Note: I've posted two followups to this article.

Will Age of Conan tone it down to avoid an Adult Only rating? The folks at Funcom seem to embrace the adult-content, staying true to the world Robert E. Howard created, or at least the way Frank Frazetta envisioned it in stunning detail.

The thing is, Microsoft only allows max M rated games for their Games for Windows brand. Funcom has an agreement with Microsoft for the DirectX 10 / Vista stuff with this branding and I'd bet there is some fine print about the game's rating. No doubt for the Xbox 360 version too.

A bit of fuss was kicked up recently when Rockstar's Manhunt 2 was labelled as Adult Only, causing Nintendo to drop it like a hot potato. Frankly, I think it's about time that videogame publishers stopped acting like Blockbuster and pretending that anything not-for-kids isn't publishable. Responsible adults should still be able to play these games.

I would love to see Age of Conan leave the prudes and children behind. I'm looking forward to playing an MMORPG where the game doesn't feel dominated by pubescent adolescence. A little while ago in WoW, Sakkara told someone they were acting like a 12 year old and the player turned out to actually be aged 13. Hey, that's fine, let kids play WoW, but I'd like AoC to be a vacation from that crowd.

Let me make it clear, I wish AoC could have a rating and content that makes parents flinch and insist that their children will not play it. M doesn't cut it, it's the kind of rating where parents go "oh, okay, I guess so" to their kids and then if they do see something shocking they complain. See this gorgeous and gratuitous Frazetta artwork?

This is what Conan should look like. Gorgeous and cheesy with that Heavy Metal-esque adultness.

But I understand that Funcom may make compromises for a reduced rating. It would disappoint me, but they may be forced to make changes given the current climate with the Media, politics and publishers.