Where do I draw the line?

Hey there.

This thread is about content. Specifically, "questionable" content.

My main Project [Wanderer's Studies] will have some very mature, sensitive, touchy and morbid content. The game will not encourage or endorse anything that is morally questionable...

What do I mean by questionable content? I don't mean graphic content. More inferred, discussed etc.

1. Where, in your opinion, where should the line be drawn?

2. Where should the line be drawn for a game that will be made available on these forums? [Edit - The reason I ask is... as I understand it... very young persons are allowed to register here]

Depending on the subject; I'd say things should be implied instead of shown/spoken about.

It adds more to the game for people who like to speculate as well.

I've seen that done really well in a commercial game I'm playing now where everyone in the game's forums assumed the daughter of this crazy woman was raped, but what really happened was that she was eaten alive (Not really a step up, but it's not so obvious unless you look at all the clues)

It made the moment much stronger being able to find out the actual truth around me for myself than simply being told.

Oh, and to add: I gave this particular example because it's a commercial game where a child was implied to be eaten...I think your questionable content should be fine so long as you give a disclaimer that the game isn't kid-friendly.

While there are subjects I consider gross or silly or flat-out indefensible, there aren't many subjects I would call an absolute taboo. There are things that I wish didn't exist, but in removing them I'd be creating a precedent for removing things I actually do consider defensible, and we can't have that.

The "line", then, depends mainly on who you're making the game for. Consider your target audience, and consider your own approach; your own maturity is just as important as that of the people who'll be playing the game, if not moreso. If you can't yourself handle a subject with some degree of taste and tact, you're better off avoiding it for now and revisiting it later.

While the staff have the final say in regards to what they'll allow here (and, this being an all-ages forum, there are probably rules against the blatantly gruesome or pornographic), a good rule of thumb is to let people know what they're getting into. If you think some aspects of whatever you're making might discomfort some people, be upfront about their presence so that your consumers don't wind up surprising themselves. Beyond that, just remember that you're responsible for what you make -- if you try to take a shot at mature subjects without properly understanding them, the people who do are going to rightfully call you out on it.

Oh, and please don't make an RPG Maker porn game. Those are unspeakably tacky.

do what's best for your game. Frick the haters

For once, I agree with needles! It's art -- the only line you should go by is your personal line -- go with your gut on it. That being said, realize that your personal tastes are going to be very different than other peoples', and that if you have questionable/potentially offensive stuff there, you're going to make people upset/angry and you're going to hear about it. And when you do, NO COMPLAINING; you chose not to make a vanilla, cutesy kids game, so you gotta deal with the consequences!

Also, realize that what you're comfortable with might be disturbing/upsetting/distasteful to others, so if you are including ANY kind of questionable content, give warning ahead of time! I know that I've stumbled into watching/playing/reading things that have ended up really upsetting me, since I was caught off guard by some material that made me feel super uncomfortable. It doesn't hurt you to slap a quick "SO HEY THERE IS RELIGIOUS STUFF/CRAZY GORE/SEXUAL VIOLENCE/SEXY TIMES/BLAH BLAH BLAH IN THIS JUST SO YOU KNOW" down near your download link, and in doing so you can steer those who would be otherwise upset/hurt/enraged by your game away.

These are what I would ask....

#1 Does the content have to be in the game?

#2 What does it add to the game or game play experience?

#3 Will it limit the number of your target audience drastically?

#4 Is there any alternative to it?

#5 If it is in your game. Please take the proper precautions to let potential players know that it isn't suitable for kids or have a list of what it contains so people can choose for him/herself.

#6 Are you just putting it in the game as a filler or an attention grabber aka "saying play this for the gore and porn!"

In my opinion, it depends on how you handle the "questionable" content, but not at the same time—it is kind of hard to explain. There will always be people who would not play a game for content they find disturbing or taboo(in which varies between peoples), and then there are those who wouldn't care about it. A good example, I think, is GTA. Lots of people against and "for" the content of the series.

I agree with Emmych's post also.

@Everyone - Thanks for the input!

Of course! I'm more worried about whether I'll have to cut some stuff out to allow it on the site.

Doesn't look like there are any rules on game content, at least in the dev subforums. If you're really nervous, you might want to check with a staffer, but as long as you warn people beforehand you shouldn't have a problem.

Really, though, it's silly to be this nervous. We're all grown-ups, or close to it, and it's probably not even anything that crazy.

I think the only thing that'd really make it not allowed on the site is if it's out and out pornographic. RPG maker sites seem to be okay with gore (I know RMN hosts Dhux's Scar, which is about as gory as a 2D game can get without being ridiculous), but if you have pixel dicks touching other pixel dicks, you may be out of luck (read: calunio's game Polysomething Perversity or whatever).

I just want to say that while we, as a staff, want to promote a healthy dose of artistic freedom, we do draw lines. There are just some things that are not acceptable such as, for example, child pornography. I can't really make a list of things to avoid because a lot of it is just situational. You can always pm me and ask about a specific situation/theme, though. :)

While you're welcome to use warnings/caution signs, I also want to remind everyone that we're trying to create a positive environment. If your game is so controversial that it bothers people, it will likely get closed. We're not responsible for the user content on the forums, but we do have to be careful about how it makes Degica (and our community as a whole) look.

I have a game with questionable content. I did put a warning in my header. I called it sexual conteny, and then in a warning section elaborated.

However I did also add a cutscene skipper. So the scene that is most likely to upset can be skipped, its all implied later.

The thing is that the line for questionable content is a broad one. For example there are a lot of different forms of rape, not all of them are ecplicitly sexual, but all of them have what we consider to be sexual conotations.

Vulcan mind melds if used inappropriately would be rape. Forcing someone to use a particular power on someone else would also be classed as.it. We might not conciously consider it so, but it does have the same idea and feel behind it as sexual rape.

If that makes sense.

I don't believe in censorship

What I mean to say is be true to how you want to do things and the just warn people ahead of time.

Wait what? You have to post a warning for religious stuff? Like what? When something has to do with the relgions in our world? Or just questioning religion in general? Or what? I don't get it.

@Raven Well, yeah, if you're making a lot of blatant religious references, making fun of any religion, if you're questioning a religion, etc. in your game, there are plenty of people who aren't comfortable with those sorts of things. So, it's nice to put up a warning for them.

Pretty much what's already been said, but I'd also like to add, for somethings it's best to just mention it and not show it. Like romance, where two adventurer's spend a lovely night together (wink nudge wink nudge) ;3 It's ok to show what happens before anything happens, but then skip to a scene of like the moon or something before continueing to the next morning :3

Considering that this is the internet, and most people trying to tackle religious issues will be sheltered internet children with terrible storebought opinions, this honestly doesn't sound too crazy.

Probably why most games attempt to make up their own religion or base it off old mythology, less people to offend that way. It's always a tricky subject to tackle, although it seems to of eased up in recent years (compared to the 80s/90s when Nintendo would attempt to remove almost anything that resembled religion).

Remember that many of our members are children. I don't care much about offending adults; I do care about exposing children to adult content however. Those who say "f the haters" are not considering this fact. We are a 13+ community, the content should be appropriate for that age range.

irrelevant. i was talking about the content of the game.

sure, if it has extreme violence or sex or something then yeah—by all means put a warning before the download link. but to censor one's own art—might as well not be making art in the first place.

also 13+ = children? in one sense, sure. but in this context, thirteen-year-olds certainly have the ability to judge for themselves what games they can download—especially if those games have fair warnings about their content (warnings are fine! censorship is uncool!).

i can't imagine anything in an rpg maker game could scar a thirteen year old with internet access.