Create Experiences for People 17 and Older on Roblox

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#442

I really love this feature, I appreciate how cautiously it’s being taken and requiring ID verification. The last thing I’d want is to make a 17+ game and have younger audiences playing.

I also appreciate the policy regarding ads. If I were to advertise my game, and it showed up in a gorey game, I can understand how people would be upset.

One thing that I don’t think was handled correctly is the guidelines themselves. They’re really vague and I wasn’t able to tell what exactly I should and shouldn’t be cautious about.

I’m sure you guys will improve this system as time goes on. For now, I’m gonna go make a 17+ game! A freedom I’ve always wanted.

4 Likes
#443

Great idea, but so many kids have bypassed yalls verification that it wouldn’t matter at this point…

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#444

Yall should not care about kids bypassing to play +17 games, its not Roblox fault if their parents are not watching them, also +17 games should be allowed to everyone without ID verification (just have a disclaimer), there are alot of kids that plays gta V and it is way more mature than roblox could ever be.

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#445

Would this mean games similar to or directly about russian roulette would be allowed? I’ve considered making one in the past but I decided not too because of the ToS.

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#447

No. The filter will remain the same.

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#448

This is a great initiative to get a more mature/older audience onto Roblox. looking forward to it!

1 Like
#449

Does this mean also unavailable to make 17+ content? Or just restricting play? What if allowed to make 17+, developer who is living in restricted location can play in his game?

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#450

So will we be allowed to have swearing allowed at all? Now since we are moving towards a more adult themed games?

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#451

Is it possible that there will be an ability to depict cannabis usage? I was planning on possibly depicting that on an off-site game, but if possible in the future I could consider moving that here.

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#453

Hi, I plan on making a 17+ bar fighting game related to alcohol use since it’s now allowed however before I start work on it, I’d at least like to not get banned prematurely related to asset creations, so my question is do game badges fall under the use of “asset creations”? I initially assume it does but I’d like to be sure.

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#454

It’s disappointing that gacha/lootbox style gambling is still allowed, when it is very much still gambling and a very toxic aspect of modern gaming. It’s basically a gateway into gambling for kids.

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#457

They absolutely have…
but in this regard, it’s like PBR textures.
when specular layers qualify under moderation as a prohibited image which could be someone trying to hide things within an image, specular maps in PBR get moderated at extremely high rates compared to other images.

However, the staff accounts that were creating PBR were immune to moderation, so they never even thought of this as being a problem. After escalating this issue when my moderation appeals were getting denied, I was thanked by staff for bringing it to their attention and told it would take them some time to figure out a fix for this problem. I give credit, they at least listened, took me seriously, saw that I was correct, and said they would work on it. That’s as much as I could ever hope for.

When 17+ content is being released, all the Roblox accounts showing examples will be moderation-exempt staff accounts. They will not have to deal with what the rest of us will have to deal with.

I expect it will take many bans and many complaints from many developers before any real possible solution to moderation and 17+ content will exist.

I personally have NO intention of being one of the guinea pigs putting my account on the line trying to make this stuff early on. I’ll watch all the complaints and fall out, as well as all the old vets in the special club with staff friends gaslighting them and telling them how they don’t have those problems. Then, when it seems they’ve worked it out and landed on whatever this fo-17+ (really 13+) content will be and how it will be handled and enough games have made it work, then I’ll give it a shot.

Until then, people should just be aware that when staff shows you the stuff they make, they are immune to moderation and will never have to attempt a moderation appeal. They do not know what developers go through with moderation, they have absolutely zero clue.

6 Likes
#458

Oh, and you are right. I’ve seen bundles even with swear words in them.
If you or I posted that, it would be an instant moderation.
Only staff can get away with this and they know it.

Meanwhile, I was never able to make any resolution to either of those two models that were acceptable.

I tried deflating their chests so they were like boys, they looked ridiculous.
Even with that, I was told I had to remove the highlights on the mage, but those are modeled in so I couldn’t get it to look any way that I was okay with and that moderation was okay with, so neither model made the cut.

So when I think about making 17+ content, you know the guidelines will be vague, and ambiguous. They will not be fairly or universally applied. Staff and those with staff friends will get their stuff allowed that developers like us will get moderated.

Personally, I think any normal developers who try to make 17+ content are playing roulette with their account.

So with how vastly different “Roblox 17+” and the “ESRB 17+” are, I expect LOTS of confusion and even more bans.

I hope I’m wrong.

4 Likes
#461

Yeah, as much as I think 17+ experiences would definitely warrant ID verification both to safeguard minors from seeing that kind of content and to likely stay out of any legal trouble, needing to show ID to something many people are still uncomfortable with,. By design, 17+ experiences would have a hard time reaching people who SHOULD be able to access them.

And that’s not to mention the potential risk of a place being age restricted by Roblox themselves, thus inherently killing a lot of visibility unless certain changes are made (and judging by Roblox’s overbearing “17+ content” definitions, it may happen innocuously).

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#462

Though some also say that ID verification might be a bit much solely based on the aforementioned Roblox definitions of 17+ content. Aside from gore, a lot of the things that minors really shouldn’t have easy access to (specifically sexually explicit content) are still prohibited anyways.

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#463

That is the one caveat in which I would say the ID verification makes little sense.

If we were talking about real 17+ content, as I posted above, it’s highly unlikely that Roblox has any choice. Maybe because they’re calling it 17+ content, somehow they still don’t.

The reality is though that their 17+ content is stuff the ESRB would barely call 13+ content and even with these alleged changes, there isn’t going to be any real 17+ content.

A good reference point on this is GTA 5 is rated Mature 17+ by the ESRB, which is equivalent to an R Rating in movies. Also, every game in the Saints Row franchise received this rating.

Some examples of 13+ games: Five Nights at Freddy’s, Sally Face, Omori, Overwatch, Bully, and Fortnight.

This is the ESRB description of 13+
“Games rated “Teen” (T) are suitable for ages 13 and up. They may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.”

This is the ESRB description of 17+
“Games rated “Mature” (M) are suitable for ages 17 and up. They may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, strong language, drug use, nudity, and/or crude humor.”

You could almost rephrase this entire post to say "Not right now, but eventually, we’ll allow games with lots of blood and gore, but you’re going to need an ID to play them and we’re going to call them 17+

I.E. “Roblox will eventually allow 17+ horror games and FPS games, though if you have voice chat on in your FPS game, most of your players will get banned because after all, we’re not Fortnight and you can get a ban for laughing in our voice chat.”

I think anyone that adds an ID to their account to play what Roblox is going to call 17+ is going to be overwhelmingly disappointed.

18 Likes
#464

holy skidddadledoodle… can we finally make a Lisa The Painful-like game in roblox…?

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#465

I have a feeling this is not going to go well. I like to be open minded, but don’t have high hopes… i was hoping for gore to be allowed (little far fetched)? Why not allow beer cans or glass bottles even? does not make much sense

In this case, phantom forces, arsenal, or Criminality, would be 17+?
Every game has realistic weapons (most of them) ? And gunshots and screams ? Do we have to use squeaky noises for gunshots?

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#466

what model is that game even from? haven’t seen any game uses realistic characters like that

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#467

yes! totally right here, its a huge problem that they fail on the clarification, and with the 17+ rolling out, this most certainly needs to be addressed, especially when allowing the models into the marketplace too

11 Likes