# Australia to lose legal rights to play MMOs



## kitetsu (Feb 4, 2009)

And here's why.

Going a bit too far there with your WoW-playing kids, aren't you, Mr. Atkinson?


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## Aden (Feb 4, 2009)

Can't say I'm distressed about this.


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## Grimfang (Feb 4, 2009)

First was cartoon child porn, and now this??

That really does suck, but what else can you do? Online gameplay experiences can be somewhat unpredictable, beyond terms of how graphic the game may be.


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## Kranksty (Feb 4, 2009)

That suck :|
if I was the gaming idustry I would find some way of getting it rated so that they could still have there MMO..
But I don't make games or anything like that.
But I don't really play MMO's any more unless free haha.


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## CaptainCool (Feb 4, 2009)

Kranksty said:


> That suck :|
> if I was the gaming idustry I would find some way of getting it rated so that they could still have there MMO..



rating online games isnt possible... the content can be as PG13 as possible but you cant block foul language and stuff like that. sure, you can use wordflters but the players will alter the words, there isnt really anything you can do about that.

but banning those games is a little overkill...


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## Kranksty (Feb 4, 2009)

Yep I agree.
And what happened to parents looking at the single player ratings.
Most of the time if it says M for Mature most likely the Online portion will be M rated too.
Not always that way but most of the time it will be similar rating as the game.


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## Marodi (Feb 4, 2009)

Doesn't bother me


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## Stratelier (Feb 4, 2009)

kitetsu said:


> And here's why.


The argument is because the games are "not rated", because the Aussies' ratings board believes the nature of online games to defy traditional game-rating systems.

Perfectly reasonable, if unfortunate for Australian MMO'ers.  It just means that online games have to apply for a rating, and Australia's ratings board needs a system for evaluating online-based games.


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## CaptainCool (Feb 4, 2009)

Stratadrake said:


> The argument is because the games are "not rated", because the Aussies' ratings board believes the nature of online games to defy traditional game-rating systems.
> 
> Perfectly reasonable, if unfortunate for Australian MMO'ers.  It just means that online games have to apply for a rating, and Australia's ratings board needs a system for evaluating online-based games.



right.
im actually a little scared that something like that might happen here in germany, too >.> we are in the middle of a controversy about so called "killer games" like shooters and stuff...
every game with adult content like blood, gore or ragdoll effects is censored here. blood and gore either gray, green or completely absent (gore is absent all the time), entire game modes are eliminated from the game (like modes in which you gain points for kills) and some games wont even be released or will be indexed here... they even discussed about banning violant games completely.
but the online modes cant be censored completely. i hope they wont try to ban that >.> our politicians cant suck more right now...


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## Tycho (Feb 4, 2009)

As we speak I'm drawing up a big-ass legal document that will change the name of Australia to Lower Dumbfuckistan.  (USA being Upper Dumbfuckistan, of course)


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## Nylak (Feb 4, 2009)

Hahahahahahaaaah.

I don't play MMOs, but seriously, another reason to be satisfied with America. At least we don't have that level of censorship.

Game ratings my ass.  Seriously.


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## Gavrill (Feb 4, 2009)

Criminals living in a criminal criminalized society

"Ratings" in video games


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## LizardKing (Feb 4, 2009)

Why not just make them 18+ only?

No wait banning is just so much easier. Plus 18+ would probably effectively ban 80% of the players anyway.


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## coolkidex (Feb 4, 2009)

Grimfang said:


> First was cartoon child porn, and now this??
> 
> That really does suck, but what else can you do? Online gameplay experiences can be somewhat unpredictable, beyond terms of how graphic the game may be.


All i can really say is RTFM. There's a lable on the fucking box for a reason... I dont see why this should be happening.. How about they start rating these games? Oh, i dont know...


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## WolvesSoulZ (Feb 4, 2009)

I also wish WoW could be banned from here, it would get some kid off their comp or play some better game...


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## CaptainCool (Feb 4, 2009)

coolkidex said:


> There's a lable on the fucking box for a reason...



those labels were changed here in germany lately... they made them way bigger now, they hide a big part of the cover now...





thats the label for ages 6 and up. even our equivalent to the american E label is that big now >.>

as ugly as it is... thats the best approach. no one can say he or she didnt see the label now^^ i mean... its almost one fourth of a DS cover now >.>


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## Wolf-Bone (Feb 4, 2009)

Grimfang said:


> but what else can you do?



If you're a government, you can value personal responsibility combined with freedom of choice. That is, unless you're a government that doesn't know the difference between leading people and controlling them.


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## Beck (Feb 4, 2009)

_"Australian police will be responsible for enforcing the penalties, which range from *$1100 to $11,000 for individuals and/or 12 months' imprisonment*, and approximately double those figures for corporations."


_*LMFAO*, and to think, the UN rated you as the 2nd best residency in the world. Silly Australia.


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## Stratelier (Feb 4, 2009)

Nylak said:


> At least we don't have that level of censorship.


The ESRB has it a little easier.  They used to apply a descriptor of "Game Experience may change during online play", but have since changed it to "Online Interactions Not Rated" (or maybe that's a voluntary label by the publishers).


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## Eevee (Feb 5, 2009)

Stratadrake said:


> The argument is because the games are "not rated", because the Aussies' ratings board believes the nature of online games to defy traditional game-rating systems.
> 
> Perfectly reasonable, if unfortunate for Australian MMO'ers.  It just means that online games have to apply for a rating, and Australia's ratings board needs a system for evaluating online-based games.


the unreasonable bit is that the ratings board has total control over whether a game *may be sold*

if something in the US doesn't apply for a rating -- whether movie or game -- then, true, Wal-Mart is unlikely to stock it.  capitalism kicks in and people try to appease the ratings boards anyway.  but they can still sell it without even _asking_ for a rating; they'll just probably have to do so independently.

in Australia, if a product doesn't have a rating, *selling it is illegal*.  and the ratings board is independent of the government and can refuse to give a rating if it feels like it.

also, there _is no_ 18+ tier for games, so any game not appropriate for 15+ doesn't get a rating and is thus automatically banned.


australian is full of media censorship it's great


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## Zeraio (Feb 5, 2009)

Next to be banned: shoe strings and baseball bats.


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## Takun (Feb 5, 2009)

So lame hahahaha.   What's an adult?


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## IceDragonVisy (Feb 5, 2009)

Cue the many enraged cries of those who sit in their house and play MMOs all day.


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## Ro4dk1ll (Feb 5, 2009)

One of the many reasons I'm working on fucking off to Canada.


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## Estidel (Feb 5, 2009)

Marodi said:


> Doesn't bother me



It'll bother you when they move on to something else that DOES have an impact on you, look at the bigger picture, not the individual circumstance. If they'll ban MMOs for something as paltry as this, why not ban furry websites because it may as far as they're concerned lead to fucking animals?


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## lilEmber (Feb 5, 2009)

It's because people can swear, talk about sex, and etc. And that's bad, even for adults.


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## Ashkihyena (Feb 5, 2009)

Beck said:


> _"Australian police will be responsible for enforcing the penalties, which range from *$1100 to $11,000 for individuals and/or 12 months' imprisonment*, and approximately double those figures for corporations."
> 
> 
> _*LMFAO*, and to think, the UN rated you as the 2nd best residency in the world. Silly Australia.



Pretty damn much, and I love your avatar, I downloaded me some Communism a couple of times.

The problem is that douchebag Akitson, or however you spell his name, he's such an ass.


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## Trpdwarf (Feb 5, 2009)

Estidel said:


> It'll bother you when they move on to something else that DOES have an impact on you, look at the bigger picture, not the individual circumstance. If they'll ban MMOs for something as paltry as this, why not ban furry websites because it may as far as they're concerned lead to fucking animals?



You make a good point.

I don't understand why they don't just make it so that if a game is not rated, then only people 21 and up or something can play it. It sounds like to me...what would you have over there, what...butt-hurt cricket moms or something?


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## Kuekuatsheu (Feb 5, 2009)

haha, that's fucked... really


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## pheonix (Feb 5, 2009)

I hate MMO's so I think it's quite funny. lol


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## net-cat (Feb 5, 2009)

You know, it's funny.

Australian and European gamers often wonder why they are treated as second-class customers when it comes to the game industry.

This is why.

If you're a game company in Japan and want to sell your game in America, you translate it to English, toss it at the ESRB who might give it an AO rating at worst, then sell it. If you're a game company in America, it's even easier. (Skip the translation part.) Hell, even game companies in Europe could easily sell their wares in America. (Just need to the PAL->NTSC. Not even that for HD stuff.)

For Europe and Australia, you have to convert your game to PAL (not so much for HD stuff,) translate it into the common languages, then throw it at a dozen or so review boards who might tell you to fuck off and die. Worth the trouble?


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## CaptainCool (Feb 5, 2009)

net-cat said:


> You know, it's funny.
> 
> Australian and European gamers often wonder why they are treated as second-class customers when it comes to the game industry.
> 
> ...



nope, sadly its not. you are right, thats a lot of work for them!
just look at text heavy games like final fantasy, it usually takes one more year until the game is released here >.>
and than all those boards that have to check the game...
its way easier in america: its bigger than europe but its just one country! i hope the EU turns into some kind of 2nd USA or something like that, would make a lot of things easier >.>


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## Kuekuatsheu (Feb 5, 2009)

CaptainCool said:


> i hope the EU turns into some kind of 2nd USA or something like that, would make a lot of things easier >.>



that will never EVER happen

too many different cultures, people will rage if they get tossed into a bucket and everyone is equal (cultural based, not socially)

so we need to take it like it is for now
English does work for me, heck, I even improved my english because I started playing all my games in english, I could easily, sorry if I sound vulgar, shit on german, french, spanish and dutch translations

Europeans, learn it!


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## Lukar (Feb 5, 2009)

Poor Aussies.


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## Bokracroc (Feb 8, 2009)

No-one is actually enforcing this. Nor does it seem anyone is actually doing anything or cares about it anyway.


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## Wolf-Bone (Feb 8, 2009)

net-cat said:


> You know, it's funny.
> 
> Australian and European gamers often wonder why they are treated as second-class customers when it comes to the game industry.
> 
> ...



So wtf is your point, Europeans should all start to speak the same language and adopt democracy or something?


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## net-cat (Feb 9, 2009)

CaptainCool said:


> nope, sadly its not. you are right, thats a lot of work for them!
> just look at text heavy games like final fantasy, it usually takes one more year until the game is released here >.>
> and than all those boards that have to check the game...
> its way easier in america: its bigger than europe but its just one country! i hope the EU turns into some kind of 2nd USA or something like that, would make a lot of things easier >.>


Eh. It's _a_ reason. An obstacle is an obstacle, and the more of them there are the more companies will say, "Aww, fuck it it's not worth it."

And no, you don't want the EU to be a second America. You might elect the European version of George W Bush and start declaring war on smiting people from your white house holy tower.



Wolf-Bone said:


> So wtf is your point, Europeans should all start to speak the same language and adopt democracy or something?


No, that wasn't it at all. But I'm sure gamers in Quebec don't mind being lumped in with the rest of Canada and the United States when it comes to game availability.


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## Wolf-Bone (Feb 9, 2009)

The truth is the Quebecers who claim to be separatists, the ones who truly believe they could stand on their own as a country and don't just want to draw attention to themselves and their cause of French supremacy are a fringe minority. That being said, at least Quebec realizes there _are_ in fact bigger fish to fry _than_ that, or what "teh childranz" entertain themselves with.


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## net-cat (Feb 9, 2009)

Wolf-Bone said:


> The truth is the Quebecers who claim to be separatists, the ones who truly believe they could stand on their own as a country and don't just want to draw attention to themselves and their cause of French supremacy are a fringe minority.


Yeah, I figured. As it is with most places in the world, the Average Joe just want to be left alone to live their lives.



Wolf-Bone said:


> That being said, at least Quebec realizes there _are_ in fact bigger fish to fry _than_ that, or what "teh childranz" entertain themselves with.


Therein lies my point. Europe need not be a hard market. While I know not everyone in Europe does, a lot of people there speak English. And it's not hard to get NTSC equipment. There's no particular reason gaming companies couldn't market the U/C region games in Europe and work on the translations later if there's a demand for them. (Or in the case of Australia, English is the main language, so no problems there.)

Well, except for the draconian import controls and the mandatory government review boards and all that jazz. And the fact that the gaming companies see it as an opportunity to gouge their customers over two continents.

... eh. What can I say. I've been hanging around business people for too long.


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## Darkwing (Feb 12, 2009)

Holy sh*t! That's effed up

Government shouldn't be corrupting video gaming like that.

Especially the fact that government has nothing involved with gaming. (I know there's rating stuff but seriously, is Australia going anywhere with this law?)

Thank God I live in America.


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## Kommodore (Feb 12, 2009)

http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2009/02/blizzard_wow_is_sold_legally_in_australia_after_all.html


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## Werevixen (Feb 13, 2009)

Nylak said:


> Hahahahahahaaaah.
> 
> I don't play MMOs, but seriously, another reason to be satisfied with America. At least we don't have that level of censorship.
> 
> Game ratings my ass.  Seriously.




You do have it, just in other areas.

Did anyone say abstinence only?


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## Lemoncholic (Feb 14, 2009)

Seems soon Australia will be like the city from mirrors edge, where everything's either banned or heavily monitered.

Y'know, except without the kick ass runners and everything not being white or bright orange.


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## BloodYoshi (Feb 15, 2009)

Ro4dk1ll said:


> One of the many reasons I'm working on fucking off to Canada.



Canada seems to be one of the only places where shit isn't falling apart left and right these days.


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## Ro4dk1ll (Feb 15, 2009)

ChillCoyotl said:


> Canada seems to be one of the only places where shit isn't falling apart left and right these days.



As far as I can tell, yeah :1


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