Seena wrote...
I seriously doubt either game would have earned this an "R" rating if done (exactly as is) as a movie. And filmmakers/editors have as much to say (if not more) about a film's rating by editing the film to "earn" the rating that will reach their target audience.
If it DID earn an R rating most definitely wouldn't be because of nudity or language. If they chose to render some scenes like Fenris ripping out the heart of that guys chest in very lurid deatil - maybe. But otherwise this could have just as easily earned a PG13 rating.
Edit: In retrospect, Bioware sends very mixed messages about their target audience. And I think that is the frustration for many here. One thing I do know - if they made a film as is, shot for an "R" rating, and showed sex scenes with people's underwear on - they'd likely never get film financing again,
Both would likely earn an R due to excessive violence and "gore" alone (no matter how comical exploding people may seem due to absurdity, it remains objectively stronger than the mere blood spatter required to earn a mention of "blood and/or gore"). Simply by the "on screen" death count alone the film would be likely to earn an R. Were any doubt present on an R rating based solely on violence, then either the language or sexual content alone would tip the scale. You must remember that content is not considered individually, but combined. As ridiculous as you may feel the language and sexual content are, I can promise that things you would likely not consider sexual content or language are also factors (religious exclamations, kissing, scantily clad people in a bed together, sexual innuendo, references to unseen sexual activity, etc all are often noted as contributing to such content). Sex with underwear on (or more commonly sex that is implied off screen) is not that uncommon in movies containing significant violence and some language content, as their is a very real concern with being given an NC-17 rating). Even drinking and smoking can contribute to what rating a movie or game is given.
I never said editing a film wasn't used to achieve a desired rating (
Robocop was rated X 11 times before the final theatrical edit managed to earn an R, though having seen both versions myself I would hard pressed to say the extra minute of footage and a few close up shots honestly push the violence far enough to earn a higher rating). Often, swearing or nudity may actually be added to a film if those in charge are concerned they might earn too low a rating (two uses of the f word are a virtual guarantee of an R rating). Please do recall that these rating system's primary purpose is to provide a guide for the minimum age that would be required to likely handle the content with minimal risk of adverse effects.
I will agree about the mixed signals, though I feel that may be a result of Bioware not wanting to be the first game company to push the boundary too far and earn an AO. I get the feeling they want to push further into certain themes and content, but are holding back. They may simply be choosing to remain on the conservative side to be certain they don't end up wasting resources on content that would have to be cut to reduce the rating. While I would certainly like to see them push the boundary, I do appreciate them opting to not lose more content by creating something that may never be released.
Let me give some examples.
The Killer,
The Frighteners,
Equilibrium,
The Last Samurai,
The Patriot,
The Matrix,
The Matrix Revolutions, and
The 13th Warrior all have R ratings almost exclusively due to the amount of violence.
The Rock and
Rob Roy both have no actual nudity during sex scenes, and have R ratings.
Clerks initally earned an NC-17 based on "extensive use of extremely explicit sex-related dialogue", but the rating was successfully appealed to be re-rated R.
I seem to recall seeing a Bioware (David Gaider possibly) post on the forum commenting about wanting the post sex scene with Fenris to have him without armor on his chest, but he was forced to relent due to being asked "well what do you want to cut then?" by those who would be creating an entirely new model of Fenris' chest for a single scene that won't be shown to every player on every play through. As much as I would have preferred those minor touches, I understand such details being among the first on the chopping block when deciding on what content takes priority.
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