I thought this game was for 13+?

[Kerriki]

I'm sure we can all agree when I say that a first grader doesn't need to know every swear word out there, nor do they need to know what sex/rape is.

 Sometimes I might see someone say sh!t, or something along those lines. Not anything too bad, but usually I'll whisper these people and say something like, "Please be careful with what you say. There are elementary school kids who play this game." More often then not I get a response like, "this game is for people at least 13 years old, u noob. i dont even care about little kids." After that I block the person (just it case it ends up causing more trouble)

When it comes to people like that, there really is no point in talking to them about the rules. They clearly have no respect for the rules, for the younger players, or the people who try to warn them about watching what they say. I've tried reminding someone in game once, but they pretty much told me, "You're not the boss of me" kind of attitude. So I took a bunch of screenshots of their bad language behavior, sent the screenshots to a mod, and never heard from that rule-breaker ever again. So instead of wasting your time trying to lecture these rule-breakers about the game rules and the fact of little kids playing the game, it would be easier to take screenshots and send them to a moderator.

Yes, I know. I normally don't have the patience for those kinds of people, so I simply block and report.

[WolfQueen]

Hence of me being on here since I was like 11 and never getting in trouble about it, this game is for all ages. Just being directed at a certain age doesn't mean it's only for that age. Like Cartoon Network, it's aimed for young boys at the age of 7-12 (even though the cartoons on there got a little...vulgar than the cartoons years ago), but even young adults (18-23) watch it. And like the other guys are saying, nothing on the internet is kid-free. I know a boy at the age of 10 that is on deviantART. I'm hesitant about reporting him because he's my friend's best friend and I don't want her to be upset about it, even though he's barely on anyways.

Hell, I have had an account on dA when I was 10. Pathetic me thought I could get away with it easily, and now I know that's a bad choice to make.

[_Rache_]

I am not liking this negativity here about those under 13. Have you know I have been here since I was 10(12 currently),and I am not a troll, I despise bonfire at lots of the time, and I am a Literate-Advanced roleplayer. I can make maps, presets and I know how to download them, not to mention I can download items, textures and markings. I'm sorry but I just don't like the negativity. Yes, many younger players are like some of you describe, but, is that a reason to put that label on every younger player?

[WolfQueen]

...Noone is really age-shamming around here lol.

[Tripwire]

While I think that younger kids should have parent permission to play, I in no way believe that they are less literate than our older crowd. I know of atleast one 17 year old boy who power plays and is more of a nuisance than any 13 year old could ever be. :3

[HollowWolf]

I have actually been discusing this in calls with Red and a few others. This game is based around 13+ only because in certain countries, you must be 13 and up to join forums on the internet. But as Sura said, people tend to lie about their ages, which is not something that would be acceptable in those few countries. This subject has been brought up alot in-game on FH. No matter what we do, kids will be kids, and being a kid, you are going to be inapropriate at times. And if they are caught, it will be dealt with. So, it is SUPPOSED to be 13+, but anyone can play the game as long as they behave.

And as Tripwire said, youngins can be more mature than older teenagersm but i depends on the person.

[Lady_Alizarin]

I am not liking this negativity here about those under 13. Have you know I have been here since I was 10(12 currently),and I am not a troll, I despise bonfire at lots of the time, and I am a Literate-Advanced roleplayer. I can make maps, presets and I know how to download them, not to mention I can download items, textures and markings. I'm sorry but I just don't like the negativity. Yes, many younger players are like some of you describe, but, is that a reason to put that label on every younger player?

Where exactly do you see people on this thread labling EVERYONE under the age of 13 in a negative way? Where? I don't anyone saying that ALL kids under 13 are "trolls" or "illiterate" and so on. Some have said that many people under 13 do some naughty things in the game, but that doesn't mean that ALL of them do it. Like I said before, there are some kids under 13 in this community who can behave themselves in a good way and are outstanding, helpful members. If what you say about yourself is true, then you are one of those good, helpful members in the community and shouldn't really let lables make you think otherwise. It's unfortunate that a majority of the kids in your age group aren't as mature as you are, but that's just them. It really just depends on the person, like others have said.

[FinalJump]

I feel the need to speak up here.

The existence of the 13+ rule stems from COPPA law, as seen here:

http://www.coppa.org/coppa.htm

The law is in existence in the interest of those younger than 13 and while that doesn't mean they're lesser than anybody over 13, it does mean they are legally protected. Being such, as far as I'm aware, it's a crime to knowingly harbor them on a site such as this or a game such as Feral Heart. And it's difficult to stem the tide of them rolling in if nothing is ever done about it, as seen on this very thread. You're essentially saying hey come here, we accept you too.

And it's wrong.

To back this up, you need to understand the reason COPPA exists. It isn't saying that mature underaged users don't exist. It's saying either the majority is vulnerable. Vulnerable? Yes, they are. Children are typically less wise to the realities, and sometimes give personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, and other details of their lives that they legally should not do, to strangers or people they 'assume' they can trust.

This allows child predators a way of contacting them.

Need I remind you all that a game such as this is perfect for a predator to do their dirty work? So turning a blind eye toward underaged users is essentially saying, hey, if you got assaulted due to telling somebody information, it's on you.

If the game is stated to be for 13+ and some young kid comes on here and by some chance reads something inappropriate for their age we warned them so it's not like parents can say "but my child etc etc"... There's a rule written. If you decide to break it do it at your own expense.

Well tough luck kids, nobody here cares to do more than bare minimum to protect you.

That's just wrong.

[peete]

I feel the need to speak up here.

The existence of the 13+ rule stems from COPPA law, as seen here:

http://www.coppa.org/coppa.htm

The law is in existence in the interest of those younger than 13 and while that doesn't mean they're lesser than anybody over 13, it does mean they are legally protected. Being such, as far as I'm aware, it's a crime to knowingly harbor them on a site such as this or a game such as Feral Heart. And it's difficult to stem the tide of them rolling in if nothing is ever done about it, as seen on this very thread. You're essentially saying hey come here, we accept you too.

And it's wrong.

To back this up, you need to understand the reason COPPA exists. It isn't saying that mature underaged users don't exist. It's saying either the majority is vulnerable. Vulnerable? Yes, they are. Children are typically less wise to the realities, and sometimes give personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, and other details of their lives that they legally should not do, to strangers or people they 'assume' they can trust.

This allows child predators a way of contacting them.

Need I remind you all that a game such as this is perfect for a predator to do their dirty work? So turning a blind eye toward underaged users is essentially saying, hey, if you got assaulted due to telling somebody information, it's on you.

If the game is stated to be for 13+ and some young kid comes on here and by some chance reads something inappropriate for their age we warned them so it's not like parents can say "but my child etc etc"... There's a rule written. If you decide to break it do it at your own expense.

Well tough luck kids, nobody here cares to do more than bare minimum to protect you.

That's just wrong.

I don't really understand...what you're trying to say is that if the child does something that is dangerous online and something happens to them, it's their fault no matter the case?

But anyway... like most of you all are saying it really depends on the person. I had my cousin play FH (he's 12) and I ended up changing the password to his account because he almost got himself in trouble MULTIPLE times. Now if that's the case, why are there people hating and/or leaving FH because of "illiterates"? NOT saying that all little kids are terrible typists, but I know that most kids don't learn legit typing skills until they get a bit older or something like that. (Tried not to go off topic, but it seemed like part of the situation...)

[FinalJump]

You've misinterpreted me entirely. Understandably but no, that's not what I was trying to say.

The fault would rely on the factors specific to the case; if a child is being irresponsible, that's their fault, but no victim is guilty of being victimized (Unless something is direly wrong with the situation and somebody forced another to victimize them, which is more possible than one would like to think--but children generally aren't as dirty as that. That's more of a gross adult trickery.). If that makes sense.

No, I was instead pointing out the opposite of it--that LordSura seemed to indicate that by their useage of dismissive wording. They seemed to say 'hey, if something bad happens to a kid lol we warned them so' and that seems irresponsible to me. Of course, this is constructive opinion and I'm probably coming off too condescending as always but my intentions are less arrogant and more genuinely concerned over the younger users in Feral Heart. There's a lot of them, you know. They need to be managed properly or someday, somebody is going to get severely hurt irl as consequence of mishandling the duties moderators are in existence to take on.

As for those with lesser literative skill, it's a sort of hit and miss thing in every roleplaying community. Honestly I recommend they read some good books before trying to write their own stories--gain a better foundation for the expression of language. Language is an art, and the most I can say of most users is... they're doodling.