Ark should be NA 17

[datcatfromthen]

Because the chat has no filter and ark allows people to use any words they choose in that chat, they should be a NA 17 game. No ones kids should be experiencing the hatred in the chat on a daily basis. 

[ciabattaroll]

17 minutes ago, datcatfromthen said:

Because the chat has no filter and ark allows people to use any words they choose in that chat, they should be a NA 17 game. No ones kids should be experiencing the hatred in the chat on a daily basis. 

Rating systems do tend to have disclosures that state "Online interactions are not rated by the ESRB", or even PEGI. ARKs rating falls under that.

[Harrist14]

25 minutes ago, datcatfromthen said:

Because the chat has no filter and ark allows people to use any words they choose in that chat, they should be a NA 17 game. No ones kids should be experiencing the hatred in the chat on a daily basis. 

Also, Xbox does have a filter lol. For some reason, only PS4 and PC don't 

[Arkasaurio]

15 year old Arkasaurio would punch me for saying this, but I agree. Chat aside (most kids probably hear worse at school, I know I did), the open-endedness of the game leads to themes that really aren't meant for kids, even teenagers. I'm not talking about base wiping, I'm talking about the fact that it's possible to drug someone (who's never done anything to you), cuff them, and keep them in a cage forever if you're diligent enough (pvp) - then roleplay out all your twisted fantasies. Yes, you can report harassment, but after the fact doesn't really cut it when it's kids we're talking about. I'm not saying that sort of behavior is rampant either, but the fact that it's possible should make this a strictly mature game, in my mind at least.

I also think the fact that people can do pretty much whatever they want (even when that leads to bad behavior) is one of the best part, if not THE BEST part, of Ark, but every time I read a post about someone's 9 year old getting their base wiped or dinos killed I cringe, and think, "Wow, that could have been so much worse." Of course, ratings only do so much to keep kids out of games anyway - that's just how the world works though, be it games, movies, or naughty magazines. Still companies have to do their best to appropriately age gate content.

I also think that in generalities a game about survival skills, riding dinosaurs, and building bases could be very lightly modified to make it a wonderful game for kids. Aside from difficulty SP is pretty close to that right now, and I'm sure there are plenty of unofficials that fit that bill pretty well. However, asking a 13 year old to find the right unofficial or only play SP (self moderate) is completely unrealistic. Their parents maybe, but without doing a bunch of research Ark looks to be mostly about riding dinos around, which is a pretty reasonable concept for a kids game too.

[vanyelxp5]

I think parents should realize that unless somebody stops them, like they do on these forums, people are going to use "naughty" or "adult" language online. There is no way to avoid it. But, because it isn't something coded into the game directly, the ratings people can't factor it in when giving the game a rating, thus the warning that online interactions are not rated. Basically, they're telling parents that the game itself is suitable for this age.... But, they can't control what people do or say, so you're on your own if you let little Jimmy play online.

[datcatfromthen]

On 3/25/2017 at 1:03 PM, ciabattaroll said:

Rating systems do tend to have disclosures that state "Online interactions are not rated by the ESRB", or even PEGI. ARKs rating falls under that.

The game is almost online so that statement has no merit. Even to play single player you must be online and connected to psn + ark servers. The overall point is that ark should be doing something about the people who are abusing chat on a consistent basis.

[Teddansen]

Even on the Xbox it's easy to get around the filters. I see it all the time, some kid thinks he a bad/ass by putting a slash through his potty mouth words...till an adult shows up and puts a slash through his potty mouth.... With a sword ?

[Arkasaurio]

10 minutes ago, Teddansen said:

Even on the Xbox it's easy to get around the filters. I see it all the time, some kid thinks he a bad/ass by putting a slash through his potty mouth words...till an adult shows up and puts a slash through his potty mouth.... With a sword ?

LOL - this is awesome. "Let me wash your mouth out with this bar of steel sonny!"

I still don't think a word filter really gets to the root problem. I mean there's what you said, plus it just drives people to get more creative with their insults. That's actually kind of fun/funny, but it doesn't really stop kids being exposed to awful things.

My overall thought is, who cares if a 13 year old hears/uses an F-bomb, when compared to the fact that the same 13 year old can have their base wiped, their character caged, and all sorts of grotesque RP'd with their toon. I remember my younger brother got swindled in Diablo II around that age (probably a little bit younger) and balling over it. The craziest part is that I at 15 or 16 didn't think his response was that out of line with how badly he'd been screwed.

Ark is so, so much more intense, and frankly I don't think the average 13 year old (or maybe even average adult ) has the emotional maturity to deal with the worst that Ark can throw at you. At the very least Ark should be billed first as an open sandbox where ANYTHING GOES (expect to killed, or worse, and lose everything at the drop of a hat), and not a game about riding dinos. Buyer beware, parents should moderate, etc. but my point is that Ark PvP, especially, can be extremely dark and gritty, and it's really not all that clear that's the case if you just look at the advertising.

It is still EA though, and while not ideal that kids are getting exposed to this stuff now, I certainly can't fault WC for not worrying about this at the moment.

[ciabattaroll]

1 hour ago, datcatfromthen said:

The game is almost online so that statement has no merit. Even to play single player you must be online and connected to psn + ark servers. The overall point is that ark should be doing something about the people who are abusing chat on a consistent basis.

Respectfully, I disagree. Games like World of Warcraft are completely online as well yet come with an ESRB rating on the box (and even then those ratings on their boxes do nothing to disclaim the more adult nature of online interactions). At the end of the day what you're asking for is curbing human nature, and there's only so far that developers can affect their clients. I mean, the chat filter on these forums for example are almost always being skirted around by people (to which we have to constantly warn violators for doing so). Ultimately, the only real guaranteed ways to make sure that your community can't have people with potty mouths is to just do away with the chat system entirely, or to somehow make your community an absolutely nice one where no one has need to spew profanities.

[Ranger1]

As a parent of 3, with ages ranging from 34 to 11, I have to take the stance that any parent does (or should) understand that ANY online game with a chat feature is going to be questionable for younger children.  Especially if voice chat is incorporated into the game.

We are no longer dealing with a generation whose parents are ignorant of what computers and the internet in general are like, those days are long past.  If you're a young child today your parents know very well what online play entails.  So if they let you play any online game on public servers unsupervised they either trust you can handle it, or simply don't care.

Either way, the rating system spells it out... the rest is up to parents to actually take responsibility for being parents.

I would never let my 11 year old daughter play ARK on a public server, and only on a private server once I had satisfied myself that the community there was aware of her age and were behaving themselves appropriately.  Even when she wanted to play an extremely child friendly game like Animal Jam I did my research, and I spent time looking over her shoulder (under the guise that I wanted her to explain the game to me) while I evaluated the community and chat features.  Only after I had satisfied myself that the game was kid friendly (it won't allow them to use foul language, use real names, or give any sort of personal info in chat even if they try to get around the censor), and that she had friends from school playing alongside her did I let her play on her own.  Even then I gave her the lecture on how to be heads up, and not to get scammed out of valuable trade items. 

Fortunately ARK has private servers or single player available, and the correct rating and warnings about online interactions on it to allow parents to make responsible decisions for their children.  Because that's what parents are supposed to do, not turn their kids loose unsupervised with a bunch of adult strangers on a public server. 

[Currahee]

I don't want my kids reading curse words while they hack up animals with a pickaxe or shoot other human characters with a crossbow....

 

 

 

[perk8504]

lol...you're new to the internet aren't you...

[Teddansen]

3 hours ago, Arkasaurio said:

LOL - this is awesome. "Let me wash your mouth out with this bar of steel sonny!"

I still don't think a word filter really gets to the root problem. I mean there's what you said, plus it just drives people to get more creative with their insults. That's actually kind of fun/funny, but it doesn't really stop kids being exposed to awful things.

My overall thought is, who cares if a 13 year old hears/uses an F-bomb, when compared to the fact that the same 13 year old can have their base wiped, their character caged, and all sorts of grotesque RP'd with their toon. I remember my younger brother got swindled in Diablo II around that age (probably a little bit younger) and balling over it. The craziest part is that I at 15 or 16 didn't think his response was that out of line with how badly he'd been screwed.

Ark is so, so much more intense, and frankly I don't think the average 13 year old (or maybe even average adult ) has the emotional maturity to deal with the worst that Ark can throw at you. At the very least Ark should be billed first as an open sandbox where ANYTHING GOES (expect to killed, or worse, and lose everything at the drop of a hat), and not a game about riding dinos. Buyer beware, parents should moderate, etc. but my point is that Ark PvP, especially, can be extremely dark and gritty, and it's really not all that clear that's the case if you just look at the advertising.

It is still EA though, and while not ideal that kids are getting exposed to this stuff now, I certainly can't fault WC for not worrying about this at the moment.

Yeah its an uphill battle isn't it. On any online game really. If you're in a chat with a group of people there's always going to be some nob that thinks he/she's cool by acting all vulgar. 

My son's had some issues with people on cod  but never really in ark.... That I know of  

[Volcano637]

On 3/25/2017 at 1:03 PM, ciabattaroll said:

Rating systems do tend to have disclosures that state "Online interactions are not rated by the ESRB", or even PEGI. ARKs rating falls under that.

I noticed on Xbox there is a chat filter which means you don't want people straight out cussing in the chat, even though it is a mature rated game. 

That being said, if it is against the rules to cuss(since you put a filter on) why not suspend or ban players that abuse the filter by putting a / right in the middle of the curse word? Or why even have a filter?

since this forum isn't even the game and pretty much just the internet, I am actually curious as to why people can get away with saying anything in game, but nothing even close to that can be said in the forums?

is it the game rated M and the forums rated E? Just wondering.

[PuffyPony]

I'd personally like ARK to be rated M or so because I'd like to see more mature thematic elements associated with being dumped on an island and being forced to survive, but I don't think online language really counts for that

[Volcano637]

2 minutes ago, PuffyPony said:

I'd personally like ARK to be rated M or so because I'd like to see more mature thematic elements associated with being dumped on an island and being forced to survive, but I don't think online language really counts for that

Yeah they can already force people to eat feces. They should add water boarding and more sexual content of the prison variety to it lol

[Dreadnaught]

1 hour ago, ranger1presents said:

As a parent of 3, with ages ranging from 34 to 11, I have to take the stance that any parent does (or should) understand that ANY online game with a chat feature is going to be questionable for younger children.  Especially if voice chat is incorporated into the game.

We are no longer dealing with a generation whose parents are ignorant of what computers and the internet in general are like, those days are long past.  If you're a young child today your parents know very well what online play entails.  So if they let you play any online game on public servers unsupervised they either trust you can handle it, or simply don't care.

Either way, the rating system spells it out... the rest is up to parents to actually take responsibility for being parents.

I would never let my 11 year old daughter play ARK on a public server, and only on a private server once I had satisfied myself that the community there was aware of her age and were behaving themselves appropriately.  Even when she wanted to play an extremely child friendly game like Animal Jam I did my research, and I spent time looking over her shoulder (under the guise that I wanted her to explain the game to me) while I evaluated the community and chat features.  Only after I had satisfied myself that the game was kid friendly (it won't allow them to use foul language, use real names, or give any sort of personal info in chat even if they try to get around the censor), and that she had friends friends from school playing alongside her did I let her play on her own.  Even then I gave her the lecture on how to be heads up, and not to get scammed out of valuable trade items. 

Fortunately ARK has private servers or single player available, and the correct rating and warnings about online interactions on it to allow parents to make responsible decisions for their children.  Because that's what parents are supposed to do, not turn their kids loose unsupervised with a bunch of adult strangers on a public server. 

This, smart response from a good active parent. Companies are not responsible for the parenting of their customers kids.

[Velarius]

Ranger1 has the right of it, as a parent of seven children myself. I'll say it bluntly, people need to stop blaming companies for parents not doing their job as parents. When you have children its your job to monitor the things they get into and what they are doing in order to guide them as you raise them so they become wise and intelligent adults who weren't subjected to a bunch of garbage as children.

[PuffyPony]

12 minutes ago, Volcano637 said:

Yeah they can already force people to eat feces. They should add water boarding and more sexual content of the prison variety to it lol

Well, I meant more just that you're stranded naked on an island, and it should really emphasize the "anything goes" that comes from trying to survive. Like you know... eating your teammate's dead body. A few other survival games have like "Insanity meters" and such, and while I don't think that's strictly necessary in ARK, something to underscore the fact that you're really going to need to shed your morality to make it in this new world would be nice. I'm not specifically asking for more violence or sexual content or anything, just a general wish for the game to seem more intense and mature

[Volcano637]

14 hours ago, PuffyPony said:

Well, I meant more just that you're stranded naked on an island, and it should really emphasize the "anything goes" that comes from trying to survive. Like you know... eating your teammate's dead body. A few other survival games have like "Insanity meters" and such, and while I don't think that's strictly necessary in ARK, something to underscore the fact that you're really going to need to shed your morality to make it in this new world would be nice. I'm not specifically asking for more violence or sexual content or anything, just a general wish for the game to seem more intense and mature

Yeah I know what you mean. I left the sarcasm out of the post on purpose lol. That was mainly just saying they let people do anything they want so might as well go extreme. I like your ideas.

but if they are going to put a mature rating on it so people can cuss in chat and not get in trouble then that is just an immature version of a mature rated game. I have played a lot of mature rated games and the only thing that would make ark get an M rating is the cussing. Go big or go home.

[banggugyangu]

16 hours ago, ranger1presents said:

As a parent of 3, with ages ranging from 34 to 11, I have to take the stance that any parent does (or should) understand that ANY online game with a chat feature is going to be questionable for younger children.  Especially if voice chat is incorporated into the game.

We are no longer dealing with a generation whose parents are ignorant of what computers and the internet in general are like, those days are long past.  If you're a young child today your parents know very well what online play entails.  So if they let you play any online game on public servers unsupervised they either trust you can handle it, or simply don't care.

Either way, the rating system spells it out... the rest is up to parents to actually take responsibility for being parents.

I would never let my 11 year old daughter play ARK on a public server, and only on a private server once I had satisfied myself that the community there was aware of her age and were behaving themselves appropriately.  Even when she wanted to play an extremely child friendly game like Animal Jam I did my research, and I spent time looking over her shoulder (under the guise that I wanted her to explain the game to me) while I evaluated the community and chat features.  Only after I had satisfied myself that the game was kid friendly (it won't allow them to use foul language, use real names, or give any sort of personal info in chat even if they try to get around the censor), and that she had friends friends from school playing alongside her did I let her play on her own.  Even then I gave her the lecture on how to be heads up, and not to get scammed out of valuable trade items. 

Fortunately ARK has private servers or single player available, and the correct rating and warnings about online interactions on it to allow parents to make responsible decisions for their children.  Because that's what parents are supposed to do, not turn their kids loose unsupervised with a bunch of adult strangers on a public server. 

Parenting like this needs to happen much more often.  Pro-active parenting is the best.  Great job.

[BobRoss]

15 hours ago, PuffyPony said:

Well, I meant more just that you're stranded naked on an island, and it should really emphasize the "anything goes" that comes from trying to survive. Like you know... eating your teammate's dead body. A few other survival games have like "Insanity meters" and such, and while I don't think that's strictly necessary in ARK, something to underscore the fact that you're really going to need to shed your morality to make it in this new world would be nice. I'm not specifically asking for more violence or sexual content or anything, just a general wish for the game to seem more intense and mature

you can hack a dead body in pieces and fry it real good on a grill, what other canibalistic aspects are you looking for? spitroasting a live human being? that would certainly be interesting to see

[PuffyPony]

3 hours ago, BobRoss said:

you can hack a dead body in pieces and fry it real good on a grill, what other canibalistic aspects are you looking for? spitroasting a live human being? that would certainly be interesting to see

I more meant that's something already in the game that really doesn't have much gravity to it. What I mean is I'd like to see your character need to deal with the consequences of doing that, since I assume most people (based on the lore of ARK) came from the real world where cannibalism is not generally accepted. How that would manifest itself, I have no clue. But I'd like to see something

[BobRoss]

1 hour ago, PuffyPony said:

I more meant that's something already in the game that really doesn't have much gravity to it. What I mean is I'd like to see your character need to deal with the consequences of doing that, since I assume most people (based on the lore of ARK) came from the real world where cannibalism is not generally accepted. How that would manifest itself, I have no clue. But I'd like to see something

some kind of mental disease looks awesome on paper. but do you remember the outcry when swamp fever came out. anything that decreases the quality if life in ark never really gets alot of positive feedback.

i like the concept tho.

[akamurk]

Um how about parenting? Kids should really not be playing this game. It is also not a personal babysitter.