Content Ratings

[WizardStan]

I want to ask "what's wrong with just writing 'contains guns and boobs' in the description and expecting the user to not be a dumbass?" but I already know the answer to that :lol:

 

[NLS]

I want to ask "what's wrong with just writing 'contains guns and boobs' in the description and expecting the user to not be a dumbass?" but I already know the answer to that :lol:

This is basically what I'm looking for (no, I'm not looking for guns and boobs).
There's no way to prevent people from accessing mature stuff, but at least warning off it contains such content is enough for me. And no need for a rating board and all that, let the devs take 5 seconds of their time to add any needed info if they feel it goes over certain boundaries.

Think I've already said something around the lines of this already, just saying it again :lol:

 

[Jourdy288]

@NLS

Precisely. Now what I'm trying to get through is that with a game that, as you say, warns them if it goes over certain boundaries, should have, as I say, a universally recognized warning like the R-Rating or that big M from the ESRB, or even the fist from PEGI. Is that too much to ask? The developer would just put in a couple descriptors, and boom. When somebody goes to download it, they'll first notice the warning, which should be discreet but noticeable.

@Comrade Tanto
Consistency is definitely important with our ratings! That's why I'm aiming for a universally recognized warning and descriptors.

@Flori_Musicali
I'm not here to start a fight over who knows more about life, although I think my going to Zimbabwe and watching suffering firsthand counts for something. I cannot forget the starving, all the poverty I saw in that terrible place. W/e you're intentions were, I'd like you to know that I understand the simple concept of pain, in many different forms, amigo.
That said, what exactly does my, as you said, 'not knowing !@#$ about life' have to do with making a ratings system?
I'm just trying to help you people out here and improve the community, etc. I only want to be useful and you're only kicking me away...

 

[Vlynndar]

Flair Solitaire -> Casual, Cards, Boobs

Only when the player is female, of course. Singleplayer and all that.

 

[WizardStan]

Precisely. Now what I'm trying to get through is that with a game that, as you say, warns them if it goes over certain boundaries, should have, as I say, a universally recognized warning like the R-Rating or that big M from the ESRB, or even the fist from PEGI. Is that too much to ask? The developer would just put in a couple descriptors, and boom. When somebody goes to download it, they'll first notice the warning, which should be discreet but noticeable.

When you add a rating system like that, however, you aren't saying "this has guns and boobs", you are saying "this has too much guns and boobs for a particular category of users" and who are we to say how much is too much? In the ideal world, you wouldn't warn people that it contains certain stuff, only inform them of it, let the user decide whether that's a good or bad thing.

 

[moxie]

I don't know if you're hard of hearing/reading or something, but I'll try to summarize again:

There will not be a ratings system. The reason is simple - If there is anything on the app store that looks like an official rating, then visitors will hold the administrators of the app store responsible for maintaining "correct" ratings. By "visitors" here, we're not talking about you and I - We're talking about what happens when The Sun or The News Of The World decides to run a story on them new-fangled linux pirate pronmongers. If there is a visible ratings system, then OP/ED/Whoever must keep it consistent. No ratings systems means nobody can accuse them of faulty ratings. That is the important thing here.

"But it is user-driven and optional!" Yeah, right. So you expect people to read and understand that phrase, when you expect them to be too stupid to read a paragraph of descriptive text from the developer?

This is, of course, all from the practical, PR and legal side of things. It is still a bloody stupid idea for all the other reasons that has been put forward, and would end in nothing but endless flamewar on these forums. I fully understand that you're trying to be helpful. The point we try to make you understand is that you aren't. Not in this way. It's a bad idea, it will not happen. Please direct your enthusiasm towards helpful things instead.

 

[Dunny]

I'm going to add a warning to all my software: "Contains explicit sex and boobs, with some graphic (anatomically correct) violence". That should do the trick.

My first app will likely be a BASIC interpreter, and will carry that warning.

D.

 

[WizardStan]

I'm going to add a warning to all my software: "Contains explicit sex and boobs, with some graphic (anatomically correct) violence". That should do the trick.

My first app will likely be a BASIC interpreter, and will carry that warning.

D.

And will reach #1 download spot within a week.

 

[fiori_musicali]

I'm not here to start a fight over who knows more about life, although I think my going to Zimbabwe and watching suffering firsthand counts for something. I cannot forget the starving, all the poverty I saw in that terrible place. W/e you're intentions were, I'd like you to know that I understand the simple concept of pain, in many different forms, amigo.
That said, what exactly does my, as you said, 'not knowing !@#$ about life' have to do with making a ratings system?
I'm just trying to help you people out here and improve the community, etc. I only want to be useful and you're only kicking me away...

I'm not kicking you away. This isn't some fatal battle, it's just me saying it how it is. You don't like what my perspective on the original matter brings to the table, and proceed to try and regain the ground by writing that florid description to prove you're mature, have life experience and the wisdom to qualify for your proposed job. I'm not impressed with your self-proclaimed depth of understanding on the subject of human suffering, but what I CAN infer is that you're trying just a tad bit too hard to "market" yourself on more than one occasions.

To be frank - and I'm sure you agree that I am, blunt even - it kind of irks me the way you have this irresistible urge to stick your hand and leave a mark of yourself in way too many places to be at least adequate in any of them. In other words, stop "distributing" yourself all over the place by presenting claims of skill, insight or expertise in this and that, and instead pick a narrower set of different areas that you're actually strong in, and focus on developing yourself in those. When you have, the community (including me) welcomes your contributions with open arms. But, you're not going to find your strengths by fabricating and then persistently maintaining these illusions that you're some DaVinci who just has a brilliant knack for any imaginable thing. Practice more introspection, less public image polishing, and you'll discover and come in terms with yourself and will be able to harness that creative & productive energy much more effectively and satisfyingly.

What's this, you ask? You should know: I'm just trying to help.

"If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack." -- moron Churchill

 

[lulzfish]

I'm going to add a warning to all my software: "Contains explicit sex and boobs, with some graphic (anatomically correct) violence". That should do the trick.

My first app will likely be a BASIC interpreter, and will carry that warning.

D.

And will reach #1 download spot within a week.

How disgusting... Lua is much better than BASIC.

 

[Dunny]

I'm not here to start a fight over who knows more about life, although I think my going to Zimbabwe and watching suffering firsthand counts for something. I cannot forget the starving, all the poverty I saw in that terrible place.

I'll see your Zimbabwe and raise you Scunthorpe, UK. Sorry dude, but I win.

D.

 

[Dunny]

I'm going to add a warning to all my software: "Contains explicit sex and boobs, with some graphic (anatomically correct) violence". That should do the trick.

My first app will likely be a BASIC interpreter, and will carry that warning.

D.

And will reach #1 download spot within a week.

How disgusting... Lua is much better than BASIC.

This is Sinclair BASIC. Lua simply cannot hold a candle to that, I can assure you. You are forgiven for not knowing what a proper BASIC is.

D.

 

[Jourdy288]

...epic post...

OK, I understand you.

To everybody:

If you don't want a ratings system as Moxie brought out, fine, it's not an issue. But it do think if a game contains potentially offensive content, it can't just be... out there. I think some sort of restrictions are in order regarding stuff like screen shots, and developers have to be extremely careful regarding their descriptions.

And thank you for showing some understanding.

 

[kagato]

I definitely wouldn't impose a blanket ratings system on the app store, for all the reasons stated previously. If it's a store-supplied rating, the store is responsible for the accuracy of that rating.

However, I wouldn't oppose some form of structured "content descriptor". When someone lists their game on the app store, as well as filling out whatever other info is needed, there could be a section for describing the content of the game; the TIGRS form could be used as an example (ignoring the rating and logo, just the descriptor form).

If nothing is supplied (all options default to "none"), nothing is listed.
If any other options are chosen, they're listed below the description, eg: "moderate realistic violence, drug references"

That way you're only advising customers of things that might be objectionable, without guaranteeing anything ought to otherwise be acceptable. It's just a further part of the product description, like keyword tags. But by separating the content guidance form the description text, it's easy to read at a glance; and by keeping it structured, you prevent developers from being juvenile and including guidances like "contains boobies" or "warning: my game is awesome".

 

[GizmoTheGreen]

Jourdy, how about you need to register with an age above 18 to see the 18+ section/entries/games/apps
kinda like how tpb is, anyone (guests) can view any torrent, except porn

you MUST register for that, with an age above 18, however, registration is still optional if you don't need the porn

 

[WizardStan]

If you don't want a ratings system as Moxie brought out, fine, it's not an issue. But it do think if a game contains potentially offensive content, it can't just be... out there. I think some sort of restrictions are in order regarding stuff like screen shots, and developers have to be extremely careful regarding their descriptions.

And that is where "don't be a dumbass" comes in. Just watch, given a short time, a standard description pattern will evolve that everyone likes and just cut-n-pastes. You don't need to be involved with it, it'll just happen.

Jourdy, how about you need to register with an age above 18 to see the 18+ section/entries/games/apps
kinda like how tpb is, anyone (guests) can view any torrent, except porn

you MUST register for that, with an age above 18, however, registration is still optional if you don't need the porn

That's still a rating system that must be imposed by the store. What is classified as 18+? Who decides? What if something slips through and is not rated 18+ that probably should have been? All the same reasons against rating systems apply to your suggestion.

 

[Dunny]

Right! I've been giving this some deep thought overnight, and I have decided that I don't want people to know ahead of time whether or not my app/game contains offensive content.

So from now on, all my software will be marked "Contains fluffy bunnies and images of caring. Suitable for all ages".

I'll include my email address so people can rant at me - sounds fair, and I get to be nasty to people I've never met! Win all round, I think.

D.

 

[darien]

Right! I've been giving this some deep thought overnight, and I have decided that I don't want people to know ahead of time whether or not my app/game contains offensive content.

So from now on, all my software will be marked "Contains fluffy bunnies and images of caring. Suitable for all ages".

I'll include my email address so people can rant at me - sounds fair, and I get to be nasty to people I've never met! Win all round, I think.

D.

This is funny because I planned to do the opposite. I will tell people it has nudity, obscene language, and violent themes, and then disappoint them greatly when it doesn't. Somehow I think I'll get into more trouble.

 

[Dunny]

Right! I've been giving this some deep thought overnight, and I have decided that I don't want people to know ahead of time whether or not my app/game contains offensive content.

So from now on, all my software will be marked "Contains fluffy bunnies and images of caring. Suitable for all ages".

I'll include my email address so people can rant at me - sounds fair, and I get to be nasty to people I've never met! Win all round, I think.

D.

This is funny because I planned to do the opposite. I will tell people it has nudity, obscene language, and violent themes, and then disappoint them greatly when it doesn't. Somehow I think I'll get into more trouble.

Together, my friend, you and I will have the Daily Mail frothing at the mouth with its righteous indignant readership pouring forth complaints about our software. You know it makes sense.

D.

 

[fearofshorts]

Good God! What have our forums created?!