Hello! A while ago I heard something about “game ratings” being added to Roblox.
( To be clear. I am talking about rating such as “E for everyone” and “M for mature”. )
I would like to know if this was a myth or something Roblox is actually planning to add.
Why I think Roblox should add this ASAP:
It allows developers to target games towards an specific audience
It solves an issue of collecting info from people under 13
Allows more graphic games ( Many games have been taken down for being too graphic )
It would allow more of an age gap ( More mature games leads to more adults who may want to join Roblox )
More creativity in general would be allowed
For me personally, I really want to try making an “Assassins Creed style game” on Roblox, but the game would be too mature for young ages as of right now.
Game ratings would be a good idea aside from the fact that Roblox can’t rate every game. Therefore, we have to trust a five-year-old’s judgment on how old you should be to play a game. :grimacing
I see how this would benefit the community, dictating which games could not be for you, however I have always thought Roblox as a community for all kids, Young and old, and I dont really think that they would understand nor care for this thing that much
Honestly, unless the average player age changes, having your game be 13+ will massively subtract your player base. I don’t think many games would voluntarily do this.
That’s kind of the whole point of this discussion. Being able to make more mature games. It would follow that however this is implemented that more mature games would lose playerbase (due to their restricted nature), but could address their specific audience better due to less development restrictions.
The only kind of experience rating system we have right now is PolicyService. Some methods in PolicyService allow us to somewhat track the age of a user (either 13+ or >13) which can be useful in games.
However, these methods are NOT the most useful in some circumstances. They can be flawed and should not be used generally. Roblox has a method for getting users that are under 13, but it is locked behind RobloxScriptSecurity, so no developer except for Roblox can implement this. So uh, we don’t really need an age rating system, but perhaps?
If Roblox lets developers rate their own games, it’s dumb. It’s no better than a simple warning in the description or on the title screen, like
WARNING: This game may be inappropriate for younger players
I guess there’s a possibility Roblox will handle the ratings, but with the amount of games out there, it will take a very long time for Roblox to rate them all. In my opinion, it’s just not a good idea.
Maybe game owners could apply for ratings by Roblox and if Roblox deems it viable to rate them, they could refer the game to some sort of game rating branch. That would mean an expansion in the company’s structure, though. That means more jobs, but also more infrastructure and systems. Adding something like this would probably futureproof their company from lawsuits from parents who don’t moderate their child’s Internet usage.
100%, it would be exploited to the fullest if it was made developer-chosen.
I would prefer if they had a “Not yet rated” category, which restricted the game to only users 13+, until they were placed into the queue to get rated.
It could also give a warning to anyone under 13 who tried to play a not yet rated game, which would still allow games to reach the ~13 player base, while being unrated.
What ratings could look like, and what they could do
E for everyone | Chat majorly restricted(no swearing, toxic words, ETC), blood disabled, violence not allowed/restricted | Anyone can play the game, no matter their account age
E for everyone 10+ | Chat lightly restricted(no swearing, no slurs, ETC), blood optional, light/cartoon violence allowed | Only accounts 10 years or older can play
Teen | Chat very lightly restricted(Non-extreme swears allowed, no slurs, ETC), blood can be forced, extreme violence allowed, gore allowed | Only accounts 13+ can play
I personally think that “teen” should be the highest rating for Roblox, as it allows more mature games, but avoids things that could majorly decrease Roblox’s player count(EG: Sexual content, slurs, extreme swearing, ETC.)
It could work, however, some people don’t put in their real birthday on Roblox at all. Some users have it as their real birthday, others were supposedly “born” in the mid 1920s. And then, there’s going to be games that have no rating. Games with no rating will probably default to E for Everyone in the perfect world, but I’m not too sure.
Yes but similarly to what @p0s_0 said, these mature games will start out with an E rating which means that many “mature” games will be rated E. This means young players will be able to access mature games until their rating changes. You would also be addressing another audience, daring young kids seeking mature content.
