Profanity in Tales from the Borderlands
I have played the game till the middle of the first episode, And I have to say that I expected more profanity in a game like this. It's a real turn off when the character use the term "freakin" In an environment like Borderlans'.
This particular matter in the game really disappointed me, Because it makes it look very PG-13.
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Erm, I dunno if you noticed, but in ALL the Borderlands games there is very little profanity either.
It's a deliberate effort to avoid the Age Restrictions (be it PEGI or ESRB) from being placed much higher especially in America where there is an extra level: ADULTS ONLY.
The more "taboo" you have in your game, the more the censors will consider placing it into considerably higher catergories.
I believe that all the Borderlands games have PEGI 18 and MATURE ratings so far, including Tales, so I can only assume that foul language was omitted to avoid getting that ADULTS ONLY rating in America. Had they received that rating, I imagine they would have had to go back and re-record dialogue.
Age Ratings are important because they determine, in broad terms, the number of sales you have. Lower ratings increase the potential sales, thus they are more desirable from a business perspective.
I might be totally wrong about all that, but that's my assumption.
From a personal standpoint, a lack of foul language is a pretty weird reason to fault a game for...?
lol.
This kind of reminds me of the people who complained about too much profanity in other TellTale Games.
I think it's pretty realistic though. Vasquez had the most cursing I think.
lol when I clicked on this thread that's what I thought it would be. And I would just go "another one?".
I agree with it being realistic...true to the Borderlands story. Bandits say crazy stuff, so expect cursing. But the main characters are more sophisticated with two being part of a major corporation where being clean shaven and a smart wit will serve a better purpose than just cursing every two seconds. Also, the other two are con-artists and play a more innocent role while keeping their cool. It wouldn't make any sense for them to start shouting out profanities unless the situation gets out of hand.
Looks in thread thinking its about too much profanity
About too little
I'm guessing you've never played a Borderlands game before, have you? xD
There isn't much swearing in Borderlands games. And even when they do use a strong swear word like 'fuck' it'll get bleeped out for comedic effect. Telltale is doing a great job keeping Tales in tone with the other BL games.
From what little I know about ESRB, strong cursing won't push a game from M to AO in America. AO's usually reserved for EXTREME violence or blatantly pornographic content.
"THE TORGUE SHAREHOLDERS WIRED MY VOICEBOX WITH A DIGITAL CENSOR SO I CAN'T SAY STUFF LIKE SH-T, C-CK, OR P-SSY-F-CKIN' D-CKBALLS. THAT'S LIKE HALF MY F-CKIN' VOCABULARY."
I've never heard of a game that has received an AO rating for its use of language. Considering the fact that TWAU, which not only contained strong profanity, but also nudity, frequent use of alcohol and tobacco and more intense violence got an M, I highly doubt it if this game would receive an AO rating if it had more profanity.
Actually I haven't, So you could say that I'm just not very familiar with the atmosphere of the original Borderlands games.
But I still can't get over the frequent use of cheesy jokes and terms.
Wow, yeah, you clearly haven't played the original games...
Let's just say Telltale is staying very true to the tone and atmosphere of the BL universe.
I'm not American, so I have no idea how ESRB works. I was just speculating. The reason for a lack of profanity in the series as a whole probably does have something to do with the censors though.
Although I haven't played any of the original Bordelands games, I still don't think they would get an AO for profanity. Games with much more profanity, nudity, violence, etc. managed to get an M rating.