Hey why is this board PG? (sorry if this is wrong place to discuss)

[randomhero00]

Considering its primarily DnD and the primary audience for DnD is over 18?

[EccentricCircle]

not having any knowledge beyond whats written in the forum rules I'd imagine that its for much the same reason that you qualified that statement with "primarily"

[dsmiles]

The target audience may be 18+, but everyone I know who plays had started by the time they were 12. Some of us earlier. Thus, it needs to be a family friendly board.

[randomhero00]

The target audience may be 18+, but everyone I know who plays had started by the time they were 12. Some of us earlier. Thus, it needs to be a family friendly board.

Yeah but DnD is about homeless people rampaging and murdering! The game itself isn't really PG. It's odd that a forum would be representing it.

[dsmiles]

That's not actually what it's about. It's a collaborative storytelling wargame. It's as PG as the DM makes it.

[KillianHawkeye]

Anyway, the forum rules apply to the entire forum, not just the D&D parts. This forum is not exclusively about D&D. The Giant wants to keep it family-friendly regardless if we're discussing D&D, OOTS, video games, TV & movies, or anything else.

I also dispute the claim that D&D's target audience is 18+, but whatevs.

[Raistlin1040]

Also the board (like the comic) is PG-13, not PG.

[Talya]

Oddly, there are several OotS strips that use language that is banned on these boards.

[Morph Bark]

Yeah but DnD is about homeless people rampaging and murdering! The game itself isn't really PG. It's odd that a forum would be representing it.

Many cartoons are about beating people up, looting, killing, etc. and are marketed or have been marketed towards children.

[TheCountAlucard]

Considering its primarily DnD and the primary audience for DnD is over 18?That's funny; my box set has a recommended age of 13 and up. :smallconfused:


Many cartoons are about beating people up, looting, killing, etc. and are marketed or have been marketed towards children.This, too. :smalltongue:

[Dsurion]

Because it's The Giant's forum, that's how he wants it, and his word is law here. There isn't really much to discuss.

[Maxios]

Also, this is in the wrong place :smallwink:

[Mystic Muse]

Yeah but DnD is about homeless people rampaging and murdering! The game itself isn't really PG. It's odd that a forum would be representing it.

D&D is not any one thing. It is what you make it. Heck, I bet there are a ton of kids stories you could play out in D&D that are considered perfectly PG.


Because it's The Giant's forum, that's how he wants it, and his word is law here. There isn't really much to discuss.

And even if this were something to discuss, this is the wrong forum for it anyway.

I also disagree with the thought that D&D is intended for 18 and up.

[Morph Bark]

D&D is not any one thing. It is what you make it. Heck, I bet there are a ton of kids stories you could play out in D&D that are considered perfectly PG.

And even if this were something to discuss, this is the wrong forum for it anyway.

I also disagree with the thought that D&D is intended for 18 and up.

Indeed. Kids stories are perfectly possible. (Note also that a lot of fairytales are pretty brutal though.)

And yes, D&D was made with the intention that it is for creatures aged 4400 and below.

(Max Great Gold Wyrm age.)

[Honest Tiefling]

Pokemon is pretty much dog fighting rings except the dogs are replaced with electric mice and monkeys that are on fire.

I imagine that while a bit of naughty language made its way into the comic, the idea is that the forum is accessible to fans of it. I also wonder how many people are accessing this forum at work.

[Mastikator]

Oddly, there are several OotS strips that use language that is banned on these boards.

Does that mean that some comics are not OK to link? :smallconfused:

[randomhero00]

I think it says something wrong about our society when we have "PG" wargames.

[Mystic Muse]

I think it says something wrong about our society when we have "PG" wargames.

D&D is a Tabletop RPG. Not a wargame. Plus, kids play war or cops and robbers and stuff all the time. Heck, me and my brothers played games like that when we were kids.

[dsmiles]

D&D is a Tabletop RPG. Not a wargame. Plus, kids play war or cops and robbers and stuff all the time. Heck, me and my brothers played games like that when we were kids.
Yeah, I used the term "collaborative storytelling wargame" earlier, since, IMO, DnD has gotten so far from being a Roleplaying Game that any roleplaying is nearly a houserule.

Hell, some groups don't roleplay at all, they play it like a CRPG. See quest-giver, get quest, do quest, go back to quest-giver, get reward. I've seen it happen, and it makes me :smallfrown:. Then I get all :smallmad:. The more I think about it, the more it makes me :smallfurious:.

[erikun]

The discussion of war is not limited to 18+ conversation. Furthermore, there is a large difference between explaining to a child that people can die and showing a child images of brutally violent murders. Broad topics such as war, fighting, and death have things that are appropriate to talk about and things that are inappropriate; you can't just label something like "death" as inappropriate for anyone underage.

Just because the "primary" age group is 18+, even if it is true, does not mean that we should exclude people who aren't. It would be like, back when it was a male-dominated hobby, saying that women shouldn't talk about it. Why not? If someone is curious, wants to play and wants to hold a conversation about it, then I don't see a reason to restrict them.


Plus, I wouldn't come to the forum if it was adult-only. Nearly every forum which has decided to restrict itself to minors has ended up... unpleasant, and not a place I'd care to visit.

[dsmiles]

Hell, all 4 of my kids play, and my oldest son is 12.

[Techsmart]

Roleplay is still fairly common in my dnd group. Heck, we spent entire 5+hour sessions just roleplaying things we did in a town (I didn't even fight something until the third session, and I didnt kill anything (more rekill, since undead are already killed) until the 6th, since I ended up recruiting most "enemies" through use of roleplaying my character).

As far as why the board is PG - DnD's largest number of players are 18+, but that doesn't mean they aren't trying to get the younger generation into it, that's just common business sense. Nowadays, kids are exposed to such vivid videogaming that something like DND, especially in their late teens, would be hard to get into something as slow paced and imagination-heavy. If you get them when they are young, there's a better chance of them playing, if only for nostalgia.

Also, I think keeping the board PG helps encourage people to use, at least slightly, a better word choice. Many forums I've seen with no foul language restrictions end up going to the pigs.

[Reluctance]

The board isn't PG. So long as they're maturely discussed, the only topics that are absolutely off-limits are ones that are real-world illegal in places that could affect The Giant or similar admin-important people. Even religion and politics are allowed, in the very small number of cases where those statements are noncontroversial.

What the board does have is enforced courtesy. Sometimes it does lean a little to the silly side (E.G: very mild swearing, and words that resemble mild swears), but if you let people say whatever they want, the whole thing quickly goes to hell in a handbasket. Unmoderated mudslinging can be fun if that's what I'm in the mood for, but there's a lot to be said for places that are kept civil.

[averagejoe]

The Mod They Call Me: This is more of a board issue. Thread moved.

I suspect Roland will have more to say on this. For now I'll say that it is incorrect that this is a PG board.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: As Averagejoe says, it isn't that this is a PG board. But this forum does have certain rules about profanity, sexual and violent content, and certain topical issues. It's all spelled out in the Forum Rules. That these rules are PG-13 is a useful estimate, which even the mod staff uses to guide posters, but even that has limitations. PG-13 is a rating for film, which has the possibility of fleeting images and such. The specific rules are what matters, and, as always, err on the side of caution in deciding what to post.

As for why, because that's the kind of forum The Giant wants to host. Something friendly, approachable, civil, etc. I don't know that it necessarily has anything to do with children or the PG-13 rating, though it certainly doesn't hurt with that demographic (and the parents of that demographic).

Finally, the standard for the comic is not the standard for the forum. Just because I may watch a film with an occasional profanity or adult theme in my house doesn't mean I want all the guests in my house to act that way.