PG-13 and underage policies

As of late, there has been some discussion about our PG-13 and underage policies. I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to clarify our position and reasoning.

First and foremost, you need to remember that Stonewall Fleet is a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight ally fleet. We include people of all sexual orientations, genders, nationalities and religions. We are truly a diverse group. As such, we need to keep in mind these varying backgrounds when dealing with one another. What you may perceive to be benign, may be offensive to someone from a different background than yours. While we can't assure that everyone is happy all the time, we can strive to make an environment that is comfortable for all of our membership and adapts to those currently participating.

Although a good portion of our membership is single gay men, we do have a very diverse community; including those in long-term committed relationships, lesbians, straight allies, and bisexuals who are either members or allies from other fleets. While in one of these groups it may be appropriate to discuss adult or sexual topics, it may make another group uncomfortable. For example, if a group of gay men wish to discuss their sexual habits it may create an uncomfortable gaming experience for others of a different group due to the nature of the conversation. As well, such adult discussion in-game in a public chat channel would breach Cryptic's Code of Conduct. It states you may not transmit, post, or offer any content, information, images, or language which is vulgar, obscene or sexually explicit. This Cryptic policy is designed help players have an enjoyable gaming experience and Stonewall Fleet has adopted this policy for application on our own site, IRC chat, etc. so that our members gaming enjoyment is consistent.

Even if they above reasons were not true, such discussion in an open and mixed forum such as this is simply inappropriate. The Internet provides many people a sense of anonymity that allows them to behave in a way that would not in real life. While in some internet areas such conduct is alright, in a community like Stonewall Fleet where we try to foster long lasting friendships, such discussion could be damaging. Many people have used the fact that we allow underage members into the fleet as our reasoning for our PG-13 policy, but that isn't true. To be honest, we've had very few underage members join.

Stonewall Fleet's mandate was to create a safe place for users to play Star Trek Online without being exposed to the homophobia that is common in the gaming community and which many of us have experienced in other MMO guilds. The people who most often need such protection are glbt youth. We find it counter intuitive to have such a safe space, but deny it to those who need it most. By allowing glbt youth in, we provide them an area where they can grow, not only as gamers, but as individuals.

I hope this answers all of your questions and you can better understand our reasoning. As always, feel free to ask me if you have any more questions.

Subtle, for a sec i could not figure it out, then i looked around again, good catch.

I know this isn't really open for discussion, but what makes me uncomfortable is that there aren't clear rules about what is/isn't allowed. The other night, on the in-game chat, someone used the word "penis" in a completely appropriate and non-sexual way, and someone else warned them about the PG-13 policy.

That seemed like an overreaction, based on not having clear guidelines. I've heard that particular word used in prime-time network TV shows. Who exactly are we concerned about offending with a proper anatomical term? Are there really 13-year-olds who don't know what one is?

This is just one example, but there have been other times when I know people have felt inappropriately stifled. It's a tricky question, because the thing that brings us together is, by its very nature, sexuality. Obviously we don't want people propositioning each other in the chat channel, but on the other hand, this can also be a safe place to role model healthy sexual attitudes for our young brethren and sistren. (Yeah, I just made that word up. Sorry.)

Having clear and defined rules for something as open as sexuality is very difficult. For instance for awhile, I would say that innuendo is perfectly fine, until people started taking it way too far. A simple joke would morph into an out right sexual comment. With this kind of moderation, there is plenty of room for moderation.

We have a PG-13 policy towards the social areas of this fleet. PG-13 includes some cursing or swearing, but not an excessive amount. It includes sexuality, but not out right sex. It includes some violence, but not persistent or extreme depictions. This policy is not to limit the 90% that may go up to that line, it's to stop the 10% that does go over it.

As with all the policies in the fleet, they are open for discussion. If any of the membership feels that a policy needs to be changed or amended, I'm more than willing to discuss it. Though, I'm not saying it will change over night.