I just noticed that in the Terms of Service there is a part that says the age requirement to have a OOO account is 13. This is no problem to me since i am almost 15. I played a lot less decent games than Spiral Knights that have 12 as age requirement. May i ask why it is so high?
Age requirement
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 11:49
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 12:10
#2
Because this community has been infected by the swarm and would inflict a terrible
evil upon those less than the age of 13. They can't handle our evilness.
However I'm sure there are many knights less than 13 who play SK and there are quite a few
knights older than 13 that act younger than 13.
~Guard
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 12:07
#3
child privacy regulations?
I'm not an expert, but I vaguely remember something like this:
A lot of social networks have age-13 limits, due to child privacy laws in the USA and elsewhere. Spiral Knights is not exactly a social network, but it's a social game, and that's close enough. The age limit has nothing to do with violence, blood, sexual content, or any of that.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 12:47
#4
There's this Funny little Acronym...
Gather 'Round everyone & lets delve into the world that is Politics & Law Making!
So that little acronym I'm talking about in the subject:
The short of it is this: If your game or product of entertainment is primarily distributed online, and allows children under the age of 13 to become users or costumers of this game/product of entertainment, there's a whole mess of parental permissions & bureaucratic bullpie that you have to go through as a company so that the federal government can be sure that you are not harming America's youth. Said pile of bureaucratic bullpie is kind of a pain in the butt for any company so OOO decided do add in their ToS the over 13 clause.
Another interesting fact: OOO has actually adopted a Mature rating for Spiral Knights. More as a precaution due to interactions with other human beings, given that this game is an MMO, rather than the content of the game itself :P
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 13:16
#5
-----
13 isn't high.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 13:41
#6
/agree Thimol
They should
/agree Thimol
They should raise the age limit, forealz.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 14:59
#7
Well, methinks for one: You're committing genocide on an alien planet. You hardly want kids, who are more easily influenced by witnessed material, to pick that up into their mindset.
Second: This is an MMO; players will be exposed to many, many other types of people. Social interaction would be required. If players are too young to understand what is going on, mixing with this many people with so many different things going around them could have negative side effects.
I think it's because of this that it was deemed a level of maturity be required to play the game. (Although 13 isn't really much, considering how idiotic some players are still)
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 15:25
#8
I think you people need to read the dialogues, especially in the early missions of the game. The intro of the game is definitely aimed at a younger audience, whether you like it or not.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 15:27
#9
^
Yep.
Derp ._.
If it was offline, it would be like 3 or 5+
Like LBP.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 16:25
#10
...
13 is high?
This isn't Club Penguin.
It's set at 13 mostly for player interaction experience.
~Sev
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 16:36
#11
Yeah, us older jerks might show kiddies something like this and mess them up.
Wait a mi-
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 16:48
#12
Yanos-Aldrin is exactly
Yanos-Aldrin is exactly right. Our games are 13+ in order to comply with COPPA.
I'd also like to add that our terms of service are not guidelines; they are something which we expect you to adhere to (fortunately, this isn't hard. Mostly they boil down to "don't do anything illegal, and don't be a jerk to people." ;) ). If you have questions about anything in our terms of service, please feel free to contact us for clarification!
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 16:51
#13
@Hyperion:
Hello Sun god.
I believe Canine was making reference to Pirates of the Caribbean - it's hard to take anything seriously from him. Just to be fair - though I don't argue that it couldn't possibly lead to misdirection.
~Sev
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 17:41
#14
COPPA indeed.
I'd like to
COPPA indeed.
I'd like to speculate the purpose of that law however, as there's absolutely no real way to enforce it without a confession. I'm pretty sure the intended effect was just to prevent kids under 13 from giving out their age. It's the only sensible motive, and the only real possible effect.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 17:56
#15
@Orangeo: Sensibility doesn't
@Orangeo: Sensibility doesn't always play a part in legislation. The purpose of the law is to curb predation upon kids "too young to know the real world" by making sure they're unable to have an online presence independent of their parent or guardian. The effect, however, intended or otherwise, is as you say.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 18:18
#16
Sensibility doesn't always
Sensibility doesn't always play a part in legislation. Now that's a quote.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 20:52
#17
Sorry! Didn't mean to come
Sorry! Didn't mean to come over all Stern And Scary GM. Just wanted to make sure stuff was clear.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 21:05
#18
AHH! GM! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!!
Those eyes...they burn! BUURRN!!!!
MAKE IT STOOOP!!!!!
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 22:27
#19
Dittos Psychodestroyer
AHH! GM! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!!
Those eyes...they burn! BUURRN!!!!
MAKE IT STOOOP!!!!!
(We need an in game minigame like this!)
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 23:01
#20
Of course, there is no way to prove that anyone is under 13, so the rule goes very rarely enforced... once I reported a guildy whom admitted openly to being under the age requirement and watched as he was allowed to play for a while. Saw the kiddo just the other day in fact. So is there "really" any age requirement? Not unless you manage to really make a mess of yourself.
Kind of like most of the other forum rules are optional as long as you cleverly word things, for instance many threads demean other players and humiliate them for fun- but they don't "Name and shame" the player, they instead copy their post reword it and cleverly satirize the player in question, and subtly gain a force against her or him until they feel pressured to leave the community. Is that not worse than "naming and shaming?"
A good example would be something like this-
"There are some players that disregard and are above the rules, most likely because of their large investment in OOO and in shard bombs 15 minutes prior to updates, then rub it into other player's faces. <69"
Can anyone tell me where we've seen '<69'? Because I honestly have no idea! Right. I'm sure you all- or at least some of you who've been here for a while- know exactly who I speak of... not that I actually think badly of him.
So no, I would beg to differ on concrete rules. They are not based on anything concrete, but are simply bland black and white constructs used to block the most obvious trouble makers. I don't mean to disrespect or otherwise undermine the authority of the developers or anyone; I am simply stating my observations regarding the game- which includes the forums and in a sense the rest of the universe for that matter.
Thu, 12/20/2012 - 23:06
#21
The papaya sighs...........
Well................um.................actually it's best not to say this after reading this thread.
Fri, 12/21/2012 - 00:52
#22
UMMMMM
Does this affect EU players? (I am over 13 though just to be clear)
Fri, 12/21/2012 - 03:01
#23
Yes it does, Dialgia.
To play the game you have to agree to the Terms Of Service and I would suppose you confirm to be over 13 somewhere in the registration process or something. This is not a law (or well, if we don't count the COPPA thing and anything else that is directly illegal, like hacking), but an agreement between you and the company that basically says that you're allowed to play their game as long as you do this and this and this (being over 13 is one of them).
Fri, 12/21/2012 - 07:38
#24
\(o_o)/
"I'd also like to add that our terms of service are not guidelines..."
my bad bro. wasnt trying to mean it that way. It was like, for example, Battlefield 3 is meant for eighteen up while you got a buttload of us 15yr olds playing it and some games are meant for very young audiences yet you got old guys playing My Little Pony.
Only a handful actually read the ToS. So, there more like guidelines for the rest of us. But your right, i shouldnt have treated it such way.
p.s. i thought it was a Corpse Bride reference, but i cant remember
p.s.s. in good news, We lived end-of-the-world day! unless its this afternoon, then were screwed
Fri, 12/21/2012 - 11:01
#26
I have never been so
I have never been so intimidated by a snipe.
there more like guidelines anyway...