Larian Studios Forums Divine Divinity (English) General How did this game get a "Teen" rating?????

I really enjoy playing this game and I can definitely say it is at the top of my list of RPG games. I have been playing the game for about 2 to 3 weeks and I got to wondering why this game is rated "Teen"? I mean it is chock full of strong if not vulgar sexual content,foul language,blood and violence galore.I did a search to see if this topic had been discussed before about the game but did not find anything.I was wondering if anyone else has thought about this while playing this game which is soooo much fun?

It is true that there's a lot of sexuality in the game, in Stormfist castle, in Verdistis...but no actual nudity or explicit words. The violence tends to be what throws games from teen into mature rating...and the violence doesn't compare to say, Doom. More on this later, got to get some sleep.

Thanks fer yer thoughts!Hope you sleep well!

Pffff... Ratings mean nothing these days...

I'll take "The Matrix Revolutions" as an example. It got a 12 rating, so technically it's for childeren of 12 and above. But there's scenes in it, such as the fight between Neo and Bane, in which they beat eachother senceless until they start spewing blood, and Neo gets his eyes burned off, which looks pretty gory... Or the scene in which captain mifune gets his face cut up severely by the machines in his last stand. And not to mention all the parts where humans get impaled alive by sentinels...

Apparently, violence means nothing to ratings... A 16 would have to include nudity and/or the f word. And 18 rating is plain simply an erotic movie...

Also, violence involving aliens / robots / mythical creatures is not considered as bad as violence against humans, even with the same level of detail and gore.

Hello, LordFess, please remember that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> is a European product, and in Europe things are different. Here in Germany, for example, a "nipplegate" would be unthinkable. People don't care much about sexual content here, but are severely shocked by games like doom.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> 's graphics resemble Diablo 2's alot. and D2 got a M rating. i think that is just stupid. if they are going to make <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> with a T rating then D2 should have a T rating too.

Yes, and here in the USA (especially in my region: the South), parents/preachers/society would rather have their darlings exposed to images of violence and death than nudity and sex. And I'm not talking about stuff from the "special room" at the video store.

It seems the attitude here is "let's show 'em gore and war and death, but make certain they understand that sex and nudity is something dirty and shameful and should be kept in the backseat of a car in the dark". That's certainly what they taught me.

~OK, I'm climbing off my soapbox now~ <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

~gives self a shake~ Back on topic for me!

I have to confess I don't know this...is there a games rating system in European coutries similar to the one established and occassionally misapplied in the US?

Was <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> rated "T" in Europe, and then when shipping began to the US, the rating was left as it was and no retailers in the US market checked the game to see if maybe by US rating standards it should have been re-rated to "M"?

My grand theory for the day. Probably the only one I'll get.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

Well, I can't speak of Europe, but here uin Germany we have a rating system - based on ages. There are labels which must be put onto the boxes, and violent games can be bought (since last year I think) only by showing the passport. Games that are violent are censored (green blood, "androids" instead of men in the C&C series) and I haven't seen games involving nudity that were not simply riduculous and with low intellectual levels. I mean - no-one takes games involving nudity serious - they are simply ridiculous.

Since the Massacre of Erfurt, games involving violence (especially doom, Counterstrike and Half-Life) have been heavily discussed and are now suspiciously looked upon by society (apart from gamers).

Sometimes here it seems society looks on all games and gamers suspiciously. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

There are age ranges with the games here too, but I've only seen them check ID cards if the game was "M" and the person buying was obviously not 17. Supposed to be the same way with music cds. But a LOT of the time, the parents are buying the games with no idea what they are buying...they don't research, they just buy what their kid told them they wanted.

Retailers around here have earned a "joke" reputation--- if you're tall enough to put your parent's credit card on the counter, you're obviously old enough to buy it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />

You're right about games with nudity. They are usually exceptionally insipid. Though I have to admit to being amused by some of the "Leisure Suit Larry" games. (Yeah, that admission just dropped my maturity level a few hundred points....lol)

As far as I know, we don't have a rating system on music records. However, records containing material that's considered "danerous" (like racists) are often banned.

Let me add (to Alrik) for Europe, that, as often in Europe, all countries have age level ratings, but they are neither uniform all over Europe, nor are the applicable standards as to which should fall under which category uniform.

Because European wide Publishers have to comply to local laws, and make multi-language versions, this leads to the confusion for the clients, that a game shows two (or more) ratings from different institutions and at differing levels on the same packaging.

The laws requiring rating are not as old either - until a year or so ago, a Publisher (at least in most European countries) could have his game rated, but didn't have to. (Except for "mature", I think, but there are those who are of the opinion that, if you want to play a game rightfully classified mature, it is proof of your lack of same <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />)

Lets see when this question about Divine Divinity came to mind I was thinking about the game in terms of the US rating system we have here in America,because I knew nothing about rating laws in other nations. I have played many RPG games,Action games,and Adventure games and it does seem to me that Action games are scrutinized more closely than other games that have basically the same thing going on in them.When I say Action games I mean first person shooters or first person hack and slash games.

Hey!! The Leisure Suit Larry games were a whole lot of fun! One of the first games I actually found worth/funny enough to finish. Well, this brings back memories... I played it on a 40386 computer... with 42Mb Hard Drive... 4Mb RAM... incredible! Thx for making me smile. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

On topic, I don't care too much for the age labels on games or movies. There is not much correspondence between different companies and this movie will be such rated while a really similar one (in violence, language or nudity content) will be rated differently. And don't get me started on the hypocritic attitude of some societies/countries... Sometimes it just makes me wanna cry! And actually.... (*takes deep breaths* *counts to ten* *runs for medication*)

Well, just in time to stop the rant... you get the idea and it has already been said... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Odd Mute (hmmm, not always the constructive poster... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />).

Mmm. It seems I am a typical German. Didn't even notice there was sexual content <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

It makes sense to me that 1st person shooters are rated as more dangerous. In games like DD the slaying is somehow much more abstract and less intense.

Well you must have missed the Best Little Whorehouse in Vindeste and and the adult conversation between some disgruntled females about one husband being a
falanderer and frequent visitor of the establishment.The conversation also includes a slang referance to the husband's male member.

I say who cares its not bad <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />

Whether the content is bad or good is not the point of my question...I just wondered how this game slid under the radar and did not get a Mature rating. Other RPGs like ToEE were closely scrutinized and the mature content had to be kept out in order to get their teen rating so the game could have better sales. DD has gotten the "T" rating without having to get rid of the
mature content in the game.Why even have a rating system if all games are not
held to the same standards?

Well, the US Version of Sacred, for example, has seemingly all gore censored (cut out) (if I have read this correctly), in order to get this game a T rating.

(T for "T-Bone" ???)

So people wanting blood must buy the game elsewhere. Normally it is vice versa, as I always say : Games are censored here in Germany, and not in the US. At least that's my impression. So much about "standards".