mikemariano

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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

Some age gates only require age, I think battlefield 3's site was like this?

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Just hit TellTale's age gate for walking dead. So nice that they remembered my choice in a cookie or something. EXCEPT THEY REMEMBERED THE WRONG CHOICE. I accidentally chose a wrong year and now I guess I'll have to close all my browser windows to see that content. But oh, wait, I have an Age of Decadence beta download in progress, guess I won't do that. So, bye Walking Dead.

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Just hit TellTale's age gate for walking dead. So nice that they remembered my choice in a cookie or something. EXCEPT THEY REMEMBERED THE WRONG CHOICE. I accidentally chose a wrong year and now I guess I'll have to close all my browser windows to see that content. But oh, wait, I have an Age of Decadence beta download in progress, guess I won't do that. So, bye Walking Dead.

Just delete the cookie. You don't need to close your browser.

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Telltale gets a bonus point for ending the URL with /age_gate though

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did Steam just recently start remembering ages? last game I bought (JA:BIA) defaulted to Jan 1 1961, which is most likely the last one I entered.

Yay? :erm:

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It's remembered them for a while, but is weird sometimes. I has always remembered them on my PC but still doesn't remember them on my laptop.

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Hey, the ESRB wrote back to me!

Dear Mike,

Thank you for contacting the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). We sincerely appreciate your taking the time to write.

ESRB does maintain guidelines for publishers of ESRB-rated games that address the implementation of age-gates for Mature-rated games (or those anticipated to be rated “Mature”) on publisher websites. We also work with game enthusiast websites through our ESRB Website Council to encourage their adoption of similar standards with respect to the display of complete ESRB rating information and restricting access to videos promoting “M”-rated products to users over the age of 17. We understand that having to pass through multiple age-gates on a single site can diminish the user’s experience, so our guidelines specifically provide that websites with registered users that are above the required age (based on information provided at the time of registration) may use this information to restrict or allow access to videos generally, in lieu of utilizing a traditional age gate for each trailer or video.

We hope this information is helpful and encourage you to reach out to Steam and Electronic Arts directly in order to express your views on this issue.

Regards,

Entertainment Software Rating Board

Hmmm, so Steam and other sites don't have to use a broken cookie system for everyone; they can use their (possible also broken) login cookies!

I'm also surprised that "age-gate" is the real term for this concept.

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Hey, the ESRB wrote back to me!

Hmmm, so Steam and other sites don't have to use a broken cookie system for everyone; they can use their (possible also broken) login cookies!

I'm also surprised that "age-gate" is the real term for this concept.

I'm glad that's the policy, at least.

I often question the value of game ratings, but I do enjoy perusing the ESRB blurbs. Re: Kid Icarus: Uprising:

This is an action game in which players assume the role of Pit, a winged warrior tasked with saving the world. As players run, jump, and fly through colorful levels, they use swords and energy bursts to defeat fantasy creatures (e.g., one-eyed blobs, giant snakes, mythical creatures). Players can engage in ranged and melee-style combat, sometimes using crosshair targets to shoot down enemies. Combat includes brief explosions, cries of pain, and slashing sounds. During the course of the game, one female character wears a tight outfit that accentuates her cleavage/buttocks. Some scenes also reference suggestive material (e.g., “[Y]ou better not be thinking of anything . . . naughty” and “Someone's overcompensating.”/“Feeling a little inadequate, Virindi?”). The dialogue contains brief references to bathroom humor: “[This environment is] actually pretty cute. Especially when you compare it to his . . . bowels” and “Well, there's more than one way to get rid of a bad chicken nugget. Maybe I should just expel you [from my body] the old-fashioned way.”

I wasn't going to buy Uprising, but now I just might.

edit to be slightly more relevant: I sometimes flub the date entry, and have locked myself out of websites for extended periods of time. Sometimes I put in my month and date of birth, and then just put this year, like "it's my birthday!" rather than putting in the year of my actual birth.

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This is somewhat tangential, but I made my Youtube account in like 2006 and put in some silly age, and when I started making videos and putting them up there it wouldn't let me change my age on my profile to my real one. There is literally no option to do that, so I have to go around looking like some 50 year old weirdo who still plays Yugioh cards. Thanks Google!

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So I was looking at soccer players' stats on the ol' Pedia and noticed that England international and Arsenal baby-faced sweetheart Jack Wilshere was born on January 1st. He's that guy.

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