Elder Scrolls Online Rated M; Bethesda Won't Compromise

[Timberwolf_CLT]

I couldn't agree more with the "count me in" crowd. I'd love to play an on-line game with the "younger crowd" filtered out.

 

[blackened144]

This should upset all five people interested in this game.

Or please the 5 people who give a crap what the ESRB rating for any given game are.

 

[lmaonade200]

Rated M huh? It's as if that has stopped minors from buying M rated games before!

 

[XGrabMyY]

These ratings are fully irrelevant. Kids/teens will get their hands on them anyway.

Only children of shitty parents is that an issue. Ratings are effective tools for parents who actually plan on parenting their offspring.

 

[XGrabMyY]

Rated M, oh no. That sure stopped me from playing doom when i was 4 years old...

Even if that wasn't the most asinine lie ever concieved by a breathing thinking human being it doesn't make any sense. The ESRB wasn't around when Doom came out.

 

[alextheblue]

Minor point of order: Daggerfall was also rated "M". It was my favorite Elder Scrolls game until Skyrim.

 

[edogawa]

These ratings are fully irrelevant. Kids/teens will get their hands on them anyway.

Only children of shitty parents is that an issue. Ratings are effective tools for parents who actually plan on parenting their offspring.

Parents cannot watch kids 24/7.

Kids and teens will get games from friends, use steam or psn cards, and many other methods. We were all kids once and knew how to be kids and do stuff despite our parents saying no; we always found a way.

It's actually really rare to see a parent use those ratings. In this day and age though I think kids playing a game with violence or sexual content is the least of parents worries as they will experience far worse in real life or in the internet in general.

Mature games may not necessarily be a bad thing though for young teenagers to play too; they have to learn about things eventually. Parents should be parents and teach their kids about these things instead of sheltering them. Respect and responsibility should be taught too(the immature kids on Xbox live have a lack of parental guidance.)

 

[sigonellapc3]

Drug use and violence were prevalent in Morrowind yet it rated T for teen (it even had the 'House of Earthly Delights' in Suran was it?Why the M rating for Oblivion and Skyrim?Marketing is why. Exclusivity is the name of the game here. Everyone who wants this game is going to buy it. How many more will buy it due to the rating change? I don't know, but I'm POSITIVE Bethesda does...

 

[jaguarskx]

Drug use and violence were prevalent in Morrowind yet it rated T for teen (it even had the 'House of Earthly Delights' in Suran was it?Why the M rating for Oblivion and Skyrim?Marketing is why. Exclusivity is the name of the game here. Everyone who wants this game is going to buy it. How many more will buy it due to the rating change? I don't know, but I'm POSITIVE Bethesda does...

Likely because ESRB rating standards have become more strict since 2001.

The ESRB rating is not going to prevent people from playing ESO (or any other game) if those individuals intend on playing the game regardless of the ESRB rate. Remember, the ESRB is not a law enforcement agency, they are more of a "moral organization" that (on a very general and broad view) wants to prevent younger audiences from being influenced by mature subject matters.

In any event to play subscription online games you basically need a credit card which most people under of age of 17 probably does not have. I remember back when I was in college, I could not walk from one side of the campus to the other without getting ask 8 times if I wanted to sign up for a credit card. Banks were literally giving them away. Now it is not so easy to get your first personal credit credit. Therefore, credit cards blocks most minors from subscribing to ESO.

Of course, kids can simply as their parents to use their credit cards to sign up for these type of games. So it is quite possible for say a 15 year old kid to play ESO... as long as their parents allows it. Some kids have their own credit cards, but it is part of their parent's credit card account. In this case kids can subscribe to ESO themselves, but the charge will appear on the parent's credit card bill. What happens after that is based on the the parent...

Lastly, there is PayPal... I do not play MMOs, but I think subscription games allows for monthly fees to be paid with PayPal. PayPal allows you to either link a credit card or bank account to a PayPal account so that you can use PayPal to make payments. So this is one way of getting around the credit card limitation for minors. But, PayPal does perform a background check on people who wants to open up an account with them. I know they as for the social security number in the US. They likely ask for the date of birth as well (which can likely be validated with the SS#). The one thing I do not know is if they will allow minors to open a PayPal account without parental approval.

 

[SirTrollsALot]

I was hoping for at least NC-17 or X. I'm perturbed.

 

[falchard]

Anyone know the reasons why they rated it M? Was it just violence, or was there too much virtual skin showing somewhere?

Pretty much you need some type of full frontal nudity or alcohol to get an M rating from the ESRB. Pretty sure we won't see the nudity, but probably the alcohol. Violence rarely gives an M rating unless the realism is... too real looking.

 

[Dogsnake]

There should be a rating for us parents. Something like "when hell freezes over will I pay out $15/mo." to have access to this or any other game.

 

[chrisafp07]

Oh Bethesda, is it only you who still stays true to its fans? Thank you for being the best game designer's in the world and sticking to your guns.

 

[lmaonade200]

Rated M, oh no. That sure stopped me from playing doom when i was 4 years old...

Even if that wasn't the most asinine lie ever concieved by a breathing thinking human being it doesn't make any sense. The ESRB wasn't around when Doom came out.

actually, in my case i DID play doom at the age of 4, the game came out in 1993 and I was born in 1992, I remember playing it at a VERY young age (at the very most before I turned 7), it's not like the pixels scarred me for life or anything like that.

but yes ESRB ratings weren't out around back then so i can't dispute that

 

[shuvool]

Morrowind may have had a T rating but not "Morrowind and older". Daggerfall had an M rating, possibly due to the nudity

 

[vidfreek]

Just to bad it is a piece of crap multiplayer. I have no use what so ever for any multiplayer only game and never will. I feel this will be the end of yet another great game franchise destroyed by this kind of mutilation!

Yeah you do realize this is a completely separate game right? The Elder Scrolls isnt going multiplayer only and the series will most likely continue in single player form, the way it has been for quite some time now. But there is nothing wrong with an MMO in the Elder Scrolls universe and no one said you have to play it. Just wait for the next in the series then

 

[dgingeri]

I couldn't agree more with the "count me in" crowd. I'd love to play an on-line game with the "younger crowd" filtered out.

I've known some very capable kids, both in tanking and healing roles, in WoW. I've also known some very incapable full adults, mostly from drinking while raiding. I've actually had better days raiding during my sick days or vacation days than after work playing with working adults. I'm more annoyed with the selfish, careless, impatient adults than than the kids who are actually excited about the game and want to play it right.

 

[toocool516]

Hmm leave it to Bethesda to hire a whole 7 voice actors to make a world full of thousands of NPC's more "immersive".