So much for every one having the exact same game...

[Lexxbomb.887]

So much for every one having the exact same game...

"Why The Witcher 2 Was Altered for AussiesBy Tim Colwill - Tue May 3, 2011 12:50pm -The Witcher is a quite, err, sexy gameOvernight, we received word that The Witcher 2 had received an MA15+ rating for "Strong violence, sex scenes, nudity and coarse language". With the game being rated 18+ in the UK, did the developers change anything for the Australian system? We've been in touch with Australian distributors Namco Bandai who can confirm that they did - and here's what it was.Only one thing was changed: Geralt is no longer able to choose to accept sex as a reward for successfully completing a side quest. The idea of receiving sex as a reward was not suitable for inclusion within an MA15+ classification, so Namco Bandai requested that CD Projekt remove the option of choosing to have sex as one of the rewards for that quest. The quest and the character who offers it are still in the game, but presented in a "slightly different context".We are assured that this is the only change made to the Australian version of the game: the rest of the game remains untouched."all taken from http://games.on.net/article/12392/Why_The_Witcher_2_Was_Altered_for_Aussiesoh come on... in SA we just recently stated that if the country doesn't get an R18+ rating we would have the MA15+ rating abolished to make way for the R18+... Damn you Namco Bandai

 

[freakie1one]

Yikes, last minute changes are never good Being from the USA myself I know how crappy it can be when your government or other rating boards try and corrupt art to be more "suitable".

 

[Lexino]

Austrailian rating system is stupid, this would be solved if they put in a 18+ rating but they won't, hence developers having to censor games down to 15+ level if they want to sell in Austrailia.

 

[Arcafonk]

Wait, they don't have a 18+ rating ? The most "violent/sexy" category is 15+ ?Woaw.Just, woaw.

 

[Lexxbomb.887]

except that we are going to have an R18+ rating in Australia...if not all of it then South Australia will be the first.

 

[username_2093198]

To be honest, if all they changed was the option to have sex or not in one side-quest, then I don't particularly care. Funny as it may be, I'm not playing the Witcher for sex.This still highlights a remarkable problem with the board's decisions (and it's not the first game to do so). Many, many other games (not the least being the original Witcher itself) have sex as 'rewards' for completing certain in-game activities. With such a limited ratings system to work with, they're constantly coming across games that toe the line between MA15+ and RC. Decisions made in these situations vary wildly, resulting in that debacle with Left 4 Dead 2 where the game was censored down far past an MA15+ rating when several other games featuring arguably more shocking violence made it through without a hitch.The problem is twofold:1. With the occasional RC adults can't play games that are, by all rights, R18+. If they want to they have to import or suffer a watered-down version (in this particular case, the watering-down is negligible). It makes no sense for them to do this when other mediums (most notably films) have an R18+ rating.2. Games that, by all rights, should be rated R18+ are getting through as MA15+ (without alterations), simply because the Classifications Board has bugger-all to work with. Whether it's acceptable for 15-17 year olds to be playing adult games is a debate for another time. But it's understandably something parents should be worried about.Several things resulted in Australia not having an R18+ rating for games:1. When the ratings were made, games weren't taken seriously, and they didn't think that anything would come out warranting an R18+ rating.2. There weren't enough people playing games, it wasn't mainstream until (relatively) very recently. So the issue never gained much wieght. 3. One politician, Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, single-handedly and quite successfully blocked a vote for a national R18+ rating using shock tactics and 'think of the children' arguments to back up his case.It was only since Atkinson's resignation that the move has gained any significant momentum in government. There's an amazing amount of support for it both in and out of parliament, so give bureaucracy time to crack the gears a couple of notches, and we may have an acceptable conclusion within the year.Sort of got out of hand there, but hopefully I've managed to inform everyone on the forums that were interested (all two of you) without being significantly dramatic or biased.

 

[Garrison72]

Unfortunate news for our Aussie friends. What a pain.

 

[Kodaemon5924]

@*General Balls I think it's about any sidequest with sex as a possible reward. Considering how frequent this sort of thing featured in the first game, I would say this is a very heavy butchering of the game.

 

[Kodaemon5924]

@*General Balls I think it's about any sidequest with sex as a possible reward. Considering how frequent this sort of thing featured in the first game, I would say this is a very heavy butchering of the game.They'll be forced to redo the quests quite a lot, which may take away precious time away from, say, working on a patch.

 

[Lexxbomb.887]

my problem wasn't with CD Projekt but with Namco Bandai...They from what I can gather is that they asked to change the game to suit the board before even presenting it to the board...personally I'm annoyed as well because it does slightly ruin the reputation CD Projekt made when they stated that they were only going to release 1 version of the game...while it isn't a drastic change it does go against their artistic ideal...

 

[Yumemi13]

I have to say this, I just have to... Wow! Just wow!Here in Poland I often hear that in our political system there is a lot of communism leftovers, but I just can't imagine such a situation. Especially since we (Poles) are very sensitive about any kind of censorship.I see two possible ways to solve your problem:1. Long-term - some kind of petition, citizens initiative or whatever you call it. Write a letter with proposed changes to rating system. Collect signatures. Send it to your representatives (they're called that because they are bounded to represent your interest, not theirs). Send it on paper, send it by email. If there are lots of adult/mature gamers that find this important they'll join and send letters/emails themselves.2. Short-term (and faster one) - buy GOG version. Government can't control and censor international, downloadable version, and since it's in English anyway... Plus you support developers directly.

 

[lupercus]

2. Short-term (and faster one) - buy GOG version. Government can't control and censor international, downloadable version, and since it's in English anyway... Plus you support developers directly.

I believe digital distributions are subject to international law, much like youtube where you get the message "This content is not available in your country".

 

[Devils4dvocate]

I'm quite lost in all this legal stuff, but i think the problem is not that the mature content is forbidden in some countries but the local shops dont sell this kind of products. So, if TW2 is M-rated in Australia, there not gonna be distribution. GOG is not affected by this problem, since it decides independently what to sell, M-rated or whatever.

 

[Paul_cz]

Yay for our rulers, always knowing what is best for their subjects!

 

[GuyNwah]

I have to say this, I just have to... Wow! Just wow!Here in Poland I often hear that in our political system there is a lot of communism leftovers, but I just can't imagine such a situation. Especially since we (Poles) are very sensitive about any kind of censorship.I see two possible ways to solve your problem:1. Long-term - some kind of petition, citizens initiative or whatever you call it. Write a letter with proposed changes to rating system. Collect signatures. Send it to your representatives (they're called that because they are bounded to represent your interest, not theirs). Send it on paper, send it by email. If there are lots of adult/mature gamers that find this important they'll join and send letters/emails themselves.2. Short-term (and faster one) - buy GOG version. Government can't control and censor international, downloadable version, and since it's in English anyway... Plus you support developers directly.

Importing a game or a version of a game that is not classified in Australia is a crime. While the Australian authorities may not be able to detect a download from across the world, it's still a crime, and advising anybody to commit a crime for any reason probably isn't a good idea.Australia's a sad case, because the attorneys general of the various states all have to agree on the new classification, and some of them have been stalling on doing so for years. The decision on whether to change the MA15+ classification to R18+ won't be made nationally until the attorneys general meet in June. South Australia and possibly ACT are trying to go it alone by adopting R18+ for games now.

 

[sweeper41]

So its ok to pay for sex in the game but getting sex as a reward is not ok.Those are some mixed up messages they are trying to send.This sucks for you guys but I bet they will be a patch or mod that will re enable it somehow.

 

[GuyNwah]

So its ok to pay for sex in the game but getting sex as a reward is not ok.Those are some mixed up messages they are trying to send.This sucks for you guys but I bet they will be a patch or mod that will re enable it somehow.

See, under the current rating system, a game has to be suitable for 15-year-olds in the eyes of some wowsers who actually want to sit on a classification board, or it gets a "Refused Classification" and can't be sold in Australia at all. The presence of consensual sex is considered a strong factor in determining that it is not suitable for 15-year-olds.Since importing or furnishing a patch or mod that undid the censorship would be illegal in Australia, I'm not sure suggesting it here is in order.

 

[mippoh]

Since importing or furnishing a patch or mod that undid the censorship would be illegal in Australia, I'm not sure suggesting it here is in order.

If you mod it for personal use, I cant see how that would be illegal. If the shops or steam supplied it, yes, that would be illegal.

 

[unsynaps]

Looks like Aussies are going to be asking for gifted Steam versions of the game like they did with L4D2.

 

[Yumemi13]

Importing a game or a version of a game that is not classified in Australia is a crime. While the Australian authorities may not be able to detect a download from across the world, it's still a crime, and advising anybody to commit a crime for any reason probably isn't a good idea.

Since importing or furnishing a patch or mod that undid the censorship would be illegal in Australia, I'm not sure suggesting it here is in order.

There's something wrong in this legal system. So being an adult and buying a game for adults would be a crime. OMG! Really how can you not do anything with this? Push your politicians a bit to fasten the changes everybody is waiting for. (I hope that advising to force politicians to work is not a crime On a side note: I remember not long ago there was a proposal of legal act that imposed internet censorship in Poland. It caused so much rattle that it was cancelled about week later... So you can force politicians to make laws that suit society's needs.