Gaming and Youths (What's Not Appropriate?)

[MGibster]

I mean, her pose is definitely sexualized I would argue, while the other cases of full frontal female nudity in the book was less so, but I could be overlooking another pic.

To say nothing about this absolute smoke show.

 

[MGibster]

Not having read the rest of the thread...

Who is stating or asking this?

I get not reading an entire thread, but at least read the opening post.

 

[GreyLord]

I get not reading an entire thread, but at least read the opening post.

???

Even after re-reading the opening post I don't see where it states who is stating or asking whether Cyberpunk is appropriate.

It just says it was in a discussion elsewhere. From the comments about why it would not be appropriate, leads me to feel it is someone who has played or seen Cyberpunk 2077, but not actually played Cyberpunk Red.

Basically, because one is associated with the other, they associate what is found in one with the RPG.

 

[MGibster]

Even after re-reading the opening post I don't see where it states who is stating or asking whether Cyberpunk is appropriate.

Where or with whom the original discussion took place doesn't matter because that's not the subject of this thread. The subject of this thread is what themes are appropriate or inappropriate for younger gamers.

 

[500 Toads]

nods

And while I'm not aware of any changes that Cyberpunk RED made vs. Cyberpunk 2020, the latter offers not just the usual questions of how for instance violence and sexuality might be portrayed, but also a very dystopian setting with a strong theme of highly amoral protagonists (Corporates, Fixers and Solos in particular) with their personal motivations centering among survival, wealth and power rather than, say, saving the world or their community. That's a very different tone than, say, official D&D content which generally skews heavily on the heroic side.

 

[aramis erak]

I've been opted into helping out with the D&D club at the local High School last year. It's continuing into this year. I did run public games at public locations so that's part of the reason why they probably felt it was good to ask me to be the second adult and assistant for the club.

We haven't had any problems with troublesome stuff so far, but now that you mention it, it could be a good idea to put that rule into place (when I ran the games, I had control, but at the club it's more of a supervisory role and the kids run the games). How did you present it without getting...awkward?

Movie or ESRB ratings are a good starting point, IMO.

 

[MGibster]

That's a very different tone than, say, official D&D content which generally skews heavily on the heroic side.

Sure. I always think of Curse of Strahd where players run into human trafficking, a child bride, drug & alcohol abuse, genocide, domestic abuse, the murder of children, stalking, and various issues with consent. It leans on the heroic side, sure, but it deals with some pretty dark stuff.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Sure. I always think of Curse of Strahd where players run into human trafficking, a child bride, drug & alcohol abuse, genocide, domestic abuse, the murder of children, stalking, and various issues with consent. It leans on the heroic side, sure, but it deals with some pretty dark stuff.

That adventure, and Ravenloft in general, are an attempt to import horror into D&D and use it to run dark fantasy. I'd suggest running horror for teenagers (even though a lot of them are quite fond of it) is a lot more fraught than a lot of genres.

 

[Celebrim]

I was reading Poe and Twain by eight. Asimov and Heinlein by eleven. I started Chronicles of the Dragonlance in the sixth grade.

I find a lot of the modern discussion about what is or isn't appropriate to expose to children a bit strange, and this is coming from a kid who when I first saw the Succubus picture in the monster manual (at say 7th grade or so) found it exploitive and annoying and not at all titillating and who to this day will insist that TSR would have been better off adhering to the comic book code from the beginning of its publications. That is to say, I did and do understand what the censors who wrote the Comic Book Code were trying to achieve. (And also, you could validly say I'm a bit strange.) I can't for the life of me understand what the censors of the new code are doing by say excising slavery from Dark Sun or why any non-gratuitous presentation of evil should be considered problematic.

But as for the question, a lot of it has to do with the purpose and intent of the content - as the Comic Book Code writers understood. It's one thing to depict a criminal. It's another to depict someone who does terrible things as also heroic, successful, and worthy of emulation. It's one thing to depict slavery. It's quite another thing to write Gor. It's one thing to depict violence. It's quite another to depict the protagonist enjoying violence, being unrestrained in their violence and so forth. It's not the content itself, but the attitude about the content that is usually the problem - especially (but not solely) when we are talking about kids. And, well, that seems to have gotten lost at some point.

I think the best point that has been brought up is that it matters whether this is a kid exploring the material on their own, or someone introducing the material to them and guiding them to particular material. Again, intent is important here, and as an adult around kids you have to really hold yourself to a high standard. What might be perfectly appropriate for their age level may not at all be appropriate for you to interact with them about or discuss with them or especially steer them toward.

 

[aco175]

Just remember that no matter where you feel the line is, someone else will think it is not far enough and other people will think it is too far.

Maybe a bit like power creep in D&D