So, why isn't this a thing yet?

[RiceisNice]

...

Just to chime in; Paz is 17 during the time of those events (or at the very least, she definitely does not look like an under aged child), and while Chico is still definitely in the under-age side of the attention, everything that's happened to him is either off-screen or implied through recordings. How it's presented is a big factor when it comes to media attention as well as the medium that it's in, and it'd definitely be a big no-no if you could literally blow off their heads with a snipe rifle (which you can do to the adult soldiers mind you). Kojima himself had admitted that this could backfire tremendously and potentially ruin his career if it wasn't pulled off well (specifically if he had dipped into the gore/dismemberment aspect of the children). All of these examples are also in single player games which sets a limit to what the players run with.

But I disgress that the presentation and the medium is the most important part. There are some lines that are acceptable to the public media, such as superdeformedl (lalafells, tatarus or gnomes). You can't really get away with something that objectionably looks like a healthy child and say they're actually 2x years of age.

Yes, I can deny that actually. Almost every MMO I've played doesn't have a childlike race. WoW, Wildstar, Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, Vindictus and Path of Exile to list a few. Infact, the ones that do have childlike races are usually the ones that pander to that audience and usually have a cash shop selling them for real world money.

Funny enough, a F2P-cash shop mmo I used to play was pretty much going all-in with the fanservice on female characters.
http://elwiki.net/wiki/images/1/15/LuFull.png
She's technically a ageless demon queen or something, but this is an example of what I mentioned earlier when considering what is a "child" or not. I'm pretty sure they're adding some costumes/swimsuits to sexualize her (and it is a korean mmo no less, so demographics are different as well), but it's also a game where it's not particularly violent to draw that sort of attention which is why they don't get media flak when it came overseas.

[HodgepodgeMcDodge]

But I disgress that the presentation and the medium is the most important part. There are some lines that are acceptable to the public media, such as superdeformedl (lalafells, tatarus or gnomes). You can't really get away with something that objectionably looks like a healthy child and say they're actually 2x years of age.

Except you can



For an 'unacceptable' trope, there sure does seem to be a lot of examples of it.

Also, you can blow the child soldier's brains out. Kinda happens when you don't pay attention and hit the C4 button at the wrong time. Don't worry. You're treated to a game over.

Also, again. XIV is not a super violent game. So.. Presentation, as you put. The kids would be fine here. If you think it is, please don't go play any of the games I mentioned. You wont be able to handle them.

Again, people are blowing the the violence in XIV WAY, WAY out of proportion. You'd think everything was made of plastic, given how much everything 'hurts' us.

[Kurogaea]

Again, people are blowing the the violence in XIV WAY, WAY out of proportion. You'd think everything was made of plastic, given how much everything 'hurts' us.

Makes me wonder if some people can stand to see the scene in Kingdom Hearts 1 where [spoiler!!!]

Sora stabs himself to save the princesses. I still don't know how that works btw.

[HodgepodgeMcDodge]

Makes me wonder if some people can stand to see the scene in Kingdom Hearts 1 where [spoiler!!!]

Sora stabs himself to save the princesses. I still don't know how that works btw.

Sensing danger, Kairi's heart left her body and stowed away in Sora's for protection. In order to release Kairi's heart and return it to her body, Sora had to release his own heart, which he does... and it does.. Which also ends up creating Roxas.

[RiceisNice]

...

Last I checked, getting blown up by a C4 doesn't even lead to ludicrous gibs even on adult soldiers. Like I said, this game treads around the issue well enough to get away with it (along with Paz's explosion death being mostly a blaze of glory rather than bloody splatter since it was, y'know, an internal explosion)

FFXIV is an MMO like I mentioned eariler, different from a single player game that limits the scope of what the player can actually do. It's a hole another mess when you have player implications as well as the image that SE wants their game to take on.

I also nowhere said it's an "unacceptable" trope, and I don't see how your link is even related to it. It becomes an issue when you try to use that trope as an excuse to put said characters in those situations (they're not kids, they're just people in kid's bodies). Quite frankly, none of those games are a problem, but they worked around it.