eternaldarkness:
Let's take those one by one -
Interestingly, several of the things you mention depend on one’s point of view, and in most of them you seem to take the viewpoint of the perpetrator.
Gory Crime is a much bigger deal for the victim.
Intolerance isn’t much fun for the victim, either.
Rape and Torture is something in which I can’t imagine players wanting to RP the victim either.
Incest amongst consenting adults, admittedly, is less 'severe’. The only ‘victim’ there is the unborn child with congenital defects. However, that in itself is a valid reason to ban it.
Bestiality, again, look at it from the animal’s POV. How is abusing a chimpanzee different from abusing a child?
Necrophilia; nothing wrong from the perpetrator’s POV perhaps, but what about the deceased? Or the deceased’s family?
eternaldarkness:
All in all, most of the disallowed stuff comes down to matters of taste
No, most of the disallowed stuff comes down to non-proliferation of inherently harmful ideas. Saying that it’s ok for a group of torture addicts or bestiality aficionados to RP their predilections online is no different than allowing a group of paedophiles to view kiddy porn online, IMO. “Where’s the harm? The public can’t see it, it’s just for us, right? They can log out if they don’t like it.”
eternaldarkness:
It comes down to a simple question: is the thing being depicted inherently harmful even when written? For most of the above, the answer is no. Squicky is not the same as inherently harmful.
Agreed, but from the above, potentially, the answer is yes. I see no harm in the Adult stuff, but the Prohibited stuff is prohibited correctly IMO. Stuff may happen IRL, but is there any real need to portray it here (or anywhere, for that matter, except with an intent to stamp it out).
eternaldarkness:
What's sad about it? I'm genuinely curious.
There’s nothing sad about it
for them if that’s what they enjoy. However, if they prefer writing it to doing it there will be (a good many) occasions when they are writing about it
instead of doing it - which is sad for their potential partners, because
they then become members of the first group you mentioned, who can’t get their basic human needs...
eternaldarkness:
It is (a self-imposed limitation), but based on my experience it has been a successful one too. And note that I do participate in mature games on a very selective basis.
Likewise, I selectively participate in Adult games.
Genghis the Hutt:
I very rarely ever see sex in a movie or in a book graphically played out such as to actually advance the plot. The plot would usually be better served by a "fade to black", so as to avoid the tv trope "Coitus Ensues"
Precisely.
prophacyks:
I think RPOL has a great balance for the adult part of it, and am glad that they didn't decide to fully wipe it out. I also very much disagree with the Subscription Adult access thing for the site, but I will keep those opinions closed until if and when that comes about.
Me too.
Prophacyks:
My main concern reading all of this thread, is for a lot of people they hear adult and they think it is all gore and smutty sex and that isn't the case.
Obviously each game and each GM is different, but the only difference between Mature and Adult ratings is the Adult games allow:
Graphic Sex
Graphic Violence
Graphic Language.
Consequently, I think these aspects will have a natural tendency to dominate an Adult game unless the GM actively fights against it.
prophacyks:
I know of some people who like throwing the "Well it isn't against the rules so I can do it card", and throw it at GM's of the game they are in just to get away with something that makes others uncomfortable. I don't and can't allow that to happen in my game, I am not strict but I don't deal with BS from players either.
I often wish the Powers That Be on this site took that route too, rather than throwing out blanket activity bans that have consequences far beyond what was originally intended. Personally, I’d much rather see “You! Idiot! Stop spamming or you’re out!” than “From now on, nobody can mention any game for any reason in any forum, even to help a fellow gamer.”
prophacyks:
I just hope people can see we are not all that bad of people, just because we like to write a bit more intimate scenes in our games and stories on here.
Absolutely. I might not want to do it, but I’ll support your right to do it. For Free. (Provided it doesn’t stray to the potentially harmful topics of the Prohibited Material.)