1 cent to verify adulthood? I assume that comes from the idea that only an adult would have a card with which to pay it. That is entirely wrong, though, for so many reasons...
Identifying stuff, like IDs, licences, etc? Not sure how Kim would find time to check all of that, but it's not just people who consider it a hassle or a threat to their security who'd be lost. There is a reason why voter ID laws in the US are controversial - many adults have a great deal of trouble actually getting IDs for various reasons. (Reminds me, I think mine expires soon...) And that's assuming that everywhere else in the world that we might get players from has acceptable identification that is at least as easy to get as here. Meanwhile, what stops a kid from pretending to be their parent after invading a parent's wallet?
There is so much high level security stuff being discussed here. It would require investing in a third party service just to make sure the checking was done safely and adequately. Anything else would be pretend. An idea of assurance that falls apart like nothing.
Identifying stuff, like IDs, licences, etc? Not sure how Kim would find time to check all of that, but it's not just people who consider it a hassle or a threat to their security who'd be lost. There is a reason why voter ID laws in the US are controversial - many adults have a great deal of trouble actually getting IDs for various reasons. (Reminds me, I think mine expires soon...) And that's assuming that everywhere else in the world that we might get players from has acceptable identification that is at least as easy to get as here. Meanwhile, what stops a kid from pretending to be their parent after invading a parent's wallet?
There is so much high level security stuff being discussed here. It would require investing in a third party service just to make sure the checking was done safely and adequately. Anything else would be pretend. An idea of assurance that falls apart like nothing.
another problem with presenting IDs: how would the RPR guarantee privacy & authenticity? purchasing an epic membership is secure because you can pay with paypal, and the company that your card is connected to is usually responsible for and will help you if you have the card's info stolen. but there are no such services for providing a whole birth certificate or ID or driver's license, and i can't imagine a whole lot of people would be comfortable with giving that sort of stuff out. kim would have to do a whole lot of website-building to implement a feature that would protect the info, and probably buy a few things as well.
minors aren't on here to only rp the dirty dirty with you and get you in trouble with the law. they're not here to make you uncomfortable. a verification would be a good idea, apparently, since so many people seem in favor of it, but i can't understand what it would really do in the long run other than false pretense and telling u what you already know if you can see the age that they signed up with on their profile. i mean, i'm at least not going to give the RPR my personal information so i can get a few more rps, no matter how much i like rping.
the only reason i'm poking holes in a somewhat harmless suggestion is bc i honestly think we have a fine system in regards to age verification. don't fix it if it aint broken! every single website in existence probably has at least one person lying about their age. there's really no way of knowing without getting legal documentation involved - and, come on, that's not that realistic. there's no way to be 100% sure without knowing the person irl - which is a con of rping online that i don't see being remedied any time soon. there's just not a way to. if you don't like that you can't 100% bonafide know someone's age, then just rp with people that you know are 18+. and, if you're just really suspicious about someone, then don't rp that with that person.
in any case, if this thread is being turned into age verification stuff, i'd recommend someone making a new topic rather than spamming khaellar lmao
minors aren't on here to only rp the dirty dirty with you and get you in trouble with the law. they're not here to make you uncomfortable. a verification would be a good idea, apparently, since so many people seem in favor of it, but i can't understand what it would really do in the long run other than false pretense and telling u what you already know if you can see the age that they signed up with on their profile. i mean, i'm at least not going to give the RPR my personal information so i can get a few more rps, no matter how much i like rping.
the only reason i'm poking holes in a somewhat harmless suggestion is bc i honestly think we have a fine system in regards to age verification. don't fix it if it aint broken! every single website in existence probably has at least one person lying about their age. there's really no way of knowing without getting legal documentation involved - and, come on, that's not that realistic. there's no way to be 100% sure without knowing the person irl - which is a con of rping online that i don't see being remedied any time soon. there's just not a way to. if you don't like that you can't 100% bonafide know someone's age, then just rp with people that you know are 18+. and, if you're just really suspicious about someone, then don't rp that with that person.
in any case, if this thread is being turned into age verification stuff, i'd recommend someone making a new topic rather than spamming khaellar lmao
Just a heads up, age verification would be optional, you'd never be required to go through the process in order to play.
Regarding the statement that there aren't minors out there who are out to RP smut and get adults in trouble, there are tons. A friend of mine just recently had a massive scare where the person he was RPing smut with admitted to being a minor of only 16 after a bunch of roleplay had already happened, even though she explicitly told him she was 18. Her goal was to have smut RPs with an adult knowing she was underage and knowing it was wrong. It's a very serious thing and minors do go out to actively lie to people about their age to get smut RP with adults more often than you'd think, which is why asking and reporting when you find out is so important.
Edit: I also personally don't think talking about age verification as a way to compromise on Khaellar's suggestion is derailing the topic. However, it's up to the OP of a topic and/or the moderators to decide whether or not a topic is getting derailed, so let's give them the final say and not speak for them.
Also, there are tons of apps and services out there that automatically verify IDs for age restrictions. The questions are, would this be a viable way for people to verify their age for RPR specifically, would this contribute positively to the community by making it easier to avoid contact with minors (and would that meet the needs of members like Khaellar), and would it include most adults on the site (due to the issues US citizens appear to have in obtaining legal IDs)?
Regarding the statement that there aren't minors out there who are out to RP smut and get adults in trouble, there are tons. A friend of mine just recently had a massive scare where the person he was RPing smut with admitted to being a minor of only 16 after a bunch of roleplay had already happened, even though she explicitly told him she was 18. Her goal was to have smut RPs with an adult knowing she was underage and knowing it was wrong. It's a very serious thing and minors do go out to actively lie to people about their age to get smut RP with adults more often than you'd think, which is why asking and reporting when you find out is so important.
Edit: I also personally don't think talking about age verification as a way to compromise on Khaellar's suggestion is derailing the topic. However, it's up to the OP of a topic and/or the moderators to decide whether or not a topic is getting derailed, so let's give them the final say and not speak for them.
Also, there are tons of apps and services out there that automatically verify IDs for age restrictions. The questions are, would this be a viable way for people to verify their age for RPR specifically, would this contribute positively to the community by making it easier to avoid contact with minors (and would that meet the needs of members like Khaellar), and would it include most adults on the site (due to the issues US citizens appear to have in obtaining legal IDs)?
Another hole.
The request was to avoid PMs from minors, and age verification can support that, but it is an entirely separate thing.
As things are, verification would just man's more certain that minors aren't getting into the adults forum. But for a player - we can only tell the age of another if that other person chooses to share it. Many don't, and it would be a violation of privacy to force it to be displayed publicly. This would count extra for minors, who some would consider to be endangered (regardless who is really putting who at risk) if they have to display their age.
The request was to avoid PMs from minors, and age verification can support that, but it is an entirely separate thing.
As things are, verification would just man's more certain that minors aren't getting into the adults forum. But for a player - we can only tell the age of another if that other person chooses to share it. Many don't, and it would be a violation of privacy to force it to be displayed publicly. This would count extra for minors, who some would consider to be endangered (regardless who is really putting who at risk) if they have to display their age.
Honestly, I don't mind the entire conversation lol. I've been reading it with interest, so feel free to continue.
just a thought:
if some age verification thing is added, and certain things are limited just because i don’t have some sort of verification, it would be..pretty annoying, honestly. im not sure if i’m understanding what a whole age verification thing would be used for, but it can probably be dangerous to closeted but out on the internet minors, like myself. if i walked up to my mom and was like “hey i need my birth certificate for this website i’m on” she’d be like “??????” and probably ask to see whatever website i’m on. if i had to choose between potentially outing myself as trans to my mom, or sacrificing my own comfort and going by my birth name on here, i would probably just delete my account because neither of those sound appealing at all. it would suck to have to sacrifice a hobby that makes me happy and relieves stress just because of something like that.
there’s also trans people i know who don’t have their names legally changed, or they don’t want to publicly say that they’re trans for safety reasons, and they wouldn’t really be comfortable with showing people their birth name / possibly their dgab over a hobby.
idk. i just ask that that's all something that's considered with a feature like this, just because i feel like the comfort and safety of trans people is overlooked way too often (not necessarily on this website, just in general).
i do understand the point of a feature like this (me being almost 18 myself) but i feel like all it would do is end up alienating people, if that makes sense. i honestly feel like the system regarding age the website has right now is completely fine, and if you’re really unsure of someone’s age, you can ask them to send a selfie or something?? (but then there’s the issue of catfishing and everything but, yeah, i’m sure y’all get what i mean lmao i’m too tired to think of a better way of personally verifying someone’s age)
again i’m not sure if i’m understanding what this would be used for or what it would even be but. yeah
if some age verification thing is added, and certain things are limited just because i don’t have some sort of verification, it would be..pretty annoying, honestly. im not sure if i’m understanding what a whole age verification thing would be used for, but it can probably be dangerous to closeted but out on the internet minors, like myself. if i walked up to my mom and was like “hey i need my birth certificate for this website i’m on” she’d be like “??????” and probably ask to see whatever website i’m on. if i had to choose between potentially outing myself as trans to my mom, or sacrificing my own comfort and going by my birth name on here, i would probably just delete my account because neither of those sound appealing at all. it would suck to have to sacrifice a hobby that makes me happy and relieves stress just because of something like that.
there’s also trans people i know who don’t have their names legally changed, or they don’t want to publicly say that they’re trans for safety reasons, and they wouldn’t really be comfortable with showing people their birth name / possibly their dgab over a hobby.
idk. i just ask that that's all something that's considered with a feature like this, just because i feel like the comfort and safety of trans people is overlooked way too often (not necessarily on this website, just in general).
i do understand the point of a feature like this (me being almost 18 myself) but i feel like all it would do is end up alienating people, if that makes sense. i honestly feel like the system regarding age the website has right now is completely fine, and if you’re really unsure of someone’s age, you can ask them to send a selfie or something?? (but then there’s the issue of catfishing and everything but, yeah, i’m sure y’all get what i mean lmao i’m too tired to think of a better way of personally verifying someone’s age)
again i’m not sure if i’m understanding what this would be used for or what it would even be but. yeah
Honestly, I understand the entire danger of RPing adult content with minors and stuff, but I'm wholeheartedly against the idea of being able to block all under-18 users.
Now, please don't take this as an attack against you if you've made the decision to not accept PMs from minors, that is your choice. But here is my stance:
When I started RPing, I was a minor. My writing skill was crap. It was only through discussion and RP with others (often adults) that I was able to hone my abilities and grow not only my writing skill, but my vocabulary and my RP style. The option to block all PMs from a minor is one that I just cannot agree with; we're basically saying "you're not worth my time because I have this risk". If you have a risk, then just...don't RP smut unless it's someone you're positive is of age? I think automatically rejecting someone just because of their age is really divisive and does not give a good impression to someone who just wants to enjoy a good RP. What if you got a PM from a minor who wanted to RP with you on the forum? It's a public place, safe topic, but they can't even do that because you block them.
I understand the risks, I understand the seriousness and severity of accidentally RPing smut with someone underage. But to block an entire age group just for that one risk, which has ways of circumventing it, just does not sit well with me at all. We all started out somewhere, and had the help of others often older than ourselves to get where we are now.
Now, please don't take this as an attack against you if you've made the decision to not accept PMs from minors, that is your choice. But here is my stance:
When I started RPing, I was a minor. My writing skill was crap. It was only through discussion and RP with others (often adults) that I was able to hone my abilities and grow not only my writing skill, but my vocabulary and my RP style. The option to block all PMs from a minor is one that I just cannot agree with; we're basically saying "you're not worth my time because I have this risk". If you have a risk, then just...don't RP smut unless it's someone you're positive is of age? I think automatically rejecting someone just because of their age is really divisive and does not give a good impression to someone who just wants to enjoy a good RP. What if you got a PM from a minor who wanted to RP with you on the forum? It's a public place, safe topic, but they can't even do that because you block them.
I understand the risks, I understand the seriousness and severity of accidentally RPing smut with someone underage. But to block an entire age group just for that one risk, which has ways of circumventing it, just does not sit well with me at all. We all started out somewhere, and had the help of others often older than ourselves to get where we are now.
The ID thing sounds risky as well. It is risky due to private information and yes, IDs can be faked and easily photo manipped.
I started to learn to write better and in English around when I was 11 or so. Practise made perfect. I had an adult friend that did slice of life and adventure rps.
The Minors vs adult thing is kind of 50/50.
I have seen some pretty creepy adults prey on minors for smut, fetish rps etc on other places. Take a place like DeviantArt. I have seen some pretty sick 18+ rpers (A good handful are not good or skilled) hover around minors asking for smut, fetish rps, etc.
I been harassed by a 20+ year old on dA asking for weird rps. I told him that he is a creep and he can get in trouble for being an adult. Same with this other person who would machine gun ask me if I wanted to rp and I told her no, becauae what she does and does it with other minors.
This also slips through the cracks on places like AniRP, Discord, Skype, etc.
I had to add a set of rules of what I do rp wise and not to set a happy medium.
Celestina has a point.
I started to learn to write better and in English around when I was 11 or so. Practise made perfect. I had an adult friend that did slice of life and adventure rps.
The Minors vs adult thing is kind of 50/50.
I have seen some pretty creepy adults prey on minors for smut, fetish rps etc on other places. Take a place like DeviantArt. I have seen some pretty sick 18+ rpers (A good handful are not good or skilled) hover around minors asking for smut, fetish rps, etc.
I been harassed by a 20+ year old on dA asking for weird rps. I told him that he is a creep and he can get in trouble for being an adult. Same with this other person who would machine gun ask me if I wanted to rp and I told her no, becauae what she does and does it with other minors.
This also slips through the cracks on places like AniRP, Discord, Skype, etc.
I had to add a set of rules of what I do rp wise and not to set a happy medium.
Celestina has a point.
CelestinaGrey wrote:
Honestly, I understand the entire danger of RPing adult content with minors and stuff, but I'm wholeheartedly against the idea of being able to block all under-18 users.
Now, please don't take this as an attack against you if you've made the decision to not accept PMs from minors, that is your choice. But here is my stance:
When I started RPing, I was a minor. My writing skill was crap. It was only through discussion and RP with others (often adults) that I was able to hone my abilities and grow not only my writing skill, but my vocabulary and my RP style. The option to block all PMs from a minor is one that I just cannot agree with; we're basically saying "you're not worth my time because I have this risk". If you have a risk, then just...don't RP smut unless it's someone you're positive is of age? I think automatically rejecting someone just because of their age is really divisive and does not give a good impression to someone who just wants to enjoy a good RP. What if you got a PM from a minor who wanted to RP with you on the forum? It's a public place, safe topic, but they can't even do that because you block them.
I understand the risks, I understand the seriousness and severity of accidentally RPing smut with someone underage. But to block an entire age group just for that one risk, which has ways of circumventing it, just does not sit well with me at all. We all started out somewhere, and had the help of others often older than ourselves to get where we are now.
Now, please don't take this as an attack against you if you've made the decision to not accept PMs from minors, that is your choice. But here is my stance:
When I started RPing, I was a minor. My writing skill was crap. It was only through discussion and RP with others (often adults) that I was able to hone my abilities and grow not only my writing skill, but my vocabulary and my RP style. The option to block all PMs from a minor is one that I just cannot agree with; we're basically saying "you're not worth my time because I have this risk". If you have a risk, then just...don't RP smut unless it's someone you're positive is of age? I think automatically rejecting someone just because of their age is really divisive and does not give a good impression to someone who just wants to enjoy a good RP. What if you got a PM from a minor who wanted to RP with you on the forum? It's a public place, safe topic, but they can't even do that because you block them.
I understand the risks, I understand the seriousness and severity of accidentally RPing smut with someone underage. But to block an entire age group just for that one risk, which has ways of circumventing it, just does not sit well with me at all. We all started out somewhere, and had the help of others often older than ourselves to get where we are now.
with all due respect, I'm not interested in RPing with minors at all, even excluding the smut and 18+ gore/horror that I usually enjoy writing. it's not even anything to do with skill.
to put it plainly; I simply do not want to RP with teenagers that are underage. I'm not comfortable with it, it makes me feel weird, and I generally just don't enjoy it. you can disagree with me automatically rejecting minors for RP, but it's not something within my comfort zone and I would rather RP with adults.
Deleted this post. No longer is relevant.
I no longer,feel my points that I made are necessary
In response to those who are responding with how young they were when they got here:
I was young when I got here too. I wanna say I was like... 15? 16? Sure, having been blocked by some people would have sucked, but everyone finds their niche, finds their place and their friends in time. This wouldn't be a site wide block (at least not as suggested in the OP), and, as stated in the OP, would be something that could be toggled. If implemented as the OP states, it would be option, not a site-wide "No minors!!" thing.
It's not rude to not want to RP with minors. Some people are good at being mentors to people, some do not want to be. It's not an issue of sexual RP, not all the time, it's simply a personal preference. Some people don't RP smut / dark gorey stuff and still just don't want to RP with minors, it's just a choice.
Is it less than ideal? Maybe. But it's also a personal choice that should be respected, and if someone wants to avoid certain RP, they should be allowed to.
Like I've said in my last post, I'm not even sure I'd really use this feature, nor do I expect it to be implemented, but it seems like people want to villain-ize (words?) this idea. It's just a preference that, if implemented as stated in OP, would be an option, not a requirement.
My 2 cents -shrug-
I was young when I got here too. I wanna say I was like... 15? 16? Sure, having been blocked by some people would have sucked, but everyone finds their niche, finds their place and their friends in time. This wouldn't be a site wide block (at least not as suggested in the OP), and, as stated in the OP, would be something that could be toggled. If implemented as the OP states, it would be option, not a site-wide "No minors!!" thing.
It's not rude to not want to RP with minors. Some people are good at being mentors to people, some do not want to be. It's not an issue of sexual RP, not all the time, it's simply a personal preference. Some people don't RP smut / dark gorey stuff and still just don't want to RP with minors, it's just a choice.
Is it less than ideal? Maybe. But it's also a personal choice that should be respected, and if someone wants to avoid certain RP, they should be allowed to.
Like I've said in my last post, I'm not even sure I'd really use this feature, nor do I expect it to be implemented, but it seems like people want to villain-ize (words?) this idea. It's just a preference that, if implemented as stated in OP, would be an option, not a requirement.
My 2 cents -shrug-
I understand what the OP is saying here. Its not just about smut or 18+ themes, its about the fact that they do not feel comfortable interacting with people younger than them at all and that is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for. They are asking for the option to block all minors from PMing them (Forums they can still talk to them). People keep bringing up the fact that minors will miss the opportunity to grow and expand their skill and thats just not true. People who do not want to rp with minors would never have rp'd with them anyways so there is no chance in you losing that opportunity. Blocking them from pming them is just avoiding the process of them asking 'hey I'd really like to RP' and the other person going 'Thanks for asking but no thank you' You are not losing out because this person never had any intention of rping with you in the first place. You cannot force someone to RP with minors if it makes them feel uncomfortable. You could be the greatest writer and they will still say no.
I would never use this method but I totally get where people are coming from. They can still interact on forums of course, but it just prevents them from PMing them directly. Meaning: Younger person asks for Rping advice on the forums, the older person can still give pointers if they choose to. I see no harm in this as there are more than enough people to rp with the minors in safe play.
I would never use this method but I totally get where people are coming from. They can still interact on forums of course, but it just prevents them from PMing them directly. Meaning: Younger person asks for Rping advice on the forums, the older person can still give pointers if they choose to. I see no harm in this as there are more than enough people to rp with the minors in safe play.
PhantomDrama wrote:
khaellar wrote:
CelestinaGrey wrote:
Honestly, I understand the entire danger of RPing adult content with minors and stuff, but I'm wholeheartedly against the idea of being able to block all under-18 users.
Now, please don't take this as an attack against you if you've made the decision to not accept PMs from minors, that is your choice. But here is my stance:
When I started RPing, I was a minor. My writing skill was crap. It was only through discussion and RP with others (often adults) that I was able to hone my abilities and grow not only my writing skill, but my vocabulary and my RP style. The option to block all PMs from a minor is one that I just cannot agree with; we're basically saying "you're not worth my time because I have this risk". If you have a risk, then just...don't RP smut unless it's someone you're positive is of age? I think automatically rejecting someone just because of their age is really divisive and does not give a good impression to someone who just wants to enjoy a good RP. What if you got a PM from a minor who wanted to RP with you on the forum? It's a public place, safe topic, but they can't even do that because you block them.
I understand the risks, I understand the seriousness and severity of accidentally RPing smut with someone underage. But to block an entire age group just for that one risk, which has ways of circumventing it, just does not sit well with me at all. We all started out somewhere, and had the help of others often older than ourselves to get where we are now.
Now, please don't take this as an attack against you if you've made the decision to not accept PMs from minors, that is your choice. But here is my stance:
When I started RPing, I was a minor. My writing skill was crap. It was only through discussion and RP with others (often adults) that I was able to hone my abilities and grow not only my writing skill, but my vocabulary and my RP style. The option to block all PMs from a minor is one that I just cannot agree with; we're basically saying "you're not worth my time because I have this risk". If you have a risk, then just...don't RP smut unless it's someone you're positive is of age? I think automatically rejecting someone just because of their age is really divisive and does not give a good impression to someone who just wants to enjoy a good RP. What if you got a PM from a minor who wanted to RP with you on the forum? It's a public place, safe topic, but they can't even do that because you block them.
I understand the risks, I understand the seriousness and severity of accidentally RPing smut with someone underage. But to block an entire age group just for that one risk, which has ways of circumventing it, just does not sit well with me at all. We all started out somewhere, and had the help of others often older than ourselves to get where we are now.
with all due respect, I'm not interested in RPing with minors at all, even excluding the smut and 18+ gore/horror that I usually enjoy writing. it's not even anything to do with skill.
to put it plainly; I simply do not want to RP with teenagers that are underage. I'm not comfortable with it, it makes me feel weird, and I generally just don't enjoy it. you can disagree with me automatically rejecting minors for RP, but it's not something within my comfort zone and I would rather RP with adults.
Well if you want to avoid people of certain age groups, I guess that's fine. It's your personal opinion. However, it's not about that.
All these minors today, tomorrow they're going to be adults. Would you want to role play with them then?
If we end up blocking all minors, just because they're minors, isn't that somewhat discriminatory?
I'm just saying, you can just reject roleplays from minors, when and if they pm you. There's no reason they should all be blocked. They aren't hurting,you. Just because their age isn't allowed to do explicit things, doesn't mean they can't role play non-explicit things. If you post stuff to the adults only, you won't get minors, and if you post stuff to the normal looking for role play thing, you'll get adults.
I'm just saying there's a lot of reasons not to do this, and I'm having a hard time seeing it as a good idea.
If I were a minor, I'd be pretty much offended and think it's because I don't have good enough grammar for the adults.
1. I wish people would stop assuming that the purpose of the post was asking to block all minors from adults completely, because that's not what I said.
2. If a minor turns 18 and I think they have a cool profile/character then yes I would consider RPing with them, and probably would if I thought their profile/characters were cool/well put together, though honestly thinking about it more, 20+ is preferable.
3. I don't feel it's discriminatory to be uncomfortable roleplaying with people who are not legal adults and therefore not RP with them. I am an adult, and I want to RP with other adults.
that aside, I'm okay with it not happening. it was a suggestion that I was talking about with a few other people, and thought it might be an interesting topic to bring up on the forums.
I understand the reasons against it, but I am getting increasingly annoyed with the people who think that I want to block minors from ever interacting with adults on the site, ever, and the people who think it's unfair or discriminatory. adults shouldn't be guilt tripped into RPing with people (some of whom could be young enough to be considered children still) because of 'discrimination', developing skill (which you can do with people your own age and by learning/reading), or because a minor will just feel bad about someone not wanting to RP with them.
This should be an,option so people can feel more comfortable.
khaellar wrote:
1. I wish people would stop assuming that the purpose of the post was asking to block all minors from adults completely, because that's not what I said.
2. If a minor turns 18 and I think they have a cool profile/character then yes I would consider RPing with them, and probably would if I thought their profile/characters were cool/well put together, though honestly thinking about it more, 20+ is preferable.
3. I don't feel it's discriminatory to be uncomfortable roleplaying with people who are not legal adults and therefore not RP with them. I am an adult, and I want to RP with other adults.
that aside, I'm okay with it not happening. it was a suggestion that I was talking about with a few other people, and thought it might be an interesting topic to bring up on the forums.
I understand the reasons against it, but I am getting increasingly annoyed with the people who think that I want to block minors from ever interacting with adults on the site, ever, and the people who think it's unfair or discriminatory. adults shouldn't be guilt tripped into RPing with people (some of whom could be young enough to be considered children still) because of 'discrimination', developing skill (which you can do with people your own age and by learning/reading), or because a minor will just feel bad about someone not wanting to RP with them.
2. If a minor turns 18 and I think they have a cool profile/character then yes I would consider RPing with them, and probably would if I thought their profile/characters were cool/well put together, though honestly thinking about it more, 20+ is preferable.
3. I don't feel it's discriminatory to be uncomfortable roleplaying with people who are not legal adults and therefore not RP with them. I am an adult, and I want to RP with other adults.
that aside, I'm okay with it not happening. it was a suggestion that I was talking about with a few other people, and thought it might be an interesting topic to bring up on the forums.
I understand the reasons against it, but I am getting increasingly annoyed with the people who think that I want to block minors from ever interacting with adults on the site, ever, and the people who think it's unfair or discriminatory. adults shouldn't be guilt tripped into RPing with people (some of whom could be young enough to be considered children still) because of 'discrimination', developing skill (which you can do with people your own age and by learning/reading), or because a minor will just feel bad about someone not wanting to RP with them.
I understand your irritation, but I'm completely aware that you aren't talking about a sitewide block. However, I think you may be underestimating the amount of conversation that can/does happen via PM.
For instance, a seventeen year old who is passionate about writing, loves detailed characters, etc, sees your characters and is amazed. They want to ask some questions about your character, how you came up with this idea, or that aspect, etc. They would have no way to contact you, unless they made a public topic thread titled 'Khaellar please read'. Which, obviously, is a bit frowned upon and weird?
I just honestly don't feel that there is enough reason for this to be a thing. As InquisitorCat said, it's only eliminating a mild two-step process. Someone sends you a PM about RP. You say no thank you. That's it. I don't think it's all that demanding, and you even have the opportunity to point them in another direction. "I'm sorry, I'm not really interested in that RP, but I saw so-and-so on the forums with a similar thought and they might want to RP with you!"
I understand that it makes you uncomfortable, but I just don't see the strict need for the option. A one-message response does not take that much time or effort, and can continue to encourage the 'friendliest place on the net' vibe.
If I was a minor reading all of this, I would certainly feel attacked and upset. It's not my fault I was born when I was? What's wrong with me that I make people uncomfortable? Do I not write well enough?
Those kinds of thoughts would be definitely running through my mind if this were an implemented option.
I get the impression that people aren't really understanding what it would mean if an age verification option would be implemented. I can't speak for Kim or her idea of what a version of what would look like, but what I have been getting at is that it would be an entirely optional procedure.
Nobody would be barred from enjoying any features on RPR whatsoever in the version I'm thinking of anymore than they are now. Nobody would have to have their age on display. At most, someone who is officially age verified will have a little badge/icon on their profile that designates them as someone who is verified to be 18+. Nobody will be forced to hand over their ID documents if they don't care about being verified. This just means that when someone sends a PM to another person asking for RP, that person can verify with one glance at a user/character profile that this person is a verified adult and is likely safe to interact with even if their age is hidden. (I'd still recommend outright asking their age just to be sure, but that's just being smart about it.)
Like I said before, there are companies and apps/tools that specialize in age verification which take safety in high regard. In fact, Kim herself cares more about the safety of the RPR members than some members care about it themselves. If such a feature is ever implemented, then you can absolutely assume it will be done with the utmost respect for privacy and it will be optional at all times. RPR is one of the only sites I know of on the web that puts user privacy and safety before itself. I have not a single doubt about that.
Regarding the opinions on whether or not it's okay to not want to interact with minors: you do whatever makes you most comfortable. People have lots of different reasons for not wanting to interact with specific groups of people, and in most cases it's for their own safety and/or comfort. Let's not make people feel bad for their choices, we don't know what their experiences have been and what situation they're in currently that makes them feel the way they do. I'm glad many of us have had great experiences RPing with adults when we were minors, but let's remember that everyone's experience, capacity and country laws vary, and our positive experiences don't dictate how other people should handle interactions with minors.
I think that age verification would be beneficial because it would be optional and allow for more flexibility concerning group interactions. I don't know what's possible for RPR both on the admin side and user side, but it seems like a good middle ground to me. I've always loved that RPR wants people to connect, and I think finding a solution that allows that while reducing the risks people have concerning minors is something to focus on.
Nobody would be barred from enjoying any features on RPR whatsoever in the version I'm thinking of anymore than they are now. Nobody would have to have their age on display. At most, someone who is officially age verified will have a little badge/icon on their profile that designates them as someone who is verified to be 18+. Nobody will be forced to hand over their ID documents if they don't care about being verified. This just means that when someone sends a PM to another person asking for RP, that person can verify with one glance at a user/character profile that this person is a verified adult and is likely safe to interact with even if their age is hidden. (I'd still recommend outright asking their age just to be sure, but that's just being smart about it.)
Like I said before, there are companies and apps/tools that specialize in age verification which take safety in high regard. In fact, Kim herself cares more about the safety of the RPR members than some members care about it themselves. If such a feature is ever implemented, then you can absolutely assume it will be done with the utmost respect for privacy and it will be optional at all times. RPR is one of the only sites I know of on the web that puts user privacy and safety before itself. I have not a single doubt about that.
Regarding the opinions on whether or not it's okay to not want to interact with minors: you do whatever makes you most comfortable. People have lots of different reasons for not wanting to interact with specific groups of people, and in most cases it's for their own safety and/or comfort. Let's not make people feel bad for their choices, we don't know what their experiences have been and what situation they're in currently that makes them feel the way they do. I'm glad many of us have had great experiences RPing with adults when we were minors, but let's remember that everyone's experience, capacity and country laws vary, and our positive experiences don't dictate how other people should handle interactions with minors.
I think that age verification would be beneficial because it would be optional and allow for more flexibility concerning group interactions. I don't know what's possible for RPR both on the admin side and user side, but it seems like a good middle ground to me. I've always loved that RPR wants people to connect, and I think finding a solution that allows that while reducing the risks people have concerning minors is something to focus on.
CelestinaGrey wrote:
I understand that it makes you uncomfortable, but I just don't see the strict need for the option. A one-message response does not take that much time or effort, and can continue to encourage the 'friendliest place on the net' vibe.
If I was a minor reading all of this, I would certainly feel attacked and upset. It's not my fault I was born when I was? What's wrong with me that I make people uncomfortable? Do I not write well enough?
Those kinds of thoughts would be definitely running through my mind if this were an implemented option.
If I was a minor reading all of this, I would certainly feel attacked and upset. It's not my fault I was born when I was? What's wrong with me that I make people uncomfortable? Do I not write well enough?
Those kinds of thoughts would be definitely running through my mind if this were an implemented option.
I was a minor reading this thread, I would realize that people can get in serious trouble for talking to me because of their country's laws, and I should always be honest about my age and respect their decision of not wanting to talk to me so that won't happen to them. I think what people are more upset about is the misinterpretation of being barred from talking to any adult ever on the site, which is not really what is being said here.
Adults can get into legal trouble for talking to minors even in non-sexual situations. Cacophony for example can lose his job and never work as a teacher again if he talks to a minor on the internet, regardless of whether there is smut involved or not. That's why this issue is important. Even less serious concerns and feelings are totally valid here.
My question is at that point, what about people like me that have a net so bad that getting onto most websites is almost impossible? it takes me an hour to load some websites, and sites like facebook that have a ton of flash content will not load for even longer. I tried to start loading facebook on my stuff last night and I am still waiting for it to load.
Arkavious wrote:
My question is at that point, what about people like me that have a net so bad that getting onto most websites is almost impossible? it takes me an hour to load some websites, and sites like facebook that have a ton of flash content will not load for even longer. I tried to start loading facebook on my stuff last night and I am still waiting for it to load.
What exactly are you asking? I'm not sure what slow internet has to do with age verification/adults/minors?
You are on: Forums » Suggestions & Development Discussion » Disallow minors to PM you
Moderators: Mina, Keke, Cass, Auberon, Claine, Ilmarinen, Ben, Darth_Angelus