[Tenebrae]

Hey all.

I have done a fair amount of net research on this, but so far not found any real, concrete legal information outside of opinions on the matter (which I am still interested in hearing, though I hope to avoid arguments about the morality of in-game sex and violence, I believe there's already threads here that discuss that).

Basically-- I am new to game-making, and am really having a dilemma about what to do as far as PG13 and mature content (sex, extreme violence, etc) goes.

I'd like to protect underage players from stuff that might warp thier lil minds and certainly do not wish to creative an environment where they -could- be at risk from perverts, but also give options for older folks to have relative freedom of creative play.

I'm not all about allowing random ucky cybersex, but I recognise too that there's sometimes a need to have characters play out something more than holding hands, or develop a romantic scene beyond the fade-to-black stage. Sort of an MA-rating, if we were talking movies. Too, some players like to rp extremely gorey stuff, which I don't really want kiddlies being exposed to (I'm a parent, it has made me more concerned about that sort of thing).

I would prefer to limit play to over-16's.

I -am- concerned about the actual legal standing on this issue. I would hate to have to say "we can't allow 16-17 year olds, because we have mature rp areas and I don't want to get sued by parents, even if thier kids can't get into those areas unless they have blatantly lied about thier age." I am happy to, if there's no choice, make it all PG13, or all mature. I'm just looking for clear information --and-- opinions on whether having a game with restricted map areas is gonna open me to being sued.


My questions are these, and they pertain to pure text RPG's:

1: What is the actual. legal liability for game owners as far as exposure to mature content goes? Here, I mean: if we have a 'mature' rating, and despite all precautions being taken to ensure players -are- mature age, some 13-year old lies, cybers and we get irate parents wanting to sue.

2: I -do- understand the PG13 rating, and what that entails. Is there an MA level that would limit players to 16 and over?

-- If so, what are the legalities of that?

-- If not, does having mature areas in the game make it not able to be classified PG13 at all?


I guess my ideal is:

An MA-rated game, open to over-16's only, where sex might be played at a sort of Mills & Boon level (ie, sex can be played out tastefully but NO gross profanity, gratuitious porn, ooc-motivated yucko cybering, etc), and where violence can be fairly graphic.

Without breaking any laws pertaining to minors. I don't really want under-16's, but don't want to exclude the 16-17 year olds.


Sorry if this is overly babblish, or a stupid question to bring up. I am a total newb. ><