Kid Friendly/ Child appropriate

[kitsuneshoujo]

Why not let your kid play it as is? I guarantee you that your child has seen worse than whats in this game, unless you're one of those types that shelters their children from EVERYTHING. And let me tell you, sheltering your child so that he/she ends up like a "greenhouse flower" does them no favours. I was raised in such a manner, and I resent my family for doing so. It took me years to... "un-brainwash" myself (there's a better way of expressing, that I just cant think of it). I know that they meant well by doing so, but it doesn't do you any good for when you grow up and have to take care of yourself.

 

That's not to say I'm socially inept or still tied to my mothers aprons, I just had some psychological/emotional issues because of it.

 

Anyway, that's likely TMI, so I will end it with, it's ok to censor what your kids watch, its not okay to censor your kids so much that when they encounter stuff on their own, they won't be able to cope properly.

 

 

I can guarantee you that if I was given enough time and certain models/textures, I could turn Skyrim from being a dark themed game into something more child friendly. Yes, it wouldn't be Skyrim, but it'd still have certain parts such as exploring and other stuff that would make it fun.

 

If its the exploring part you want, why not look for a game that has exploring as its main theme instead of wasting ALL this time sanitizing a game? I can even point you to a game, where (as far as I know), you dont have to fight if you dont want, and you cant even see it when people fight the monsters. It's called Wakfu, its REALLY cute, and its very child-friendly. It's an mmo, but its quite low on the computer specs, and its free to play.

Edited December 3, 2011 by kitsuneshoujo

[nandchan]

Because the world is filled to the brim with adult themes, you simply can't make it child-friendly without removing the entire game. And at that point, it's not Skyrim - so just let them play Hello Kitty Online. Same thing, right?

 

I can guarantee you that if I was given enough time and certain models/textures, I could turn Skyrim from being a dark themed game into something more child friendly. Yes, it wouldn't be Skyrim, but it'd still have certain parts such as exploring and other stuff that would make it fun.

 

Exploring a world with no enemies and half the quests and dungeons locked? Well, if you think you can pull it off, don't let me stop you - I'm just giving my personal opinion on this matter. Mods are mods and all that, it's just the censorship mindset that I'm scared of.

[FireBug3]

Imho any game where you have to kill people is NOT suitable for children (age <12), why damage your childrens psyche if there are enough games for kids around.

[kitsuneshoujo]

Firebug... I dont know how old you are, but when I was litte, we watched Buggs Bunny, and GI Joe, and Transformers, and played silly cowboy and indian games complete with cap-firing guns and playing dead. NONE of us grew up emotionally damaged because of it. Hell, Transformers and Bugs Bunny had death scenes in it. GI Joe was pretty santized so you never saw the COBRA cannon-fodder getting killed...

 

But to the OP, I am not trying to talk you out of wasting your time (Im not really), if youre that deadset on it, go for it, but you're not doing your kid any favours.

Edited December 3, 2011 by kitsuneshoujo

[Matth85]

Yes, it wouldn't be Skyrim, but it'd still have certain parts such as exploring and other stuff that would make it fun.

At which point, other games would be better.

The LEgend of Zelda, Ocarina of time? Good game, not too bad, I loved it when I was young.

Spyro1-3? Dragon, flame, fun?

 

You don't need to make kids play the newest games. I still mean kids should actually get to play good classics, not just get down to top graphic games. You ruin a lot of fun.

I have yet to see somebody at the age of 10 or less know what an RPG is. They are all into graphics and shooting stuff.

 

Why spend a year modding Skyrim down to nothing, when you can get an emulator, or buy a N64, and give a child the best games I know of?

Just because you, or whoever got a child here, like Skyrim, does not mean you children should play it. Sending 20 bucks for hunded houres of old classic games on your child will be good.

 

Side note: Have any of todays kids ever player games as Zelda, Spyro, Pokemon, Crash Bandicoot, Tetris, Pacman and Final Fantasy 1? I know of a few 10 year olds, and they all play GTA and Oblivion. They don't know what RPG means, they don't know how to read quests, they don't know what they miss! My first playthrough of Ocarina of Time lasted me months, and still sits in my memories. More than Skyrim ever will. The Nostalgia is strong with that game!

[FireBug3]

Firebug... I dont know how old you are, but when I was litte, we watched Buggs Bunny, and GI Joe, and Transformers, and played silly cowboy and indian games complete with cap-firing guns and playing dead. NONE of us grew up emotionally damaged because of it. Hell, Transformers and Bugs Bunny had death scenes in it. GI Joe was pretty santized so you never saw the COBRA cannon-fodder getting killed...

Its two different things, to watch and to pull the trigger, very different things.

[mindinavoid]

I'll be blunt with this: I won't cast my hand one way or the other regarding the argument. I posted suggestions regarding the concept of the mod.

If it's not your thing, you don't have to download it or use it. If the idea leaves you flabbergasted and unable to coherently express your rage, please go calm down before replying.

"But he/she/it asked for my opinion!"

I will remind everyone that RenownedWolfman also asked for

a good friendly debate is something this forum needs right now. (not those flame wars we've been having)

...and sarcasm and bashing does not a friendly discussion merit. I'm not trying to micro-moderate, only to call attention to a request for civility. (Bear in mind this post was started when there were only three posts in the thread other than it, and two were sarcastic. I'll leave this here, though, because it should always be taken into account: sarcasm doesn't promote healthy debate.)

 

Do I think Skyrim should be made kid-friendly? No. But then, my mother ingrained in me the knowledge that there is a distinct difference between what's real and what's digital. She also talked to me like a sane human being as an infant/small child (none of that GOOJIE WOOJIE WOO crap) and sat me down and talked with me about relevant, intelligent matters such as death (of a pet, and how it fits with the rest of the world) alcohol/tobacco (and what it does) and procreation (and what constitutes the good and bad of both). I was ready, morally and mentally, for a game like Skyrim before I was old enough to drive, because I was treated like a human being, and taught what it all means.

 

That said, Skyrim has a large world, with a deep backstory. There's nothing in Skyrim that's worse than what you'd find in books like the Lord of the Rings series, or Stephen King's Dark Tower series, or any number of other fantastical worlds. I'm all for bringing access of that to the younger generation, within reason, and provided they have been certified as being able to handle it. And, to address a direct quote:

What's next, changing swords to feathers and turning death into laughing fits? This is a game filled with violence. You can burn your enemies to toast, behead them with swords or crush their bones with a mace. To censor violence in a game filled to the brim with killings sounds ludicrous.

I'm not suggesting the removal of violence entirely (nor does the mod creator). The alternative opening scene I suggested removes the beheaded soldier, and doesn't run the risk of replacing one potentially nightmare-inducing scene (for an impressionable mind, however mature it is) with another (say, the guy's throat getting slit). You could just as easily have Ulfric Dragon Shout the guy into a wall and achieve the same effect: taking the Imperial out of the equation without a big bloody mess. To be honest, I'd suggest taking that route (if Ulfric has a Fus Ro Dah sound file, at least) just to replace the lack of Alduin's neck-saving shockwave in the vanilla game.

 

The mod aims to remove decapitation, and I suggested further removing specialty kills entirely (thus, no beheading with swords or crushing with maces). Remove those and the blood-splatter, and while you effectively castrate the gravitas of combat, you also remove much of what turns a game from a T rating to an M. It's the difference between Superman and Lobo slugging it out, and Supes tearing Lobo's head off and punting it into low Earth orbit.

Edited December 3, 2011 by mindinavoid

[kitsuneshoujo]

When I was little it was The Secret of Mana. My cousin and I spent days playing that game.

 

Its two different things, to watch and to pull the trigger, very different things.

 

Not really. If you read all of my post i said we played games like video games where you pulled the trigger, and watched cartoons that had similar. Video games were just starting to gain a foothold in the US, when I was little. And really none of use grew up to be raving psychopaths because of it.

 

But thats your opinion, and it differs from mine.

Edited December 3, 2011 by kitsuneshoujo

[nandchan]

Well, I can understand your intentions but my feelings towards the mod remain partial: Mostly because the description mentions completely uncalled for and ludicrous changes.

 

I can understand removing decapitation simply due to the highly graphic content. I myself was always very squeamish as a child and would not want to see such a thing, in a movie at least - games are still too obviously fake to arouse my instincts.

 

It's the silly stuff such as removing alcohol and changing the undergarments that got my attention - I was assuming the mod was some outlandish effort to make the world safe for the mind of a 1 year old by cutting out everything that isn't fun and joy.

 

Removing graphic blood and decapitations and torture and burnt bodies (you know who I mean) for the sake of preventing traumatic experiences? Yes.

Removing nudity and alcohol? No.

[RenownedWolfman]

Now after seeing some of the thoughts above me i thought i'd express my own.

 

I'm not a parent, i don't have kids, nor do i like to censor my own games.

 

That said i am not opposed to people censoring a game because they feel that aspect of it is inapropriate for their child.

 

That's why i'm making the mod, someone mentioned it in another thread so i decided to take it upon myself to give them an option.

 

Removing nudity and alcohol? No

 

Things like this will be optional, in fact all of it will be optional once i finish. In some cultures things like alcohol are frowned upon. Nudity, well heck my parents used to yell at me about games that we're revealing.

 

They are all into graphics and shooting stuff.

 

This type of stuff disaponts me, people should be playing in-depth games not modern day fps games. (excluding half-life :P)

 

Mods are mods and all that, it's just the censorship mindset that I'm scared of

 

Like i said i don't like censoring things either and definetly won't censor life for my kids when i have some. But this is a mod for people who do like to or need to censor things for their kids. (wacky parents imo)