Interactive stories have been a source of entertainment for hundreds if not thousands of years. In the beginning people would have just taken their turn to be the speaker and to voice the next part of the story. The internet brings its own inevitable and unique style to the stories; it brings advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that the stories can be hi-jacked with immature or inappropriate content.
GameWyrd attempts to keep the stories alive by preventing this sort of hi-jack. To write any page of a story you must be signed into your GameWyrd account. If any page in a story receives three reports of inappropriate content then it is immediately suspended by the computer and at the first report an email is sent to a member of GameWyrd staff so that the page can be manually inspected. Additionally, the interactive stories are rated on a content basis taken from the British Board of Censorship. It is hoped that by providing a place for most things that the level of abuse will be much less. After all, a tense horror wouldn’t be the same if the heroes or villains couldn’t swear.
The "Parental Guidance" rating suggests that most of the content will be acceptable for a young audience but there might be some scenes that some parents might not want their children to see. Tom and Jerry cartoons would receive a PG rating, as would most music videos or TV news reports.
The "12" rating for a film requires that cinemas only admit people of 12 or older into the theatre. The rating suggests that there may be some violence or risky language. Mild anime movies frequently receive a 12 rating; Batman movies and political thrillers would also be awarded this rating.
The "15" rating is given to films that have an increased level of violence or swearing. The 15 rating is also applicable for movies with a mild sexual content. Lethal Weapon and Die Hard squeals are given this rating.
A rating of "18" is reserved for movies that feature realistic violence or more sexual content. If you are writing in an 18 rated GameWyrd story then aim for the content you might expect in horror movies or more adult rated animes. Additionally, before any user can read or write in an 18 rated story they are required to state on record that they are 18 years of age or older.
* You must regisiter with GameWyrd before you can state that you are 18 or older.
