Thoughts on PG-13 rule

[Steve]

I believe in having a fuller range of experience, and that is what I argue for.

... something I feel is lost when OOC limitations are put in place. It is a small loss, but still a loss in my eyes.

Rhifox, I honor your reasons for role-play, that you presented with honesty and candor. You have a high bar for yourself, and I hope you can more or less reach that, with your RP on BGTSCC.

But what I quoted from you, above, is also how I see it: the limitations of Teen Rating are but a small loss to a "fuller" experience of RP, but a loss worth losing, since it protects, as Maecius put it, "vulnerable player population."

Additionally, Thorsson makes a point: this is a Game. Method Acting, though admirable, is not required. Hell, acting is not required, either. One can argue that BGTSCC has low standards, on and for different levels of gaming/role-play, but they do cater to a wider audience, and that is why BGTSCC remains the most populated NWN2 Persistent World (besides the excellent content, and that many People continually try to improve the experience, in all their different roles).

I often call this out in a more negative way, but like I often say, this is a Game, not a Life. And should be treated more as a Game, where we sometimes win and sometimes lose, and should not consider our Toons, are ourselves...which complicates the emotion often found in Players when they cannot deal with the win/lose possibilities. Not that I want to drag this into this tangent, and I do realize many do not think that BGTSCC is about winning/losing but instead about a collaborative RP project, but what I mean is our PCs win/lose, not Players must win/lose. I hope people can see the difference there.

The point was that who the player behind the character is shouldn't mean anything, because it is your character responding to the actions of their character.

I think you will find that the opposite is more prevalent, on BGTSCC. For many reasons, which need not be spoken here and now.

What you end with—"what that character is doing, and how my character would respond to it"—is probably best practice, and trying to enjoy the world as it occurs around your Toon. But I think it is very natural to gravitate and stay attached to those Players that accommodate you, your role-play, and that agree with your Player-way of thinking.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

From my understanding as it was explained to me by an original DM here on BG, the PG-13 rule is more of a legal issue. ... By honoring PG-13 and enforcing it, BG is less vulnerable to getting shut down for something idiotic. I dont know if we have a server lawyer to go up to bat for us.

So a little backstory on this, I had hosted for an NWN1 server that I had to provide for a compliance order on (though the situation happened on the forum side) with the authorities, brought it up to jlf2n at the time as we were setting up the bgtscc server on my R620. He didn't want an interruption of the same caliber, nor any publicity and backlash as a result of it and the rule was firmly set.

[Rhifox]

Thank you for your post, Steve. I will admit that I do perhaps take things a bit too seriously for a game. But then, for me, a game is something one does for fun, and I do have a lot of fun with my RP. Otherwise I wouldn't have been doing it for so long.

Just a small response to one of your points,

And should be treated more as a Game, where we sometimes win and sometimes lose, and should not consider our Toons, are ourselves...which complicates the emotion often found in Players when they cannot deal with the win/lose possibilities. Not that I want to drag this into this tangent, and I do realize many do not think that BGTSCC is about winning/losing but instead about a collaborative RP project, but what I mean is our PCs win/lose, not Players must win/lose. I hope people can see the difference there.

This is indeed a big problem. For my part I do see the difference. I don't care about winning or losing, and more often than not my characters are the ones doing the losing. I'm a writer, I look at the overall story, and losing often furthers the story better than winning. Even with method acting (which is not something I expect others to do), I keep my emotions focused on the story; just because I might be allowing myself to feel anger to better portray it, doesn't mean that I direct that anger towards the other player. For me it is again the thing with viewing characters as characters and separate from their players--compartmentalization, in-character is in-character, out-of-character is out-of-character. I really rather hate the mindset of competition in storytelling, and I've grown very weary of how often I've had to act as a mediator for friends in the past because they couldn't keep IC IC.

[Silver_Lining]

My honest thoughts?

My honest thought on this is that the subject has been revisited time and again, over and over for seven years. Every time it comes up dozens of good points are made with pros and cons to either side. And no matter what's said, and what thoughts we may possess for or against, the staff has made it clear time and again that this rule will not be changed. Therefore, sadly, my honest thought is, my thoughts don't matter. It is what it is. I/we need to accept that this is how the powers that be want it, and to remain in their sandbox, we must accept this..

[Aspect of Sorrow]

my thoughts don't matter. It is what it is. I/we need to accept that this is how the powers that be want it, and to remain in their sandbox, we must accept this..

Your thoughts matter, but as it is through every element of life, not just here, there are regulations employed for the sake of the whole and not an individual.

[Passiflora]

My honest thoughts?

My honest thought on this is that the subject has been revisited time and again, over and over for seven years. Every time it comes up dozens of good points are made with pros and cons to either side. And no matter what's said, and what thoughts we may possess for or against, the staff has made it clear time and again that this rule will not be changed. Therefore, sadly, my honest thought is, my thoughts don't matter. It is what it is. I/we need to accept that this is how the powers that be want it, and to remain in their sandbox, we must accept this..

Your thoughts matters Silver, as in, your voice is one of many.

This is how democracy works. The percentage of people voicing the same opinion as yours is lesser than the others. And it has been for years. Sometimes it may not seem that way, because usually people with the same ideas might play together, but as a whole, the server's population is pro-PG13.


I thought it to be wrong, and when I joined the DM team and had my inbox filled with PMs everyday, I realized it to be true.