I’ve played Torn for nearly four years now. Just like every other player, I’ve had good experiences and bad. I’ve met tons of amazing people, but I’ve also had many experiences with bigotry and systemic issues in Torn that have caused me to come close to quitting the game on multiple occasions. I’ve ultimately decided against that, but I can’t stay silent any longer.
First, I’d like to give some context about myself, so that y’all can better understand where I’m coming from. I’m a trans woman, and also queer. Previously I identified as nonbinary for over a year before I came to a better understanding of myself. I was also diagnosed with autism around two years ago. I’ve been playing Torn for basically the entirety of that journey, from the moment I realized I was queer to when I figured out that I was trans a year ago. Throughout that time, there have also been issues with inclusion in Torn that I’ve experienced firsthand and also heard from countless players that I’ve come into contact with. My goal with this post is to get some closure by putting into words these feelings that I’ve had for literal years of my life, to document them in the hopes that it might lead to some positive change in this game. Let’s start with some stuff relating to the nonbinary gender in Torn, shall we?
I switched to the nonbinary gender as soon as it was added, since I identified as nonbinary at the time. I was initially grateful, but the poor implementation quickly soured that feeling. While it has improved, the rollout was rough. Around the time that the nonbinary gender was added, I had just started doing Duke contracts. I was misgendered in every single mission text, because the missions were using the dialogue options for women. My character in combat also had the feminine frame. At the time I was presenting masculinely, and it bothered me that the enby gender just seemed identical to the female gender in most things but name.
There were also some other issues, such as Mr. and Mrs. Torn not really considering enbies at all and the personals section not being updated for the new gender, and likely more that I've either forgotten in the years since then or was never aware of. However, I can't personally speak to how Mr. and Mrs. Torn did or did not account for enbies since I never entered that competition while it was still running.
I considered making a forum post to suggest fixes for misgendering in missions and the default feminine frame for enbies. My solution was to let nonbinary players choose a masculine or feminine frame in combat. This could also apply to the default profile picture (which is also the same as women’s for enbies currently), though that’s less pressing since players can upload custom images. Ultimately, I didn’t post my suggestions - something I’ll explain later.
Instead, I found a staff member and asked them if it was okay if I passed my suggestion onto them instead, and they said it was so I did. This was on July 27th, 2022. Here are screenshots of what exactly I sent them:
Nothing ever came of this. I'm not including which staff member I spoke to for two reasons:
- First, they're no longer staff, so I don't want there to be even a chance of someone bothering them because of this post. They don't deserve that, they should just be able to live their Torn life.
- Second, I don't know whether they didn't pass my suggestion on to the devs, or if they did and the devs just didn't implement any changes due to this. I never heard back from them after my second message, so there's no way to know.
Now, let's run down where these issues stand in the present day.
- Mission dialogue: This was finally fixed, but only after multiple years and a public forum post (https://www.torn.com/forums.php#/p=threads&f=19&t=16380905&b=0&a=0&start=0&to=24408468), despite my earlier report to staff. Either the staff member never passed it on, or the devs ignored it - both possibilities are troubling. The fix took just two days once Ched saw the post I linked, proving it wasn’t a difficult change.
- Default feminine model for nonbinary players: As far as I can tell, the feminine model is still the default and cannot be changed. Not all enbies present femininely, some are androgynous and some are masculine like I was, and it's unfortunate that this hasn't been reflected in Torn despite the inclusion of the nonbinary gender. I'm not the only one to voice that this would be a worthwhile improvement, either. I found this post in the suggestion thread for the nonbinary gender that mentioned that the fix that I suggested was also brought up by multiple others earlier in the thread: https://www.torn.com/forums.php#/p=threads&f=4&t=16262833&b=0&a=0&start=1240&to=22562482. Another possible solution was even suggested in an edit to the original post that sparked the addition of the gender to the game: https://www.torn.com/forums.php#/p=threads&f=4&t=16262833&b=0&a=0. Solutions to improve this are out there, but haven't been listened to.
- Mr. and Mrs. Torn: No longer a thing, so the fact that the naming of the event (and likely its implementation) excluded enbies is a moot point.
- Personals section: Still does not account for the enby gender.
That is to say that half of these issues remain unaddressed, and the one that was fixed took years. The nonbinary gender option was an important addition, but it should have been implemented with more care, and community suggestions for improvements should have been taken more seriously. I’m sure there are other overlooked issues, but these are the ones I can personally speak to.
Now let's shift topics to the ableism rampant in the Torn community. Ableism, in case anyone isn't aware, is discrimination or bigotry towards people with disabilities (whether physical or mental) and/or neurodivergent people (such as people who have ADHD, autism, etc.). Torn censors a lot of slurs in its chat and forums, but there is one notable slur that isn't banned: the r-word.
Many people reading this may not realize how harmful the r-word is. Originally a medical term, it has since become a derogatory slur synonymous with “stupid.” The Special Olympics explains this well: https://www.specialolympics.org/stories/impact/why-the-r-word-is-the-r-slur.
I already knew this was an issue, but while gathering examples for other sections of this post, I kept seeing the slur in the forums. It made me curious, just how much has it been used in the forums? Enough for there to be 416 pages of forum posts with that slur included. Just forum posts mind you, this doesn't include messages, faction and company chats, global, all of that and more.
The extent of this is deeply concerning. Other slurs are censored on Torn, but nothing is done about this one despite the fact that it’s thrown around so much by some members of the community. This word has a long and storied history of being used to put down people with mental disabilities, and even using it on people who have an intellectual disability causes immense harm. It’s my opinion that something should be done about this in regards to Torn’s moderation, but if even one person sees this post and learns something about this word and why it shouldn’t be used, that’s a win in my book.
That segues nicely into the final thing I’d like to speak on. The moderation of Torn. This isn’t to say anything against all of the fine people who do work moderating Torn. As much as I may complain about these aspects, I know for a fact that things would be even worse without all of the people who give up their time to make this game better for others. I have nothing but respect for all of them. This is more of an issue with the rules surrounding bigotry as a whole and how inconsistently they’re applied.
The lack of moderation for the r-word is quite apparent. Even more telling than how often it’s used on the forums like I pointed out, it’s actually present in the faction description of a faction founded by a staff member, Bloodbath and Beyond (https://www.torn.com/factions.php?step=profile&ID=8468#/). There’s a swear word right next to the r-word that’s censored, but the slur is there, completely out in the open. It’s been present on the faction’s page since at least 2023 when someone I know noticed it, but it’s likely been there for longer. Whenever the inadequate moderation of Torn comes up amongst the players I associate with, this is almost always brought up as one of the main examples.
My personal experience with reporting bigotry that should be removed has also been a bit of a mixed bag. I reported someone who had homophobic things on their profile a week or two ago, and staff responded promptly and removed it. That’s what I view as the ideal response that should happen every time something like this is reported. However, it’s often not the case. My first report was in 2022, also on a player who had homophobic things on their profile. Nothing was done about this. I can’t provide screenshots of my report or staff's response, because the reports page that players have access to only goes back so far. But what I can say is that I checked that player’s profile while working on this forum post, and those images are still there to this day. This isn’t the only time that bigotry in this game has just been allowed, I’ve heard from plenty of people who’ve had to deal with this stuff and nothing was done about it despite them reporting it. The enforcement is just too inconsistent.
At this point you might be wondering, “You’ve had these concerns for so long, why didn't you say something about them sooner?” It’s something that I’ve considered, time and time again, dating back to the addition of the nonbinary gender in 2022. Hell, I even wanted to suggest the addition of a nonbinary gender a little before the thread that gained traction and resulted in that addition was posted. What stopped me each and every time was the lack of moderation around these things.
I was tempted to make a forum post suggesting my improvements to the nonbinary gender, but I was worried that making a forum post would make me a target, or would just lead to bigotry against me. Just look at the suggestion thread to add the nonbinary gender to the game (https://www.torn.com/forums.php#/p=threads&f=4&t=16262833&b=0&a=0). As early as the first page of replies there’s a meme making fun of nonbinary people, and there’s plenty of vitriol and bigotry throughout the thread. Plus, this is just what’s left. I can only imagine what kind of things might have been said in that thread that were rightfully reported and deleted.
This is just one thread out of many that contains this kind of material. I’ve avoided the forums as a whole, except for the occasional post shared to me by friends, ever since the nonbinary gender was added. Too often I would look at the forums only to be met with bigotry, whether through the thinly-veiled disguise of “jokes” about marginalized identities or in other manners. The only way I felt safe with voicing my suggestions was through privately messaging staff, which in my case was fruitless.
Like I said earlier, I’ve been playing Torn for a while. I’ve considered subscribing to the game, even, but I just couldn’t justify giving money to a game that would on occasion make me feel so excluded and isolated. Even when bringing up this game to people who don’t play it, I always preface it with an honest opinion of mine I’ve held for a while: if you’re queer, or neurodivergent, or practically anything but a cishet able-bodied and able-minded white male, it’s usually better not to bother. At one point I was even speaking to someone who was interested in playing, but I couldn’t in good conscience recommend it to her, so I told her it wasn’t worth her time. Since she’s queer, disabled, and neurodivergent, I knew she would experience many of the same things that I have in my four years playing this game. If she played because of me, I knew I would feel on some level responsible for any bigotry she experienced despite how silly that would be, and I didn’t want to have that on my conscience.
It’s about time for me to wrap this long-winded post up. I’m going to be very explicit and perhaps a little blunt here. I know this post will likely get downvoted and met with hostility. I’m expecting hospitalizations, mugs, maybe even bounties. I’m expecting some people to try to pull some bigoted shit in the replies of this thread. But I don’t care. It would just prove all the points I’ve made in this post, and I just can’t justify staying silent any longer. Some might say that Torn isn’t meant to be inclusive or “politically correct,” but when a game has a diverse player base, ensuring that all players feel welcome isn’t about politics - it’s about basic respect. Too often the identities of marginalized people are politicized and turned into arguments when in reality it’s simple to do the bare minimum to make people feel included and happy. More rights for others doesn’t mean less rights for you.
I’m making this post to get some closure and to raise awareness of these issues for people who may not have noticed. If nothing else this post will exist as a record of these problems, but if even one person reads this post and takes a moment to reflect about what they can do to improve the Torn experience for everyone, that’s a win for me. For those who aren’t personally affected by these issues, ask yourself: If you love this game, why wouldn’t you want it to be better for everyone? Why wouldn’t you want the player base to continue growing and evolving as the game does? I hope that in the future, this game is able to improve and be more welcoming to everyone, regardless of who they are.