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Do you all find the ESRB's warning labels kind of demeaning?

KaliestoKaliesto Member Posts: 282
edited March 2017 in Off-Topic
Personally if a game is rated E, T, M or whatever then fine, but I don't need to know if there is simulated gambling, violence, and all that jazz. That just comes off as a bit prudish, and sort of demeaning to the developer's product like it came from hell or something...to me you should know what a rated game contains because it is almost always expected, and they have to be reviewed by the ESRB, and other country equivalents nonetheless.

I mean you don't see books being labeled like that.

The Rated Label is enough, but that is just my opinion.

What do you all think?

Comments

  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    Why would I mind about them? If they weren't there it'd be the same for me, since I straightforward ignore them anyway, and, they're actually helpful for some people, so there's that as well.
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    From a consumer point of view I can see they have value for sensitive audiences. I don't personally give a damn, though.
  • ArdanisArdanis Member Posts: 1,736
    edited March 2017
    Kaliesto said:

    That just comes off as a bit prudish, and sort of demeaning to the developer's product like it came from hell or something...

    More like a tag system, with tags limited to adults-only types. How to use that is up to customers. Parents would want to know what their kids are playing, sensitive people would avoid stuff they don't like, yet others can pick on something they actually favor.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    I take rating systems of any type with a grain of salt. Mainly because it needlessly complicates things for all involved. Take Torment: Tides of Numenera for instance. While it has been rated USK12 and PEGI16, respectively, ESRB rates it with Mature+17. Nonsense.
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    No different to listing the ingredients on food packaging.
  • tbone1tbone1 Member Posts: 1,985
    There are certain things I find uncomfortable and the warnings help me ther. I don't mind violence, adult themes, "bad" language, or gambling, but cruelty to puppies or praise for politicians would turn my stomach
  • TeflonTeflon Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 515
    Yeah giving the option to choose. That is good. But labeling is done by human so possibility of error is always there.
    But, no demeaning felt so far :)
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    edited March 2017
    Consumers, especially parents, benefit from having a consistently applied set of ratings for games rather than a fragmented array of different systems.

    Yes, there may be mistakes in rating for certain products, but having a system and categories is generally a right decision.

    Also, unlike other ratings, ESRB actually gives pretty detailed descriptions for its terms and states which aspect which product has pretty clearly.

    For example, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - Violence, Blood, Sexual Themes, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco. https://www.esrb.org/ratings/search.aspx

    Violence - Scenes involving aggressive conflict. May contain bloodless dismemberment
    Blood - Depictions of blood
    Sexual Themes - References to sex or sexuality
    Language - Mild to moderate use of profanity
    Use of Alcohol - The consumption of alcoholic beverages
    Use of Tobacco - The consumption of tobacco products
    https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.aspx

    Really, it's difficult to argue with that in terms of BG:EE.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    There will always be an array of different rating systems though. Precisely because each country handles things legally different. ESRB for example is specificly designed for only USA, Mexico, as well as some places in Canada in mind. While PEGI is the meanstream rating system in Europe. With USK being an additional enforced system in Germany on top.

    Following my previous example: an retail copy of TTON in Germany's shops would be labeled as M for Mature, PEGI 16 and USK 12 at the same time. It is understandable that such things get really silly from both a consumer's and publisher's point of view.

    Anyways. As I'm not living in America, I have no issue with ESRB other than when it drastically conflicts with other rating systems like shown above. Although having both an M and AO rating grade makes me a tad flabbergasted. This notion could be drastically simplyfied by changing M for Mature 17+ into M for Mature 18+.
  • KaliestoKaliesto Member Posts: 282
    All great arguments made, I guess it is just a necessary thing at the end of the day.

    I know for one there is people out there that have a sensitive stomach to blood, and even if it is only a little bit of it.
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