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

[Jaykobell]

~*~

Hello there you guys. c: It's been a while since we've had an update, yah?

This update is a bit of a big change, in some ways. As some of you may have noticed, Evelon is a bit... finicky with its rating. The site is basically PG-13, which, in broad terms, means that you should be careful with what you write, since children of 13 or younger may be reading them. This is why Evelon has a swear filter on, and why you need to put PG-13 tags in your RP titles, to warn your readers controversial or shocking scenes may be written.

Well, to kick this off, we are glad to announce that you can now swear! We are still keeping the word censoring enabled, however: you may disable it if you so wish! Simply go User Control Panel -> Settings -> Edit Display Options. You can then select whether you want the filter on or off. It is naturally ON, so the swears will be filtered automatically for you. Whether you wish to disable it or not is at your discretion. c:

But this brings us to the main discussion of this topic, and why we have a poll. This is also a discussion, so you are allowed to re-vote if you wish!

Would you like for Evelon to allow more mature RPs?

What does it mean?
Well, we've really been lenient about this, but technically-speaking, subjects such as rape, excessive torture or amount of violence, prostitution... They shouldn't be RPed, so to speak, unless you put a PG-13 tag in your title. That leaves Evelon's basic RPs to be very kid-friendly; you are allowed to RP such content, but you're not allowed to really dwell into it.

OPTION 1: As long as I'm warned it's a 'mature' RP, I'm fine with it.
You have nothing against swearing, obvious implied rape, excessive amounts of gore, so long as the topic title warns you that's what you're going to read. You have no interest in stumbling in an RP that suddenly involves such topics, which might make you feel uncomfortable or just plain disgust you.
If this option is adopted, we will come up with a simple tag legend. G could stand for gore, S could stand for sexual, and so on.

OPTION 2: I don't need warnings. If I stumble upon a point that shocks me, I'll just quit reading! Keep things simple.
Hey, freedom of speech, and all that. Evelon would officially be 'mature', so you have to think that some RPs may very well RP such topics. But then again, you might be missing on an amazing story. There might just be a small amount of swearing now and again, which is why the topic is labeled. Would you prefer to possibly miss out on a good RP/story or avoid a few touchy topics? This is, of course, at your discretion.

OPTION 3: I don't know. This doesn't seem to be a big issue, save for the swearing, so why change things?
Do you feel like the change doesn't need to happen? Since we have enabled the option to enable/disable the word censoring, does it feel like it's really that big a deal?


Keep in mind, this will not influence visuals. You may draw gore if you so wish, but please no bare female chests or naked characters. This counts as explicit and should not be posted on the forums. If the main parts are properly hidden, you're safe, but please no explicit visuals. No furries doing the bow-chica-wow-wow please. XD;

If you feel like anything is unclear, feel free to ask. Even we are rather perplexed at the whole rating issue — it kinda evolved on its own as time went on — so the clearer this can become, the better!

[Freezair]

Well, I personally am not bothered by such topics, so I chose the second answer... I'm from the Internet, kids, y'all can't frighten me. XD But I like the idea of a "tag" system, since I don't think free-range "mature" RPs would probably go over well. If it's standardized and rule-ized, I think that'd be quite useful for signifying more mature RPs. Although I think "S" probably wouldn't do on its own, since it could stand for "Swearing" or "Sexual."

Maybe something like [AS] for "Adult Situations" (as a catchall for suggestive stuff), [FL] for "Foul Language", [BG] for "Blood and Gore," and stuff like that? But I wouldn't do a straight "S" due to ambiguity.

[Moofius]

I'm glad this is becoming more official. xD; Herm I don't think swearing should require a tag, but if there would be adult situations, I think it's fair to put a label. It's like if you wanted to buy a fantasy novel, you don't just browse through the bookstore and hope to FIND one among the non-fiction and romance novels. They're labelled so you kinda' know what you're getting into. I think it's only fair and it's not hard to put a tag in the title or an OOC note on the first post.

So I'd say I guess that's option the first? o3o

[Freezair]

Well, I think it might depend on the kind of swearing. Like, my characters say "damn" fairly frequently, but that's a fairly mild oath. I'm also fond of the phrase "badass," but that's a little stronger, so I generally have been avoiding that for a while, here. (But then again, in the context of "badass," it tends to be regarded as not as bad.) But what if you wanted to use one of the stronger words than that? So I still think maybe a language tag might be useful?

Language is definitely a more nebulous area. Like "hell." Using "hell" in the context of the place is almost never regarded as foul, as is "hellish." But things like "what the hell" or "one hell of a thing" are considered bad. And yet not--like how Donkey Kong 64, an E-rated game, got away with the line "One hell of a guy."

...Oh lawd. Now I'm thinking of a bit from "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," of all the ludicrous things to think about at this time.

"Oh, you must be the nuns from Helsinki!"
"Ah-ah-ah! Actually, we're calling it Hecksinki now."

[Moofius]

I guess, for the worse swears. I dun think badass is bad (infact it's badass! 8B) but then I know people who are like, "Oh NOES! You said DAMN! You willrotinhellforalleternity. " So... I guess, yeah. The language thing would be more of a biased on my part. So yeah, language warning seems fair in that case. o3o

[Elektra]

I wouldn't mind being able to be a bit more free with what I write in some of my RP's, and I know a few others who feel the same.  I'm not some crazy who writes novels with extremely offensive words and horrible situations, but I know a few of my characters have had some extremely bad pasts, and that it has some relevance with their current RP/plot.  I am aware that there are some younger writers, but at the same time, if they're here, can read and write and are aware of what the new tags would mean, I see no problem with putting up specific abbreviations for what might be contained in the RP.  Because then, they have the option to click on the RP, or to go along with their daily lives.

[AnimeTheia]

Maybe there should be a list of swear words that are considered; okay for general audiences; okay for mature audiences (therefore requiring a tag in the title) and just flat out not okay to be used at all, as i'm sure even on other mature pet sites there are certain swear words that are considered just too crude. I for one would not like to see the 'c' word bandied about with or without a tag in the title. I'd also like to know which words would be okay to use and whether there are any (and if so which ones) that can be used completely safely.

[ToxicShadow]

I do have some characters that are definitely out there and I do sort of dance around the PG-13 subject occasionally for one topic or the other. [Having bloodthirsty characters does that to you. xD] I know that I have had to place it into at least two roleplay titles, even if I didn't think they were so bad, I did so to be on the safe side of things.

I would enjoy the extra freedom without having to worry what one little word or one little situation was too much. Characters lives and lifestyles do tend to call for whatever situations suit them, especially when I know a good few people must have some characters with some bad pasts and what not. I would be fine without anyone having to tag. If something really bothers me, I'm fine with just stopping and not reading it any more. Of course, I know that using tags is much more realistic, so either way. I think Freezy's suggestion for tags is good.

"Maybe something like [AS] for "Adult Situations" (as a catchall for suggestive stuff), [FL] for "Foul Language", [BG] for "Blood and Gore," and stuff like that?"

As for swear words...

I have never really seen the words "hell" and "damn" as bad. In general, I avoid swearing in writing, and I don't even like reading it, but I have used these words a fair amount of times. I believe they are a bit different than other swear words, as they truly mean something that was never slang oriented or anything. Hell is a supposed place, and a large part of some of my characters as they are demons. Damn is basically like saying you're doomed/cursed, but, you have a much greater way of saying it, since if you're damned it means you're going to Hell. I don't see anything wrong with badass either. Nor something like, say, calling someone a hard ass or a bastard. xD Again, more realistic terms. Calling someone a donkey~ XD

There are, however, words that are swear words that I view as quite distasteful and don't want to see, regardless. I may be from the internet and have been exposed to vulgar language, but I have been known even in real life to out right smack someone who I know that says something too vulgar. And, in online games, I block my ability to view anything ever typed by some users for their crude language.

I think a certain list of words would still have to banned.

[Kodai]

I agree with Freezy's point for having tags. o 3o We don't want someone crying foul because "oh well I didn't KNOW this was going to be in there".

As for what the tags could be... We could go by the TV system, maybe? Though Freezy's are fine too. o 3o
The TV system uses these letters for programs rated TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA:
   * D for some suggestive dialogue/intensely suggestive dialogue/strong suggestive dialogue
   * L for infrequent coarse language/strong coarse language/crude indecent language
   * S for mild sexual content/intense sexual situations/explicit sexual activity
   * V for moderate violence/intense violence/graphic violence

[Chayden]

I chose the second option as well. I may be rather young [15 :p], but I do not judge writing, as an art, based on the writer's age, and as such will not limit the subject of my writing to those deemed "appropriate for my age" by someone else. I would never dream of disrespecting the rules; I agreed to them when I signed up, after all. We all did.
But I came here to develop my characters, and to find new ones. I came because I was inspired to create by the art, among other reasons.
Personally, I find the "pg-13" tag a bit redundant. If my memory serves, there was mention of a sitewide pg-13 theme when I registered, and shouldn't that be warning enough for some things? Evelon is not all bunnies and rainbows, I suppose. And I know that I am one of the contributors to the "darker" side of our roleplays.
I, too, have wondered what exactly I was and was not allowed to do. If there are elements of a certain story that would be disallowed, I would simply keep it to myself in a Word document or post it somewhere else. So far, I don't think that any of my things have been too graphic, but opinions differ.
Up to this point, I have never featured any sexual content in my posts. Violence, sure - that's my forte. I am not opposed to anything, really. It sounds strange to me when I say it that way, but I will read anything, especially on Evelon. I'll read roleplays for countless reasons; maybe to get a sense of a person's style, maybe because I was drawn to the title, maybe just to see what other people are writing about. I really rather enjoy it. I'm not going to search out or avoid threads with warnings in their titles, though. I'll read as much as it takes for me to be drawn into the story, and decide from there. If I'm pressed for time, I might not go through as much as I might on a day when I have nothing to do, but I'll come back to it, if I'm interested. If the story takes an unexpected turn, wonderful. If it follows a set course, that's also wonderful.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I think it's good to be exposed to different kinds of literature. Not violence or sexual content specifically, just taking a break from the usual.
Like Moof said, you don't go to the romance section hoping to find a fantasy novel. It's not often that you find one there. I see Evelon as the usually nonexistent "random" section of a book store. Sometimes you'll pick out a gem, you know. Not every time, but you will. And if you always stick to the same genre, then you'll never know which other ones appeal to you! Like my mum says, "Try it, because it might end up being your favorite."

So. Short version is short: option 2. Yup yup~ <3

[Mousen]

I read most posts around here, roleplay posts in particular,' PG-13' tag or not. Though, I much prefer the first option, just because I'd like to know what I'm reading before I read it. XD I mean, if I was going to buy a book I'd look at the blurb first. I'll read most things regardless, but it would be nice to have a little warning XD especially if I've got my mom or friend or something looking over my shoulder. XP; I kinda prefer Freezie's tags because there's less of them and my memory isn't good. XD; But it doesn't bother me either way, really. o3o I mean, we occasionally get younger members on this site, we don't want to scar them for life. XD; One of friends is the same age as me(14) and she'd be horrified at anything vaguely suggestive, so I think not having any tags whatsoever mightn't be the best idea, if you understand my awful wording of things. x3;

[Hannah Kerela]

Well, I'm biased toward option 2, personally, because I don't mind mature roleplays, but I chose option 1 out of deference to those that aren't and would prefer a warning. My personal viewpoint there is that, if I want to read it, I will, and if someone doesn't want to, they shouldn't be surprise-bombed with it. However, if there will be limits to how far "mature" roleplays can go (which I imagine there will be), I'd also like those clearly defined.

[Shieba]

I'd like to be able to write my characters more IC and be allowed to swear. And wow, I'm so gonna turn that filter off. I write novels and I also write novels with swearing characters and sexual stuff and things. And I'm indeed from the internet, so I'm just gonna vote for option two. There is nothing that can shock me anymore, really.

[MillietheWarrior]

I'm not...sure why there's a poll about having tags. =/ It's not that hard to just write the 'M' or 'PG' or what have you in the title, is it? I'm definitely for option one. Even mature websites have warnings in their RP titles. Since this website was made for the 'younger audience' I think it would be extremely appropriate to have labels on RPs so they don't inadvertantly stumble into something they should NOT. I mean, I know there's tons of crap on the internet and TV (And God help television if this is the road it's going down, because it's just disgusting nowadays) but still...there are people out there with innocent minds and uncorrupted minds, or views that they'd like to KEEP that way. Warning them is the decent thing to do so they know to steer clear of that particular subject. If you don't use titles, it takes away a choice. "La-de-da, just reading along and...OMG DID THEY JUST USE THE F-WORD?" That shouldn't happen. So I vote option one, for tags in the title.

I am definitely for upping the rating to allow free expression and whatnot, but definitely tag the RPs.

And a list of appropriate words would be nice. I think words that have to do with body parts or bodily functions should be outlawed, as they do on TV (Unless you watch late, late, LATE shows), for the most part. It keeps things cleaner and less offensive than just having words be thrown about willy-nilly.

[Jaykobell]

We have multiple options for the sake of variety/options. A little bit below half of those who want tags (24) voted for no tags (9), so some people aren't against a 'free-for-all' sort of system.
It's ultimately up to the community to mention what exactly they're comfortable with, as well. If the two options get close to a tie, there could be a possibility to not force tags upon people, but to still offer a legend of mature tags (a la Freezy up there).

I also know Baal mentioned... perhaps an actual 'mature' section could be made... if you guys seriously want to go that deep. Pfft. I don't think you'd need tags there... Just a mind of steel. xD;
My mind just went straight into the gutter. 8|

By that point, by upping the rating, we can also up the target audience; so instead of aiming for the 10-14, we can aim for the 15-18, for example. I do remember Baal mentioning she had a completely different idea for the Werecain, but since the site is aimed at younger kids, she had to keep it as kid-friendly/non-scary as possible. The Ein pets are as scary as she can draw due to the target audience she is welcoming to Evelon. I do know she can draw much scarier pets than those, and if the rating goes up — granted, she doesn't draw a lot of new species anymore — her artistic liberties also broaden.

As for the tag legend, we'd adopt a system like Freezy said in her post. Something simple and easy to remember, such as SX for Sexual, SW for Swearing, GR for Gore, etc.
... I've never even heard of the ratings you posted, Kodai.