Call of Duty age restriction...

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Call of Duty age restriction...

(16 posts)

Started 9 months ago by monkeygourmet
Latest reply from G1GAHURTZ

monkeygourmet
Member

Let's face it...

The major problem with 90% of games, using COD here as an example (although Halo, any other console FPS has a potential to draw these kind of people), is that young, trolling twats seem to culminate and cause distress amongst a lot of different gamer types (hence the big 'ol Gaymerfest) .

What I'm interested in is;

If previously mentioned titles had a very strict age rating, could we eliminate a lot of the douche behaviour.

Now.... Im against censorship in almost every form, but, surely, some of the scenes displayed in COD should be reserved for adults? (please argue if you disagree)

Please, feel free to contribute (excuse spelling, my iPad,is being weird...)

I fully am aware I watched Robocop at 12 years old... And still live with the: 'Can you fly Bobby', scene... To this day...

Still, kids these days don't seem to be able to differentiate themselves, that seems to be a bit difficult....

Also, how would this effect Activisions profits if only over 18+ could play (this is what really makes me wonder...)

Discussions please! :)

Posted 9 months ago #
Giskard
Member

There already is an age restriction on mature games (CoD, GTA, Battlefield) (18+ in Sweden), but since there's no actual work being done to enforce it (Police etc.) then the stores don't give a damn who purchases it. Money is money.

I bought GTA from a store when I was 12. No questions asked.

Just putting a harsher penalty on it would serve better, and actually enforce it in some cases, so stores are at least aware of the fact they might get their ass busted for selling games to minors.

Posted 9 months ago #
monkeygourmet
Member

@gis

But how much of their massive (I mean massive) revenue would be compromised if they had to release and sell at ratings levels...?

I know for a fact my nephew and about 10 of his friends were playing underage... No big problem to me, but cultivating a good online structure using children is never a good idea...

Posted 9 months ago #
OlderGamer
Moderator

Two things, first is that the above mention problem the OP pointed out is why I no longer play Online on my xb360 anymore.

Handing out mics to the general gaming public was a very bad idea indeed.

Secondly, I think asking game pubs or stores to restrict marketing and sales to minors where M rated games are concerned is like asking the drug dealer to stop pushing. I mean look at the money they harvest. No reasons why they would wanna walk away from that.

Age restrictions and enfourcements makes great sound bytes. But no one along the path of game production to retail sales to platform holder truely wants to see less people playing the games. MS doesn't care what age the gamer is. Nether does a store. And as long as someone buys CoD, why should acti care?

Just not jack or shit that can be done about it. Play with friends where you can. And consider if the game experience is still worth having if your forced to play with 12 year olds. And if your game is seemingly over run with said 12 year olds...there is your first clue.

Posted 9 months ago #
Phoenixblight
Member

In the US ESRB actually does mystery shopping where they have kids 10-16 buy a (M) game from a store and if the store doesn't ask for an ID then they get fines from the ESRB which are 5k in fines each time something like this happens. Because of ESRB the amount of minors buying a rated M games has gone down exponentially. The real issue are the parents that buy the game and allow their kids to play them. There is no need for Police or law enforcement getting involved with this. If they have to do that then they have to be at theatres checking and making sure everyone buying ticket to a R flick is the age they say they are. I for one would rather have police officers stopping actual crime instead of worrying about lil bobby buying COD.

Posted 9 months ago #
battery
Member

If previously mentioned titles had a very strict age rating, could we eliminate a lot of the douche behaviour.

It is not equal .

Posted 9 months ago #
DrDamn
Member

@OG
"Handing out mics to the general gaming public was a very bad idea indeed."

It was a fantastic idea by MS to include mics as standard, and a big mistake by Sony not to. MS also back it up with great features like Friends only chat and most games - even on PS3 - allow you to quickly mute players.

There are also a lot of games where the gameplay is more strategic and therefore the player base is better.

It's not all that tricky to find a group of like minded players you enjoy playing with and play the games you want with them.

Posted 9 months ago #
OlderGamer
Moderator

Terrible idea Doc. Not for MS tho, saleswise it was a fantastic idea. But your the overall gaming comunity, not so much.

I remember when LIVE first launched, I bought MechAssult and signed up. I clearly remember players getting kicked out of the game if they didn't have a mic. Fastforward to today, and one of todays most strategic omp shooters, BF3, and the game is often played without Mics.

Two reasons for that, one is xross game chat(thankfully). And the other main reason is dumb ass kids. Either way, in my mind, that situation is a vote against chat in games. In the overwhelming number of situations, chat isn't an important part of the gameplay experience. More often then not it boils down to one or two obnoxious people ruining the chat.

Your right, if your patient, you can often find a good game with a nice group of players. But on that journey your going to have a string of bad ones. That is why I said play with friends and your good to go. But if your talking about playing with randoms, the mic can be a weapon. And that experience is a complete turn off to me. If the average age of a gamer is 30yr old, why is it we all talking about shit head kids?

I would be very ok playing w/o a mic. Infact enjoy that aspect when playing on PS3. I do use mics in a few Steam games, and of course with things like WoW. But if say Diablo III gave everyone the ability to use a mic in game, it could greatly change the mp game experience. And DiabloIII isn't that bad, the average age of a PC game is normaly higher then a console. Not saying your not going to get kids on a PC, of course you do, but in my experience they tend to be better behaved.

Posted 9 months ago #
DrDamn
Member

@OG
None of those are reasons to not have mics as standard though. You never have to listen to dumb ass kids. You just have it on friends only / party chat or mute the ones you don't want to listen to.

Posted 9 months ago #
Giskard
Member

I enjoy the absolute silence PC Gaming brings. If I want to listen to nerds shouting, I'll call my friends on Skype, otherwise, it's all good.

Posted 9 months ago #
G1GAHURTZ
Member

I don't know why people simply refuse to understand the fact that there are so many ways to stop listening to people that you don't want to on XBL these days.

As DD said, just use friends only or turn off voice chat completely if the sound of other human beings bothers you so much.

What's so difficult to understand about that?

How many times do people need to be told???

Posted 9 months ago #
OlderGamer
Moderator

Who is refusing G1GA?

"As DD said, just use friends only or turn off voice chat completely if the sound of other human beings bothers you so much."

Isn't that exactly what I said as well?

There is no mountian, just a moehill.

But if it makes you feel better to think your telling people the way it is, knock yourself out man.

Posted 9 months ago #
G1GAHURTZ
Member

So are you telling me that I misunderstood you when you said "Two things, first is that the above mention problem the OP pointed out is why I no longer play Online on my xb360 anymore"?

Because to me, it looks like you're saying that you don't play online anymore because of the way other people talk over their mics.

Right or wrong?

If that's the case, as I can only understand it to be, based on your very own words, then why in the world don't you just use one of the many, many ways available to block voice chat?

If it's not the case, then fell free to explain, because it makes no sense at all to say that you don't play online anymore because of a specific "problem", when that "problem" can be removed so easily, as others have explained time and time again.

Posted 9 months ago #
OlderGamer
Moderator

G1GA, I don't have to explain anything to you.

The mic, or more to the point the sheer number of kids using mics, in xbl games is one of the largest reasons I stoped play on Live. Thats my big reason. I never said it was everyones reason.

Your trying to make something out of nothing.

Posted 9 months ago #
DSB
Member

You can always try to limit the people you play with, but ultimately there's no way of keeping kids away from gaming.

Personally it doesn't really bother me. I meet plenty of adults online that I don't like either. At the end of the day, I'm never going to get to choose that crowd.

There are basically only two things I've encountered that have really worked to foster a better online community, one is subscriptions, the other is ingame communities (guilds, outfits etc.).

I do dote a lot on Planetside, but ultimately the reason for it being so good was because everybody had an investment in what they were doing. They were paying a set amount to play, which obligated them to make the most of it, and secondly they had the ability form outfits (Guilds) which were really strong communities, and just further added to the investment.

Battlefield 2 had a slightly similar effect by adding the commander role. The commander really acted as the conscience of the whole team, yelling at the people who were fucking it up for everyone else, trying to coordinate or motivate as needed, and while it was obviously far from a sure thing, it actually did serve to make the game more fun.

At the end of the day though, if you can't be around people you hate, an online shooter is the wrong place to be. I hated it at first too, but today it just doesn't phase me that some guy yells at his screen or tries to "get me" with a few colorful words. At least I get to shoot him in the head.

Posted 9 months ago #
G1GAHURTZ
Member

OG, the only reason that you're trying to cut me off on this is because you know that you're wrong.

I don't know why you just can't admit it...

"The mic, or more to the point the sheer number of kids using mics, in xbl games is one of the largest reasons I stoped play on Live. Thats my big reason."

You just don't get it, do you?

It cannot be a reason.

Not the main reason, or a big reason, or a small reason, or even a teeny, tiny reason.

What you're saying is EXACTLY the same as saying that you don't drive a car because you don't like listening to offensive things on the radio.

It makes absolutely no sense at all. Which is obviously why you know that you can't defend what you said and are just trying to cut me off instead.

All you or anyone else needs to do is change a simple setting and you never need to listen to a single noise from anyone that you don't want to. It's not rocket science.

"I never said it was everyones reason."

Neither did I.

Posted 9 months ago #

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