Would you like for Evelon to allow more mature RPs? (PLEASE Read the post below before answering!)

[Shieba]

...I'd totally be up for a M-rated section. Granted, I haven't written anything rated M, ever, but I'd love to try in the future, maybe, if I can without my head exploding from embarrassment. As such, I'd welcome such a section. I also like to read M-rated stuff which isn't gore and torture...

[Freezair]

Maybe you can't see the M-rated section before you join? And while I wouldn't restrict it based on age alone (that seems silly), maybe there should be a way to "hide" it from someone or "kick them out" if it's obvious they're not "ready" for such a thing. (Like if their "mature" RPs are mostly just an excuse to drop the F-bomb a lot, or other decidedly less mature "heehee watch me break the rules" behavior). What TVTropes calles Rated M For Actually Mature.

I dunno.

[Jaykobell]

I actually thought about that too, Freezy. I'd be more comfortable with that (and so would the others from the staff, I'm quite sure) than having every little kid stumble upon that section — even though I doubt it'll get used a lot. xD;
Save for explicit sexual scenes, you'll pretty much be able to RP... anything. For extreme gore and torture... I suppose it'd go there, but I don't think we have anyone that's really hardcore hardcore hardcore HARDCORE into extreme gore/decapitation/torture/etc.

It's interesting to note some people aren't too much against an actual Mature section.

And something I forgot to mention in my previous post: yes, we will make sure to try to make things as clear as possible once this is decided, so that you can know as clearly as possible what you can RP and what you cannot. A list of the 'mature' swears will also be displayed, however; this is the Word Censoring Evelon currently has. Obviously... warning for swears. xP
If you have any suggestion for more words to be added in (such as the pretty C word Theia mentioned), feel free to mention them.

[Freezair]

You could make them "funnier." More Evelon-appropriate. Or just sillier. Like
[sexually explicit reading material] could become "prawn," as in the kind of crustacean. Or [crude term for primary sexual characteristics of females] could become "tiny Draculi." That kind of thing.

[Chayden]

xD Yes, Freezy! That'd be hysterical! I'm all for it~

[Middy]

I myself, am all for having a Mature tag and being able to read/write what I wish. If anything if such a thing were to come into play, I would be more then willing to RP again. I DO write a lot containing extreme gore (torture, dismemberment, etc) and sexually explicit material. (I am one of those hardcore people you mentioned Shrewd. XD)

Besides that point, I wouldn't mind putting tags for different things. That way people would know beforehand what kind of content will be in such an RP. I am also in favor of a Mature section, and yes... I would frequent that place often (I really can't do G rated RPs anymore haha)

I also like Freezy's idea of blocking off the M rated board from people that are visiting, and will only have access to seeing it when they join. In fact, I am in favor of all of Freezy's ideas. Thumbs up to you!

That is just my view on it, (oh wow, after that I wonder if anyone will RP with me anymore x.x;) If I didn't word anything right I apologize. Really jittery right now XD

~Midnight

[Freezair]

I don't think I'd agree with allowing really explicit sexual content; anything beyond "fade to black after flirty-talk" I'd probably be against. Not because I'm a prude, mind you. I'm one of those people who believes that art can, should, and must explore issues of sexuality and sexual relations in order to paint the most complete picture of humanity and reality--or, in less hoity-toity terms, I think it's worth writing about because it's important to people.

But the reason I would be against it here is because, if you start including explicit sexual content in a work, especially if it's a website, you will probably draw a specific type of crowd. Even if your goal in writing was not to titillate, and you purposefully make your work as unarousing and awkward--even gross!--as possible, you will tend to attract people who think that you did want to turn them on. If you're writing a book or making a movie, it's unavoidable but not generally a problem--unless you attract the kind of creepy people who troll fanboards, there's no feedback. If someone is attracted to your work, it's in the privacy of their home (generally) and it's their business and nobody else's. But if you're on a forum, you have to personally deal with the fact that you're attracting people who are only there for the prawn, and will likely be open about it, and may end up generating an atmosphere that is uncomfortable for those who are not in it for the sexuality.

Some sites are more open about their sexy content and make sure they're upfront about it, but unless we wanted to become a full-fledged "mature" site in general, I wouldn't recommend it.

tl;dr: Explicit sexual content will probably draw people who are only in it for the pr0nz, and I'm not sure that's what we want.

[Shieba]

I dunno, Freezy, we wouldn't be exactly the first result Google spits out when you search for furry p0rn. And, coming from another forum which has member-only sections, I know I have yet to get these to show up in Google at all. And I don't think we'll generate enough mature sexy stuff in general to target a real audience. There are other sites out there which do that much, much better. I basically agree with Middy in saying that it would benefit the RPing a lot to not be censored at all anymore, so I'm still all for it.

[Jaykobell]

For the very, very explicit RPs, please don't get your hopes about that, if we do end up agreeing to a Mature board. Our aim isn't to target older audiences (including older adults), but to just make RPing looser. Yes, we will most likely target slightly older audiences, but as Freezy said, we're really not trying to aim for that kind of audience.

There's also the fact that Baal has to agree to this, and as far as I know, she doesn't like the idea of pr0n RPs on Evelon at all. If it's located in a special Mature-Only board, then perhaps she will consider the idea; she's actually the one who proposed the Mature board if you guys want one in the first place. So, in actuality, telling us what you would like to RP in there would be useful in telling Baal what we would be getting ourselves into.

There is, of course, very little risk, I suppose, in allowing those RPs. Unless you specifically search for 'Lands of Evelon', I don't think we show up much at all on Google (maybe on page 20398407375 or something but), and as Shieba said, I doubt we'd be easy to find for 'furry pron'. However, it takes only a few people to tell their friends, for their friends to tell their friends, to tell those friends, to tell those friends. And, while also unlikely, after just a few new members popped up, you get a part of the community getting on here for the sake of that particular board.
But while I understand the risks, I think they're fairly unlikely. We're a very small community, so I doubt anything harmful could come out of it.

[Elektra]

I'm all for a mature section.  I can go hardcore if I wish, and although I most likely wouldn't dare go into sexual scenes, I can definitely do gore and or torture RP's with a few of my characters.  I agree with Shrewdy and Shieba that the risks are pretty unlikely, and even less than that if they're only viewable by members.  

And Middy, drop me a PM, since I'm still willing to RP with ya.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one who writes things like that (though they never really make it any farther than a word document).  -shot-


Sorry if that makes almost no sense at all, I'm running on five hours of sleep here...

[Shieba]

What I would RP? Definitely no gore and torture and rape. I would like to RP mature scenes, but, knowing me, it would be more like "Purple Prose Version 1A". Meaning it wouldn't be all dirty but instead so full of mush and romantic and love and things that it would look less like p0rn and more like really intense romance? But it would be explicit, yes.

And I don't get why people think sexual content needs more checking than torture. To me, torture and gore is far worse than the horizontal tango. Seriously. Love is beautiful. <3

[Freezair]

There's also the fact that people tend to be less comfortable with sexuality-related topics in general. While violence and swearing are considered fairly low-grade offenses in the world of mature content, anything XXX-related tends to get the smackdown and unnerve people more than usual--probably for the connotations of titillation. Rant about the hypocrasy all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that this is how people tend to react.

While I believe it's good to be able to talk about such topics, I believe there's also the time and place for becoming accustomed to it, and, whether or not it's the time, Evelon is probably not the place. As much as we don't want to attract the wrong crowd, we also don't want to put people off--people who might be OK with the blood and bad language, sure, but sexytimes? No sirree. I may not agree with that mindset, but I don't believe in forcing "free love in writing" down anyone's throats either. Making people confront a topic--via the medium of a supposedly just-for-fun let-your-hair-down fantasy RP site--probably isn't going to win friends.

[Shieba]

I still find gore and violence SO offensive and have no problem at all with sexytimes. D8 Seems Freezy and I have found another topic to discuss about, lol.

And well, a mature section implies that you don't have to check it if you don't want to, right? If I may make more suggestions:
1) Divide the mature section into parts. Like the graveyard. Make one section for gore and violence, one for heavy swearing and another for sexytimes. And maybe one for all together? That way, everyone knows what they click onto.
2) I know that would be work for the mods, but hey, we aren't such a big community. And Shrewdie was awesome to me before and made the evil Posting Games section vanish for me. I don't see it anymore, I don't get notified when posts are there - it's GONE! 8DDDDDD Maybe the mods could do that for members who absolutely don't want to see the mature section, too?

I dunno. Just throwing ideas out there. Seems like most people want the mature section for gore. Ho hum. Am I the only one wanting it for happy stuff? D8

[Jaykobell]

Actually, Freezy put why I'm not too comfortable with it perfectly: it tends to scare people off.

I feel a lot worst inside watching Boku no Pico/Bible Black than watching, say... Apocalypse Zero maybe (which is more gore than sexytimes, though nudity is relatively heavily involved).
Gore and violence isn't very shocking because that's what you see on TV all the time. Sexytimes... not so much. And when you do see it, it's a BIG deal. Remember Tiger Woods? Ohoho.

And I also don't think a very thorough Mature board would even fit Evelon. Perhaps in due time, with the rules loosening more and more, a Mature board will be made, but a full-fledged one right off the bat seems too sudden; and as I've said, Baal must agree to this board (this is still her forums and we never do this sort of drastic change without her agreement), and she doesn't like the idea of pron on the forums.

But:
-Yes, we would make different sections or subforums for them. We would hide it to everyone, and you would need to tell us which sections you want revealed. If you don't want to see gore, but you'd enjoy some passionate love, you could ask for only the love section. This is easy and do-able.

But, again. I keep stressing it because I don't want people to assume this discussion is leading to anything. It may make Baal stop and think, but ultimately, this decision is hers to make. You can discuss it further (having guidelines for big things like this is good), but don't expect it to be accepted. It's actually more of a side-note.

And LOL @Shieba's horizontal tango.

[Freezair]

Aaaand I just broke down into giggles knowing that Shrewd has watched Boku no Pico.

(My favorite euphemism is the Shakespearian "beast with two backs.")