Funcom’s upcoming M-rated MMO “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” caused quite a stir last week when the game’s community manager said the US version wouldn’t feature nipples, due to legal reasons.
The studio later flip-flopped, however, and declared the announcement a miscommunication; the US version would, indeed, have nipples. More specifically, players could choose to remove everything above the waist on their female avatars, thereby exposing their breasts (complete with nipples, obviously) to the other human players in “Age of Conan.”
Gamers may have rejoiced at the prospect of virtual titillation, but Multiplayer wanted some basic answers: why even bother putting nipples in “Age of Conan”? After “Mass Effect,” is Funcom risking a mainstream backlash? Did everyone read “nipple” in the headlines and overreact?
For more, we contacted Funcom Product Manager Jorgen Tharaldsen, who also works as a freelance journalist. He just returned from a vacation to Iran covering extreme sports. “Since the very first meetings we had about where to take Age of Conan we were extremely clear on the fact that we were NOT about speculating on sex and violence. We wanted to be about bringing the true Conan experience to the gamers out there, and we have always been clear on that,” said Tharaldsen in an e-mail exchange with Multiplayer.
He has a point. Robert E. Howard’s mythical universe is filled with scantily clad women — case in point, the vast majority of “Conan the Barbarian” comic covers feature barely clothed damsels in distress. Conan’s not wearing very much, either.
“This is the most hardcore Conan story of all,” reads an Amazon.com review of “Conan the Barbarian” novel The Conquering Sword of Conan. “Dr. Freud would have field day with this. Graphic violence, deviant sex, sadomasochism; all are here in full display.”
Tharaldsen takes several opportunities to point out that if such displays of nudity are par for the course in the Conan world, their appearance in a game based on that material makes sense, too. Nonetheless, he readily admits Funcom practiced restraint when implementing nudity into “Age of Conan,” and expresses some frustration over the United States’ response to what Funcom internally refers to as “nipplegate.”
What does he mean by that? Read on to find out.
From the start, Funcom planned nudity for “Age of Conan.” “We have always had solid guidelines internally. Regardless of your sex you will always wear underwear, minus the top of course, which means that we will, for instance, avoid a lot of, eh, interesting Youtube videos (seeing we have hundreds of emotes in the game). If we would have allowed full nudity it would just have created a lot of unnecessary havoc around the game.”
Unfortunately for the female players of the world (sorry, Tracey!), unless you count larger-than-life abs, there’s no male nudity in “Age of Conan.” As Tharaldsen points out, there’s no peeking below the waist. Such exploits might have been part of Howard’s literary works, but there’s no place for them in the world of games — not yet, anyway.
“We’re not adding partial nudity just for the sake of having it in there. We’re doing it because we’re trying to create a relatively realistic world based on the original literary works of Conan, and that includes having a certain amount of nudity. We could have gone all out on this, but we want to remain within the boundaries of what is, well, relatively tasteful, and there is therefore no need to add unnecessary nudity in any way.”
Nudity is a particularly touchy topic in the US (see: Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl a few years back), an issue not usually found abroad. As more European studios start producing games for our shores, one can imagine many scenarios where either the US is receiving sexually modified versions (which happened to Quantic Dreams‘ “Indigo Prophecy”) or studios simply self-censoring from day one.
Though Tharaldsen doesn’t cop to self-censorship, he admits surprise at the reaction. “Now, seeing how nipples brings a lot of controversy along, it is naturally tempting for my Norwegian mindset to say something about “hey, come on, please, why is this a biggie, we all have them, we were all created with them”, but I will refrain from that. I will rather say that in Age of Conan ‘nudity’ is but one very small aspect of the game. Since we have a mature rating, we give you the chance to take of most of your clothes, but that’s about it.”
And while “Age of Conan” is labeled an MMO, much of the player’s first hours with the game are entirely single-player. Gamers don’t graduate to the MMO portions until they’ve reached Level 20, and none of the game’s nudity is plot-centric. “The players will only encounter ‘nudity’ when they are in the presence of other players who have chosen to go about topless,” said Tharaldsen. “Example in question: we enabled our new female characters on the beta the other day and I saw like 30 topless chicks in a market square. I would think that most all of those ‘chicks’ were actually guys though.”
We’d probably guess that, too.
Readers, what has caused this large divide in approaching sexuality in video games? Is the gap becoming wider? As gamers, can we do anything about it? Tell us your thoughts in the comments and keep watching Multiplayer, as we’ll be posing these very questions to some developers with plenty of experience in this arena in the coming weeks.
[Photo Credit: Gary Gianni]
February 17th, 2008 at 1:46 am
I think they must really not want female players in the game. But, then, I don’t think this game would appeal to a lot of females to begin with, so maybe it’s a good business decision.
February 17th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I don’t think it’ll matter much to women who are considering to play the game.
Anyway, the game is M-rated so no one should have any complaints about the content because the rating covers that. It’s stupid how people complain about content and completely ignore the rating system that was put into place. If it says “Rated M for Mature”, that means it’s for “Mature” audiences and not for children.
February 17th, 2008 at 10:56 am
The issue with Janet Jackson was different. No one new about it before hand. In this case, they aren’t trying to hide anything. We know before we buy the game that there will be nudity in it, and those of us who don’t want it, simply don’t buy it.
February 17th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
“Example in question: we enabled our new female characters on the beta the other day and I saw like 30 topless chicks in a market square. I would think that most all of those ‘chicks’ were actually guys though.”
I’m pretty sure this was not in the conan books. The nipple news was just to distract the problems plauging this game such as delays, removing classes, removing prestige and a few pretty awful in game videos recently released that showed lots of rubberbanding, dull boss fights and NPC “sliding”.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:21 am
“Anyway, the game is M-rated so no one should have any complaints about the content because the rating covers that.”
Maybe not. In my job I deal with the ESRB — the body that issues game ratings like the “M for Mature” you refer to — and the working assumption has always been that any show of a nipple would mean an automatic “Adults Only” rating. That would be commercial death for the Conan MMO in this country, since Walmart and other retailers refuse to carry AO-rated games. Since I’ve been seeing the promotional materials for this game, I’ve been wondering about their anticipated M rating; when they submit the game for rating they may need to pixelate nudity or otherwise change the graphics for the US market in order to avoid the AO.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
@ Seattleite: That sounds like a rating system problem and not a Funcom problem. From the start, the Age of Conan developers wanted to make a mature MMO. If they started cutting the “mature” features out of the game then it would lessen the experience as a whole.
@ Samhain: Never expect an MMO to ship feature complete or in good shape. Even World of Warcraft had problems at the start such as the servers being so full you couldn’t log in till a few days after launch.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Seattleite:
I don’t mean to question your dealings with the ESRB, but God of War shipped with an M rating and it had more nipples than a pacifier factory. Granted, some of them were on bizarre mythological beasts but more than enough were on good old human womenfolk.
Hopefully the ESRB won’t be so inconsistent here, but I can’t say I really stand in defense of Funcom’s choice for player nudity. I mean, look at Stormwind in WoW. If there aren’t at least a half dozen stripped night elves dancing on the fountain then the server must be down. I can’t help but think that whatever this does for making the world more accurate and believable in terms of player choice it will detract ten fold by encouraging the dancing legions.
Nudity shouldn’t be censored in creative expression, it can be just as artistic as anything else. But when you put it in the hands of the masses… Night elves, man, night elves.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Dafty
Your right about that. Using nude NPCs would make more sense to me rather then allowing players to take it off anytime they want. I know a TON of imature adults out there that would walk around topless just to see nipples regardless of whether it ruined the experiance for the rest of us. Lets hope that the nipple shows in Age of Conan wear off eventually. Placing nude characters into certain parts of the stroyline is a much better way to express the world of Conan then only allowing us to see it in player characters. Thats like ASKING all the pervs to go topless.
I could care less on the subject anyway. Yeah at first I’ll take a peak out of curiousity but beyond that whats the point? If your playing Conan to get your rocks off you need to rethink your ideas about your sexuality. There’s a whole slew of free porn on the net for people like that and if your fix is virtual porn there is still a TON of that on the web as well.
I’ll be playing the game for the visual experiance that comes with it. The game looks “beautiful” in a gritty, brutal Conan kind of way. I just want to sit in a Tavern (that I built) and down a flagon of ale while shooting the pooh with a couple of drunken buddies and then start a fist fight.
I think everyone should just leave Conan alone and either appreciate the game or ignore it. When I see something I don’t like I look away. The game has the right rating. M means 18 and over right? When we’re talking about movies R means pretty much the same thing and I’ve seen R movies lately that show swinging Mr. Willies so I think if you gonna label Conan AO then you better talk with the guys that rate movies and get a similar change there. Video games are basically interactive movies now days anyway. I would MUCH rather my child be subject to a few bare breasts then watch some maniac go on a killing spree and hack up a few prostitutes after blowing up a bunch of cops and then driving over a few dozen civilians on the sidewalk.
A little is tasteful but after that it starts looking like a sequal to Deathstalker and thats just insane.
In the end Conan is going to be Conan. If you don’t like it then sit down, grabe a pen and paper and create your own little tittie free fantasy world and leave the rest of us alone! R. E. Howard wanted it this way and who are we to say that over 50 years of lore is now all of the sudden “not exceptable”.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:48 am
I am Ok with an AO (adults only) Rating. And I don’t think it would result in “commercial death for the Conan MMO” because wallmart isn’t the only place to buy games. Its fine by me if there are no 11 year olds running around calling everyone a “noob” and “PWNing” my ass over and over again.
I have been playing video games since pong on the Atari and now I’m 27 years old and I want to play a game for adults. Yes I will create a female character, and yes I will run around topless in a pub and look for fights! Why? Because it’s funny! But that will only be 1/100th of the gaming experience. I fully look forward to immersing myself in the artistic beauty and fantastic story of Conan the Cimmerian, as we honor one of the greatest creators of fantasy literature, Robert E. Howard.
Down With the Fascist Wallmart Regime!!!!
February 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
This society of ours is %$%*$~ up. How can we have so much violence on tv yet when it comes to breasts they’re censored? we have a serious problem in this country, how could anyone find breasts offensive but its fine for a males chest to show?
March 1st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Men think they know everything :p
Of course it matter to chicks who want to play the game.
It’s a lot more fun to PvP with the boyz when you get to do it scantily clad!
If you lose, you still look good losing, and if you win, welp, you get to find out what “sensitive male ego” means.
I wasn’t interested in Conan at all, until I found I could play it “virtually” undressed. (And after I saw pics of the men fighting in thongs lol)
Oh, and to the guy who said it was dangerous to put nudity in the hands of the masses …..
Uhmmm …. it already is in that place called “real life”. *knock knock*
Don’t blow a gasket over a few e-nipples, do yourself a favor and get a hobby.
March 12th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Two Words: Religious Gamers
They’ve been rebuffed politically in some areas such as I.D. (how mighty close that came is absolutely scary), but they’ve become all the more intolerant and influential with crafting video games to their value systems. This all the while they murder and kill in video games without batting an eyelid. Hypocrites.
I do hope European countries will step up to the plate on this, but they seem to have a problem with violence (this is mostly Germany, but probably other countries too).
March 25th, 2008 at 11:01 am
its conan, of course there should be nudity… there was nudity in the comics and movies. Dangerous nudity? LOL is all I have to say. It’s a computer game, and if you own a computer you dont need conan to show you boobs, there all over the internet. Haleigh is right, get a hobby or a life
March 29th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Umm.. so just put a feature in to let folks turn it off. I think every one can understand that some people have little ones and what not running about. Though why cutting off heads is Okay to see and Boobs is not is beyond me. Still i applaud funcom for it, about time some one started pulling the stick out of our American asses. As for those who think women won’t play? Please do you know any female gamers cause every one I’ve mention the game to has been stoked over the option to show more. Despite what people think, alot of them didn’t like games like eq 2 where they were donning proper platemail. People (guys and gals) like the fantasy look, and the fantasy look lives little to imagine. Its far easier to please every one here with a few simply options and features.
April 1st, 2008 at 3:53 am
As a female gamer, I can tell you that there is no way that seeing boobs or nipples has put me off placing AoC. Of course there will be the muppets that decide to run around constantly showing their boobs, but I suspect that if they try that in battle, they’ll soon decide that armour is preferable.
It wouldn’t be any different from any other game - every MMO I have played has involved skimpy clothing, mods/hacks to produce nekkid people, emote mangling to produce sexualized movements like hip thrusting, sex or oral sex…. or any combination thereof. In games, playing a female, I’ve been cyberhumped so many times by idiots that after a while you get used to it - or you leave. Sexual harrassment using emotes or language, to me, is much more of a problem and likely to scare off female players than the fact that you can see a nipple or two. The fact that the game has an M rating hopefully means that there will be a few less immature teenagers online but that is a problem in all MMOs and has been worst in games like Guild Wars where there is no monthly fee.
As others have said - if you have a problem seeing a nipple - a part of the body provided solely to allow a mother to feed her child and which only certain societies have deemed sexual and taboo - then go out, get a different hobby and get over it. Men show off their nipples all the time going shirtless, and women show off most of their boobs in skimpy tops. There’s no reason why a female nipple should be so big of an issue.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
lol…
we will see decapitated people…blood everywhere…
but HEY…dont show a nipple…that evilll…
come on…lets cut this crap…
if we all 18+ we see nipple all the times…(if we are lucky)
im more worried about that blood and dead is not a topic of discussion and yes a nipple…
that crazy…
April 15th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I like the idea of a player getting to choose how armor and clothing and items look on their character/avatar.
Some will choose scantily clad, some will choose conservative, and some will employ a variety of looks for varying occasions.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I think showing nipples and other body parts (male and female) is something that game companies should not be affraid of showing. I’m sick and tired of playing mmo’s that are too cartoony or so bland in lore and environment, that it’s actually turned me toward more mature type mmo’s and games period. I’m not into just the sexual or nipples and such. I want to play a game, where I can relate it to times past in our real world. People now and in the past could go ahead and walk around butt naked if they want.
What I’m sayin, is that in the real world, you can walk around naked topless and whatever. Why is that so hard to see in a game, or even in an mmo.
Every person in the world has their own opinions on what is right and wrong, what should and shouldn’t be done, and has their own morales. Trying to force your own opinons on people is wrong. If people want to play a game where there is hardcore sex, then so be it, if people want to play a game where you can cut the head off someone, peel the skin off and eat the brains, more to ya.
I have my own opinions of a game that allows you to cut limbs off and heads off. If you don’t like what a game offers, then don’t play it. I, however, want to play a game that is close to realism. Showing nipples and breasts isn’t a big deal to me, and I think most women could care less because they have breasts and nipples. I have nipples, as a man. I’ve seen womens breasts and nipples, and they’ve seen my nipples. Who really cares.
One more point that I’d like to point out. The majority of the people running these rating systems and yelling about nipples in a game, are people that are, 1) hypocrites; and 2) full of crap. They are all living in a time where games were not really all that popular. These are people that are prudes, and from a generation that is dying out. Close minded people are running these types of companies, and it makes me laugh my ass off when I read that people actually ?%?@# about stupid subjects, when there are million upon millions of people in africa starving to death, dying from genocide, Tibet, and numerous other things I could bring up, yet no one really cares because it’s not important. No, nipples in an mmo are more important that those topics.
Seriously, I think our society (the world society) needs to get a grip. Myself included.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Ok this is America,last time I checked.I myself am so tired of everyone feeling like its their job do dictate whats right for someone else.The game has an M rating if the games developors and the fans playing the game both want nipples than no one should be able to change that.If it offends you than dont buy/play the game nuff said.I say if all I want to do is eat beef lard,take pudding baths,and look at nipples than who on this earth has the right to tell me I cant and if they did Id punt their babies lol
April 29th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
to be honest its a old topic, been around since the 1800 and before that. the promniscuity of the human race is getting better. i thank funcom for there idea but think they shoulda took it a step further. but seeing as they dont want any problems ill go ahead and make up a mod that will enable some full nudity.. and if not me im sure someone will. if people want to be insecure about there bodys let em stay indoors cause this is the real world.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Finally, we’ll be able to tell (without voip) who is a real female and who’s not a real female in game… the ones with no shirts on are 35yr old overweight lonely dudes who are staring at their toons. That’s brilliant!
On a side note, it’s ridiculous how the US is so prude and the conservative people of this country especially women let it get this way. Get back in the kitchen and cook stuff you conservative, boring, housewives. Grow a pair (of breasts) and show them! The only people getting ‘excited’ about breasts being shown are politicians looking to sensationalize the issue… real people don’t give a damn.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Wait a second… by playing this awesome looking game, I get to stay away from children, the close-minded bible thumpers, AND the over paranoid?! To be honest, I don’t want to see a new version of the “naked dancing night elf on top the mailbox in goldshire”, but I deal with it already for a game full of asshats.
I’m game. Game on.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:56 am
To the guys saying this is going to turn off women, trust me there are a LOT of gamer chicks that want to play this game. One that I play with over the internet (play computer games not… play) is almost to the point of salivating for it.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
This is Conan. Not WoW. Not the stupid game of Happy Elves and Birds and rescuing furry creatures.
This is about steel. Flesh. And blood.
I want to flick red ruin off of my blade on to the pale bare breasts of some dancing serving girl.
Thats the Conan game I want to play.
Don’t mess it up. This is the EASIEST franchise to get right. However, the least little bit of fear of the moral majority and you will fail. And it will be an Epic Fail.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
If you see a woman topless in this game then its inevitably a guy, I think most woman won’t go arround acting like a slut really.
But this is a - mature - game and I want to see steel, the reality of it, if I wanted another boring kids game I’d go to WoW, but this is Conan. I’m definatly sure that women will play this game, from previous MMO there is usually 1/7 or 1/8 that are girls, maybe less.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Smoke said it best this is about steel flesh and blood.
Guess what im a female gamer and im so excited about this game and being able to have real nipples!.. and im an older gamer not 20 yr old.
So many couples are very excited about this game. Gamer women are out there and not all women want a modest character. pfft
April 30th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Nipples!! Are you kidding?? Who the hell cares if the animated figures on your pc screen has nipples???
I don’t get it.
And if you ever choose to play AoC, the game of the century, I’m confident that you will get your asses kicked by a huge crowd of gamer girls.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I’m a female and I play games. My first MMO was DDO and it was so cool I decided to try others. FFXI was boring. World of Warcraft was better but cartoonish and overrun with children who had nothing better to do than make complete fools of themselves in public. Lord of The Rings Online was a nice change of pace with beautiful graphics, but there was still something missing.
Age of Conan was featured in a gaming magazine and that was that. I started trying to get into the beta right then and there (to no avail..lol) because this is what I was looking for.
I don’t know a single thing about the books or anything else. The lore is a complete mystery to me. I will be the first to admit that before I heard of this game I probably would never have even tried to find out about it.
This is an MMO with an M rating. This is an MMO that I can play with my husband and other adults who have been yearning for something new. This is an MMO for the game reviewing, erotica writing, sex advice columnist female that I am and I can’t wait to experience this game- nipples and all!
April 30th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
ive been itching to play ever since i heard about it.ill be playing with my wife as well.and frankly im lookin forward to watching her ride around on her wooly mammoth topless :D…that being said ive been waiting for a game without the kiddie factor for a while now…and i can honestly say we’re both looking forward to playing this game…nipples and all lol.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
After reading all of these responses to the “nipple gate” i am more excited about this game then ever if the people saying these responses are the types of people were going to have walking around Hyboria then kick @#%$! Finally an MMO mostly with people i can actually relate too not some 12 year old who has nothing else better to do but run around acting like an idiot. I think the whole nipple thing might have been the intention of the creators not only to portray the world better but to also get rid of all the immature children that run around on just about every MMO. Plus again about the whole thing driving women away from playing i also know a handful of women who actually like the idea that they can do this because if guys can go topless then theres no reason that a female cant go topless either. I mean there just breasts! I think what Fun Com is doing is a great step for this country to finally get its head out of its @#$%. Like pretty much everyone else has said i would rather my child see breasts then people shootin up people to steal there car and then getin head in the back ally. I mean your child can turn on the news and see and hear crap worse than this its absolutely ridiculous!
April 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I’m a female gamer, I love a game where I can hack ‘n slash with blood and gore and mature themes. I’m not offended by seeing other female avatars go topless… Personally, I think prudish women who get uptight over that sort of issue are silly. It’s an intrinsic part of the world Age of Conan is set in, and if they can’t handle those sorts of themes, they simply shouldn’t play. Censorship for the whiny few is ridiculous. While I’m an American, I agree that the “political correctness” and problem with nudity that my country seems to obsess over is also completely ludicrous. This is a Mature-rated game meant for players 17 and up. Not for kids, so the moms worried that their 14-year-old will see digital titties should be better parents and not buy it for them.
Secondly… It’s an MMO. Most of us are going to remain armored while we’re killing stuff. The only time you’ll see ‘em is in cities, and that’s usually from immature boys who want to AFK a nude female character dancing somewhere.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I think they ought to add a toggle for everthing. That way you get to choose what you see and what your exposed to and if you have kids……… toggling something when they run in is always a good idea!!!safeguard or if you just plain don’t care of all of the nudity and blood but u like the other aspects of the game then you have the option/choice!
Alot of adults do have kids
you want alot of blood toggle it on
you want full nudity toggle it on
etc etc…….I like having a choice! =)
May 17th, 2008 at 2:51 am
OH NO!!!! ANYTHING BUT NIPPLES!!!! Give me a break. Grow up, and when you do, go stand in front of a mirror, take your shirt off and take a good look. You had them when you were 1, you had them when you were 11, and if you live to be 111 you’ll STILL have them!!! If they really offend you so much that you want them to go away, why not start with your own? Let us know how that turns out. And if, by chance, you succeed in your strange crusade against nipples in gaming, please announce yourself in game as the genius who did so. That way I can spend my free time discovering new ways of sliding around barefoot on your virtual entrails.
Go ahead… say I won’t!!!
May 21st, 2008 at 11:58 am
I totally agree with most being said here… What’s wrong with the female minor nudity? I often wondered why do the public consider male topless to be legal and not the females? What kind of perspective would you have if you are a sexist? So it’s uncivilized to show your (female) nipples around to the public and it’s considered ‘manly’ to go around topless as a man?
May 25th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I agree that there needs to be a nudity toggle - I’ve signed the petition for one.
I play these games around wife and kids and I want to have the option to turn down violence and toggle off nudity locally.
If you want your female toon to run around w/o her shirt on - so be it - Just don’t force me to look at it.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:09 am
Why does everyone thing that a nude or nearly-nude woman would cause women not to play? Has anyone looked at so-called womens’ magazines like Cosmopolitan? Keira Knightly (sp?) actually commented on how they altered her cover shot to give her bigger breats because market research showed that women are less likely to buy a womens’ magazine if the cover model has small breasts (and she’s got no boobs!).
Speaking as a woman, nude women will not stop me from playing. If the choices I can make while creating my character don’t include something like a doctor or a healer, then I wouldn’t be interested. That’s what I like to do.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
All i know is, i would have bought this game if it wouldnt have had all this nudity.
Or at least an option to toggle it back to the normal MMO style, UNDERWEAR!
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Well…
All i know is, i would have bought this game if it wouldnt have had all this nudity.
Or at least an option to toggle it back to the normal MMO style, UNDERWEAR!
June 25th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Daniel you say “If you want your female toon to run around w/o her shirt on - so be it - Just don’t force me to look at it”.
Well fella, I hate to break it to you no one is forcing you to do anything!
June 25th, 2008 at 7:53 am
@ Seattleite: As Dafty says above the waist nudity only gets an M rating. Duke Nukem and God of War are good examples of this. When you start to show things below the waist and above the knees it gets turned into AO. Or if there are blatant depictions of sexual activity.
You could say the ESRB is getting affected by the Canadian market since up here it’s legal for women to walk around naked from the waist up anyway.
Same as in real life, in the game if you don’t want to see it follow these easy steps:
1) Cover your eyes
2) Turn away
3) Uncover your eyes
If you follow these 3 easy steps, and assuming the naked person in question hasn’t chosen to run around to your other side, you will now be naked person free. However, if you find yourself in view of ANOTHER naked person now follow these steps:
1) Cover your eyes again
2) Run screaming and crying about your poor virgin eyes from the area
3)Smash your head against a solid object until you lose consciousness.
I’m joking about that last one. Though I don’t really feel sorry for any person that plays a Mature rated MMO and complains about the maturity level (or lack thereof? From the players sometimes anyway). It’s like people that turn the profanity filter off then report people for swearing.
Frankly I’m happy the game is mature rated. Might keep out some children that are known to over run certain other “Teen” rated MMOs that shall go unWoW… I mean… unnamed… But given how much parents actually give a crap about the ESRB rating system… probably not.
I could go on a rant about that. But that’s another topic best saved for some Blog nobody will probably ever read.