Just A Bit Controversial…
There have always been modders who come up with inventive ways to mix their porn with their favorite games. My first exposure to this was the Nude Patch for World of Warcraft. There was, of course, my intial horror that someone would need that type of entertainment. As I have gotten older, and a little wiser, I began to understand that this type of outlet is not inherently disturbing by itself. The most recent surfacing of this has been in Skyrim. Yes, that is right, you can now go to File Planet and download anatomically (in?)correct skins for your Skyrim characters. Even the non-human ones, as long as they are humanoid. This is causing quite a commotion on the comments of this file. You can locate this thread here. While the debate rages over the appropriateness of sexuality, pornography and morality, the biggest question in my mind is are we, as ADULTS, allowed to choose if we want to be a perv, or will the people too uptight to accept their nature take that from us?
That being said, is this an option we should include in our games? Should we cater to the people who turn to the modders for this type of entertainment without crossing the pornography line? And just where is that line? Certainly it would cause ESRB issues, as well as localization conflicts for more conservative nations, like the one I live in.
Of course, there are lots of instances where underage children (meaning under 18 in the USA, or whatever the legal adult age is for your nation) get a hold of these items and use them. Of course this is
This is a serious debate, not a flame war. Deal with it! 8-)
not the goal, and needs to be avoided at all costs. But, let’s be brutally honest for one second, I am a father of three and, due to the cultural changes of our nation, I am unable to spend as much time with my kids as my dad spent with me. If I ever found my children with a porno, drugs, alcohol or having sex too early, I am not going to blame the adult industry. I will blame myself for not being there to properly influence my child’s moral code. That being said, perhaps, to safeguard our liberty, and general right to choose if we access this subject matter, we as industry people need to come up with a better method for regulating the distribution of this kind of material to the public. Yes, someone will get a hold of it, and hack it, and host it on Pirate Bay, but as long as we are doing our part to prevent it, then our liberties and jobs will not come under fire.
The biggest issues, aside from the cultural taboos, would be implementation. How could you offer this type of content in a non-porn industry product? The first idea that comes to mind would be to not include it at all. Of course this is opposite to the discussion at hand, but by far the easiest solution. Next, there is the chance of adding some sort of age-proof lock to the content. The built-in parental controls of the game system, or even a code question from “I Love Lucy” or “The Honeymooners” that would stump someone under 18. But the issue here is that there are most definitely people over 18 who won’t be able to get it, and there are kids who can Google the answer. The last answer that comes to mind would be to add it as purchasable DLC that would require age verification similar to most adult websites. This, of course, leans toward not only the porn industry, but monetization as well. That is a whole other bag of troubles that we can save for another discussion.
Now that we have those political things out of the way, why all the fuss? I mean seriously, it is not a mechanics mod that allows you to rape a goat or anything. Is the world culture still so stagnated in the Medieval Ages that we cannot enjoy a video game of nude people in our own private homes? The truth is, nude is natural. Try going in your home nude for two weeks, see if your skin does not get healthier, I dare you. This, of course, is meant for adults only. I hope that homes with children think twice before allowing this into their homes, and thrice about censoring any possible contact.
Do we run or stay? He put in the password, but I think he is underage.
I would like to hear from you all on this. I mean, seriously, which side of the debate do you think has a point? Or at some point should we, as a species, accept into our worldwide culture that at some point, we are all different? Even to the point of trying to understand others from their viewpoint, not your own. I am anxious to see the best solutions to this debate. What I mean is something viable, a way to regulate the free mods without compromising freedom or privacy, but will relax the concerns of the parents who cannot have more home time. A meeting in the middle, as it were, a way for the two sides to agree to let the arguments and debates be used in fixing government instead of fighting about pixellated polygon mammaries, penises and vaginas. But more than that, I would like to see if we, as game makers, could start a tolerance trend. Not just for nudity, but for the opinions of others. Then, perhaps, the world would feel comfortable to debate their differing opinions freely, without angst… Even their religious views without automatically labeling someone as intolerant.
I don't think you can handle this!
