Ultimately this is all up to the parents on how to enforce an age limit. Of course there’s always that one karen who would blame the game itself or the creators of the game if something were to happen.
4 Likes
The problem is that NOBODY can assure 100% that Online Interactions will be devoid of predatory or cruel behaviors. The internet cannot be completely safe from those sorts of interactions as every interaction with someone is different. I personally don’t know anyone’s ages nor backgrounds.
Its stupidly easy to lie both on this game, and any platform about your age. Unless we begin doing finger print identification. (God forbid that) or some surefire method of confirming ages. No matter what community online… there’s always that risk.
What can we do to limit or dissuade those who partake in those fields? If we ever come across it, report the situation to Blizzard as accurately as possible. IF you believe it crosses legality, send a hint or concern to Federal officials. And make yourself quite vigilant to never engage in matters with minors.
People will lie, I know I’ve lied about my age online many years ago. But its our own responsibility to avoid putting ourselves in that situation as best as we can.
6 Likes
That isn’t really how ESRB ratings work. It is not illegal to play an M-rated game as a teenager.
This is the right stance to take. A lot of roleplay communities outright ban minor characters.
It is important to shame pedophiles out of the community. You can’t always know someone is going to act on their urges and take advantage of a minor, and you can’t always know someone is a minor, but if you do know, do something about it, and help the poor kids who don’t get it. There is a reason it’s called the age of consent. It’s because kids are simply not mature enough to understand they are being baited by an adult, who knows full well what they’re doing.
(Not pointed at anyone in general, just saying it for anyone who still doesn’t get it)
3 Likes
i just dont rp with child characters at all.
period.
5 Likes
Yeah, people who rp as kids creep me out.
3 Likes
More fun thoughts: Why are we assuming that minors are the ones playing minor characters, and adults are the ones playing adult characters?
When I was a teenager, I tended to play adult characters because being a teenager was awful. Why would I want to also be awful in my fantasy world? In my experience, minor characters are usually played by adults and typically have either explicitly sexual or suggestive themes involved in their RP.
The Lesson: The character age is important to know only when you know the player age. The player age is where there are actual legal consequences.
3 Likes
I’m just gonna ask and report this thread to be locked…
You can be the most wholesome GM of the most wholesome guild in WoW, but that’s not gonna stop a predator from getting in. The answer to this is: there is no perfect answer. The best you can do as a guild member or leader is to watch out for all your members, regardless of their category, by noting potential creepy or deviant behavior, logging it and taking action before it gets out of hand. You may not be the law but you’re a human and common decency still falls in your lane. Problem is there’s been a whole lot of after-the-fact action taken on this server, or sometimes none at all.
Nothing personal to them, but I’m not comfortable knowingly interacting with a minor. I don’t speak for all parents, but if I knew one of my nieces was chatting it up with some middle aged dude over discord I wouldn’t be happy with that. No adult out there needs to be “friends” with some kid they met on a video game and wouldn’t know otherwise.
That being said, there’s gonna be times you’ll found out a guildie was actually minor after a while. Sometimes the topic comes up and they unintentionally out themselves. It sucks to have that sprung on you, especially when you’ve both imbedded yourselves within your player group after whatever amount of time. But there’s no need to vilify them or oust them because for all you know, your guild/group/whatever might have been the safe haven they needed to play this game comfortably. It may just be a wake up call for some to be mindful of what they type or say over voice.
And this “I’m not their parents, its not my responsibility” nonsense is just a disgusting cop-out. That goes for every category, not just age.
6 Likes
As a community it’s just easiest for us to come together, find the bad apples, and report.
When that doesn’t work, we can spread awareness so that said ‘bad apples’ don’t get the opportunity to be predators.
2 Likes
We are not making this assumption – we are acknowledging this part of your post:
It’s the experience for a lot of people.
That “cute, shy, stuttering, weak, little” child can be code for sinister intentions. To me it is a red flag.
1 Like
It isnt just an rp problem, i run a mythic raiding guild on server and had to kick out numerous creeps and predators from my guild even after i put a strict 18 limit in place they still pop up from time to time. I have no problem with rp and erp what so ever but i cringe and have reported players for purposefully looking for sex on an underage character due to how enabling that is for pedofiles.
1 Like
I remember the absolute explosion across the forums and ingame when Blizzard wanted to use real id, it had all the people coming out of the woodworks freaking about their privacy, from just discomfortable feelings about it to people who had serious issues such as being on witness protection. I can’t see Blizzard putting in some kind of similar verification unless a massive shift happens because of how much backlash they got the first time around.
I was the same way when I was younger, because screw writing something my age. I’m here to have a fantasy adventure! Adults have the freedom! So off I went, as a hunter-chef extraordinaire who spent way too munch time running around gathering clothes to wear for roleplay because fashion was very important.
Fanfiction communities and other roleplay communities also exist, and have existed for ages – I remember in my early teenage years there was all the 2nd Person Fanfiction and Anime crazes where everybody would scribble down limes and lemons and whatever else. The popularity in minors writing, reading or sharing 2nd POV fanfictions was one reason Fanfiction and several other sites banned them due to the problem it created in potential lawsuits and whatnot.
This is why when it comes to minor characters I don’t have an issue with the character itself, more of an issue with the player behind the character if there is a reason for an issue. A minor writing a minor can be just as in the black as an adult can, even if their intentions and ways of going around are different. Which also sort of ties into the fact you could end up writing with a minor and not even know it until something slips up or they eventually tell you. Which is why, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t write ERP unless I know the other player is an adult.
If the player has it up front that they’re not partaking in any funny business, will block you over it, and whatever else - yeah, great. But what matters to me, I guess I’m trying to say, is do they actually follow through with that? Or do they say that upfront while acting different with people they’re comfortable with or when they’re in private?
I’unno, those are just my two cents. Most days I don’t even interact with people past reading their profiles so I’m pretty sure if I ever did come across a minor character in the wild, I wouldn’t even have to worry about interactions. LOL.