Thoughts on PG-13 rule

[trogers2]

Before I start, please no arguing or abuse in my thread please Lets keep this civil! With that said...

– Content = Teen – The Server, Forum and all interactions are to be rated Teen. Sexual encounters, graphic or extended nudity, gratuitous violence and torture, ERP (Erotic Role Play), and especially rape are strictly prohibited. Pregnancies are forbidden unless directly supervised by a DM, resulting from DM-authorized Role-play. Miscarriages are strictly prohibited. Pregnancies are a form of "retiring" a PC for the duration, and resulting children are NOT to be Role-played. Any caught violating this rule are subject to being permanently banned. All Player Characters (PCs) must be created and Role-played with the minimum age of 18, for Human, and the equivalent for all other races.

I am interested to know what you guys think of the PG-13 rule, should it be raised? Should it stay? Should we lower it? Let me know below, and PLEASE keep it civil.

I personally am mixed, I feel that the rule is holding the server back a little, and raising it to 16+ might do us a lot of good, but at the same time I think it could cause a lot of problems, and confusion (best to let sleeping dogs lie so to speak)

[Flasmix]

I wouldn't mind it being raised to allow some more graphic detail and show a more true state of the world in terms of violence and corruption.

I don't want any ERP on the server though.

[DM Ioulaum]

We have the PG-13 rule because of the NWN2 licence-agreement. Atari / Obsidian demand it for the privilege of playing their game. We could argue that it has never been enforced. And that its unlikely to ever happen. But its still part of our licencing agreement: We gave our word not to violate it.

Complementary to that I suspect the majority of players don't want to be confronted with sexual themed content (ERP). Lifting the PG-13 restriction opens a can of worms as we'd have to decide what adult behaviors are okay, and which aren't.

I suspect it wouldn't extend far beyond PG-13, except as to allow more violence and forms of torture. But we're already reasonably liberal as far as enforcing the PG-13 restriction goes. New Jersey values instead of Texan values. You have to go pretty far to fall afoul of this rule.

[taylorstar]

Given the limited selection of servers in the entirety of the nwn2 community, I feel having a server that is set as PG 13 and trusted to remain in such. While other servers are more Social or there are existing 18+ servers BG stands out differently, not just because of how awesome the community we have but because of its different rule setting.

The focus is more towards playing the game in a PG 13 setting meaning that players have to be creative in making their characters evil or good. This rule makes it more of a challenge to play villains or anti-heroes that aren't 2d comic book one shot villains, and those that succeed in doing so are rewarded with characters that are known and loved by all of the community.

What concerns me is more people will remember the actions of the character than the character themselves if we made it rated 18+ not only that but we take away the variety on offer for the entirety of the nwn2 community.

Currently with the 100% RcR people can come on do some awful actions which would ruin their characters reputation make them hunted and banned from all civilisation and just re-roll them with no consequences. Opening up the rules for more graphic descriptions and violent or abusive behaviour in my eyes will be just as abused as the rules are currently if not more so and they would be allowed to get away with it (in some cases).

If I felt the server was filled 100% with mature players who could be trusted to play by the rules and behave in a decent and fair manner all of the time and be responsible in their roleplay and story telling I would be less inclined to go against raising of the age limit, but for now I say we keep what makes us different from other servers, lets not tread on their toes and continue offering a different experience.

[Rhifox]

I accept it as part of the server rules, but I'm not a fan of it myself. Roleplay should not be arbitrarily hampered by out-of-character rules. It's immersion breaking to be RPing along, characters interacting fully in-character, and then having to stop suddenly in some situations because, 'oh, but wait, that's against the rules!'. I also feel it's disrespectful to the seriousness of some situations when the full extent of their horror cannot be conveyed. Good RPers can get around this, but it still hurts immersion in my eyes.

The only rule there should be in my opinion is one of consent and privacy. That is, anything of a less-than-polite nature should be kept away from public areas, and nothing should ever be done if it is not approved of by both parties involved.

As far as "2d villains", that has nothing to do with rating. The quality of RPer, good or bad, is the same regardless of rating.

We have the PG-13 rule because of the NWN2 licence-agreement. Atari / Obsidian demand it for the privilege of licencing their game. We could argue that it has never been enforced. And that its unlikely to ever happen. But its still part of our licencing agreement: We gave our word not to violate it.

Aren't online interactions not rated?

[mrm3ntalist]

I am happy with the PG13 rule. Reading about the issues most servers had with higher rating, i think it saves our time from a lot of problems.

[Shad]

I think it should be consent-based. If there is a party or group RPing where *all* players gave consent to raise it - it should be. But by default, it should stay for reasons mentioned repeatedly a lot.

[Bad Omens]

I don't want it changed.
Young people, even children, have access to purchase this game.
You don't know who is on the other side of that RP.

PG-13 is just fine!

[Planehopper]

Yep. Keep it where it is. I've seen enough through the DM client here to know that some people can't handle anything more than that without it becoming 4chan online.

[Lanzlo]

I'm fine with the PG-13 rating. Yes, some concessions have to be made to 'stay within the lines,' but it's not that tough to do. A simple "And we fade to black" does wonders.

And yes, I an also a fan of consent-based RP.

[NeOmega]

I accept it.
I am glad there is no ERP allowed.
I wish it could be R for more dark, disturbing themes, in a world of evil beyond human evil (which already is pretty evil).

[V'rass]

While i am not a violence drunk or sex pervert, i think an R rating would ultimately be good. As was said earlier having any such rule limits rp and prevents tons of potentially interesting rp that might otherwise happen. If certain characters are not interested in certain rp aspects then they can avoid them. Nobody will be forcing them to take part in rp they dont want. Those who are interested in more extreme rp and or erp can pursue that and those who arent interested can stick with the more mild rp. Rp server wide will flourish and and everyone will be happy. Of course its prob not going to happen but that is my view of it.

[The Whistler]

4chan online

http://i.imgur.com/pvmJ7qb.gifv

Is there an offline version of it ? Dang it, I've been missing out this entire time.

As for the OP, I think it's a good thing that half of the server isn't locked up inside inn rooms with their scry hidden, scissoring. I would really like being able to swear, though.

[Hoihe]

I would rather say we reinterpret PG-13 in its Scandinavian + Finnish sense, not the U.S sense.

What is accepted for young children in northern Europe, even Eastern Europe is sometimes considered phorphibited even for young adults in the U.S. This alone makes PG-13 very ambigous on certain topics.

[Steve]

Here are the ESRB Ratings for Teen, and one level up/down. PG-13 and Teen are used for different media, fyi. Best get it straight, if you're trying to have a real discussion.

EVERYONE 10+
Content is generally suitable for ages 10 and up. May contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
esrb ratings symbol for T-rated games

TEEN
Content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.
esrb ratings symbol for m-rated games

MATURE
Content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

I personally am not interested in exploring a sexually charged role-play in by D&D soup bowl. Though I like my RP hot, savory and with spice, I prefer to get my ya-ya's in RL, not by staring at some digitally buxom blonde in skimpy full plate...played by a Dude. No thanks.

Besides...those that like to ERP, already can go onto Skype together and get it on...and thankfully, that is there.

I second Planehopper—what I saw behind the DM Client here on BGTSCC made me realize how bad it COULD GET if the Server sanctioned sexual content RP.

Oh, and btw...what DM Ioulam said.