Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I think I've seen similar posts here in the past. It's been a long time since I actually looked at the description for ....

With people refusing to wear masks claiming they don't work, this looks a lot like an anti-mask message, and while I don't find it offensive or anything, given the release of the new face mask items I don't think that's the message Subeta wants to put out there.

I feel like a simple, neutral description could work. Something like "a cloth mask worn by doctors" maybe (specifying "worn by doctors" might not be necessary but it goes with the name of the item).

Anyway, just a suggestion.

[EDIT] I didn't realize this item was related to an old Survival event. Knowing that now, I no longer think the description should be changed to something completely different like I originally suggested, but I do feel a small addition for the purpose of clarification would be beneficial, as other people have suggested in this thread.

This particular mask doesn't actually work all that well versus Subetan airborne zombie viruses. Doctor Lockheart was selling bogus cures. There was no cure for any of the viruses yet. And there was no VIP program, anybody could bite you whether you consented or not.

Its description is accurate. Subeta does have items that will save your life. This is not one of them.

I support the change. Many governments across the world are now recommending wearing masks... this item was released years (even decades??) ago before the understanding of how masks work became more mainstream.

Whilst it might not do anything against "Subetan" diseases so many items are based on real-word analogies, and this is one of them.

The new description doesn't have to promote mask wearing, it can just be a statement as suggests.

I get the reasoning behind why the mask description was the way it was, but I think this could be added to the list of items that got a little description change to spruce them up a bit. n.n

Faulty medical equipment gets deliberately made by scumbages in RL. This particular item is a Subetan version of that. Subeta is not RL. It is okay by me that Subeta makes real masks that work in Medicontra. But this is not one of them. If copying RL is sometimes okay because it's fun to be RL-relevant, then it's also okay to copy the not-so-moral things, because in RL and in Subeta immoral things do happen.

The mask description should not be neutralized. If it bugs all y'all so much, instead be changed so that is is literally and explicitly apparent that this particular mask is in fact an inferior mask that has a low probability to work. I think it was like thirty percent? This way no lore is lost. It also allows futher lore to be created in which zombie virii do become airborne again.

It's not clear that this was released during or has anything to do with a previous Survival/Pandemic event (nor is it lore-relevant to wear during a Survival/Pandemic event these days) and the message alone, without that background knowledge, is a bit sketchy. The original use and intent of the description is pretty irrelevant if it's being interpreted in other ways.

I had no idea this item was related to Survival/Pandemic since I wasn't here back then. Not knowing this, when I came across it on another mask thread, I thought the description was a little off-putting. I agree that it needs to be changed, if only to add "from zombie viruses" like suggested.

Yeah, I can understand that its original intention had absolutely nothing to do with the current circumstances in real life, since this is a pretty old item.

But it's also true that times change, and with the current real life connotations, the description that was once kind of silly and benign kind of gives off a different vibe now.

I'm not blaming anyone at Subeta for this, it's just the way things go sometimes (as has been pointed out in some other threads like this about items with questionable names/descriptions).

I wouldn't mind seeing a change like something mentioned above.

I definitely don't think the description needs to be rewritten, but I'm super into 's idea of editing the existing description to include "save you/your life from zombie viruses"! It's helpful because it clearly ties the Survival lore to the item (since this mask was released in 2009 and some users weren't around for that story!), but also changes the tone of the whole thing, which solves the issue imo.

I 100% agree that the description needs to have the "Zombie Virus" bit added. Though I'd also like to remind everyone that the point of masks is less to protect yourself, and more to protect others (Though it certainly does provide some buffer from the virus for yourself, it's still not the main point)

Also dang 2009? I could've sworn the first survival was only a couple years ago oof, time flies

I also like the idea of just editing it to specify "zombie virus". I'm certainly not offended by the current description, but it's aged poorly and will appear even worse in the years to come.

Okay, I didn't know it was related to the Survival event. Now that I know that, I no longer think the description should be completely changed like I originally suggested, but I do feel adding clarification would be beneficial. That only requires a small addition as others have suggested.

The current description isn't really that bad, but I just think making that small change would make it better. I know item descriptions have been changed before in cases where the old description didn't age well, and I think this is one of those cases, even if it is a mild one.

I'm thinking there are plenty of people who don't know and had a question or two about it in light of recent events. I love Survival but I wasn't here for the beginning of it and didn't know about this either. Unchanged, it stands to reason that more people are going to question it and not know the lore about it. I feel like adding zombies now could the Staff some headaches later.

Anyway i've wanted this before and i find myself wanting it again: release years in item descriptions. It would also help now that we have so many years of content in the seasonal shops, it's real annoying when you search an item and the search takes you to the relevant shop but you have to ctrl+f through a billion different sub-tabs. Either way, changing the description to specifically mention that it, obviously, isn't effective against bite-transmitted zombie viruses would be nice

How is anything about the current description referring to Subeta lore? Yes, it was released during the initial Zombie pandemic, but absolutely nothing about the item itself mentions zombies. You'd have to know exactly when it was released to know it was referring to site events, which doesn't make it lore-based imo.

Just adding "zombie bites" or something like that would make it way more connected to the site. I can definitely see why the current description bothers people, especially since masks aren't necessarily to protect you, they protect those around you if you're carrying something, and can indeed save a life!

I meant something more like 10+ years ago.. just wanted to emphasize that the item is old. I could've been clearer.

As for how contentious they are... only in the west. In Asia people have been using them since SARS (2002-2003).

Oh man, yeah, the description should reference the zombie event because otherwise it really does sound like the anti-maskers of today.

I don't mind the words 'zombie virus' being added to this item. I dunno if you are wearing it it weakly protects against VIP bites but if it does it may need to be re-coded so that you can't sign up if you are wearing it.

Gosh, this is like Camus' The Plague. I'm not saying there aren't any anti-mask nutters in California, I have been fortunate to not have encountered any. It wasn't my primary concern when replying. Can we zombie-punch non-mask wearers? ;) I have seen folks without masks here, and more half-wearing them..

Nobody is blaiming folks for not being around Subeta forever. The Great Pandemic may not seem like a big deal to anyone who is used to today's more civilized unliving, but users ragequit when their HAs went all sick because there wasn't any cure. There were Achievements for biting others, so the site became a ravening mass of cannibalistic undead. For those of us who were the Survivors though, it was pretty exciting. Keith meant it to be a one-time thing, but it came back two years later due to popular demand.

It's true that the item itself doesn't mention that it is for airborne zombie virii. It didn't have to. It was the only item of its kind. There were lots of News posts about the Great Pandemic at the time it was happening. You had to claim it as a Free Gift, but lots of Subeta Tribunes were being released as a Free Gift and so it was possible to miss it. There is another item Shrunken Head Pendant that repelled zombies and allowed you to punch them before they could bite you.. The Shrunken Head Pendant was 100% effective against bites.

It was released as part of the Chancellor Phoenix's government's response to the Great Pandemic. We found out pretty soon that it wasn't all that effective. The sarcasm in the item description was because unlike Dr. Lockheart's nostrums, it wasn't completely worthless.

This would be awesome! It could be listed like the other info is. "Official Price; Recent Price; Year Released." I find myself using Subetalodge a lot to find the release date for seasonal shop items.

This is basically my thinking, just put into much better words than I could probably write, rip. Unless you say that every single item on site's description is lore, if it doesn't reference or specify site events it's gonna be taken as another general item description which with current events... doesn't reflect well.

Obviously I'm not saying like, how dare subeta not have predicted the description would be contentious 11 years later but it's kinda like some other item descriptions that have changed from just generic to "ehhhhh" after a decade or so/real life events that put it in a new light.