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)
Yes, I know. I normally don't have the patience for those kinds of people, so I simply block and report.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.
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?
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.
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 (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.
As some have stated, the site is very strict in protecting a persons personal information and regardless of that site you visit children will go to it regardless of warnings. Such as facebook or myspace at the time.
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.
That's just wrong.[/color]
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.Please do not insult some users based of there literative skills, please be mindful of who your audience is. As I too like to see creativity in people I do love all types of art. If people want to start out in FH and make there own RP with their choice let them.
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.
I feel the need to speak up here.This is what concerns me about children under 13 on this site, the COPPA law. Since this game doesn't have some thing like Club Penguin or Neopets has that allows children 12- on the game, I wonder if children at that age range is even allowed on FH in any case; if FH is breaking the law.
The existence of the 13+ rule stems from COPPA law, as seen here:
http://www.coppa.org/coppa.htm (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.
If you need more manpower to effectively moderate your community, get more mods. It's what they're for, much like your normal police officers.
You're handing me an awful lot of excuses as to why you can't abide by law, and I want to flatly say I never stated for the staff to be perfect. Again, if you expect me to be reasonable, please understand that I am indeed being reasonable. Perfection is a silly notion.
What isn't, is for me to direct your attention to what Nowe posted. You literally saw people admit to knowing or being 12 or younger on this very thread. What have you done about it? Don't entertain me with the answer, entertain your community/those who're watching this thread. What do you want them to see?
Staff who is more quick to defend themselves or staff that gets things done?
What opinion do you want to give--the impression, you want your community to have of you? Granted, you could very well not care and that is a viable option but then you wouldn't be a good option for the public relations side of staffing. Not the worst though, definitely not the worst.
Edit - Shusuke has voiced an opinion similar to mine. c8
If you need more manpower to effectively moderate your community, get more mods. It's what they're for, much like your normal police officers.
You're handing me an awful lot of excuses as to why you can't abide by law, and I want to flatly say I never stated for the staff to be perfect. Again, if you expect me to be reasonable, please understand that I am indeed being reasonable. Perfection is a silly notion.
What isn't, is for me to direct your attention to what Nowe posted. You literally saw people admit to knowing or being 12 or younger on this very thread. What have you done about it? Don't entertain me with the answer, entertain your community/those who're watching this thread. What do you want them to see?
Staff who is more quick to defend themselves or staff that gets things done?
What opinion do you want to give--the impression, you want your community to have of you? Granted, you could very well not care and that is a viable option but then you wouldn't be a good option for the public relations side of staffing. Not the worst though, definitely not the worst.
Edit - Shusuke has voiced an opinion similar to mine. c8
What are you, a lawyer or something?
Getting more staff members is better said than done. When it comes to a sight like this, not just anybody can become a moderator. There are requirements, qualifications and standards to meet in order to become a moderator of FH. The current staff don't want to promote someone to hold such responsiblities and powers to the wrong people.
Back to the age thing now...
Like others have said, the kids aren't entirely to blame when it comes to logging onto the world of the internet. It all has to do with the parents. If junior gets on his family computer and logs onto an adult website that has some explicit content on it, well it's the parents fault for not setting up the parental control settings properly, or putting any in the first place. If they did, little billy wouldn't be looking at those kind of websites.
And then there are some parents who just really don't care what their kid gets into at all. As long as little billy isn't bothering Mom or Dad, and is playing on a game about animals, they won't really bother looking into what it is the kid is seeing on this game that looks seemingly harmless. As far as some parents are concerened, "Oh it's just a game about animals, it's probably for kids so what harm can it be?" Sometimes the parents don't really look at the details or warnings posted on some game sites. Do you think junior is going to tell Mom and Dad about the rules, warnings, and other precautions an online game comes with? Probably not, since they don't want to hear Mom or Dad say, "Sorry, Billy, but you can't play that game. It's not safe."
Now to cut to the chase. Are you suggesting that FH should participate in the whole COPPA thing like WolfQuest, Neopets, and other "child games" have done? Do you really think it will make much of a difference at all?
Lol considering this is a ACTUAL law that applies to FH along with many other games I would say it better be done. Lawyer or not we have a right to post our opinion unless you have a problem with that sweet heart. Parents can't surveillance their kids 24/7 nor do all parents care enough to watch what their kid does. If your going to run a online game you have to take responsibility. There are many methods of going through the game to ban underagers besides hiring more staff.
I quote you
"What are you a lawyer"
I would say you began with the direspect first hon lol
No, I'm not a lawyer but if you're looking for any sort of credentials the most I can offer you is I took a study in a career school for law enforcement. We studied on laws, gained some tactical knowledge officers use every day, and took a field trip out to a state police academy for a day. Worst personal experience of my life. Was done in a very military fashion. Most of the kids who graduated my class with me went to the military under the Navy, National Reserves, Army and other branches or subcategories. But as for where my understanding comes from it's by simply retaining a knowledge on laws once I've read them and being able to source my material, which is fairly general and anybody can do it if they have the desire.
No, I am not a lawyer, lawyers defend people from the law and that's a little different than what I'm doing, and to bring in a good debate I don't need to be anything you'd find in a criminal court besides a juror.
No one should even have to do such a thing as contacting an administrator.
COPPA is a LAW. You cannot dance around it or ignore it as if it is not there.
Not following it is breaking it and therefore can land you in some pretty deep crap.
I'm saying, ban all users you see openly stating being younger than 13 until their 13th birthday or approximate time frame they would achieve that, and investigate all claims of knowing so-and-so who is underaged.Where is your authority to say whether or not we should ban otherwise innocent users in our community?
The term "verifiable parental consent" means any reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology), including a request for authorization for future collection, use, and disclosure described in the notice, to ensure that a parent of a child receives notice of the operator's personal information collection, use, and disclosure practices, and authorizes the collection, use, and disclosure, as applicable, of personal information and the subsequent use of that information before that information is collected from that child.Again, FeralHeart's operators do not distribute personal, identifiable information from underaged users, nor any users, thus removing the need for direct parental consent for an underaged American user to contact the website's operator in order to play the game or use our services.
-Title XIII, Section 1302, subsection 9 of the COPPA.