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PG13?

Lollygag April 25th, 2013 7:24:03am 38 Posts

My boyfriend and I were having a conversation about movie ratings tonight and as a result I ended up on Motion Pictures of America's website reading about film ratings. While reading them it occurred to me that, if HP were a film the MPAA would not rate HP PG-13 or even PG. HP would have a G rating. The following is from: http://www.mpaa.org/ratings/what-each-rating-means G — General Audiences. All Ages Admitted. A G-rated motion picture contains nothing in theme, language, nudity, sex, violence or other matters that, in the view of the Rating Board, would offend parents whose younger children view the motion picture. The G rating is not a "certificate of approval," nor does it signify a "children’s" motion picture. Some snippets of language may go beyond polite conversation but they are common everyday expressions. No stronger words are present in G-rated motion pictures. Depictions of violence are minimal. No nudity, sex scenes or drug use are present in the motion picture. PG — Parental Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children. A PG-rated motion picture should be investigated by parents before they let their younger children attend. The PG rating indicates, in the view of the Rating Board, that parents may consider some material unsuitable for their children, and parents should make that decision. The more mature themes in some PG-rated motion pictures may call for parental guidance. There may be some profanity and some depictions of violence or brief nudity. But these elements are not deemed so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance. There is no drug use content in a PG-rated motion picture. PG-13 — Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13. A PG-13 rating is a sterner warning by the Rating Board to parents to determine whether their children under age 13 should view the motion picture, as some material might not be suited for them. A PG-13 motion picture may go beyond the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, adult activities or other elements, but does not reach the restricted R category. The theme of the motion picture by itself will not result in a rating greater than PG-13, although depictions of activities related to a mature theme may result in a restricted rating for the motion picture. Any drug use will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. More than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating, but such nudity in a PG-13 rated motion picture generally will not be sexually oriented. There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence. A motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, as must even one of those words used in a sexual context. The Rating Board nevertheless may rate such a motion picture PG-13 if, based on a special vote by a two-thirds majority, the Raters feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the context or manner in which the words are used or because the use of those words in the motion picture is inconspicuous. ------- What do you think about the rules on HP as they are now? I actually avoid having conversations in talk because of this ambiguous rule: "Adult oriented topics, such as references to mild movie violence, alcoholic references, and topics concerning current events (like political violence) are now allowed to be discussed on HP, WITHIN REASON! " I don't *know* if I mentioning the Rwandan genocide is against the rules because it isn't a current event. I don't *know* what is "within reason" when talking about recent violent events like the Boston bombings. What about "extreme movie violence" can I mention that I don't like the Saw movies? One moderator gave me a "verbal warning" for discussing horse slaughter. Another moderator gave me a "verbal warning" for discussing the shooting of escaped exotic animals. All of the above topics are things that I would not have a second thought about discussing with my 13 year-old cousin, but things I can't talk about here for fear that someone will find them "offensive." How do you feel about the rules on HP? Do you feel like you can talk openly? I know there are IMO and chatzy rooms specifically created so that HP members *can* talk openly.What kind of content do you feel would be appropriate for the 13 and up set? We are the Pardy Pardy We shake it boom boom We are the Pardy Pardy Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Pardy-Pardy We are the Pardy Pardy We shake it boom boom

 

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Sarbnitrof April 26th, 2013 6:15:14am 11 Posts

I have to ask, what about the Rwandan genocide, or the Boston bombings are relevant to HP? I would just take it as a rule of thumb, that if it doesn't pertain to the game, don't mention it. Now mentioning them as a subject wouldn't violate the rule, in my opinion, but talking in depth about them would. If HP had a means to report posts as being inappropriate, so that the mods can more easily find them, and A) delete them, and/or B) alert the poster that they broke the rules.And on the Movie ratings, HP is a game, technically a video game, so it wouldn't fall under MPAA, it'd get rated by the ESRB (http://www.esrb.org), and based off their definitions, it'd be an "E" rating.

 

Freespin - Retirement April 26th, 2013 6:50:06am 138 Posts

Haha i love this post =D Made my day.

 

Absinthe .:.Pomeranians.:. April 26th, 2013 12:37:27pm 318 Posts

Well said, Sarbnitrof. I completely agree. These are common sense rules. Talking in depth about topics that might be considered sensitive to others is something that on a game like this should be avoided. Not to say talking about these issues is bad, it's just all about the time and place. And a horse game is not the place to discuss such topics. They can (and will) drift into politics, which can very easily spark fights. And that's something we don't need.And as a general rule, if you don't know what "within reason" means, then just avoid the subject all together. You seem to be thinking that HP is censoring you, which, if that's the case, is easily avoided by not coming on here. There a dozens, if not hundreds, of places you can talk about whatever you want. But you should respect the rules that are in place.

 

roooooo ♥ April 26th, 2013 4:12:22pm 1,094 Posts

If you didn't say anything that pertained to the game, well you couldn't say much of anything at all... Of course people are going to talk about current events. I mean, you can't come on HP and expect to be isolated into a little fairyland corner or the internet.

 

misa・brandenburgers April 26th, 2013 6:05:52pm 186 Posts

I agree with Reno - you can go into basic chat at any point during the day and see that most of the discussion in there has little to do with the game itself. I'm not sure what we'd all have to talk about if our topics were limited to HP gameplay!As for the "within reason" question, I think context is a huge determining factor. Like Sarbnitrof said, I have to wonder how something like the Rwandan genocide would come up in conversation? Whereas something like the Boston Marathon bombings could have easily come up, with people worrying about it, wondering how to help out, etc. I also agree with what Veritas said; if you don't know if something is "within reason," it's probably better not to say it/bring it up. I'm obviously unaware of the contexts that resulted in the above mentioned warnings, but the topics do seem a bit sensational for a virtual horse game. There are more appropriate venues to engage in that kind of discussion/debate, if that's what you want to do.My perception of HP has always been that it strives to be both mature and welcoming to people of different ages. While you may feel comfortable saying xyz to one 13 year old (who you know personally), a different 13 year old may not be emotionally/mentally ready to hear or talk about it. You really have no way of knowing, and I think the rules are written to reflect that. I've always felt I could speak openly on here, personally.

 

Samantha - see page to know who to contact directly! April 26th, 2013 6:22:07pm 4,333 Posts

I think Misa pretty much took the words out of my mouth, haha.I had a conversation in chat about the Boston bombings when it was happening. We talked about terrorism, people getting their legs blown off and how that would affect their lives, and what's going on in North Korea at the moment. It was a little "PG-13" in nature and that's fine on HP. It's fine to talk about political happenings on HP. What isn't okay (and what we mean by political violence) is going into gory detail about the effects on the human body from an IED, or posting a picture of people getting beaten up in riots, on fire, or similar. The biggest thing is to remember not to get too inappropriate and drop it if a mod asks you to. If you don't agree with the mod's decision, you can always bring it up to an admin later.You're absolutely right - HP isn't REALLY PG-13, it is more G-rated because it is in nature. It's an online horse and dog game, and really, there's no reason for that to be more than PG as a game. We'd actually be on more of a game-rarting system, in which we'd probably be classified as E 10+ (so Everyone 10 and up) in the US. But we generally refer to movie ratings because they're more recognizable by the general population. We could clean up the rules a little bit to give examples of what is and isn't okay if that would help you to understand what is an isn't okay. The rule is a little vague, I understand that.And the main reason we refer to ourselves as PG-13 is so that we're covered if ever something more PG-13 in nature does come up on the game. Even though we don't allow kids under 13 on HP, 13 year olds are still pretty young (even if they themselves don't think so) and I would rather restrict the discussion of political issues than have an angry parent contact me about what their kid saw on my game. I actually get a good number of emails complimenting us on how clean we keep the game.Maybe we should think about having an 18+ board on the forums where most of the rules on adult content and swearing could be lifted? We do have a lot of adults on HP. The staff would have to talk about this and figure out how, exactly, we would check birth dates (I have a few ideas). But if the majority of players are for it, I'm definitely not opposed to it. We are a mature community for the most part. Thoughts?

 

blitz✊🏻I am not afraid to walk this world alone April 26th, 2013 6:26:51pm 6,483 Posts

I completely agree with what Misa said. You (general) don't know the younger players personally, and some are more mature and "worldly" than others, and thus we have to keep things appropriate age-wise to cover ALL age groups of players we allow on the game.

 

awd ○ Paint Horses April 26th, 2013 7:16:43pm 55 Posts

Sam I love your idea of an 18+ forum. It might be difficult to monitor but I really like the idea!

 

Absinthe .:.Pomeranians.:. April 26th, 2013 7:47:49pm 318 Posts

I like the idea of an 18+ forum, but my only concern is about the topics that could potentially pop up there. I'm part of another Sim game (won't drop the name) that has an 18+ section of the forums and they have topics that I personally feel have no place on a game of this (or that) kind. They are VERY adult in theme. Obviously I'm assuming we'd have rules there as well as to what can and cannot be posted, but that is the only reason I would be hesitant about an 18+ forum.

 

Freespin - Retirement April 27th, 2013 6:29:18am 138 Posts

I think the thing about games like this and 18+ forums are that some people need someone to talk to about issues and dont have people in RL they can do that with so an internet community is able to help. If you find the topics uncomfortable no one is forcing anyone in there, but sometimes people need a computer screen to hide behind to get help or advise? I like the idea.

 

roooooo ♥ May 1st, 2013 2:34:55pm 1,094 Posts

I think the 18+ forum would be a great idea! Maybe it could be password protected and you could get some forum mods to help monitor it better.

 

Midnight Velvet Friesians May 1st, 2013 10:35:15pm 123 Posts

I think an 18+ forum may be a good idea and it may not be. As an adult I do not want to go into any forum on a game where swearing can be allowed. The content should also be appropriate. If you can't be pleasant in a more mature subject than don't post at all.

 

roooooo ♥ May 1st, 2013 10:45:30pm 1,094 Posts

I think that's the thing. If you don't want to possibly see swearing, don't go there. :P

 

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