I would have to say anything but a extreme should be allowed to be made. Because it can with very little effort be not offensive to most people. And I believe that most people are not going to come hear to read philosophy they are going to come hear to play games and there is a wide variety of tastes in games and we should meet the needs of all.
@13ventrm maybe a couple of racis/sexistt jokes in the game? But no character or choice should say something like ‘asians have no brains’ or ‘blacks don’t belong in society’ or ‘women are just sex toys for men’
@13ventrm Um… You’re missing my point. I say that stories should reject kyriarchal structures, which is something that oppresses homosexuality. By harmful values, I mean those promoted by the kyriarchy. The end goal is to alter the state of things into something all-inclusive.
And to be honest, rejecting all contemporary stories is pretty hard to do. There would be very little to enjoy otherwise, but just because you like something doesn’t mean it cannot be criticised.
My line: Rapeish stuff, graphic murder/torture, and sometimes sexism/racism depending on their usage. Other than that, while i might not personally agree with it, it won’t ruin the game for me.
@13ventrm An interesting subject (and an important one too, IMO).
First, something to keep in mind. Everyone draws the line somewhere different, and one person may draw the line very differently from what you expect.
As for where I personally draw the line? Eh, it depends on how well handled the story is. I don’t think there is really anything that drives a story right out for me. Likewise, my opinion of what is appropriate to cover is, so long as you can handle the material well, it’s fine to cover.
Examine the dynamics of depiction and see what sort of message it sends and how well it gels with pre-existing tropes. Seeing how pre-existing tropes are kyriarchal in nature…
No racism, homophobia, sexism or sexual violence. No deliberate killing of innocent people. Lewdness is welcome, though, as long as it isn’t done in a sexist or violent way.
@13ventrm, you ask if there should be constraints on what stories people can write. I’m strongly against external constraints (censorship) and strongly in favor of internal constraints (you could call it self-censorship, but I like “conscience” better).
There’s no subject that should be out of bounds for fiction… but plenty of subjects that (when written the wrong way) produce stories that reinforce real-world patterns of oppression, exclusion, cruelty, and exploitation.
When I see an author heading down that route, I try to appeal to their conscience on whatever common ground I can find.
When the conversation turns to existing pop culture that feeds into the big lies of our civilization, I comment on it, to awaken the conscience of people who might not have seen it that way before.
When I’m trying to figure out the right way to handle a sensitive subject, I ask people who have been on the wrong side of it. I need them to shape my conscience.
I don’t think that there is a line. If a film contains X and you don’t like X, just don’t watch that film.
Seconded.
And I say, if you can convince the person who wants to make the film that it would actually be better without X, winners all round.
Not really. Convincing people to change something is basically only a “win” for those that wanted the change in the first place, and its not always a fact that the change was necessarily for the better. Better for some perhaps, but not for all. Everyone can’t be a winner.
My line is the same as @Raven’s and @Canisa’s, but less strict. Depends how graphic. And who the character is.
I would agree with bikkje we should reach all adeances and have a spectrum of explisit material in our story’s and if you don’t like x read closer to the other end of the spectrum.
Personally I would be fine with anything but or a story that’s only written out of hate. But that’s just me I am fairly liberal