The negativity behind an ADULT CONTENT rating

I think we need to stay away from name-calling and judgmental posts. Not everyone reads the FAQ or all pinned posts. It doesn’t make them a bad person. :roll_eyes:

As for the topic at hand, I think there’s just a stigma that the adult content label is only concerned with smutty stuff. That’s the impression I had when I first joined, and it’s why it took me a long time to even join the adult group. In fact, I only did so a few months ago. Whether that’s an accurate idea of the label, it does not matter. It seems to be what most people think of it.

I think that combined with the fact that people will lose traffic of their WIPs is a concern for many authors.

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I honestly don’t think so. Even if someone were to comment on every and all WIP threads about the new classification, those posts would be buried.

I know I’m sounding like a broken record, here, but at some point, people need to be responsible for what they do and don’t know on the forums. The information is readily available, and for the most part, everyone is very nice and accommodating - almost to a fault.

It’s been at least 2-3 months since these reclassifications started occurring. It’s almost getting frustrating to see people still debating it :confused:

I both edited and apologized. If you would like to continue this conversation further, please take it to my PMs. Thank you :slight_smile:

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Yes, precisely what I mentioned as well! I’m not alone in feeling this way xD

And @sviyagin, I feel that the pinned topic with the master list of adult WiPs is good enough measure to raise awareness :slight_smile:

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To be honest, maybe it’s because I’m American but I feel the adult content tag should only be for smut or exotic. Most games and tv shows/movies with violence in them are only rated T/pg-13 with the best being M/R. so it seems weird for war or games featuring violence to be in the adult section. (definitely, since they are usually no warning with games or movies featuring violence)

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Thanks! It’s much appreciated. Keeps this place more positive! :+1:

I agree with @ashestoashes018. I don’t think there is anything to be done about it.

It still concerns me as I think WIPs that are placed there get less traffic. Even @will made a “safe” version of his WIP thread after he got moved so that he could continue to attract readers.

Is there a way to make it so that a WIP can be tagged first and foremost as such and then get an adult “lock” on it, meaning that the WIP can still be easily found but not accessed unless you are in the adult group? I’m not sure if the forum can even accommodate this though.

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Right now the master list is pinned to the top of the WIP section, but I wonder if it would be more useful to pin it to the whole forum. Or pin a different post about the adult section to the forum (instead of just linking to it in the welcome to the forum thread). It would be more obvious that way for sure

I’m honestly fine with the way it is now, but if people are concerned about this issue/want others to be able to find the adult section more easily, I think this is a change that could potentially help

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The man with four tentacles and a beak for a face!

That was just a side thread for TDUP that I put up for feedback about the possible future sexual content of the C’looth-Thili storyline, which centers around a man who made a pact with an ancient god for immortality and had his features shifted into that of an octopus as part of the ritual. Hence the name.

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I find this rather…problematic statement to make. Especially given that the oldest thread in the adult section is actually dated in 2013 — which of course, would mean that by virtue of at least moving old threads that would qualify under adult content, should be there. I don’t think SoH should be an exception to that given that. Doubly so since the last book came definitely within the announcement of having a specific category for adult content should’ve made the cut

[And given the graphic nature of the third book, I think it definitely should’ve qualified]

Though even the idea of having a “legacy title” and therefore exempt from being moved until further notice — for a plethora of reasons — rubs me the wrong way, I guess. I agree with the supposition though that the mods haven’t gotten around moving things since the forum is a huge place after all

Having said that though, like a lot of reports before me, I wasn’t aware we had an adult category until recently (and I’ve been around for at least three or four years haha — so I’m definitely in that club of clueless forum goer) and I can imagine the frustration for authors who otherwise weren’t notified about the move. I do agree though that we should have that section, especially since there have been a lot of darker WIPs lately

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I did a quick search of which games ESRB will label as adult, and this is what I found (disclaimer: I’m not a video game player so pardon any things I may have overlooked):

Games with this rating contain content which the ESRB believes is only suitable for those aged 18 years and older; they contain content with an impact higher than the “Mature” rating can accommodate, such as strong sexual themes and content, graphic nudity, extreme portrayals of violence, or unsimulated gambling with real currency.

And quoting @Gower from the adult WIP master list:

As it is, both ratings do cover specifically explicit violence. And personally I feel it’s warranted for IFs with graphic violence to be listed as adult as it can be a trigger topic, and not one I feel minors should be exposed to.

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Then the ESRB need to recheck Manhunt, resident evil, GTA because they all feature extreme violence but they only rated M. (which mean they sold on shelves and minors can buy them if they look old enough.)

I haven’t seen that until now. Yeah, I feel sadistic violence might need to go in the adult section. (though I would prefer it to just be in another section) But if The 100-year war the IF game(which doesn’t exist) have to go there as well because of violence then I don’t know. (also just like everything else minors can easily lie about their age and view these contents so no matter what it’s a lose-lose situation.)

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I respect your position

I did not mean to imply or explicitly say a published game or WiP should be “exempt from being moved.”

In the end, I feel it is up to you or any other community member who feels a particular game or WiP should be moved to flag it for a moderator or staff member to determine if it should or not be moved.

I was speaking from my perspective and it was my personal view that I was doing so myself for the reasons stated.

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Aw yeah I did his romance line when he came out.

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Honestly the only negative thing I see and I think other wip authors may see about being in the adult-fiction category is M3. The association with M3 since everyone is still reeling from it is probably why a lot of people were or are not too happy about being on the list.

I personally went out of my way to state on my thread my wip will not do what M3 did, being in the category and being fantasy had me worried a bit. I also openly stated in a positive way that my wip was added to the adult-fiction category.

Since then I have actually noticed a lot more people deciding to join the adult-fiction category. Before I don’t think anyone even willingly submitted their wip to it, especially considering there was only one other wip than mine in it, but I think that is all it takes, one person to show it isn’t a bad thing and that the mistakes of the past won’t drag down the category and people change their minds.

I should also note BM’s relative popularity may have contributed to others associating it as a positive category. And I believe it should be thought of as that. I think of it that way personally.

Let it be known we have at least one wip author who is not only okay with being in the adult-fiction category but proud of it. And I am sure I will not be the last one who feels this way.
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Nah I think it’s just the proportionally lower audience.

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Being in a category with significantly less competition and a list with your wip in it may not lead to less popularity, despite being locked behind a small opt in choice.

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That and some authors may take it as a value judgement of their work (though it is not).

Perhaps, but I think the M3 stuff may still effect some authors perspective on it.

Yeah Sam really took it badly as a judgement on the quality of his work, though I think there was a bit of a feedback loop of antagonism between him and some others as well. Hence the whole “being good forum citizens” thing which has popped up recently and which I fully support.

As a former forum mod, let me just stick my head in to say: we responded when things were brought to our attention through flags. I didn’t have time to read WiPs other than my own, let alone screen them for adult content. Staff have even less time than mods for that kind of housekeeping.

Mods aren’t here to be community police or housekeepers (that’s also in the FAQ) but to respond to alerts from the community. If no one in a thread’s audience speaks up and says, “There’s content here that we think minors shouldn’t be reading,” the mods almost certainly aren’t going to know about it. So if you think there’s a WiP that should be in Adult and isn’t yet, PM a mod or flag it with a note. That’s when it’ll be sorted.

On another note: while of course it’s possible to be a good forum citizen (friendly, polite, constructive, etc.) without reading the FAQ, you’ll always be a better one for having taken the time to read them. Systematically relying on others to tell you when you’ve broken a rule is…well, “irresponsible” and “immature” are much too strong, but “less responsible that you should be expected to be” is I think about right.

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As a personal friend of Samuel Young, I can tell you it wasn’t the adult content situation that irked him the most. But no need to worry about that, we should leave it behind.

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