If children know enough about the internet to be able to make an account and set the account to show NSFW content, then they're already good enough with the internet to find their porn on their own.
Also, if you really think the NSFW section was just porn, then I doubt you saw much of it. People can get porn anywhere, so the stuff that gets posted here needed at least something more than that.
You might want to sort your double negatives. I do not think you wrote what you wanted to write.
Itch does not have an adult section. And you can't opt out of adult content. You will see adult content, even if you opted out. The only (!) thing the adult content option in your setting does is this: if you hit the browse and search, those games will not appear as results.
But visit a regular game, go to the developers page, you will see the adult games that developer has published. Click on a direct link to a game also works, though there will be a warning page in front. And also, you will see adult content if you select the adult tag. The setting is ignored for that. And a year ago they even had the adult tag in the tag selection list for account that did have opted out, so you could accidentally click. That has happened and they eventually "fixed" that. But not by making the setting work, but by removing the tags from the sfw list.
Oh, and publish a horror game and think it is inappropriate for 13 year olds, and now your account is barred from opting out of adult content.
There is much to fix in how the adult setting works.
Thank you for pointing out my mistake.
I was not aware that the adult search option would still be there without the setting. I do know from experience that it isn't there if you aren't signed in though. That said, I don't think parents should be allowing their children to get accounts or even wander unsupervised if the parents don't trust the children to use their own judgement on what is an isn't allowed for them. The fact is uncurated indie games can have arguably worse things in them than nsfw content (such as outright propaganda). As such, I think publishing games, especially horror games, should really only be done by adults to begin with, so that issue with the adult setting is not something I'm concerned with.
This sounds more like an Itch.io issue and not a "NSFW Is on the platform" Issue.
It is not that hard to make the UI do what it's meant to do and restrict tags to certain accounts. If itch did their job right, this wouldn't be an issue to begin with and you could have the best of both worlds; having a SFW Marketplace and also restricting games to certain demographics so you don't run into the issues of Games being suggested to the users it shouldn't be marketed towards.
The separation of adult content from non adult content could be a lot better, yes.
But adult content is a huge part of Itch and is paying their bills and financing all the non adult games. If you looked at the top-sellers page with adult content on, it is almost all adult content on the top pages and some games that are also popular on Steam. So it is mainstream indie and adult games, where the money comes from.
I know of Itch's very existence only because of adult games. And that was accidental and circumstance. It is very obscure. I knew several family friendly games that are on Itch, long before I knew Itch. And I even tried searching adult games back then. Very obscure site indeed.
this is amazing.
i know it's all but dead now, but TV used to be a big part of life for a lot of people. cable TV. kids could get exposed to adult content (no, not just porn but all sorts of things parents may not want to expose their kids to just yet) just by changing to the wrong channel.
the internet is still a thing, and image searching the wrong thing on google will show you all sorts of things you may not want your kids to see, safesearch or no.
it's not even like when i was young, and kids had to use a family computer out in a public room. everyone has a phone with an internet browser in their pocket.
these "protections" do nothing. it's just people who normally are aggressively "don't tell me how to raise my kids" failing to raise their kids and trying to force the government to set standards on how everyone raises their kids.
the only way to keep your child away from content you do not want them to see is for you to control your child's media intake. government regulation is no substitute for involved parenting.
No all censorship is bad and you even did agree that it's not good in your post. Potentially doxxing everyone on the website if it gets hacked to prove they are of legal age isn't the answer either. Its a tough issue but I think a curious kid stumbling across a naughty game isn't a big deal. The kid will find another source if he wants to see 18+ content and it won't ruin their life lol.
And yet, you're fine with violence? How is that OK from a parental standpoint?
Just be honest, you're fine with censorship (which is what you're advocating) as long as it's for topics you don't like.
The thing is, the "won't someone think of the children" argument falls flat so easily because if you really want to protect kids, you need to be an active parent, not outsource it to other websites.
And if that's too hard, then it shows where your priorities really are.
To be fair, no one really uses NSFW as a term outside porn context, despite it being able to describe much more. Nonetheless, every game has its place and itch.io was open for those. If you didn't like it, instead of cheering devs can't be paid now, you can move to site like Gamejolt which is exclusively anti-nsfw and you can play the games without that content freely, it's also one of the biggest hosts of fnaf fangames.
First of all, NSFW is not necessarily porn, it includes erotica, which is super broad! And the tag should include violence, but that aspect seems to be forgotten more often than not.
I get you a bit, I wouldn't mind personally if pornographic content was missing from this site, BUT banning it on principle is all kinds of wrong...and the very point of Itch is the creative freedom it provides.
Also, the other commenters are making this point you keep ignoring: you and anyone else who doesn't like NSFW games have a multitude of options. Zillions. We, on the other hand, only have Itch. :v (Do let me know if I'm being ignorant, but I'm not familiar with any alternatives)
