Oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. It’s like how I should limit my YouTube spiraling because once I get started I’ll keep watching recommended videos and get nothing else done.
So…in my opinion that is kind of the purpose of the NSFW (Not Safe For Work) signifier. It’s supposed to be a catch-all meaning “hey, if you’re browsing at work or in a public place, whatever is behind this link likely contains content you might not want other people to hear or see, or you could get in trouble for if you’re allowed work-safe browsing.” Ideally you can block or mute the NSFW tag on a public computer and be relatively safe.
It’s not meant to be a detailed content warning, it’s “be careful of this link if you’re in public”. I posted a video earlier of Smosh playing a CYOA board game and labeled it NSFW because there is mild cursing - even though it’s YouTube safe - which means you’ll hear them say “shit” and “bitch” but “fuck” is bleeped out. Otherwise the video is just three people playing a board game and occasionally swearing at each other. If you’re listening to it in a machine shop it might not be a problem; if you’re in your school library on a public computer you don’t want your computer-neighbor or the librarian to hear close friends calling each other “bitch” in the friendly competitive manner - as tame as it is because they don’t have the context.
TL;DR: “NSFW” basically means “not a public friendly link” whether it’s a clip of Samuel L. Jackson swearing creatively in a movie or tentacle porn.
This topic was split from “What are some topics in games that make you uncomfortable or hesitant to recommend it to others” and it’s kind of all of that discussion. We’re not trying to convince people to play games they don’t want to.
Specifically...
@CMG was making some points about Midnight, Swordfight and didn’t want to derail the original topic so I split it. I was curious specifically how MS somehow has gotten a weird rap that it’s somehow “pornographic” or subversive based on one paragraph of sexual description and some general adult content, whereas I’ve entered games like Cannery Vale and robotsexpartymurder in IFComp that include extended flat-out sex scenes without any such shock or pushback and gotten XYZZY nominations for them.
Maybe it’s that most of my games somehow involve erotica and I make no effort to conceal that fact, and it’s rare to get a family friendly one from me like Fair or Cursèd Pickle (for the most part) and CMG isn’t known for that so it’s a surprise when it happens?
Not complaining, but my specific question was is it a matter of egregiously signposting and content-warning (nobody plays robotsexpartymurder and can legitimately say they were shocked and offended that it’s exactly what it says on the tin) as opposed to the legitimately content-warned Midnight Swordfight that contains one surprising paragraph of explicit sexuality that is possibly 1% of what is otherwise likely perceived as a mildly-adult “bawdy” romp.