InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Jakalope?"

Rob Dingo (dash_dingo) wrote in rp_tutorials,
@ 2012-09-17 08:51:00

Current mood:	busy
Entry tags:	question: game creation, resources: game creation

Has anyone...
heard of and thus use the "Universal RPG Rating" system?

It's popular on Invisionfree/Proboards/Jcink/otherboardhost RPGs, but I've yet to see it being implemented on journal role-plays outside of my own sandboxes. (As far as I know, I regularly browse ad communities.)

Personally, I find it does the job perfectly: the 'job' meaning what is and isn't allowed in a game, concerning language, sexual content and violence. The order is Language, Sexual content, Violence, and is colour-coded for our convenience. It's ranked in stages: 0, 1, 2, 3. You rate your game according to what levels are acceptable. Green 0 is the lowest level, whilst orange 3 is the highest. It's a simple matter of clicking 3 tick-boxes, one per category, and copy/pasting the supplied banner code into your game ad- or wherever you think is best to display your rating.

When I come across a game rated 2-2-3, 3-2-3 or 2-1-2, I understand what the game will entail. I either dive into the game links, or I hit the Back button.

On the other hand, with a typical game that's proclaimed as R, PG, NC-17... What constitutes an R or MA rated movie (or RPG, in this case) changes with each individual game. To me, R means zero censorship. That said, I'm somewhat lost when I find a game that's R, but I'm not permitted to write gore, swear, or explore substance abuse. This should've effectively lowered the R rating.

I've long since learned that R simply means that you have to be 18yo in order to join- the rules themselves may require players to keep profanity and graphic violence to a minimum.

What do you use to rate your game? Are you interested in the Universal RPG Rating system?

I am curious, and I want this to be a constructive mission. At the end of the day, I'd like to have a tally of yes and no answers. I do not want personal life stories; a simple yes or no is good enough! The feedback that will be most helpful to me are answers like "Yes, I use this system because it's concise and crystal clear, instead of opting for the MPAA system which I think is inappropriate for role-play." , as opposed to "The MPAA system sucks! I like ______."

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	foreverdoll 2012-09-17 03:46 am UTC (link)
	I don't run a journal game atm but I'd definitely be using the Universal RPG- it's very clear, very handy, and awesome in general. That aside, before URPG system came about, I would stick MA (Mature Audiences- a rating they put on video games) as the rating, because so many 'R' sites seem more like 'slightly relaxed PG-13' and that wasn't what I wanted my games to be. (Reply to this) (Thread)

dash_dingo
2012-09-17 10:08 pm UTC (link)

I find that URPGR also cuts down on the length of the rules, also; rather than repeat what's often explained for graphic content limits, these three numbers explain everything. =D

Back when I ran public games regularly, I used the R rating, or This is for a mature audience: adult content is prevalent.

And you're right about that: a lot of games I find turn out to be PG. There was an old discussion at RPG-D on ratings; high ratings are popular because some staff use it as it makes their RPG more 'elite'. The game's more appealing and attracts more members if it has a shiny R: For mature audiences only label, as opposed to a PG/PG-13. Which implies it's for kids, it's squeaky clean, which is far from the truth. You can get away with 'a lot' of graphic content on a board host, with PG-13.

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	fickle 2012-09-17 05:54 am UTC (link)
	Never heard of it, never used it. I just put text warnings for everything people are likely to encounter. (Reply to this)

myteeveesays
2012-09-17 07:38 pm UTC (link)

Just to note, a lot of those board hosts (proboards especially) take language/violence/x-rated material far more seriously than IJ does as far as flagging & terms of service go. If a user (anon or member) flags one person's post for using crude language or getting too gory for their tastes, it could take down the whole rp board. I feel an MA rating, NSFW caution, or HBO-appropriate tag works fine for IJs purposes considering you don't have to take the same precautions on someone being shocked and getting trigger-happy on the host-alert front.

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dash_dingo
2012-09-17 10:28 pm UTC (link)

If a board RPG admin wants to escape their host's radar, they simply do not post content that'll attract unwanted attention. Or, they post to their heart's content and label their game with PG/2-2-2, which is only a disguise. A board host won't insta-ban you if your game has PG/2-2-3 instead of R/18+/whathaveyou plastered on the front page.

Many board RPGs are rated with 2's, of which many players find it perfect. As I said in another comment, you can get away with a lot of 'graphic content' on board hosts, with PG-13/2-2-2 or 2-1-2. A higher rating isn't necessary. IF staff don't care as much as they used to, about their users; more often than not, a board goes down because a disgruntled player wanted to 'get back' at the game staff, not because the board host staff were policing their boards.

Rules are getting longer and longer these days, with lengthy explanations of: don't swear but you can smoke; don't drink but you can do drugs; don't fuck but you can kiss; don't kill someone but you can strike them, etc. Instead of filling up the Rules with laundry lists, one merely substitutes it all with three numbers.

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myteeveesays
2012-09-17 11:13 pm UTC (link)

Definitely agree that flagging is mostly instigated by disgruntled players and that board hosts have gotten more slack about enforcing their TOS. I'm just saying, I see how it makes sense for a board game, where the burden of getting banned is put on a whole comm and not a specific player/journal name. As far as those this-not-that rules, it's pretty fucking bogus and something I've seen far more on MBs (where mods are a bit more minutia-obsessed in general) than IJ - where where the prevailing logic is usually to take things to a custom if they get to a point that might offend other players due to graphic/mature themes.

It's a well thought out system to be sure, and I'm sure some games will find it useful. My only point was that there isn't the same necessity for a coded rating system on IJ as there is on boards.

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dash_dingo
2012-09-18 12:04 am UTC (link)

Yeah; it's ridiculous how an entire game can go under, all because of one or two upset players- or strangers/guests. Unlike IJ, on forum games the players can't take certain scenarios to a friends-locked thread, although some try and hide it via the forum's private message feature.

It'll be cool to see more IJ role-plays incorporating the URPGR system, whether or not there'll be a drastic change in... er, drama, or membercount. It's definitely clearer than the laundry-list method; and right, there are a few forum games with said lists!
Some also have multiple ratings, which is of no help: especially if the staff are not sure on exactly what they want, and so there are major differences between each rating they've shoved into the rules.

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myteeveesays
2012-09-18 12:09 am UTC (link)

Yeah, I think where I'm at with it is that most of my stuff would be 3-3-3, so just saying "M for mature, HBO-worthy" sums it up. I mean I don't want to read someone's fanfic smut but I prefer games with darker inclinations and a propensity for language. The restrictions on MBs is ridiculous though. but so much about those games is. Sometimes I do start to get interested in one and just the whole burden of the graphics and non-writing details annoys the hell out of me. MBs definitely have pros, just as IJ has cons and vice versa.

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dash_dingo
2012-09-18 03:58 am UTC (link)

Exactly- some RPers see R or 3-3-3 as sex! everywhere! w00t! but higher ratings does not exclusively mean sexual themes. I'm much more interested in dark atmospheres/tones/whichever, than in the occasional sexytimes between a pair.

There are many forum games that cross the line, and so there's graphic TOS-breaking content all over the place, but sooner or later they get shut down. Sadly, a lot of forum players are fixated on the look of the site. After all, there's bloody Forum of the Month awards, and so many other contests for graphics.

I've been a member/staff of a few forum games in which the staff cared about the writing, but there's more games that favor graphics over writing. I enjoy making graphics for boards, but I completely understand why some get turned off by it: minimalist designs work best for everyone, but people just can't not... participate in the contests. Or in general, show off with huge graphics.

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	pay_tribute 2013-09-20 09:16 pm UTC (link)
	A belated "I like this" - I'm going to use it on the game this mod journal is for. Thanks! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dash_dingo 2013-09-20 09:23 pm UTC (link)
	:O That's bloody awesome. The RPGRS needs more awareness! And good luck with your game. =D (Reply to this) (Parent)