Should we up the age rating of CHB from it's current PG-13, to 16?

Hey fam! Vina here, bringing the first of what will probably be many polls.

Bean and I have had a brief discussion, and we're now toying with the idea of upping the age rating of CHB- moving it from family safe, PG-13, to a solid 16. This won't limit the members who want to apply! But, more so it will allow for more mature themes to be discussed in roleplay topics and even in chat.

PG-13 is a rating designed to warn parents that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. It limits what can be shown in movies, allowing mild strong language, some violence, and loose depictions of substance use, but not abuse.

16 (and feel free to correct me if I'm not exactly correct, because I don't know everything!) is a rating which 'recognizes the ability of today's teenagers to digest and understand mature themes and complex material'. Is allows for intense violence (in movies accompanied by gory imagery), with strong language, substance use and abuse.

When CHB was started, the majority of the core members who really made this place were in the PG-13 group, maybe a few years older, maybe a little younger. However, both Bean and I agree that the majority of who may come back or who have stuck with us now have moved out of it- and it seems silly to continue to limit what we can discuss and roleplay, when we're all getting more mature.

Don't worry, though! If the rating is changed, we've already discussed ways which we can continue to limit, so that certain topics that make roleplayers uncomfortable will remain easy to avoid. For example;

• Any triggering topic [the list of which can be found here] MUST be 'tagged', so to speak. If the rp topic itself is focused around a certain triggering subject, then it'll be required for roleplayers to include in the title something to the effect of [trigger warning; trigger name]. If it's your reply which might trigger, then it'll be required for you to do the same, but at the top of your rp post and in plain view for everyone to see. Failure to comply with that rule will result in a warning.
  
• Although a 16 rating does allow us more leeway in what we can and can't do, any sexual content will continue to be limited to pm's.
  
• We realized that this rating would also allow us to be more lackadaisy with swearing, and we will be IN CHARACTER. In chat, our current rules will still apply- but in character, you'll be allowed to swear more strongly.
  

So... that's about it? The poll is at the top of this thread, and we invite you to let us know over the course of the following week. Whatever result gets the most votes is what we're going to go with. If any of you wonderful people have any suggestions, any queries, anything at all, you're welcome to reply here and ask! We realize this might cause some confusion, and we're open to answering anything you may want an answer to.

-Vina, on behalf of the admin team.