Determining the Allowed Age Range for Your Game?

A

Aminirus

Artist
So this is just a general question regarding a bit of my own game, Wild Howlz. I've sorta struggled as to where to put the allowed age range for the game. Of course I'm well aware that even when you set an age range, it doesn't always stop the younger from joining. Systems can always be tricked.

But, for legal measures, every game must have a set age range based on the content. If the age falls below a certain point, a parent or legal guardian may need to be aware that their child is playing the game.

So far, I have set Wild Howlz to age 15 and up due to blood and graphic images (dead animals and carcasses, alcohol and smoking, and visual violence, as in showing a bleeding animal or inflicting damage to a target/foe)... Some of the carcass images can be a bit graphic, but everything else is usually pretty mild. 

Is 15 the appropriate age set or should I go higher? I don't think I'll have other sort of provocative imagery since the game is fantasy and deals with animals, (so no, I'm not planning to add in animal loving pics like Lioden does for their February event)... the age is mainly for gore, violence, blood, and occasion language, nothing hurtful toward anyone. The worst would be like sh**. I hate using vulgar language but sometimes a character's personality calls for it you know?

Thus I'm asking what you guys think? What do you set your age ranges to and why?

 
Aminirus said:
Thus I'm asking what you guys think? What do you set your age ranges to and why?
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15 would be a fair range as it falls into the Teen which could describe the best description of your content judging by your description to me. If your content is quite graphic, I would say you fall under the Mature rating. I tend to figure my stuff as close to the ESRB ratings as I can as it is the ratings system for Games here in the US. It allows me to feel out my age ranges based on my content.

https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.aspx

 
Digital said:
15 would be a fair range as it falls into the Teen which could describe the best description of your content judging by your description to me. If your content is quite graphic, I would say you fall under the Mature rating. I tend to figure my stuff as close to the ESRB ratings as I can as it is the ratings system for Games here in the US. It allows me to feel out my age ranges based on my content.

https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.aspx
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Awesome, thanks :3

 
Aminirus said:
So this is just a general question regarding a bit of my own game, Wild Howlz. I've sorta struggled as to where to put the allowed age range for the game. Of course I'm well aware that even when you set an age range, it doesn't always stop the younger from joining. Systems can always be tricked.

But, for legal measures, every game must have a set age range based on the content. If the age falls below a certain point, a parent or legal guardian may need to be aware that their child is playing the game.

So far, I have set Wild Howlz to age 15 and up due to blood and graphic images (dead animals and carcasses, alcohol and smoking, and visual violence, as in showing a bleeding animal or inflicting damage to a target/foe)... Some of the carcass images can be a bit graphic, but everything else is usually pretty mild. 

Is 15 the appropriate age set or should I go higher? I don't think I'll have other sort of provocative imagery since the game is fantasy and deals with animals, (so no, I'm not planning to add in animal loving pics like Lioden does for their February event)... the age is mainly for gore, violence, blood, and occasion language, nothing hurtful toward anyone. The worst would be like sh**. I hate using vulgar language but sometimes a character's personality calls for it you know?

Thus I'm asking what you guys think? What do you set your age ranges to and why?
Click to expand...
@Aminirus: I decided to let the age of 7 as the earliest age I would allow in my site. Why 7 well most children 6 and younger usually are not allowed on the internet. I believe 7 year olds have enough knowledge to keep themselves safe. The question to blood and graphic images is that it tends to be pretty ambiguous. Now the question is how graphic  is the images in question?

Is it like this?




 
13 minutes ago, Boltgreywing said:

@Aminirus: I decided to let the age of 7 as the earliest age I would allow in my site. Why 7 well most children 6 and younger usually are not allowed on the internet. I believe 7 year olds have enough knowledge to keep themselves safe. The question to blood and graphic images is that it tends to be pretty ambiguous. Now the question is how graphic  is the images in question?

Is it like this?

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Not like those, but like this and some more graphic, like finding pieces of a half eaten carcass or something:

http://sta.sh/01mgfg3ort4v

 
Boltgreywing said:
@Aminirus: I decided to let the age of 7 as the earliest age I would allow in my site. Why 7 well most children 6 and younger usually are not allowed on the internet. I believe 7 year olds have enough knowledge to keep themselves safe.
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I completely disagree.
Only this weekend did i find out that my 10 year old daughter has 30 friends on roblox who are complete strangers who know her name and the town she lives in. I had her remove any friends who she didn't know in real life.

Admittedly, she visits me only twice a month, so i dont get to check her list very often and her Mother doesnt monitor her at all, but that is beside the point. Children.. are just that - children. It is not their responsibility to decide if content is age appropriate for them - it is the content creators and the child's parents responsibility.


My website will allow anyone of any age, however anyone who is under 13 years of age will simply not have access to any form of chat/communications functionality, and will appear invisible to the other users of the website.

 
I do 13 and up because of COPPA and because the content is PG-13. I look into PG-13 rating procedures to get an idea of what's accepted and what's not. I also look into what the demograph of people on my site allow for their own kids because a lot of the players have kids of their own. 

I watched this video the other day on Youtube, 7 Weird Ways Games Tried To Stop People Playing Them, and they had an interesting game on the list that required people to pass an 'adult test' that contained cultural references and other things that children would be less likely to know the answers to. Of course, the test is horribly outdated now, but I thought that seemed like an interesting way to keep kids out of a game that's not meant for them.



 
The Dark Lord said:
I would stick with the ratings and age guidelines from ESRB/similar organisations in your country. In the UK, at least, I believe all games are theoretically supposed to apply for and receive a rating from PEGI (the pan-European Game Information rating system) that determines who they can be sold to.

In my case, Furryverse is only open to 18+ partly because of the content involved, and partly because they can consent to and contract with the Terms of Service of the game, which gives me a bit more of a stable legal footing when it comes to dealing with breaches, etc.
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@The Dark Lord: The ESRB ratings tend to be a bit flawed at times sometimes they rate violence a bit too high in some cases and others they do too little. I think determing it we need to see how the game handles things. What might be harmful to you might not be harmful to me and vice versa.

Nate said:
I completely disagree.
Only this weekend did i find out that my 10 year old daughter has 30 friends on roblox who are complete strangers who know her name and the town she lives in. I had her remove any friends who she didn't know in real life.

Admittedly, she visits me only twice a month, so i dont get to check her list very often and her Mother doesnt monitor her at all, but that is beside the point. Children.. are just that - children. It is not their responsibility to decide if content is age appropriate for them - it is the content creators and the child's parents responsibility.


My website will allow anyone of any age, however anyone who is under 13 years of age will simply not have access to any form of chat/communications functionality, and will appear invisible to the other users of the website.
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@Nate: I know I worded it kind of badly. What I meant was is 7 is about the age that they get to know about computers and internet in general. Children who are 3 and younger don't understand computers that well. My brother and I played dune when we were 6 and 10 years old. There was no ESRB rating system at that time period. Still there was not really anything too violent at that time.

On 5/8/2017 at 4:24 PM, Hare said:

I do 13 and up because of COPPA and because the content is PG-13. I look into PG-13 rating procedures to get an idea of what's accepted and what's not. I also look into what the demograph of people on my site allow for their own kids because a lot of the players have kids of their own. 

I watched this video the other day on Youtube, 7 Weird Ways Games Tried To Stop People Playing Them, and they had an interesting game on the list that required people to pass an 'adult test' that contained cultural references and other things that children would be less likely to know the answers to. Of course, the test is horribly outdated now, but I thought that seemed like an interesting way to keep kids out of a game that's not meant for them.

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@Hare: Yep even Castle 2 and Dune 2 use some kind of preventive mechanism as well like this.

 
Boltgreywing said:
The ESRB ratings tend to be a bit flawed at times sometimes they rate violence a bit too high in some cases and others they do too little. I think determing it we need to see how the game handles things. What might be harmful to you might not be harmful to me and vice versa.
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As it would make sense, what may be too much to you may not be to me, that is a personal determination. What these organizations do is provide a guideline for all games in a region or country that allow all games to fit into categories, usually to fit within legal parameters.

If you were to ever want to market or sell a hard-copy of a game anywhere, you will most likely be dealing with these organizations. Fitting your game into your local boards guidelines is just a matter of prudence really, a way to know where you fit into the guidelines.

 
You guys are all amazing and this was quite helpful. I think I better understand how I should personally set the age range to Wild Howlz based on the content. The information was awesome!

 
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