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Profanity and the Rating System

9 years ago

So, I've read the general guide on the rating system and looked through that whole page of tips, tricks, and general information to see if there was any specific rule against profanity in story-games (I didn't find one, but if there is I'll be happy to edit my work accordingly). Though I was curious how this should affect my game's rating.

Now it's currently rated 6/8 due to more action-based sequences and dramatic moments. I'm not going into great detail but there is some violence in the game because it is a science-fiction adventure with action themes, hence there will be fight sequences.

This also made me realize that if someone is trapped on an alien planet with hostile forces, or having their ship attacked by the enemy, there's little chance that everyone's going to remember to keep an entirely clean mouth. If this is bad or if people just dislike profanity, I'm happy to take it out, as was stated before.

Just curious if this should affect anything or change the rating or if I should just scrap whatever profanity is there entirely.

Thank you.

(If you want an example, the worst it's going to get is like this: 

"You disregard the voice and feel your weak muscles grow stronger the more you grow awake. The bonds strain and the seams stretch until you can see lines between each stitch and then- snap! Your right hand jerks high above your head with the sudden release, the IV dangling down in your face. Disbelief fills you for a moment, as if you still expect your hand to be tied down. Then with a grin you turn on your side and begin to once again tug and push against the left hand's restraints.

"Holy shit! You fucking broke it! What... what are you?"")

 

Profanity and the Rating System

9 years ago

First, if you're having trouble with deciding on rating, here is an explanation from the founder of this site:

1 - appropriate for all ages - Stories with this maturity level will not, by design, have any potentially objectional content. An example of a type story with this rating would be a quiz on mathematics.

2 - choking hazard for children under 4 - Contains content that may not be suitable for persons under age 4. To compare to the movie rating system, this would be G.

3 - must be at least this tall to play - Contains content that may not be suitable for persons under age 10. This is like inbetween G and PG.

4 - need to be accompanied by an adult - PG

5 - aren't you a little too old to be trick or treating -  Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13

6 - i'll need to see some identification - Some material may be inappropriate for children under 16.

7 - anything goes - Some material may be inappropriate for children under 18. Compared with movie ratings, this would be an "R".

Second:

No one here cares that much about an occasional "fuck" in a story. Much worse has been said in past games, just with proper warnings / ratings, and please don't cuss anyone out / be excessively vulgar on the forums, and you'll be fine.

Profanity and the Rating System

9 years ago

Yeah, that was the guide I found and read beforehand, I just wasn't sure if profanity would take it up a notch or not.

Okay, that's good! I just didn't want to offend anyone by having the occasional curse in my game. Thank you very much for your help!

Profanity and the Rating System

9 years ago

No sweat. Good luck.

Profanity and the Rating System

9 years ago

PG-13 movies are allowed to say "fuck" once.