/vape emote

[Iscah]

https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.aspx
[list of content descriptors]

Honestly I think the current ESRB is currently off in terms of use. I would say it's Tobacco Reference, not Use of Tobacco.

Why do you say it should be only a "tobacco reference"? The NPCs are shown using it, therefore the game contains "use of tobacco".

(I would take a guess and say that having the player visibly use it would be the threshold for a higher rating, but having the ashtray in the house is pushing as close as they can to implying it without actually showing it. Actually holding one is probably crossing the line - maybe an arbitrary line, but it's there and the devs don't want to go over it.)

And the list of descriptors needs to be read in conjunction with the actual ratings above it. eg:

TEEN
Content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.

MATURE
Content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

A T-rated game and an M-rated game might both get the descriptor "Language" applied next to their main rating, but that doesn't mean they are free to use the same degree of strong language. While it's still possible they'll be the same (eg. if the M rating is due to a different element of that game, and the language itself is only worthy of a T rating), the M-rated game is still able to have a higher degree of it.

Or from the site's own FAQ page:

Do Content Descriptors list all of the different content found in a game or app?

Content Descriptors are not intended to be a listing of every type of content one might encounter in the course of playing a game or using an app. They are applied within the context of the product's overall content and relative to the Rating Category assigned, and are there to advise of content that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern.

As such, the absence of a Content Descriptor does not necessarily mean the total absence of such content, and a given Content Descriptor may not always refer to precisely the same type or intensity of content depending on the Rating Category assigned. For instance, Suggestive Themes in an E10+ game may refer to a brief instance of provocative clothing on a character whereas in a Teen game it may refer to more frequent depictions of provocative clothing accompanied with spoken innuendo.

What are the criteria by which ratings are assigned?

ESRB raters are trained to consider a wide range of pertinent content and other elements in assigning a rating. Pertinent content is any content that accurately reflects both:

• the most extreme content of the final product - in terms of relevant rating criteria such as violence, language, sexuality, gambling, and alcohol, tobacco and drug reference or use; and
• the final product as a whole - demonstrating the game's context (such as setting, storyline and objectives) and relative frequency of extreme content.

Given the interactive nature of video games the ESRB rating system also takes into account certain unique elements, such as the viewer's perspective, reward system and the degree of player control.

Also the "minimal blood" allowed in T versus "blood and gore" in M is interesting, because that seems to be exactly an issue that the devs were talking about when they released the Rathalos fight. They said they wanted to include the Monster Hunter mechanism of targeting and cutting off parts of its body, but couldn't because it would affect the game's ratings in some countries.

Checking the list of descriptors, Blood and Gore covers "depictions of blood or the mutilation of body parts". So if that's allowed in M-rated content and not T, then that seems to be exactly why that decision was made. (Not blaming this rating system specifically - I expect other countries might have similar 'thresholds' of what separates different rating levels.)


There will be an actual set of guidelines somewhere that actually outlines every type of rateable content, and what degree of it leads to each rating. I thought I've found it online before, at least the Australian version, but I can't seem to find it now.


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I've actually just suggested /vape because it seemed like a less harmful way of saying /smoke, but in reality it - is - /smoke. It was just nomenclature.

It's not "just nomenclature" and they're not the same thing. The debate over relative health impacts aside, "vaping" is a specific modern alternative to smoking, and does not at all imply the "smoking a pipe" animation that you're actually asking for.

[Raikai]

It's not "just nomenclature" and they're not the same thing. The debate over relative health impacts aside, "vaping" is a specific modern alternative to smoking, and does not at all imply the "smoking a pipe" animation that you're actually asking for.

I meant, in my case... I just thought the word "vape" would be less aggravating than "smoke", since it's a fiction environment.

[Iscah]

I meant, in my case... I just thought the word "vape" would be less aggravating than "smoke", since it's a fiction environment.

They're not synonymous, though. It's not a more polite way of saying the same thing, it's a separate (although related) thing they don't do in that fictional environment, or in the time period the setting is primarily based on.

Granted, there are all sorts of strange high-tech things working their way into the story, but it's still not the same thing as the existing NPC emote of smoking a pipe. There is no vapour in that pipe. It is smoke. Therefore they are not vaping, they are smoking.