Making it easier to tell who's a minor and who isn't

[Kekewy]

You can display your birthday. It's why I said go to their profile. I just enabled it on mine to show you.

Spoiler

View attachment 197093

You can also check people's about me section. Sometimes in their little blurbs they'll put their age. It's where I have mine normally.

I know how to check profiles for ages and I do. I also ask potential partners for their age no matter what their profile or post states. However any extra level of protection is always welcomed, especially when dealing with minors. That was why I suggested it.

 

[Trust]

It's not a bad idea, besides, look at the main perk of it, We would no longer have just plain black names xD  


The only problem I can see (which has been addressed already) is segregation between those older and those younger, and age then becoming a requirement in joining certain RPs. 


It wouldn't  take too long for RPs saying "You must be this old to join" to start popping up, and that just isn't very good for a site that is supposed to be friendly to all ages.


summary: yeah... No, not the best of idea, but a perfectly reasonable suggestion

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

It's not a bad idea, besides, look at the main perk of it, We would no longer have just plain black names xD  


The only problem I can see (which has been addressed already) is segregation between those older and those younger, and age then becoming a requirement in joining certain RPs. 


It wouldn't  take too long for RPs saying "You must be this old to join" to start popping up, and that just isn't very good for a site that is supposed to be friendly to all ages.


summary: yeah... No, not the best of idea, but a perfectly reasonable suggestion

If you want a role play where the requirement is to be at least 18 years of age, you can have one of those. It's not any different from requiring a post every day or at least two paragraphs in a reply, or whatever.


In the end, people should do what makes them happy. And if a requirement someone has makes them upset, then find a new partner. 

 

[Trust]

If you want a role play where the requirement is to be at least 18 years of age, you can have one of those. It's not any different from requiring a post every day or at least two paragraphs in a reply, or whatever.


In the end, people should do what makes them happy. And if a requirement someone has makes them upset, then find a new partner. 

But it's not exactly a fair requirement.


Imagine you found the absolutely perfect RP, love the plot and make a large CS, excited to join and just wanting to be accepted so you can start, only to be told "You are too old to join".


It is very different.

 

[Cold Ramen Noodles]

I have found role plays where one thing wasn't working for me, so I left and found another partner. I personally role play to have fun and if I feel uncomfortable and get stressed out role playing with a minor, then I'm not going to change my rules. I role play for myself and nobody else.

 

[Soul Stealer]

It's not a bad idea, besides, look at the main perk of it, We would no longer have just plain black names xD  


The only problem I can see (which has been addressed already) is segregation between those older and those younger, and age then becoming a requirement in joining certain RPs. 


It wouldn't  take too long for RPs saying "You must be this old to join" to start popping up, and that just isn't very good for a site that is supposed to be friendly to all ages.


summary: yeah... No, not the best of idea, but a perfectly reasonable suggestion

That's what I was thinking.

It's not any different from requiring a post every day or at least two paragraphs in a reply, or whatever.

I get what you mean, but... it's VERY different from that. While anyone can just struggle out two paragraphs in a post with some level of difficulty, you can't just become the age of consent when you're... not. Which is the segregation problem @Trust (no longer online) is talking about. IF it gets out of hand, that would cause serious issues. And either way, there isn't supposed to be "18+ only" RPs in the first place, theoretically.

 

[Soul Stealer]

Once again, I personally don't feel comfortable doing romance with minors. We all have things that we are not comfortable doing. So I'm not going to force myself to.

And I don't personally feel comfortable doing romance RPs... kind of in general. Like, everyone likes a deep love story or whatever, but if it's ONLY romance, or if it's just senseless, I don't care for it in ANY setting.

 

[Kekewy]

But it's not exactly a fair requirement.


Imagine you found the absolutely perfect RP, love the plot and make a large CS, excited to join and just wanting to be accepted so you can start, only to be told "You are too old to join".


It is very different.

It's a perfectly fair requirement. I don't want to be yelled at by a minor's parents because they don't like the fact that their minor child is role-playing with someone as old as they are. I don't feel comfortable playing with minors and therefore don't enjoy rps with them. If someone has a problem with that and can't understand my discomfort, I doubt I'm going to enjoy an RP with them anyway.


If you love a plot so much, pm the person that suggested it and ask if you can use it. Explain that you love their plot but respect that they don't play with minors and ask if you can use it for yourself. Most people will probably say yes, if they don't, oh well. Your desire to play out a plot doesn't supersede someone else's wishes not to RP with people they don't want to.


For the record, I've found several plots over my years of rping that I absolutely loved and instantly got ideas for. Then I read more into the ads and found some requirement of the OPs I didn't meet. And do you know what I do when that happens? I shrug, hit the back button and continue looking for a partner I'm more compatible with. It's not age discrimination for someone 20+ to not want to rp with people under 18. Nor is the opposite the case, though I rarely see it happen.

 

[call me rae]

Also an issue no one else has brought up is : This labelling system could be used to be pro explicit content.



Think about it, the leading reason the staff is all - No Not Gonna Happen - to explicit content is because there is no foolproof way to verify someone's age over the internet.


But if your gonna trust people's innate honesty enough to build a labeling system around it than people are going to argue that means you should trust them enough to allow explicit content.


As one of the leading arguments FOR explicit content roleplays is that : Well So and So told me they were over the age of consent, so why shouldn't I trust them?


By building an entire labelling system around pretty much exactly that mentality your only adding more validity to their arguments.


Not that that's the intended purpose obviously. But you got to think - some people you give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile. And at the very least your opening up a whole lot of circular arguments.


Because if your going with the idea - well I can't verify So and So is ACTUALLY over the age of consent - well then isn't the labelling system useless ?


But if your saying well I trust So and So to tell the truth about their DOB so the labeling system works - well why can't we further take that to mean I should be able to ask So and So for explicit content because their over the age of consent.


PS : Just to clarify I am not personally advocating for explicit content. I don't do it personally regardless of the site rules. I'm just bringing up an argument I think OTHER people will use.

 

[Morris]

My quick deconstruction of this topic:


- fair enough starting point: not all adults are comfortable playing certain themes/plots with minors, and/or vice versa (though the latter is rarer).


- seperating age groups with indicators is a technical possibility, but begets a variety of associated concerns: stating you are "minor" or "adult" is already indicative of your age, regardless whether you provide an exact number of years or not.


- consequently, this can, by extension, lead to people turning others down on an age basis, making it harder for a lot of people to find partners.


- the above can be especially glaring if some people who belong to one age group are interested in things which are demographically dominated by the other age group (be it fandoms, horror, pokemon, whatever).


- in accordance, this easily escalates to people lying about their age, from which nothing prevents them in the first place, but now it is indirectly encouraged, even if the original suggestion was a morally decent one.


Conclusion: this suggestion, however good-spirited, is ultimately redundant, and inadvertently encourages more breaches of trust than there already are.


Addendum: and the mods stated it's not gonna' happen (in the earliest posts no less), which is already a point of closure to this topic in my humble opinion.


Suggestion: when you team up with someone for an RP, trust them they will handle their part in it with as much maturity and responsibility as you yourself would. If you want to ask someone whether they are minor or not, that is perfectly okay. But there never has been, and never shall be an surefire option for you to uncover the truth for sure unless you are a hacker willing to violate privacy rights. As such, apply the principle that every potential partner is honest with you, unless you stumble across evidence to the contrary.


Just adding my two cents, not looking to offend anyone.

 

[Chordling]

The thread has fulfilled its purpose.  It is now locked.  Please create a support ticket if you have questions.