mikemariano Posted March 19, 2012 I have refused to enter ANY age verification checks for about two years now (since Mass Effect 2 came out). It's insulting. It's unnecessary. And—most unforgivably—it will never end. Steam knows how old I am. EA knows how old I am. Yet when I visit their sites, I am asked for my age again and again and again. They save this information for my account, but refuse to use it for these obnoxious dropdown menus. So when I wanted to find out Mass Effect 2 DLC dates, I would go to the Bioware site and get blocked out. Essentially, I stopped visiting developer and publisher sites altogether. Then this weekend I discovered that I can't add the New Vegas Collector's Edition to my wish list on Steam. Instead I quit the program and wrote an angry letter to the ESRB. (Assuming they're responsible.) Why do we put up with this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted March 19, 2012 I agree, it's infuriating and insulting. Over the last several years I've become less and less interested in publisher-driven console gaming, and ESRB condescension is just one of many reasons why. I love that independent developers can release games on the PC and entirely ignore the ESRB because there's no major publisher or retailer forcing them to do otherwise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nachimir Posted March 19, 2012 For her part, ESRB Chief Patricia Vance added, “We can't prevent kids from lying about their age. The important part is that we aren't inappropriately marketing these games to children.” Source. It's weird. Age gates are like a political token that allows the ESRB and industry to say "Hey, look at us, we're responsible" to the anti-games lobby, parents groups etc. They fool no-one though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted March 19, 2012 I'm pretty sure I remember someone explaining that the ESRB would only accept a dedicated age gate for trailers and promo sites, and not the retrieval of the age from another source, though I obviously cannot back that up in any way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted March 19, 2012 And Steam Mobile remembers your age... Why can't normal Steam?? Such a stupid waste of time, every time. I'm guessing they're not allowed to make it a "Yes, I'm old enough"-button? About as effective, but less of a pain in the ass... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Orv Posted March 19, 2012 Er, normal Steam does remember your age. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted March 19, 2012 I'm reasonably sure it doesn't. Maybe you're talking about how it temporarily remembers via a cookie? Steam Mobile allows you to enter your age in the settings and uses that for everything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Orv Posted March 19, 2012 Mine totally saves mine. Dunno. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) I find it weird that people are insulted by age checks...? They annoy me because they're utterly pointless and useless. It may as well be a box that says, "Are you old enough to view this site? Yes / No". Edited March 20, 2012 by ThunderPeel2001 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nachimir Posted March 19, 2012 Maybe, some really young kids have been naïve enough to be stopped by age gates. Like, three or four years old. Maybe also, one day they'll have something in place that enables them to know I wasn't actually born on the 1st of January 1900. I'd find it hilarious if marketing departments actually tried to gather stats from age gates ("Hey guys results from the first teaser are in and we totally need to tailor this game to 35 - 45 year olds"). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted March 20, 2012 BBC news reports: "Bizarre coincidence as 98% of gamers born on January 1st" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted March 20, 2012 I find it weird that people are insulted by age checks...?They annoy me because they're utterly pointless and useless. It may as well be a box that says, "Are you old enough to view this site? Yes / No". They're insulting as a practice, because they are a clear and utter waste of time. If even the president of the ESRB publicly admits that anybody can simply lie to an age gate, it's a known fact that they are ultimately achieving nothing other than wasting time and being irritating. It's different to something that is irritating because it's just a necessary side effect of something useful, or because of an unfortunate technical limitation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted March 20, 2012 BBC news reports: "Bizarre coincidence as 98% of gamers born on January 1st" This is what I think every time I go to watch a trailer! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twmac Posted March 20, 2012 If anyone can explain to me why the ESRB is a bad thing. And debunk why it is tolerable in its enforcement of policies in constrast to USK (that heavily censors all content by law) or the Australian board (that refused to admit there was such a thing as 18 ratings and makes everyone edit their content, by law, to fit in with their draconian views that games are only for kids) then I won't bother to defend them. However, that games in America and most of Europe have not undergone the kind of censorship laws that Comics and Films suffered during their period as the enfant terrible of the media is something I am thankful for. Yes those age ratings are pointless and yes, they stop no one but I feel that the fact that the games industry is a least showing attempts to self regulate in the mainstream is good way to keep the old fuddy duddies away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted March 20, 2012 I don't believe anyone is saying that age ratings are a bad thing, just that the age gates ("Enter your date of birth") are utterly, utterly pointless... because anyone can get past them. That said, I suppose they're better than nothing: A lot of kids might fear getting in trouble with Mum and Dad, and so back away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikemariano Posted March 20, 2012 Yes those age ratings are pointless and yes, they stop no one but I feel that the fact that the games industry is a least showing attempts to self regulate in the mainstream is good way to keep the old fuddy duddies away. A voluntary self-regulating group is always better than government censorship, of course. But that doesn't mean that the regulating group isn't harmful; This Film Is Not Yet Rated goes into detail about how the MPAA heavily and unequally penalizes films with homosexual content. And while I think this particular effort is terrible, a 7-2 Supreme Court majority thinks the ESRB does a good job, so I guess that's something. This system does much to ensure that minors cannot purchase seriously violent games on their own, and that parents who care about the matter can readily evaluate the games their children bring home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twmac Posted March 21, 2012 Right I see what you mean about the MPAA: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerfriedman/2012/03/21/bully-doc-families-come-east-to-get-mpaa-rating-changed/ On the topic of ESRB I wouldn't start boycotting a video or video service site just because I had to enter my age. In a 'for the greater good' way I would rather spend 5 seconds entering my birthdate than have to order games from abroad like a few of my friends in Australia have had to do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Orv Posted March 21, 2012 I've gotta be perfectly honest. Yes, age gates are nigh-pointless. They do nothing, prove nothing and solve nothing. Flat out not answering them at all, and not using sites/programs with them, because of some perceived injustice is monumentally stupid. Sorry. (But I too wish they would go away.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Iosef Stalin Posted March 21, 2012 What I wonder is why do they only go back to 1900? That's blatant ageism, what if a 112 year old gaming grandma wanted to check out the latest game videos but had to lie and pretend she was younger than she was? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikemariano Posted March 21, 2012 Flat out not answering them at all, and not using sites/programs with them, because of some perceived injustice is monumentally stupid. My actions may be stupid, but they let me retain my pride! Nintendo's website used to have a gating screen that said, "This game is rated M; do you wish to continue? Y/N" I don't think that's terrible; it reinforces the rating and is a simple yes or no question. But I see now Nintendo uses age dropdowns like everyone else. Dropdowns that say "please enter your birth date, but we won't explain why or even what the rating of the game you're interested in, and we'll never save this data because we don't really care what your actual age is." This isn't informative, it isn't effective, and it shows dripping contempt for humanity. I don't mind being stupid about that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted March 21, 2012 What I wonder is why do they only go back to 1900? That's blatant ageism, what if a 112 year old gaming grandma wanted to check out the latest game videos but had to lie and pretend she was younger than she was? I guess the universe would implode. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted March 21, 2012 I'm actually always curious to know if the people who set these age prompts up will stop taking January 1st as an answer because it'll show you are being a pathetic liar. But then what if you were born on January 1st? It'd be chaos! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted March 21, 2012 Maybe if you put in 1st January it should say "riiigggghht, surrrrre, January the first." but still let you in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miffy495 Posted March 21, 2012 I wish there was some kind of cookie that could remember my birthday for things like that. Steam always knows what my birthday is, I just have to click ok and go through to the next screen. Other sites (Giant Bomb, for example) just drop the age gating as soon as I've signed in with the account that says I'm 24. Either one of those is fine, I just wish that sites where I don't have an account and don't care to get one would find some way to let my browser remember my birthday or something. Google chrome already has my gmail account tied in, why shouldn't it be able to drop my birthday in there too if I tell it to? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted March 21, 2012 My pet peeves about age gates not even remembering my age for the browser session not even remembering my age if I switch from SD to HD or vice versa asking for a DATE when all they need is an age (or year of birth) * ** not having January 1st selected by default when asking for date * I mean, do they think a 17 year old is not able to make that calculation? current year - 20 years or so and any fucking date ** Do they really need date precision: yesterday, you were 17 and not able to watch this, but congratulations, you are 18 today and just became a responsible and trustworthy person and we can now show you this trailer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
