Mandatory Age Check at New Player Application

[NickyW]

I've been part of the GTA roleplaying community for close to ten years now, and this might actually be the dumbest suggestion I've ever read.

 

This would be impossible to enforce without a very annoying form of verification that would both endanger users' privacy and turn off potential new players from joining.

 

And for all the pretend e-lawyers in this thread, adding a checkbox that says "I'm 18" when signing up doesn't protect GTW from any legal ramifications if a fourteen year old hops on here and has e-sex with a 40 year old man. That's not how liability works. Complying with COPPA isn't a magical force-field that protects the server from getting in trouble.

 

The rule is in place with e-RP, just enforce it the best you can. It takes five seconds to ask someone if they're OOC'ly 18. If they lie, it isn't on you.

 

And you can't just outright get rid of minors either. If you got rid of all the people under 18 that play here, your playerbase would drop by at least 25 percent and probably up around 30-40 percent.

Edited July 23, 2020 by NickyW

[jcat]

1 hour ago, NickyW said:

It takes five seconds to ask someone if they're OOC'ly 18. If they lie, it isn't on you.

 

Exactly, so do it at the player application and note it on the character description.

[Marksman]

Just now, jcat said:

 

Exactly, so do it at the player application and note it on the character description.

No.

[jcat]

Just now, Marksman said:

No.

 

no U

[jcat]

Here's current server policy:

 

If you run an explicit business that is clearly unsuitable for anyone who may be minor then you are liable to ensure that characters are over 18 and players are over 18.

 

Many, if not most, of these businesses (bars, gambling dens, clubs, and strip clubs) are run by criminal characters, and this puts an unfair burden on them and the security characters that act as their doormen,

 

Since the staff has already put the burden of liability on the players, it can help them out by asking the same simple question on the player application and then noting on the character description.  Like a previous poster has stated, it only takes five seconds, and it will take even less if players check a box.  Like he also stated, the staff will have to enforce the best they can, and this will let other players help the staff enforce.

[eTaylor]

22 hours ago, jcat said:

 

Exactly, so do it at the player application and note it on the character description.

The character description is IC and shouldn’t be used for OOC classifications. This is stupid, I’m not concerned about the age of a player. I’m not going to be ticking any stupid age verification boxes either. 
 

21 hours ago, jcat said:

Many, if not most, of these businesses (bars, gambling dens, clubs, and strip clubs) are run by criminal characters, and this puts an unfair burden on them and the security characters that act as their doormen,

No, an 18+ business is clearly advertised as such. A person underage entering that club is the same as lying about your age. It’s your own responsibility not that of staff or the server, they’re not here to enforce the age but cover conflicts if one arises in that regard. It’s not security’s job to ask for OOC age either. 

[Cara]

I’m not sure why you keep trying to make it seem like I’m the one thinking this is about ERP, because it so clearly is. 

 

The issue is that it’s a criminal offence to speak indecently to underage people, therefore the onus is on the individual to act responsibly. In no way, shape or form is putting a real life age on a character profile a compromise, and in fact it’s a ridiculous suggestion. Just don’t ERP, it really is that simple. There’s plenty of erotic fiction on the web if you need it so badly.

[Senior White]

On 7/22/2020 at 11:05 PM, Alexandra said:

it's really quite simple: if you don't want to send your ID then you don't get to do ERP. Pretty fair imo because the alternative is the server opening itself up to legal problems by exposing minors to it.

You realize you have streaming porn sites that do nothing to stop children from watching porn and you thing gtaw would get in trouble for two dolls humping each other? You are basically saying omegle should have been taken off the net 20 years ago.

 

@jcat and how can the admin staff prove that I am lying to permanently ban me? Do I need to show them my id? I will never agree to that. What if I have a conflict with that admin later on? This servers and this games are made to hide their users identity. There are still some countries that ban any sort of pornographic material. How do you plan to stop that? Should the admins blacklist every country that does that? We are playing an online videogame people will find a way to turn shit sexual everywhere in any game. I am not buying alcohol or entering the club that I need to say I am 18.

Edited July 25, 2020 by Senior White

[stringer]

I’d never show my id on the internet and risk ot getting leaked in a databreach or something.

[jcat]

On 7/25/2020 at 12:00 AM, Senior White said:

how can the admin staff prove that I am lying to permanently ban me?

 

The staff faces the same problem now under the current rules.  And you're right, it's a very tough issue to solve.

 

Right now individual players are being held responsible by the staff for ensuring that every player who enters a so-called 'adult' in game business is 18 or over.  I think that creates an unreasonable burden with severe consequences for players of business owner characters and security doorchecker characters.

 

The purpose of my suggestion isn't to bother you or get people's ID.  Getting people's ID is Alexandra's thing, and that has nothing to do with my suggestion.

 

The purpose of my suggestion is for the staff to do the age check that they now require of players right when a new player applies to join the server.  Then, put a note about if the player is under 18, or 18+  (not the player's exact age, because that's personal information).  That will let every player who interacts with their character to know how to interact appropriately.

 

There are plenty of 18+ roleplay sites which have established methods for verifying age.  I'm sure the staff could reach other to other admin teams if they want to.

 

 

On 7/25/2020 at 12:00 AM, Senior White said:

We are playing an online videogame people will find a way to turn shit sexual everywhere in any game.

 

The same thing happened when writing was invented.  Ancient Egyptians had all kinds of porn.  A lot of the artists who worked on tombs and temples had a lucrative side business drawing porn.  We know this because when they made a mistake, they threw that piece of stone onto the rubbish heap and started over.  After 1000's of years Egyptian history, there are now piles of ancient porn sitting in the desert.  Some porn written (and illustrated) on papyrus scrolls survived for thousands of years.  It's kind of hilarious.

 

 

 

 

On 7/25/2020 at 12:00 AM, Senior White said:

two dolls humping each other?

 

There isn't even that.  It's two people having a text conversation about two dolls humping each other.   

 

 

On 7/24/2020 at 12:33 PM, Cara said:

I’m not sure why you keep trying to make it seem like I’m the one thinking this is about ERP

 

Because you keep bringing it up.

 

 

On 7/24/2020 at 12:33 PM, Cara said:

The issue is that it’s a criminal offence to speak indecently to underage people, therefore the onus is on the individual to act responsibly.

 

Yes!  exactly!  So the staff should at least ASK new players if they're 18+, with an easy checkbox on the application, and put it on the description, so players will have the info they need interact responsibly!  

 

I don't know why you're against this.