Risen - Refused Classification in AU

Gamespot reports that Risen has been refused classification by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification:

GameSpot AU was able to obtain the Classification Board’s full decision report for the game and the document outlines specifics of its failure to adhere to the maximum available rating. In several instances the Board found that the game used sexual activity and drug use in conjunction with in-game incentives. “The game contains ‘quests’ which a player may choose to complete by acquiring the sexual service of prostitutes. Though it is purportedly not a necessary element of the gameplay, players gain rewards or advance through the game more easily by engaging in sexual activity with prostitutes.“ The ruling specifically highlights a scenario in which the game’s protagonist is able to bribe or distract a guard by visiting a brothel and paying the mistress for the use of a girl.
The Board also found that use of an in-game drug called “Brugleweed”, which is “commonly referred to in text and dialogue as ‘weed’ or a ‘weed reefer’ and rewarded players who used it with experience points, failed to meet acceptable classification guidelines. In Risen a player can both trade and smoke this drug, which mirrors an illegal ‘real-world’ drug in its terminology, use and depiction”.

The overwhelming majority of games are ultimately given a rating after appeal or modification, so don't expect this to be the end of Risen in Australia.
More information.

It's now official. Australia has become the moral leader in the fight against computer game addiction. They're determined to find the root of all that is wrong in the world and it begins with computer games!

Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification is hilarious.

Good luck with getting the game, Dhruin.

Where's the problem? Importing from the UK is cheaper than buying in an Autralian store would be.

Weird choice, but oh well.

Per Gorath - - > Where's the problem? Importing from the UK is cheaper than buying in an Autralian store would be.
of course but conditions apply .
Risen - ->
http://www.game.co.uk/PC/RolePlaying/~r343172/Risen/
countries delivered to - ->
http://www.game.co.uk/Help/~h9846/Despatch/Countries/
Age restricted products info - ->
http://www.game.co.uk/Help/~h3917/Terms-And-Conditions/

Ahhhh CRAP! I leapt to the defense of the OFLC in a topic a few weeks ago. Bugger all of that. This is incredibly stupid stuff!

Call me morally bankrupt, but those sound like some great quests.

I'd love to know what's so obscene in Risen that it got Refused while GTA IV and The Witcher got a pass.

I am so weary of these moralistic hypocrites … dollars to donuts the same ones banging their fists the loudest about 'saving the children' are the ones bending over pages …

Sorry to hear that Dhuruin and Corwin.
Doesn't sound any worst that Gothic 2, though I don't know if Gothic 2 was banned there too or not. Anyone heard what Germany as said, nothing yet here in the US about banning it, well yet anyway?

US: M
PEGI: 16
USK Germany: 12

That's because there are some cut contents in german version as far as I know.

Source?

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What I'm curious about the most after reading this article is whether or not the Austrailian Office of Film & Literature classify movies and books when they contain similar content pointed out about Risen.

Have any of you Aussies watched a movie in Austrailia that depicts prostitutes or drugs? If so, it makes no sense to censor this content in a videogame. Give the game an M and let parents decide if their minor can play the game… much the same as when a movie gets an R rating.

@TheMadGamer:

Not that I agree with them in any way, but they specifically said that they refused classification because the game *rewarded* prostitution and drug trafficking. I'm pretty sure they make a distinction between the act of watching and participating.

How did any RPG make it to Australia if that is the distinction. I can think of tons of RPGs that reward you for drinking. Hell how did Fallout make it to Australia then? That game almost requires you to get addicted to drugs. Lots of positive benefits to using "psycho" or any of the other drugs in that game.

Ok, who do we have to bribe to get the moral police off of Risen's back?

Originally Posted by Konjad
That's because there are some cut contents in german version as far as I know.

That would be a new one then. Normally German authorities only care about references to the Nazis and too much violence. Nobody gives a damn about sex (actually really nobody does - you most likely could have naked people having sex in every street in your game and nobody would care) and, to a lesser degree, drugs. At least if you aren't heroine trafficking.

Originally Posted by Chekote
Not that I agree with them in any way, but they specifically said that they refused classification because the game *rewarded* prostitution and drug trafficking. I'm pretty sure they make a distinction between the act of watching and participating.

I understand the distinction that you're making but my point still stands. I've personally seen probably hundreds of movies in my lifetime that glamorize sex, drugs, violance, murder… insert any other deadly sin you can think of. I've read books that depict prostitution as a 'victimless' crime or in other words, a rewarding experience.

It's not that I advocate any of this stuff or even want it in a videogame. I thought the prostition segment of G2 was pretty stupid but that's just me.

What I am getting at is to single out videogames differently from other mass media. It just makes no sense.

Does Austrailia have MTV? I don't think 8 seconds goes by on MTV where some god aweful behavior is portrayed as 'rewarding.'