One of the issues with the rating system is finding that vague line between tiers. So it truly did surprise me that ArcheAge warranted an M rating from the ESRB for “violence, blood, sexual themes, partial nudity, and drug reference.” All that and no mention of the guy making obscene gestures at my corpse that he just ganked? 5. ArcheAgeīefore doing this column, I never really gave much serious thought about what rating every game has (and let’s face it, the rating system is kind of a joke anyway). The ESRB defended its rating by saying that elements such as severed heads, rape references, and the ability to get drunk made the decision necessary. The company had to scramble to update the official site with an age gate for a game that it fully expected to be rated T. When ESO got slapped with an M rating back in 2014, you could tell that Bethesda wasn’t pleased: Mortal OnlineĪpart from the full-frontal nudity that briefly disappeared around the same time as the game’s Steam launch (coincidence?), Mortal Online allows players to reap, collect, and even trade the heads of defeated foes. When you’re bored with that, there’s always virtual cannibalism to while away the hours. It’s also pretty much what everyone seems to know Requiem for, since this horror MMO has turned up the combat gore dial to 11. There’s a video game term called “gibs” that basically means “flying bloody meat pieces.” You bump into this a lot in shooters, where it’s supposedly the mark of a truly awesome game if you can make your foe explode into thousands of gibs. Parental guidance from here on out is suggested. Today we’re going to look at 10 games that don’t just accept mature content as a part of the gameplay experience, they embrace it fully and have earned an M or AO rating from the ESRB. It’s an uphill battle to get these games out, sometime: World of Darkness and Revival both promised a super-gritty world yet were torpedoed well before launch. Every once in a while we get a game that pushes well into the mature or even adult-only rating territory with edgier content. Of course, not every MMO out there deigns to appeal to the family market. After all, why limit the potential size of your audience when you’re trying to draw in as large of a group of gamers as possible? Sure, there’s a bit of blood, skin, and the occasional foray into adult themes, but for the most part these games are playing it safe by not pushing too many boundaries. As with mainstream movies, it seems that the MMORPG industry has settled comfortably into the PG-13 zone for its approach and themes.
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