I really believe all this discussion is pointless since this post, but since we all enjoy a constructive discussion, let's engage it.
I'll try to take the conversation out of extremes, and back to the common ground. First of all, I didn't start replying to this thread to be able to RP sexual content with anyone, cause I know there are kids out there. I'm not asking for a hot party inside Pantless Dragon (what a suggestive name). I just wanted to guarantee that I would be able to RP it with a friend of mine that I know is old enough to fit the appropriate rating, AND in private channel. Again, this is pointless now, since I dropped it already, because of the right reasons given and well explained by Bewpy and Bellon.
Yet, after reading what some players wrote about mature content and those that RP it, I cannot stay out of this. I must try to show the differences, and yet, try to avoid the discussion of art vs porn (this would be another hell of an endless discussion).
- But if it happens in real life, you should be allowed to role-play it!:
This is the argument from many advocates championing the cause of allowing role-played sex to infiltrate RP forums. To some, it's a valid point, but not to me. If you don't role-play your character eating three square meals, drinking regularly, brushing his or her teeth, tripping and falling, reading, writing, sleeping, vomiting, urinating and defecating, then you cannot possibly expect this argument to be seen as valid. For the record, I have yet to see a single character in any role-playing forum I've visited do each and every little thing that happens in real life in explicit detail. You imply all of those things; you can imply sex and role-play out the ramifications. It's not a difficult concept.
Allowance doesn't mean obligation. Plus, we DO have people RPing any of those enlightened examples. From Rha vomiting, to Cassandra puking, Chase tripping, Fernando reading and writing, Aaron sleeping ... and I could go on. Yet, we do not RP any of these for obligation, nor because if we don't, our characters will die. We RP them because they are mostly needed at that very moment of the roleplay. Same goes to sex. Don't think that RPed sex is all the sex our characters have. Not at all. But some of them are needed thanks to anchors and hooks to lots of other RP aspects that are allowed. Not every book or movie that has a sex scene is a porn book/movie. Yet, those scenes are mostly needed. Back to the previously mentioned Game of Thrones, Cersei and Jaime Lannister were having an affair, and they were found by Bran Stark, the 8 to 10 years old kid. That sex scene was needed for the sake of the story itself. Remove it, and you have no story, because all the conflicts that followed it depends directly or indirectly to this event. And yet, that was a sex scene.
I do agree that Game of Thrones has a lot of sex scenes and I do believe quite a few of them are just to sell books. Sex sells, I admit. But
some are needed to the story.
- But I don't get anything out of it other than the satisfaction of developing my character!:
Give me a show of hands to see who does not get any personal stimulation from role-playing sex, and I'll show you a crop of delusional people and/or liars. Humans are wired to be stimulated by such things, regardless of whether it's via sight, sound, touch or sheer imagination. Don't be fooled by someone claiming that you can role-play sex without getting anything out of it personally, because they're probably just fibbing to gain acceptance and pave the way for their actions to become allowable.
No matter how much you try to delineate between IC and OOC, especially when it comes to this hot-button issue, bear this mantra in mind: if you decide to role-play the act of sex with your character, it is still you. It is still you reading the text, typing the words, and conjuring the thoughts in your head. By the same token, the other character is another person, and you have no idea who that person is.
Some things to discuss here. First of all, we ARE indeed stimulated by everything we see, hear, touch, etc ... However, this doesn't mean you are there for that. As stated before,
some scenes are required for the story to happen. It's not like we are seeking for sexual stimulus, but rather writing a deep,
mature story. If one cannot understand it, that's just because this one person is not mature enough for it. Will you stop by
The Birth of Aphrodite to masturbate? I really hope not!
Second, about the enlightened text, indeed it is still us. And this is what scares the shit out of me when I see people slaughtering, murdering, stealing souls, drinking blood and doing all kind of hostile stuff. If someone RPing sex is a cyber-freak creep, then the other examples are starred by psychos and serial killers. No? So, please, don't take it specifically on sex.
- Morals? We don't need no stinking morals!:
Aside from the moral and ethical obligation you have to your fellow gamers to not endanger their game-playing experience (or abet them in escaping their real lives in improper fashions), there are also legal implications for role-playing sexual situations in general role-play forums. To be blunt, if there's not an age verification to make sure that you are of legal age in whatever country the game originates (age 18 in the United States, generally ages 16-21 in other countries), don't bring it into the game. In most cases, it is a violation of federal regulations to introduce adult content into a place that's accessible by minors, tastefully written or otherwise. This not only gets you in trouble, but the forum you’re using will take some heat as well.
Right, right and just right. Never said we didn't need morals or rules. And not exactly Morals, cause they can vary largely inside the very same family, what to say about the entire world! But Laws are indeed more wide ranged. We have local laws, Federal laws (each country with their lows, but the server must follow the one country set of rules it is hosted at), and even International Laws. This alone was (or should have been) good enough to put an end to this discussion. Pardon me those followers of Chaos faith, but the truth is that without Order, there is no Freedom. The world NEEDS order to grow and develop.
We no need no education is good only for singing, but it's impractical to live like that.
***
This subject is really polemic and delicate, as I first said it was. And it would be easier if the extremists wouldn't be so extreme. Please, it really offends when we read someone associating our story and art to porn. Not that I consider porn wrong. It's just not what I want for my story, and surely what I'm NOT doing.
I've wrote this last post of mine in this thread because I thought some explanations were needed. If people still doesn't understand what I'm trying to say, or if they simply wish to tag us in offensive ways, I'm done. I'm not going to reply anymore, because it would be pointless. Some comprehensions only comes with age, maturity, and experience. And some never comes! I can live with people thinking differently of me. I have no need to change their minds. Just don't attack me, and we will live in peace.