The community of the Steam game Manor Lords has taken a special liking to an NPC. His name doesn’t sound very appropriate, but according to the developers Slavic Magic, it is historically correct. Players were able to vote on whether his name should be changed.
Which NPC is it about? The names of the peasants in Manor Lords are randomly generated from a pool. This can result in one of the NPCs having the name Cuntz. It could randomly be a oxherd, grave digger, or blacksmith.
The name seems offensive to some players. They derive it from the English word “cunt”, which is a term for the female genitalia. The NPC has thus become the target of many memes. In the following reddit post, you can find an example:
What is the consequence? The community reached out to the developer and asked him to remove the name. Developer Grzegorz Styczeń assured, however, that it was not the vulgar word, but a historically accurate name. The name was taken from a census in the 14th century (via reddit).
Some fans explained that the name is an abbreviation of Konrad and therefore has its validity. But apparently, the explanation wasn’t enough for the critics, which is why a vote took place.
In the following video, you can take a closer look at the strategy game Manor Lords:
Offensive name from Manor Lords put to a vote
How did the voting go? The developer created a vote on the Manor Lords Discord. The fan community was to decide democratically whether Cuntz could keep his name. The alternative would be to change the name to Konrad.
Meanwhile, the poll has concluded. A total of 8,185 players decided on the existence of Cuntz. The following votes were cast during this time;
- Cuntz may stay: 6,921 votes (85 %)
- Cuntz is replaced by Konrad: 1,264 votes (15 %)
And the victory goes to: Cuntz! The development team will not remove the name from the game. It could be that the joke wears off over time and the community finds no joy in using Cuntz for memes.
What is Manor Lords? Manor Lords is a strategy game that was released on Steam in April. It is currently still in Early Access, but has already received 88 % positive ratings on Steam. At times, it was the most desired game on Steam.
The title is well-received not only by the general public but also by Twitch streamers. Strategy expert Maurice Weber explained, for example, what he likes about Manor Lords. It feels like a city builder of the future and is extremely detailed. You can read his full review in the following article: “Manor Lords is THE city builder of the future” – German strategy expert explains what makes the Steam hit stand out
