>	I just posted this on the Blades listserver and I thought you might
>like to see.  You can do whatever you want with this; I may do something
>similar for my web page, Tony.

Thanks for sending this to me. This is the sort of thing I like to respond to. Feel free to forward it to the listserver. 

- Jeff Vogel

>	I just went to Spidweb's website and read some new Q&As that have
>been posted, and I present the following [edited for clarity] for your
>consideration:
>
>29. You mention for the design contest no EXPLICIT sexual content....please
>define Explicit for me. I mean, would it be ok to have a bordello
>[whorehouse]  in your town?  You can't see them naked and can't get it.
>Also, would it be bad if almost everyone responds to the word rape?  You
>can't actually complete this task. All they do when you ask about rape is
>run away and the town gets angry at you.  Well, sometimes they don't get
>angry....depends on the character.....
>
>This sounds like an R rated scenario. There's nothing inherently wrong with
>this. Things can be adult. Just try not to go out and offend people. As
>always, try to use some common sense. Imagine what it would be like for
>someone else to play it. Show it to other people. Common sense, sometimes,
>is our only real weapon.
>
>I know that sometimes people have to actually be _told_ to use
>common sense and that sometimes people don't even have _any_ common sense,
>but this is a bit silly.  I don't want to be faced with the horrors of
>real-life when I play Blades.  I prefer monster-based scariness, rather
>than hate-based scariness.  Also, I sincerely doubt that anyone could write
>and develop a storyline intricate enough to justify the absolutely
>necessary inclusion of a bordello.
>	"They're just a part of life.  Get over it, Tony." you might
>respond.  "So are a lot of things, mac." I would reply, "And I don't need
>to be reminded of them when I escape into a game of Blades for a few
>nights."
>	This is a problem wargamers have faced since the early seventies; a
>form of the "how can you play those games and glorify war?" argument.  I
>would say that Blades players are a lot like wargamers:  generally
>intelligent and peaceful, with big imaginations.  We can separate the
>fictional violence of hitting a goblin in the head with a fireball from the
>real-life horror of a murder or assault.  Were talkin' the division between
>fantasy and reality here.
>	So what am I saying?  Better ask what the scenario designer is
>saying when he [of course it's a he, n'est-ce pas] has cartoon whores
>running around his game.  And all characters respond to the word "rape" in
>one of 2 ways:  angry and not-angry.  That's a little simplistic, really,
>for that kind of word, don't you think?
>	On the one hand I say that we can make the division and on the
>other I say that certain elements should not be included; aren't these 2
>points of view incompatible?  No.  When I play a scenario with cartoon
>whores and rapists in it, I am not allowed an escape into harmless fantasy
>for a few hours, but I am reminded of the potenial ugliness in the human
>spirit and the sad little mind of the scenario's designer.  "Oi!  I'm
>playing a game here, not reading the paper or walking around in my
>neighbourhood!"
>	How about a critical analysis of the implications of a scenario
>with prostitutes and rapists, who may or may not respond negatively to the
>word "rape"?  And what does this say about the Blades community?  I know a
>lot of you Americans out there will start thinking that this is a rights
>issue, but I say give me one good reason why this sort of thing merits a
>platform at all.
>	I haven't even gotten into the "Kids play these games, for crying
>out loud" argument.  Kids without a good division between fantasy and
>reality, kids who believe everything an adult tells them or whatever they
>see in print on the internet.  Kids who have a window into your imagination
>when they play your Blades scenario and who may draw the wrong conclusions
>from it.

RESPONSE FROM JEFF VOGEL

This is not a rights issue. This is a fiction issue, and a taste issue.
And, in the end, an art issue.

Why should disturbing topics be dealt with in computer games? Well, my
response is another question: Why should be disturbing issues be dealt with
anywhere? A scenario is, after all, on some level, a work of fiction.
Fiction should be able to deal with darkness, and all the dark things that
come with reality.

Small Rebellion (the 2nd Blades scenario) is a dark, sometimes disturbing
fantasy story. Not all of the testers liked it. It isn't happy-slappy
Conan/happy ending type fiction. It's gray, and ambiguous, and there's no
right answer. Will this be to everyone's tastes? No. Is there anything
wrong with that? No. But I am prouder of Small Rebellion than just abotu
anything I've done, because of the dark adult quality I brought to it,
something all too rare in fantasy crpgs (I love Fallout, btw).

How about this? Instead of telling people to use their common sense, I'll
say to be grown-up about it. Rape is a serious, serious, horrible thing. If
you're going to refer to rape in your scenario, be damn sure to be dealing
with it with the seriousness it deserves. Be mature. That's the key.

This is exactly why I included the ratings system. I wanted people to be
able to deal with grown-up issues in their scenarios.

Some may ask, WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN? Well, sorry. Just as with any other
sort of fiction, not everyone should be limited in what they right to what
is appropriate for an 8 year old to see. All fiction does not need to be
created at the Teletubbies/Barney level. Small Rebellion already has
material which isn't entirely right for children. So does, well, many
computer games out there. In the end, I think this is a parents and their
kids issue.

The moral? If you make a scenario with dark material, rate it R. If you see
a scenario with an R rating and this bothers you, don't play it. And if you see a scenario on
our site which, in your opinion, has too low a rating, let us know about
it. That way, people who want adult material (and by adult, I mean mature,
not pornographic) can get it. People who want less intense stuff can avoid
the nastiness. And everyone has a better chance of being happy. I hope.