I'm posting this after recent events I've seen on a multiple websites - specifically regarding the group that teenage girls have come to term "RTPs" ("random Turkish perverts"). Almost any girl who uses the internet and almost all website staff for a multitude of profile/community sites can tell you about "RTPs". Since it's widely argued that Turkish-speakers make up the majority of the non-English-speaking players on the international version of SRO, I think this topic is becoming more and more relevant amongst SRO players and I'm interested to see what other SRO players of all (well, many) nationalities, genders, and cultures have to say on the topic.
NB: This thread is in no way intended to be a flame. I want this to be a thread of discussion amongst members and I want everyone to remain respectful of each other. We don't need drama. I haven't named any specific people, forum members, players, or their characters and I would appreciate it if all replies did the same.
A few years ago one of my friends started the Anti-Random-Turkish-Perverts support group for girls who have been predated and harrassed by e-perverts. We had our entire group removed from the internet for "racism", even though we had made it very clear that we didn't believe all Turks were perverts nor vice-versa, with many of our staff being Turkish men, and were affiliates with many Turkish-community forums.
So here's my personal view on what's going on in general.
What do they do?
They are a specific group of men who prowl and trowel the internet looking for girls (and when I say girls, I mean girls) to fulfil their lascivious fantasies. Often they simply leave comments to girls' profiles, on girls' images, or add their IM accounts to their buddy lists and proceed to send animated R-rated emoticons, broadcast themselves masturbating on webcam, request pornography of the girl or a returned "webcam solo". Most of them don't care how young a girl is. These men are predators, paedophiles, and ephebophiles, and they love it.
What unites them as a group? And why Turkish?
Yes, there are many perverts who aren't Turkish and there are many Turks who aren't perverts - but Turks do make up the blatant majority of online perverts and they are the specific group we're referring to. But why do they make up the majority, do I hear you ask? Well, there are many arguments as to why they are resorting to the internet, and what could sociologically or culturally be pressuring them to do so, but beyond that a large contributor to it all is that there are specifically Turkish groups and businesses devoted to satiating their salacious desires. How can I say that they're specifically Turkish? Well, they're located in Turkey and operate in "Turkce"/ the Turkish language! These men trade lists of girls' e-mails and/or profile URLs to each other, and can buy lists from the businesses in the form of e-zines and e-mail newsletters.
How do you know all this about RTPs anyway?
I've seen it all first-hand. I have been baiting RTPs since about Y2K, after having been predated on since I first got the internet at age eleven. I have seen pretty much everything these guys do and/or are willing to do via fake accounts with varying ethnicities and ages, I've seen their tricks, and I've even managed to get into their "in crowds" in a few places by pretending to be an RTP myself. I've started support groups for their victims and seen what these girls have had to go through. I'm also a babysitter and have had to protect some of the children I care for. I have seen with my own two eyes RTPs trying to send their webcam feeds of their erect penis to 8yo girls, who have told them that they are indeed only eight years old. It is an ugly picture, but it is very real, and their victims shouldn't feel like they themselves are the ones with a problem for not going along with it and being happy with it.
Do you think it's racist to complain about this group?
Personally, no, I don't think it's racist to complain about RTPs and here are the two main why I think that way:
- (1) You're not performing racial profiling. "RTPs" refers to a specific group of men who are united by their language and their activities. If you were to argue that all Turks are perverts of that all perverts are Turks, then it would be being racial stereotyping. How can I say this so comfortably? Because I know what I'm talking about (I own a dictionary and have uni degrees in subjects that relate to it, so I've done my study on it), and because many of my friends are Turkish men or Turkish-Australian men, and many of the staff and members of Anti-Random-Turkish-Perverts were Turkish men who were more than happy to help and reinforce that it is only a few specific Turkish men who are the problem. To clarify via analogy - Are we sexist for complaining about a group of men who rape a girl? No, because we're complaining about that specific group (in this case, a group that are united by being male), not about the entire population of men on this planet.
(2) Racism requires aggressiveness. That is part of the definition of the term. If you are sorrowful and make a short comment about RTPs and are seeking comfort because you're traumatised over something one of them has said or done to you, that's not racism.
So what about Silkroad?
Like almost all large online communities, Silkroad is not devoid of RTPs. Personally, I've had multiple RTPs sending me comments on Silkroad, and I've seen other female players comment on it in-game. Here are three examples from the Alexander server (no, I will not provide their usernames to you unless you are a GM):
- (1) A guy whose character had a Turkish band name as their name sent me a message saying, "do u want see mý dick". When I told him "siktir git sapik" (which translates roughly to "f*** off, pervert" in Turkce), he instantly proceeded to flood me with every Turkish cuss he could think of.
(2) A guy with a Turkce/Turkish word that can be translated as "mysterious" sat down next to my stall so that he could see up my character's skirt (which he admitted), and then kept requesting to add me to his friends list.
(3) Another guy sent me a comment in-game saying "ulan karaköyde müsteri bakleyen hatunlar gibisin he
" ("Man, you're like the women in Karakoy, who are waiting for customers. ").FYI: Karakoy is a city famous for its history regarding prostitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karak%C3%B6y
Now that I've made my own personal opinion clear, on to the point of this thread.
I'm interested to hear what other people have to say on this topic.
Do you agree with my view?
Do you think it's justified?
Do you think I'm racist for raising the topic?
Do you think this becoming a problem in SRO?
Are you worried that it will become a problem in SRO in the future?
Have you had experiences with RTPs (on SRO)? (And if so, elaborate)
And/or anything else you would like to contribute to this topic.
As I said before, please, keep this amiable and respectful!
We don't need people biting each others' heads off!
*More will be added as they appear or change*
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oh no its not safe for me here anymore, they've tracked meh down 
