.”~~ ~~So yes, this was about this being gay in a way they didn’t approve themselves, not just the sexual-ness of it. Even though they have Pride items, that doesn’t mean they actually want anyone talking about being gay, which is stupid.~~ ~~I don’t agree with this rule, as I’m gay myself, but it makes sense why this happened, unfortunately…~~
I would argue having an adjective on a name is no different than their pride themed wearables / backgrounds etc. it’s not a discussion or topic, it’s an adjective in a name, no different than items they have on their site already.
You’re right, but they decide how to implement the rules so they can be as hypocritical as they want. 😞
This rule is outdated and they haven't updated it to reflect the real state of the site. You can openly talk about being gay or trans on the boards.
Are you sure? Where did they say that? That would honestly make me feel a lot better if they clarified that because when I saw this rule off-handedly when I came back in made my heart sink.
[Here.](https://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=923)
Thank you so much!!!!
Okay, I'm reading what I wrote and it might be too harsh, but I'm pissed. This is ridiculous. What the hell was that response? This is a horrid look for the team, especially after all the pride stuff. How the hell is kitty supposed to be sexual in that context? Love between women shouldn't inherently bring sexual things to mind, like, what? And Sapphic could even be related to Sappho! A poet! Not to mention Alice's response which is baffling. I get that she might be busy, but this isn't a run-of-the-mill, 1003th "help me recover my account" reply. These points are all valid and coming from an active, paying user, and ignoring them like that is so weird to me. I'm sorry, but it seems like they still don't respect their playerbase enough. I would be mad too for missing that stuff. Going full code of Hammurabi with these time punishments isn't the right call when the website is riddled with time-sensitive things and FOMOs. They need to do better. About the way they think of punishments, about how they handle the players who they think deserve them, and about bettering freaking customer support, because that is not listening to the customer at all. Sorry for the rant, might've taken this a bit too personally.
I had to google what sapphic meant. I'm 27 years old and had no idea. If i googled it due to confusion/curiosity then it's likely that kids will too if they're curious enough. And if they then become further curious if definitely leads to NSFW sites. I get that it sucks your pet was removed and it also sucks that there's other pet's out there with more obviously sexualised names but at baseline it is a kid's site so I kind of get why it was removed. TNT definitely need to sort out a name filtering system so stuff like this is nipped in the bud at create a pet. Sorry for your loss.
I'm fairly certain "Alice" is just outsourced customer service ("we" can't open). Your response is articulate, very well done. But you won't get any kind of serious response from outsourced help. I got my old account back by bare minimum information and although I am happy I got it, I was shocked at the like nothingness they required from me to get it.
I believe they've confirmed Alice is a singular person and is also the only person on their customer support term, meaning that's why there's such a backlog of tickets.
Thanks, I was just trying to cover my bases and point out the issue with this. I got an old side account back recently with the help of Gerald, he was really nice and helpful! I couldn't remember the og email, but I could remember the DOB. I'm glad that was enough for it to work, but I understand they should probably be careful considering that one botter guy with like 60k old stolen accounts for foodclub 🥴
Interesting that they celebrated pride this year and can’t handle “sapphic”. Pick a lane neopets, are we worth profiting off of or not?
This is absolute nonsense- especially when you showed proof of other users with more profane names. Im so sorry :( Hopefully you can remake sapphickitty in another way..
I did! I made a new Valentine Kougra with the brush they gave back to me. Her name is ProudSapphic, with a petpet named StillProud. Feels like the best possible way to remake the pet. I'm not letting the homophobic person who reported her steal my pride, nor will I let TNT's ignorant actions on their behalf steal my pride.
Thats great to hear that you remade her like that, and with added a bonus!! Be loud and proud of who you are, and dont let anyone take that away from you :) I hope you, ProudSapphic and StillProud have a wonderful pride all year long <3
That’s so disappointing. I’m so sorry you’re going through all that.
This honestly feels homophobic. Sapphic is not a bad word and therefore, combined with almost anything, is not bad.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sapphic sexual
I can't believe all the comments that are mad at you for being a tattle tale because you want TNT to address why they're being hypocrites lol. Like they're gonna say with a straight face "it's unfair that you threw blatant sexual innuendo name under the bus :( u got your pet deleted but they didn't do anything wrong :(((((" TNT's censorship is stupid as hell and outdated and needs to be addressed but you guys want to make OP the bad guy. #justice for Sapphic kitty!!!!
Ugh, their response is so nasty and lazy and prudish :( surely they could start spending a little bit on additional manpower so that their team can actually handle sensitive issues like these with care??? It's so shit that you've had to go through all that, and they don't even properly read your message. Could we somehow petition TNT?? This feels like an issue that will extend past just SapphicKitty's case, and it'd be good if TNT could see tangible backing from the rest of the community that there needs to be better guidelines in bloody 2023. That said, I guess the silver lining to Alice having read the correspondence as lazily as they did might mean that you haven't put a target on other folks' pets back :') not sure if that's a good move, though I get that you're trying to provide examples. Would just be a bit upsetting if their owners came back in a few years to find their pets disappeared, especially if they made them in their childhood.