RE: THIS AFFECTS YOU - PLEASE READ AND DISCUSS!!!!!
Well my opinion on the matter.
-Policing the Rule-
Personally I'm not too fond of the idea, but have to admit I've always seen the 13 limit as a bit gracious. I mean other sites I go to only allow 18 and they're absolutely nazi about it. While I'm all for a member-friendly community, I really don't want to see BM degrade itself to the point where staff members are breathing down everyone's necks posting "Please clarify the age of your characters." Half the time characters aren't even intended to be underage, and it just looks bad on the community. Policing is important, but things need to be done in moderation.
-Pedophiles & Offenders-
Personally I'm finding it a bit hard to believe the initial statement, as I've been exposed to predatory/stalkery behavior both on BM, and on other sites where people want to get a bit too personal. I am of course over the age of 18, and can deal with it myself. But I just thought I'd point out that the correlation between rule breakers and people playing younger characters seems a bit... biased in my opinion. Obviously they're the offenders that are trying to find loopholes with the younger characters, but that's just one aspect of the rules, and it'd be unfair to label them as rulebreakers in general. (Aka: Just cause they try and break one rule, that doesn't mean they're any less prone to breaking other rules)
-Raising the age to 18, 21-
To be honest, I'm not completely against raising it to 16, but any higher would probably impact my interest here on BMR. And I doubt I'd be the only one. As stated prior, I'm on a few other sites that have a 18+ character rule, and frankly that cuts out the highschool years completely. A period/setting I'm rather fond of Rping. This might be a bit too personal, but my first sexual experience was during my highschool years, and I'm sure that applies to a fair few others as well. (Certainly wasn't 13, but later year highschool).
Furthermore, having 18+ Brother/Sister Rp's detracts from the appeal there as well. I moved out of home when I was 18, and while I've never had a brother. The idea of 'sibiling sexual taboo' isn't as strong after the 18 bar. Other things would be affected too, but seeing as the suggestion at present is 16, I'll leave it at that.
-Focus and Objective-
As stated countless times, it's up to the administration team of BMR to decide, but I'd like to point out that it's important to keep focused on the issue, and the problem you're aiming to solve. I've read through the posts thus far, and I can completely understand why some people have misinterpreted the objective of this rule as an 'attack' on a certain kink.
I won't say people's opinions are invalid, (since they are important) but a lot of support seems at the moment seems to be
"I don't like it, up the bar."
That's like me saying, "I don't like Futa's, they should be banned" or "incest/ageplay is gross and shouldn't be allowed"
I understand that this isn't the reasons behind why the staff brought it up. But too many people have expressed support based on a simple dislike for the kink. Scat disgusts a lot of us, that doesn't mean it should be banned as a whole.
-Overall-
If there's strong evidence that upping the minimum character age to 16 will improve player behavior, and weed out less desirable players, then I'm willing to support the change. My biggest personal concern with this rule change is that I like using visuals, anime visuals at that for Rping, and as most are aware, they tend to look a bit younger than the creator officially announces. My biggest concern regarding this change therefore is the attitude change from staff. BMR is currently my favorite adult RP site due to it's friendly community.
I was intending to not contrast, but I'll just outright say it. Eros's minimum age used to be 16, and that worked pretty well. (Support for the change) however, the moment the age limitation was upped to 18, the community started getting a bit unpleasant for me. I'm not bitter about it seeing as I was never banned, or even warned. But after a few weeks I just stopped checking the site, and after just checking in on it now, I can see it's changed very little from the time I left.
-Final Word-
This is a creative writing forum, and in all honesty I think it's unnecessary to place this restriction down. The matter at hand should be focused on the benefits and objectives of the change, not the personal bias and uneasiness towards younger characters. I do not believe that roleplaying as a minor in a sexual situation is going to create any criminal pedophiles off this site, and if people enjoy a certain kink, then it's something for them to enjoy, and those opposed to avoid. If people want to get into 'moral/biological' issues, then incest, ageplay, mutilation, and a whole bunch of other kinks need to be addressed as well, and doing so would detract from the creative/enjoyment people can get from this forum. To be honest I think Father/Daughter or Mother/Son incest Rp's are a much bigger issue than a 13 year old girl, and 15 year old guy going at it as that's more reflective of the dreaded pedophilia being discussed.
I'll be happy to continue my stay here with the limit increased to 16. But any further and I'll probably look elsewhere for my adult Rping. Even with the 16 age limitation though, my biggest concern, and sincerest wish is that the overall attitude and atmosphere of the site remain unchanged. I come to BMR to enjoy myself (pun? xD) not to watch people shoving values at each other and witch hunting certain players.
