Pre-screening Process

Would you want generic role play sections pre-sorted by age?


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Shenorai

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Original poster
This is something that has just outright irked me since I joined up here.​

As much as I like how we have sections specifically for certain age groups, I absolutely loathe how it is only utilized for "Mature" purposes. Firstly, the ability to have sex is not proof of mental maturity. Secondly, why do we have age-specific groups only for smutty stories?

It's frustrating when I go to a specific section due to the automatic screening process of age and there is a blurb of text at the top of the said section that clarifies, "This section is for roleplays with a lascivious or sexual theme." Ever had a kid disrupt a campaign run by mostly adults and drive the story into the ground? Ever seen an adult purposely derail a kid-friendly tale just to frustrate the younger players? I'm sorry, but I doubt I'm alone when I say that it would be fantastic to have one forum just for adults to play together and one forum just for the teens and kids to play together without hormones devolving the plot into a hot, sticky mess.

Now, I'm not saying that we should scrap the sex areas and replace them with something more prudish. I'm sure there are many people who initially joined for the sex or they have an appreciation for such content. But by having sections for generic RPs that sort the age for you will save the GMs far more time screening through applicants if they only want a specific age group.
My Suggestion:
Rename the current Mature[A] and Mature[T] sections to something that makes it obvious that the sections are sorted by age. Perhaps something like"Adults Only" and "Teens Only" or "Night Club" and "Playground" or "≥18" and "≤17" just for the sake of clarity. Change the rule blurb at the top to simply state that the other age group has no permission see this section. Add tags for the generic genres found on the rest of the forum.

If the forum's formatting permits, create a new subforum and a sub-subforum in both areas. Obviously, make sure that the age permissions are changed accordingly. For the teens' subforum, call it "Cathouse" or "Massage Parlor". For the adults' subforum, call it "Bordello" or "Call House". If those names don't suit you, there are several synonyms to choose from if you look them up on Thesaurus.com. The sub-subforums are the where the sign-ups/discussion threads for the smut sections go. Add a warning stating that the contents are of a sexual nature to the description and move the current content accordingly.

If the forum's formatting does NOT permit for a subforum in a subforum, then lump the sign-ups/discussions into the same subforum and add new tags. These new tags should make it obvious where the RP will be held (whatever it will be named), such as; [Bordello: 1x1], [Call House: Yaoi], [Cathouse: Yuri], [Massage Parlor: Group], [Bagnio: Closed] and so on.

tl;dr version:

Adults Only
- Adult Signups
- Sexual Content
- - Sexual Content Signups

Teens Only
- Teens Signups
- Sexual Content
- - Sexual Content Signups

OR

Adult Only
- Signups
- Sexual Content

Teens Only
- Signups
- Sexual Content

This makes the purpose of such sections FAR more obvious. No more confusion, includes a far easier screening process, people can still have their sexytimes, and it grants a sense of reassurance for players who are tired of other age groups disrupting the plot to the point of being unplayable.
 
Those sections are specifically for sexytimes genre because that is a huge genre of roleplaying in and of itself. D: We do not want to adjust them for a wider purpose.


We've considered having adult/teen only sections before, but have decided against it. We feel like it can cause the same kind of problems that organizing forums by Skill Level would cause. Just because someone is a teenager doesn't mean they're a dumb kid, and just because someone is an adult doesn't mean they're going to screw up a family-friendly roleplay. That doesn't happen so often that it's a huge problem between age groups. I have never seen AGE as the underlying cause of those kind of behaviors, just people's lack of etiquette or information. And when it comes to "Teen Appropriate Content" Iwaku has a very liberal opinion, and as a whole don't feel like teen members need to be protected from things like gore, violence, profanity, etc. It is also a fact that many adults prefer Family-Friendly style roleplays and segregating them in an adults only forum isn't going to create the kind of solution you're looking for.

If someone breaks the rules of your roleplay, you kick them out of the roleplay for breaking your rules or report them if they refuse to leave and cause a big problem. That's all that needs to be done. Protecting the content, theme, and style of your roleplay is part of the Game Master's job. That includes age checking if you feel an age group isn't right for your roleplay!

What we ARE working on is a new rating system that will mark your roleplays for contents! We can also make sure it marks a GMs age requirements, but it will still be up to the GM to enforce their personal preferences.
 
I might be missing something, but couldn't people just specify requirements when making their roleplays?

If I wanted to do a horror story, and I didn't want any kids, then I could create a plot and a sign-up form and request that all participants be eighteen or older. I mean, I see people requesting X amount of boys/girls for their mixed group roleplays, so if you want an "adults only" roleplay, why not just do that? It seems like an easier option to me.

Besides which, being over eighteen doesn't always mean a lot for maturity. I'm twenty-five and most of my friends are about the same age; some of them are less mature than my teenaged cousins...
 
You seem to be under the impression that I'm saying that Adults should ONLY RP in this section and Teens should ONLY RP in that section.

This is not the case, I assure you. But if you want to eliminate that confusion, then either rename the Mature areas or add a description to the index page. An image of a stick figure giving a massage to another stick figure is not very informative.

There are times when people want to restrict their RPs and just play with a certain age group instead of having their stories out in an open section. If a GM wants to keep kids or adults out of their RP, why not just put the forum permissions to work instead of making the GM sort through that prerequisite? Currently, tags don't really stop people from popping in if a GM doesn't want them in. I'm sure that attempting to code tags to be able to restrict ages is far more of a headache than most coders would want to deal with anyway.

Trust me: When you deal with a certain age group for far too long, you want a break from them. Especially when the people signing up don't take the time to actually read the prerequisites before wanting in. Hell, even AFTER you set up the requirements and expectations, you still get people who ask about this that and the other because they didn't take the time to read. It's obnoxious.
 
This is not the case, I assure you. But if you want to eliminate that confusion, then either rename the Mature areas or add a description to the index page. An image of a stick figure giving a massage to another stick figure is not very informative.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but naming the mature sections Mature [T]eens and Mature [A]dult, with a brief description provided isn't enough? Not many have problems with distinguishing the two nor do they have troubles figuring out you have to be between the ages of thirteen to seventeen to roleplay in the Teen section and eighteen and older to roleplay in the Adult section (and who seriously wants to roleplay smut in a forum called the Cathouse?!)

There are times when people want to restrict their RPs and just play with a certain age group instead of having their stories out in an open section. If a GM wants to keep kids or adults out of their RP, why not just put the forum permissions to work instead of making the GM sort through that prerequisite? Currently, tags don't really stop people from popping in if a GM doesn't want them in. I'm sure that attempting to code tags to be able to restrict ages is far more of a headache than most coders would want to deal with anyway.

It is a Game Master's job and responsibility to manage their own threads. If you can't do something as simple as make sure your players are of the age you requested than maybe you shouldn't be a Game Master (there's also something called a Co-GM to help things along). I'm from another site with very little organization so all the threads or clumped together and so are age groups. Not that, that's a problem since most don't judge by age but by maturity level and skill. To help sort through the players, the GM's simply request either a password to make sure the player read and understood the rules or simply prompts the person in question. Those who fail at both get booted; simple as that.

Trust me: When you deal with a certain age group for far too long, you want a break from them. Especially when the people signing up don't take the time to actually read the prerequisites before wanting in. Hell, even AFTER you set up the requirements and expectations, you still get people who ask about this that and the other because they didn't take the time to read. It's obnoxious.

I'm sure all seasoned GMs had this experienced (I know I have) and it's simply a matter of kicking the person out our prompting them.
 
"Mature" does NOT mean "Sex". It simply means "To become fully grown" or "To become an adult". Look it up: http://thesaurus.com/browse/mature?r=76&src=ref&ch=the

Sex is an action of procreation, not the act of maturing. After roleplaying for over a decade, I have seen forums that, believe it or not, separate their Mature section and their Sexual Content in order to cater to adults who do not wish to deal with kids.

I just don't see why forum permissions cannot be used to make a GM's job simpler rather than to only use it to avoid potential legal issues. (Which, judging from this thread, doesn't work very well anyway due to lack of clarification.)
 
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We didn't name that section based on the literal meaning of Mature, but on the Ratings level Mature you see for TV or Games. D: That level tends to be for things that contains sexual content. But it is on our to-do list to find a name for that section that people can't mix up.

That PSA thread also has absolutely nothing to do with lack of clarification, the mature forum, or otherwise. That is an unrelated topic.

But like I explained in my post, having age restricted forums doesn't seem to be the solution to what you're looking for. Since you said yourself, you're not saying these sections to be Adults Only or Teens only. Adding forum permissions and age restrictions is meaningless if it's not about the age group, but about the content itself.

So our upcoming ratings system that mark contents should be enough to let potential players know when a roleplay needs to have more mature players vs family friendly.
 
The NC-17 and [M] for Mature rating on video games and other media also have certain target audiences in mind. You know how that target audience is sorted? By age.

As an adult who has already stated several times that hey, perhaps there are adults who do not want to deal with younger players in their RPs, then yes. Age restriction IS what I am pushing for and IS the solution I am looking for. For I am, indeed, an adult who does not wish to deal with children or teens in certain stories. I wouldn't have suggested it if it wasn't something I am seeking. Otherwise, I would have had my tale moved out of the Mature section by now.

We have the technology to pre-sort players for the sake of those who don't have the time or patience to go through every applicant's profile to see if they, on a personal level, are fit for the story without running the risk of "___ is being prejudiced against me because I'm too old/young for their story! Do something, Admin!" being thrown about by players who can't take a simple 'no' for an answer.

But if coding a rating system is easier on your team than moving threads to a new section, fine. Can't cater to everyone, it seems.
 
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*Headsdesk* Because Iwaku already spoils us with a lot of nifty features and roleplay gizmos and are hard at work with more cool features and nify gizmos and. What you are suggesting is not needed. If you don't have the time and energy to moderate your own thread then - again - you can find yourself a co-GM or two or simply wait until you have more time to do so. And why so literal? I know of a couple of sites who use MA ratings to mark smutty literature. Again I don't see the big deal. And that thread mostly was made not because there were clarification issues, but because people were neglecting to read all of Iwaku's policies:

There seems to have been some confusion about this from several incidents and people don't seem to make a habit of keeping up with our ToS, so let's make this super extra special clear!


If Iwaku does not meet your standards then find another site. The Iwaku staff does not cater to the needs of one single person bu the needs of the whole site and what you are suggesting is ridiculous and unneeded if only because there are other solutions you seem dead set on looking over making excuses for.

But if coding a rating system is easier on your team than moving threads to a new section, fine. Can't cater to everyone, it seems.


By the way, I'm, pretty sure both Diana(?) and Jared work on the mechanics of Iwaku, not a team.
 
What we ARE working on is a new rating system that will mark your roleplays for contents! We can also make sure it marks a GMs age requirements, but it will still be up to the GM to enforce their personal preferences.
I like this solution lots. Lots and lots of lots. Having some quick tags visible when scrolling through roleplays and signups and interest checks sounds appealing, and I have to add that if these were made searchable it would be a little better. That's including some of the content tags already implemented.
 
As an adult who has already stated several times that hey, perhaps there are adults who do not want to deal with younger players in their RPs, then yes. Age restriction IS what I am pushing for and IS the solution I am looking for. For I am, indeed, an adult who does not wish to deal with children or teens in certain stories. I wouldn't have suggested it if it wasn't something I am seeking. Otherwise, I would have had my tale moved out of the Mature section by now.

That's cool, but you're not the only kind of GM out there. There are those who have stories and games in which all are welcome, and all should be welcome. If you want to restrict your games, go right ahead, that's your purview. If you find that enforcing your games' rules is too arduous, then that's just kinda tough luck. Being a GM isn't easy, and honestly if you want that much control, then a big site like this probably isn't your place. Plenty of RPs do well on their own boards.
 
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