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<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 833070" data-attributes="member: 5100">I really don't have a problem with the idea of &quot;vile&quot; or &quot;mature&quot; content in a game.&nbsp; As a DM, I've actually used rape and descriptions of human experimentation as plot devices.&nbsp; I've used &quot;mature&quot; ideas well, when nothing else really illustrates the scene I'm trying to set.&nbsp; I've also used &quot;mature&quot; ideas inappropriately and paid the price.The funny thing is that &quot;mature&quot; content does not always mean mature stories.&nbsp; Quite often it means the opposite.&nbsp; Done too often or without context, &quot;mature&quot; content is one of the most immature things that can be added to a game/movie/whatever.&nbsp; It's basically mental masturbation (and I do mean that).A mature person doesn't throw &quot;mature&quot; or &quot;vile&quot; content in just to do it.&nbsp; Any sort of vague description, such as &quot;the remnants of unspeakable acts of human violation and torture&quot; works just as well as something more graphic 95%+ of the time.&nbsp; The only reason to throw in something more is if it really is important as a plot device and/or you want to do something with the issues surrounding the action/environment itself.If an adventure contains a rape, for example, does it include it because the PCs are supposed to help the woman cope with what happened (or cope with it themselves, if they are a PC)?&nbsp; Or, is it just in there because it sounded like something interesting to have the bad guy do?&nbsp; The former can be a good thing.&nbsp; The latter shows real immaturity on the part of the DM/group/author.Basically, if a group's (or adventure's) style of play is dungeon crawls and killing orcs/dragons/demons, then any introduction of &quot;mature&quot; content is really going to be puerile and immature.&nbsp; If the group is more cerebral, then inclusion of &quot;mature&quot; themes can add some spice to the game.&nbsp; Even in the best of cases, though, &quot;mature&quot; content needs to be infrequent or it loses its value.Part of my concern is that any inclusion of &quot;mature&quot; content in Dragon or Dungeon is going to be botched.&nbsp; The format of the magazines is such that they don't lend themselves well to such things (which is not a bad thing IMHO).&nbsp; I could see something in one of the Wizard's Workshop articles, but I'm be suspicious of it anywhere else.The very use of the word &quot;vile&quot; as a promotion only makes me more doubtful.&nbsp; &quot;Vile&quot; carries the connotation that something horrible is done gratuitously.&nbsp; So &quot;vile content&quot; immediately drives home the idea of gratuitously nasty content.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 833070, member: 5100"] I really don't have a problem with the idea of "vile" or "mature" content in a game. As a DM, I've actually used rape and descriptions of human experimentation as plot devices. I've used "mature" ideas well, when nothing else really illustrates the scene I'm trying to set. I've also used "mature" ideas inappropriately and paid the price. The funny thing is that "mature" content does not always mean mature stories. Quite often it means the opposite. Done too often or without context, "mature" content is one of the most immature things that can be added to a game/movie/whatever. It's basically mental masturbation (and I do mean that). A mature person doesn't throw "mature" or "vile" content in just to do it. Any sort of vague description, such as "the remnants of unspeakable acts of human violation and torture" works just as well as something more graphic 95%+ of the time. The only reason to throw in something more is if it really is important as a plot device and/or you want to do something with the issues surrounding the action/environment itself. If an adventure contains a rape, for example, does it include it because the PCs are supposed to help the woman cope with what happened (or cope with it themselves, if they are a PC)? Or, is it just in there because it sounded like something interesting to have the bad guy do? The former can be a good thing. The latter shows real immaturity on the part of the DM/group/author. Basically, if a group's (or adventure's) style of play is dungeon crawls and killing orcs/dragons/demons, then any introduction of "mature" content is really going to be puerile and immature. If the group is more cerebral, then inclusion of "mature" themes can add some spice to the game. Even in the best of cases, though, "mature" content needs to be infrequent or it loses its value. Part of my concern is that any inclusion of "mature" content in Dragon or Dungeon is going to be botched. The format of the magazines is such that they don't lend themselves well to such things (which is not a bad thing IMHO). I could see something in one of the Wizard's Workshop articles, but I'm be suspicious of it anywhere else. The very use of the word "vile" as a promotion only makes me more doubtful. "Vile" carries the connotation that something horrible is done gratuitously. So "vile content" immediately drives home the idea of gratuitously nasty content. [/QUOTE]

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