SUGGESTIVE CONTENT & THEMES

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This is an inquiry into RMN's boundaries on adult themes, such as drug and alcohol use and voilence.

The game I'm developing involves drug and alcohol use as central game mechanics, much like how healing/booster items work in many RPG's. The D&A use isn't depicted. The items are simply used from the menu or in battle, but they have names like methamphetamine and fentanyl. I also have a heavy use of sugar as a main diet, such as energy drinks, which is just as harmful and more addictive than many drugs, but would never be questioned.

I guess the question is, how does the community feel about it?

On a similar note, I see a lot of horror games on here so I assume there is a high tolerance for violence. Is there a point where the psychology can be too real? I'm not talking about on screen representations, but an attempt to make the player feel disgusted by something extreme like cannibalism or rape through suggestion. Example; sounds of screaming and torture while moving through a known cannibal base.

These are elements portrayed in popular games like Dragon Age and Fable, but where's the line drawn in RMN? Is it fair game if the proper warnings are applied up front, is the game auto-banned or are players excited for this type of content?

Also, before anyone thinks I'm a psycho. My game also explores the good nature of people, but to portray the world realistically things like cannibalism and rape would need to be at least mentionable. The entire civilization is formed of criminals.
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

The only rule on adult content I can find is that screenshots cannot contain pornographic material.

There's also a rule called "Bad Content Rule." So if your game looks distasteful they can reserve the right to deny it.

Based on that, I would say you can have the themes you discussed provided they are done tastefully.
author=kory_toombs
The only rule on adult content I can find is that screenshots cannot contain pornographic material.

There's also a rule called "Bad Content Rule." So if your game looks distasteful they can reserve the right to deny it.

Based on that, I would say you can have the themes you discussed provided they are done tastefully.


Thank you. Beyond the site rules I'm interested to know how the community at large generally feels about this type of content.
For the record:
- We ask that people do tag in very visible notes on the game page as to what is included in the game (if it has triggers or worrysome aspects).
- No porn or detailed sexual content allowed.
- Questionable content should be treated with basic respect if used.
- Detailed gore and violence is a no-go.
- Hentai games are straight out. Same with torture-porn or fetish-porn.

Basically, if it's in basic sprite dimensions it'll likely get accepted as long as it's treated in a decent manner (with respect and not being made light of). If it's excessive (CGs/movies/descriptions) detail we'll ask for examples and judge from there.

Usually, if I note anything that sounds like it might be questionable, I'll PM the dev and ask for more details about what is included in the game. If something is found too much for the site, I'll ask that the dev either make a version that has that stuff cut (in the case it can be salvaged) or deny the admission. I'm open to talking about submissions ( did so today, in fact).
Can you, say, make an "explicit" version of the game hosted elsewhere, but have a link leading to it from its gamepage here?
@Liberty That's what I thought the rules would be. I'm certainly not making anything too extreme, but it's also enough that I'd have some clear advisory. It's not ready for submission yet but I wanted to make sure as content is added in, I won't need to be cutting it later.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=karins_soulkeeper
Can you, say, make an "explicit" version of the game hosted elsewhere, but have a link leading to it from its gamepage here?

It might be a similar situation where there's a commercially available game that has, for example, a link to the Steam page in the description where users can buy the full game versus a free demo that's uploaded to RMN's server. So, in that respect, dropping a link in the description might be fine. I would highly advise some kind of warning about what kinds of content people are getting themselves into, in the case of explicit content.
author=Jpratt
This is an inquiry into RMN's boundaries on adult themes, such as drug and alcohol use and voilence.

The game I'm developing involves drug and alcohol use as central game mechanics, much like how healing/booster items work in many RPG's. The D&A use isn't depicted. The items are simply used from the menu or in battle, but they have names like methamphetamine and fentanyl. I also have a heavy use of sugar as a main diet, such as energy drinks, which is just as harmful and more addictive than many drugs, but would never be questioned.

I guess the question is, how does the community feel about it?

On a similar note, I see a lot of horror games on here so I assume there is a high tolerance for violence. Is there a point where the psychology can be too real? I'm not talking about on screen representations, but an attempt to make the player feel disgusted by something extreme like cannibalism or rape through suggestion. Example; sounds of screaming and torture while moving through a known cannibal base.

These are elements portrayed in popular games like Dragon Age and Fable, but where's the line drawn in RMN? Is it fair game if the proper warnings are applied up front, is the game auto-banned or are players excited for this type of content?

Also, before anyone thinks I'm a psycho. My game also explores the good nature of people, but to portray the world realistically things like cannibalism and rape would need to be at least mentionable. The entire civilization is formed of criminals.
My games got a lot of the things you mention here and I've been able to have the game up on all the RPG Maker sites I've wanted to, so I wouldn't say the subject matter is what gets you blacklisted, but I'm guessing the context matters. Like if you made a game with the sole purpose of being shocking and nasty, I'd imagine some sites not being that cool about it. As a warning I can say that going that route will still affect the visibility of your game for sure. For example Steam has done everything but delete my game from existence. Like if you search for the game, it doesn't even show up in the search, unless you click this one small notice. At one point I heard Twitch didn't allow any videos with the name of my game and so on... It's a cross you'll have to carry if you decide to go there.
I appreciate the feedback orange. Considering this is a free game on 2k3, I never intended to host on anything major. The context I think is fairly safe and I may tone it down slightly from the original vision, considering it's become a much more polished world.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I'm sure a lot of players are totally into games that go into an in-depth, Stanley Kubrick style exploration of a really dark theme. I absolutely would be if the game itself were also good.

You can explore that kind of stuff in a game in a way that you can't in any other traditional medium, because the player becomes part of the story, and in a way it's happening to them instead of to a character they're just watching on a screen or reading about. You can't really make someone feel the full weight of a scenario like Full Metal Jacket or A Clockwork Orange, but you can get a hell of a lot closer than a movie can. And I think that's an awesome thing to try to do.
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