In opening the door to "17+ experiences," the chaotic platform is allowing kissing, alcohol, and a whole lot of complicated moderation questions. Here's what to you need to know.
As a kid I played a lot of Roblox on my family Windows XP desktop around 2007, and this seems like a very weird change to see as an adult now (I imagine this group of grown up players are a large demo their trying to net)- I bet I would of tried my absolute hardest back then to try and access the 17+ content, especially if they advertised or surfaced the change to users. One thing I disliked as a child was knowing there was stuff I wasn’t allowed to check out, especially in a game I was occupying tons of hours in.
It’s really funny to me how „urination“ or kissing in the mouth are a 17+ experiences in the US. Meanwhile, „light violence“ like the Roblox avatars shooting each other with realistic looking guns is 9+.
From my European perspective, that is really absurd. Video games were much less realistic when I grew up, but I know my mom didn’t approve of Yie Ar Kung-Fu on the C64 when I was 12.
Roblox mentions Marihuana as a sticking point for international audiences, but really violence and romance will be as well, just in different countries.
I like getting specific and in the weeds on this, like describing the difference between 💩 and a turd. It's the silent judgment amidst nebulous wiggle room that frustrates folks on other platforms (adult social ones, Twitter, Facebook, I mean). It's an impossible challenge, and hard lines are equally fruitless, but it makes it feel a bit more... fair?
The classic US disparity in censoring is still pretty stark, though.
Yeah, it seems like a poop is something that most kids will interact with in a multitude of ways, they already poop, they might have a pet that has an accident, when they're older they might have a baby, they might have to look after a Father or a Mother, etc..
I'm sure if they didn't rate it 17+ someone would wail 'What about the Children!' See the recent Drag Queen Storytime nonsense, but all that can be done for gun violence is thoughts and prayers...
As a kid I played a lot of Roblox on my family Windows XP desktop around 2007, and this seems like a very weird change to see as an adult now (I imagine this group of grown up players are a large demo their trying to net)- I bet I would of tried my absolute hardest back then to try and access the 17+ content, especially if they advertised or surfaced the change to users. One thing I disliked as a child was knowing there was stuff I wasn’t allowed to check out, especially in a game I was occupying tons of hours in.
It’s really funny to me how „urination“ or kissing in the mouth are a 17+ experiences in the US. Meanwhile, „light violence“ like the Roblox avatars shooting each other with realistic looking guns is 9+.
From my European perspective, that is really absurd. Video games were much less realistic when I grew up, but I know my mom didn’t approve of Yie Ar Kung-Fu on the C64 when I was 12.
Roblox mentions Marihuana as a sticking point for international audiences, but really violence and romance will be as well, just in different countries.
Yeah, we really have our priorities reversed here. Which, I guess the whole world can tell, what with all the guns everywhere.
I like getting specific and in the weeds on this, like describing the difference between 💩 and a turd. It's the silent judgment amidst nebulous wiggle room that frustrates folks on other platforms (adult social ones, Twitter, Facebook, I mean). It's an impossible challenge, and hard lines are equally fruitless, but it makes it feel a bit more... fair?
The classic US disparity in censoring is still pretty stark, though.
"Heavy bloodshed"? Cool.
A passionate kiss? No.
Yeah, it seems like a poop is something that most kids will interact with in a multitude of ways, they already poop, they might have a pet that has an accident, when they're older they might have a baby, they might have to look after a Father or a Mother, etc..
I'm sure if they didn't rate it 17+ someone would wail 'What about the Children!' See the recent Drag Queen Storytime nonsense, but all that can be done for gun violence is thoughts and prayers...