The Rating of the Game and its updates
By
aleph_EU,
Posted on: 2008-12-04 15:17 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
*goes and drags out a reference from a TR developer*
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I believe that would require another ESRB submission, for rating approval. Those submissions cost quite a bit of money each, in the thousands of dollars. Even if it doesn't change the rating in the end, it would still need to be submitted for that to be determined. Essentially, it is the type of item that is on a list and things on that list require resubmission (alcohol consumption).
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The above quote was in reference to adding alcohol consumption to the game. Now saying that, my copy of WoW is PEGI rated 12+, and it is still rated at 12+, and that includes the ability to buy alcohol. Now with WoW they can afford the repeated submissions, that isnt an issue for them
I do believe that IF a company adds something into the game later on, and it DOESNT match the approved rating, then the fine they would have to pay is quite a bit more than the submission fee... so the developers either play it safe now OR they have enough money to warrent it. Language though by the NPC's is generally considered one of the safest things to add anyway. Even at the 12+ rating you are allowed mild cursing (for which i would consider "Bloody" to be)
Then again World of Warcraft only releases patches every 18 months or so, whilst Tabula Rasa was under a monthly content cycle.
Changes in MMO rating... i believe that City of Heroes *was* changed.. if anything at the time of the game merger if not before.
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Changes in MMO rating... i believe that City of Heroes *was* changed.. if anything at the time of the game merger if not before.
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D'oh! You'd think I'd remember that one for some strange reason 
Anywhere else though? (And that was good stuff Gangrel - you answered my curiousity monkey.... I can quit at any time, but he's happy for now 
)
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I cant remember where the debate (challenge) in the UK ended with regards to the ratings on games (should they be part of film regulation or stay self regulated), but I was certainly of the opinion that the ratings should be official as I dont trust the game companies to fairly rate their products in all instances.
(Having said that the ratings on some films have obviously been changed for commercial reasons, so, as ever, the word independence is loosely applied.)
On the more specific subject of CoX Ive not seen anywhere near half the content, but a rating of 16+ seems to make sense given some of the content.
CoH was rated 12+... so they removed nipples from female toons. When CoV came and the titles got merged CoH is now 16+... can we have nipples abck now? please!
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CoH was rated 12+... so they removed nipples from female toons. When CoV came and the titles got merged CoH is now 16+... can we have nipples abck now? please!
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Any nipples were unintentional, generally found on Tights Sleek (then called Tights 2) and not on all graphics cards.
It got fixed.
Kinda.
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I cant remember where the debate (challenge) in the UK ended with regards to the ratings on games (should they be part of film regulation or stay self regulated), but I was certainly of the opinion that the ratings should be official as I dont trust the game companies to fairly rate their products in all instances.
(Having said that the ratings on some films have obviously been changed for commercial reasons, so, as ever, the word independence is loosely applied.)
On the more specific subject of CoX Ive not seen anywhere near half the content, but a rating of 16+ seems to make sense given some of the content.
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IIRC the british rating system for Video games is in two parts,
1. The game is first reviewed by PEGI (Pan European Gaming Information), if they decide on a rating it is given, PEGI ratings however are not legally enforced, my fourteen year old brother could buy The Last Remnant which is 16+.
2. If PEGI refuse to rate it, it is sent to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) for a rating, these are legally enforcable and are mostly seen on the GTA and MK series (MK vs. DC was the first MK not to recieve an 18 rating).
3. If the BBFC refuse to rate it then it cannot be sold in the UK, it can however be imported from a country that sells it. The latest game to have this happen was Manhunt 2.
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Any nipples were unintentional, generally found on Tights Sleek (then called Tights 2) and not on all graphics cards.
It got fixed.
Kinda.
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Nope... female models had em, got removed around issue 1 or 2 cause they threatened to raise CoHs rating due to em being too perky.
Example how they looked
(that shot was from beta, they got moved to a more... "normal" placement on the boobie in release)
And I've got a screenshot of my Empath in I3/I4 with the exact same effect, and a screenshot of my Dominator with a similar issue from I12.
Got a patch note about nipples?
Nipples for female and male toons!! Now!! (All in the name of equality.)
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I cant remember where the debate (challenge) in the UK ended with regards to the ratings on games (should they be part of film regulation or stay self regulated), but I was certainly of the opinion that the ratings should be official as I dont trust the game companies to fairly rate their products in all instances.
(Having said that the ratings on some films have obviously been changed for commercial reasons, so, as ever, the word independence is loosely applied.)
On the more specific subject of CoX Ive not seen anywhere near half the content, but a rating of 16+ seems to make sense given some of the content.
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IIRC the british rating system for Video games is in two parts,
1. The game is first reviewed by PEGI (Pan European Gaming Information), if they decide on a rating it is given, PEGI ratings however are not legally enforced, my fourteen year old brother could buy The Last Remnant which is 16+.
2. If PEGI refuse to rate it, it is sent to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) for a rating, these are legally enforcable and are mostly seen on the GTA and MK series (MK vs. DC was the first MK not to recieve an 18 rating).
3. If the BBFC refuse to rate it then it cannot be sold in the UK, it can however be imported from a country that sells it. The latest game to have this happen was Manhunt 2.
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I'm not sure they have to have a rating by law tho most companies seem to get there games rated
and was man hunt not just simply banned tho i think it can be got now
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And I've got a screenshot of my Empath in I3/I4 with the exact same effect, and a screenshot of my Dominator with a similar issue from I12.
Got a patch note about nipples?
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There was a note when they patched em away. The things you've been seeing are the old models making an appearance.
I thought they were removed once properly heated bases were added?
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
Maybe the Devs tweaked them?, Personally I think we are due an AoC Nipples-fiasco/uproar in CoX.
Well, I guess you could say AoC showed that a certain type of content aimed at a certain type of player is not enough to guarnatee a success 
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?...no animated hair fo U.
But that's something needed by many people - even if they don't know it
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
Dragging the thread back on topic and away from the inevitable "GG vs The World: Animated Hair", my understanding was that the PEGI rating is advisory rather than enforceable anyway isn't it? (at least in terms of the minumum age requirement to play and / or buy the game)Although presumably when a company buys a rating from the governing body that must include a set of guide lines for what is and what isn't acceptable for a particular rating. Presumably, a developer would write NPC dialogue, and setting within that rating. Given that CoV was a 16 and CoH a 12, and that future development of the two games was going to be a more co ordinated affair, it would have made sense to give both games the same rating.
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Although presumably when a company buys a rating from the governing body that must include a set of guide lines for what is and what isn't acceptable for a particular rating. Presumably, a developer would write NPC dialogue, and setting within that rating. Given that CoV was a 16 and CoH a 12, and that future development of the two games was going to be a more co ordinated affair, it would have made sense to give both games the same rating.
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Makes me wonder what will happen when players can start to write NPC dialogue too (in I14). The developers (and GMs etc) might need to keep a very close eye on those if the "16" rating is going to mean anything.
Well the filters should catch racial, sexual etc language used (i would hope the in game player created NPC stuff would be subject to the Language filters)
Course there not perfect.
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There was a note when they patched em away.
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Then can you provide it, as asked? You're being terribly vague about this.
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There was a note when they patched em away.
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Then can you provide it, as asked? You're being terribly vague about this.
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Unfortunatly no. The last patch notes i found were from a year ago. This happened back in summer -04. Before CoH even came to EU.
Take a look at the Widows, I think you'll find they have them.
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Unfortunatly no. The last patch notes i found were from a year ago. This happened back in summer -04. Before CoH even came to EU.
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Then I'm going to call 'nuts' on this apparent nipple patch note. As was said earlier, it's a graphical thing, not something NC would have consciously added.
A lot of statues in WoW have "nipples". It's a sloppy polygon issue, not a BOOBSLOL one.
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Unfortunatly no. The last patch notes i found were from a year ago. This happened back in summer -04. Before CoH even came to EU.
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Then I'm going to call 'nuts' on this apparent nipple patch note. As was said earlier, it's a graphical thing, not something NC would have consciously added.
A lot of statues in WoW have "nipples". It's a sloppy polygon issue, not a BOOBSLOL one.
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*shrug* You can call it what you will, they were there, they got removed. Why you prob don't believe me is cause they were removed long before CoH got released in the EU.
Feel free to go scout on the us forum some, there are people there talking about em in a couple of older posts. So i'm apparently not alone with knowing they used to be in.
Given that this is a "living" game, with new content added on a regular basis, how does it affect the games rating (PEGI or otherwise)?
)
I ask, because I was running through Port Oakes and heard an NPC say "Hope you don't mind blood on that outfit. This knife says you got some learning to do." (I love the new copy & paste function by the way
Now, I know Villains has always been a 16 and over rating, but the thought just popped into my head that the phrase I heard would never have happened in Heroes back when it was just a 12+ rating.
Anyways, that got me wondering about the missions and all the little NPC comments that have been added over the years. Do they have to get reviewed for an MMO? Has any MMO ever had a change in rating because of something it has added? Or is it something that's still untested legally speaking?
I'm just curious as to the process and thought it'd be a good one for debate.
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