How much adult content do we want Elite to represent?

[Capt. Hook]

By adult content I mean an adult themed universe where choices about gameplay are pitched more at adult players with real consequences inherent- dare I say it not with the WOW player sterotype in mind.

So we have a universe where there is serious dark underbelly, where there is slavery, narcotics, brothels even and so on, which players have more than a superficial contact with such areas, if that is their choice to get involved with it. Such interactions should have consequences however and could potentially follow them around, so, for example, shaping the sorts of missions and interactions they have with NPCs etc as well as how other players see them/their reputation and whatnot.

Alternatively, dealing in narcotics is something that only runs the risk of slapped wrist from the local police, a loss of credits etc and does not materially alter how the game operates.

Was wondering how other folks thought?

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

By adult content I mean an adult themed universe where choices about gameplay are pitched more at adult players

The majority of backers to this project are mature players - It should be classified as 18+ please ... far too many games are cleaned up to have a lower rating to cater to the masses. (And I think that has a lot to do with the publishers, not the games developers)

I want full on hard core gritty realism please ... missions that are deep and make you think; a seedier side to the galaxy (narcotics; slaves; etc); and if I see a panda anywhere in the galaxy I will quit

 

[Steve]

Heh, this reminds me of the NES version of Elite, where "Slaves" became "Robot Slaves", "Liquor" became "Beverages" and "Firearms" err... stayed as "Firearms"

Hopefully the same pressures will not come to bear, but it would be a shame to have to rate the game 18+ just for the sake of a few risque elements.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

but it would be a shame to have to rate the game 18+ just for the sake of a few risque elements.

Unless mistaken the rating depends on the BBFC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Board_of_Film_Classification ) as it will be a UK produced game.

 

[The Space Pirate]

By adult content I mean an adult themed universe where choices about gameplay are pitched more at adult players with real consequences inherent- dare I say it not with the WOW player sterotype in mind.

So we have a universe where there is serious dark underbelly, where there is slavery, narcotics, brothels even and so on, which players have more than a superficial contact with such areas, if that is their choice to get involved with it. Such interactions should have consequences however and could potentially follow them around, so, for example, shaping the sorts of missions and interactions they have with NPCs etc as well as how other players see them/their reputation and whatnot.

Alternatively, dealing in narcotics is something that only runs the risk of slapped wrist from the local police, a loss of credits etc and does not materially alter how the game operates.

Was wondering how other folks thought?

I want the game to have all the dark undercurrents that it would have in real life.

 

[Steve O B Have]

Heh, this reminds me of the NES version of Elite, where "Slaves" became "Robot Slaves", "Liquor" became "Beverages" and "Firearms" err... stayed as "Firearms"

Hopefully the same pressures will not come to bear, but it would be a shame to have to rate the game 18+ just for the sake of a few risque elements.

Eh - like a rating has ever stopped parent from buying their kids games. Games like Call of Duty or Crysis were all 15-16+ with GTA and Far Cry and the like being 18+. I too think they should not have to baby it down but I also see no point in making it deliberately seedy or downright crusty like some elements in GTA A lot of it can be 'implied' much as it was in Mass Effect.

 

[The Space Pirate]

Eh - like a rating has ever stopped parent from buying their kids games. Games like Call of Duty or Crysis were all 15-16+ with GTA and Far Cry and the like being 18+. I too think they should not have to baby it down but I also see no point in making it deliberately seedy or downright crusty like some elements in GTA A lot of it can be 'implied' much as it was in Mass Effect.

I agree - I want it to be 'adult', but not deliberately seedy as you have said. We don't need nude poster ads all over the spacestations for example.

 

[nOmArch]

^ This, mature but not gratuitous content please

 

[Rollo]

Catchy thread title, how can one avoid clicking in to it?

I agree - I want it to be 'adult', but not deliberately seedy as you have said. We don't need nude poster ads all over the spacestations for example.

Nude posters should however be "all over the place" in some of the backwater mining colonies/systems. Realism and immersions you know.

 

[Steve O B Have]

Catchy thread title, how can one avoid clicking in to it?



Nude posters should however be "all over the place" in some of the backwater mining colonies/systems. Realism and immersions you know.

There could be space for the thrice endowed lady from Total recall there somewhere... or not...

 

[Ende]

The vast majority of games get slapped with a rating are the ones that offer plenty of blood and gore. Personally i cant see how we will get to that stage in Elite

However, i do think the only parts of the game which might receive 'attention' from the censors is the terminology of the trades. I think they should stick with all of the trade items thats familiar to the game... narcotics, slaves etc.

Im pretty sure the language in the game will be fine, and i dont foresee any political or religious beliefs being insulted... so what can they get wrong?

u might wanna watch this little vid of banned games...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46zjzLngiVU

 

[Kipper]

I'm with the 'adult but not gratuitously so' people on this one.

Some places will be seedy and some won't be, that's just the diverse nature of space colonies I'm sure.

But I don't know why you wouldn't be able to trade in illegal goods and have them called what they are in a game - slaves, narcotics, firearms etc. I mean, we all know that this is just a game and it just adds flavour. It's meant to be thought provoking and risque.

Besides that, not all planets/cultures/economies will find the same things illegal - this already happened in FE2, and with the much more granular trading categories; illegal drugs in an alien world might be human headache tablets, and illegal firearms on earth might be childrens toys on the klingon homeworld

 

[G_nome camp__]

Hmm, Combine the "brothels" comment and the "Walk around the space stations" thread and my pledge just hit the £3000 mark

Personally I agree, keep it more realistic (as anything set in the future can be) for a better game, I doubt there will be a high rating on it due to lack of blood or people being killed, just ships.

This could also lead the way for seedier planets/stations with anarchic states looking different to richer/more controlled areas. One part of EF that got me was the only way to tell if a system was lawful or anarchic was by the number of times I got attacked en route!

 

[Bones]

If you imagine that the Elite game universe like an interactive novel then you have to have themes that are adult in nature, it's realistic to expect these things. It would be like reading the Game of Thrones stories with no sex, violence or treachery, so please make the game 18+ and let adult humans make their own choices.

 

[Steve O B Have]

I think there is definitely a way to make a game sexy without it being overtly sexual if you know what I mean? I guess it boils down to how much they're expecting to have out of ship experiences.

 

[shrapnel]

It never ceases to amaze me how a brief scene of a strip bar can get a game an 18+, but then outrageous and disturbing violence can be a 15+. Ho hum.

Anyway, yes, I would expect some space ports, especially the more remote industrial mining colonies, to be downright scary to be around. The sort of places you want to get in and out of as quickly as possible.

At the same time, Abraham Lincoln spaceport I would expect to be all white, shiny and clean with red tape and officialdom everywhere.

Potentially there could even be a content filter, for parents. If you put the game into "child-lock" mode, then none of the more ropey areas or trade goods are available. Though, well, I hope and expect for a quite mature game both in content, difficulty and player base.

 

[bullfrog]

Elite managed to imply illegality and corruption without gratuitously explicit representation and I think the same measure of good taste should be employed in ED.

I definitely dont want to play GTA:hotcoffee in space but at the same time a viable economic structure to the underworld might be rewarding for some. Perhaps they could include an expensive paternity lawsuit nine months after you log off while your avatar is in a sleasy spaceport, for a joke.

Children are after all a fact of life too...

 

[Capt. Hook]

Great replies guys!

My thoughts on the frontier systems (not DB's Company Server Systems btw ) ie. those off the beaten track etc would resemble the Wild West in the US or 19th Century Australia. So we might find a spaceport that is under the thumb of some Mining Baron who calls all the shots, maybe sending ships after you if you mine in the system. The only law in town is probably the bounty hunter. Alcohol, firearms, slavery and prostitution could be rife. Perhaps these would be the systems that pirates could hole up in, paying or coercion others to turn a blind eye. Strange alien artifacts or creatures even might turn up here or could even be found by players in asteroid fields or remote moons/planets and whatnot.

The scope for profit for the adventurous player would be terrific!

 

[The Space Pirate]

It never ceases to amaze me how a brief scene of a strip bar can get a game an 18+, but then outrageous and disturbing violence can be a 15+. Ho hum.

Yes, I've always found that... odd.

 

[Ende]

Yes, I've always found that... odd.

Dont forget its mainly the US censors who act like this. A place where violence is a way of life but sex is still frowned upon through medieval christian specs... even swearing on TV is still not allowed there dont forget.