APB Ratings and companies

[SmilyFace 300]

Hey, what's up.

Yeah, exactly, i cannot really do other things, i needed to open another topic to discuss about the Mature 17+ that has been given to the game.

 

Firstly first, let's start from the beginning.

Im not a hater, i just want to see what's happening, i have my questions, like everyone else, i can't just make a long patootie topic that has everything inside, this would take too much for me to write and for whoever to read or even comment.

Let's begin.

 

Back in 2010, exactly 25/06/2010, PEGI assigned PEGI 18 rating for All Points Bulletin by EA Swiss Sarl.

Some months later, exactly 01/12/2011, PEGI assigned PEGI 18 rating for APB Reloaded by Reloaded Games.

And at the end, exactly 11/09/2015 and 13/09/2015 always PEGI assigned PEGI 18 rating for both PS4 and Xbox One versions of APB Reloaded by Reloaded Games.

But isn't ended here.

Because some time in the past (who knows when), ESRB also assigned it's rating MATURE 17+ to APB Reloaded by K2 Network.

 

Apparently the game seems not having a right rating at this point, i mean, at least as i know Little orbit didn't updated it, or am i wrong?

The thing is, since the release of the ARMAS Marketplace, both PEGI and ESRB ratings are missing this specific tag "In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)" or any other tag that can let the parents and the peopels who play this game that in this game you can/coudl use real money currency to buy things and even Joker Mystery Boxes, which are Loot Boxes, straight forward.

 

I don't know if Matt is going to change those, he said to do so im hoping in that, but in the meantime, since years this game have a wrong rating, and so much confusion that nobody can understand something out of it.

 

Another thing is that the famous group/company called Unit Game, which of course now everyone should know, they have bought back the original website that was owned by Realtime Worlds.

It doesn't mean that i will thinkthey are the same guys or better than RTW just because they bought the same domain back.

I really not understanding, and im going to tell you that, you will be confused even more after i will complete this topic.

 

Apart from that, let's talk about these companies a bit more..

2010 - K2 Network together Reloaded Productions bought all the rights for APB Reloaded from Realtime Worlds.

2012 - K2 Network merged with Reloaded Games.. Wha? But then who are Reloaded Productions? Reloaded Games and Productions are 2 different companies? Because if not this doesn't make any sense.

 

Most strange thing is that, K2 Network had the logo with written Gamers First blow it.

After those years, GamersFirst appeared on the radars together Reloaded Productions, so i assume K2 Network became GamersFirst after the merge.

BUT, after the merge the name was still Reloaded Games, so that should mean GamersFirst (K2 Network) was Inside, merged with Reloaded Games.

Also, after all that GamersFirst was always tagged as "free to play service" and not a company.

 

I know, here alredy your head, your brain is totally exploding, trying to understand what's the exact story.

Let's continue.

 

Little Orbit back in 2018 acquired/bought all the rights for APB Reloaded, Included GamersFirst (K2 Network) and Reloaded Productions.

Alright, so what's strange here?

Well.. Reloaded Games, which got merged you know.. back in 2012 with K2 Network, which should be GamersFirst, still has the website online, which is not something Reloaded Productions have, because it got deleted completely, or at least i can't find it anywhere.

BUT, Reloaded Productions logo appear inside Little Orbit website, which is strange becasue Matt himself said "RP is its own legal entity, and there are minor reasons for keeping it around at the moment."

 

So.. wait wait.. i am so much more confused right now, Reloaded Productions got bought by Little Orbit, right?

Why then Reloaded Games still has the website online saying

"Reloaded Games no longer publishes and operates online MMOs.

If you are looking for APB please visit our friends at Little Orbit - APB’s new publisher, as well as the new host and operator of GamersFirst."

BUT WAIT, WHAT, THE, HECK? I think im becoming stupid at this point, really.

 

Reloaded Games Merged (again yes) with K2 Network (GamersFirst), and K2 Network was called "K2 Network Gamers First".

So theorically Reloaded Games IS still with Little Orbit, but why do they have the website online just to say that meanwhile Reloaded Productions not? But they got their Logo inside Little Orbit website.

 

Additionally, let's talk about Reloaded Games website tagging Reloaded Tech, which is a.. group/company that host servers for downloading files?

Or that is what i understood from that.

 

Why everyone are called Reloaded? Was this a popular word? Or they are exactly the same guys?

Dang even the game is now called APB Reloaded since 2011.

 

Then, i know Little Orbit bought everything, but if this website is completely online, showing an image of the APB Reloaded installer (the one outside Steam basically), is this still the host of the downloads and game services?

Because i didn't saw it's logo inside the website of Little Orbit.

 

Last thing i wanted to say is about Little Orbit itself.

You remember the complete name of K2 right? "K2 Network Gamers First"

Now also Little Orbit below it's name has "Putting Players First", like both K2 and GamersFirst.

 

Little Orbit has also very similar if not same fonts and style symbols used by Realtime Worlds.

Maybe to.. make us to stay calm, chill and happy? Seeying a company that sounds like the other one?

 

Let's be honest, how many chances are there for a company to put a similar if not same font as another one?

Take RTW, G1 and LO, RTW font alright, G1 font similar to RTW but bold and different colors.

LO font is same as RTW but little bit different due to the curved letters on it's name, which are straight on RTW one.

Even Reloaded Tech has the same colors based on RTW on their website.

 

Talking about colors, still Little orbit seems following RTW, white background with that same blue style like G1 and RTW.

Similar but futuristic ball-pacman instead of the one had RTW, bt basically everything seems connected, i don't know why.

 

Probably, and not only, all of these are just coincidences, but GOD DAMN, how many of them.

I don't know, im too much in love with this game that im becoming crazy just to know it's story better.

 

 

Please, be aware, don't do the researches i made, my head is literally exploding right now, and yeah, i could sound like an idiot, which could be true, but at the same time, i am an human like you all, we humans don't give up on nothing, we want answer, we want to find out the end of the line, of the road.

And i think i just hit it.

Now im just gonna make some coffee or something, im so confused right now that im still thinking about all those names and merges.

 

Matt if you ever read this, jsut udnerstand me, whoever will try to do these researches i made, he/she will lost the mind, totally, i hope this is understandable, just because the history and the story of this game is SO long, confusing, strange, and exagerated but not only, even Abnorm, gorgeous, bigger than you will ever think it to be.

@MattScott

 

My brain right now

Edited April 15, 2020 by AlishaAzure

[Jilleroo 349]

A "tl;dr" would be great for this.

[SmilyFace 300]

1 minute ago, EvaPooh said:

A "tl;dr" would be great for this.

Then why do you even care to comment just to say this? 

Waste of time.

 

Isn't any sort of troll topic.

Is serious, and if you are not interested then i repeat, don't put a comment just to have that +1 reputation, because really, you will not win nothing in anyway if you reach high levels of it.

[arkup 13]

from what i've seen the actual rating is approximately 8+

but that's as far as I got in your document 

[NotZombieBiscuit 3146]

You're honestly over thinking this and making it more complicated than it really is.

[SmilyFace 300]

3 minutes ago, arkup said:

from what i've seen the actual rating is approximately 8+

but that's as far as I got in your document 

Thanks for your comment.

It should be 18+, or at least it should include another tag for In-Game Purchases with real money currency.

 

4 minutes ago, NotZombieBiscuit said:

You're honestly over thinking this and making it more complicated than it really is.

Thanks for your comment.

Well, at least you are commenting and saying what you think, see?

Is not that difficult, i don't really know what's wrong with peoples.

Just give your honest opinion.

 

Yes, i am over thinking, like i said i don't suggest nobody to do what i have done.

That's also why im chilling myself right now, i will be much more careful on posting future topics.

[TheMessiah 430]

civilians use strong lang..i think thats the main reason for 17+ 

[I-Reaper-I 46]

My brain is surely exploding, but it ain't from the story you try to tell, but the inconsistency and incoherency of your phrasing. Jesus, at least if you're gonna give us a bedtime story, work more on formatting.

[Kitty Yekaterina 111]

If only game rating would literally work and somehow would prevent kids from joining to adult game this game community would be literally angelic.

Since you cant prevent that, any further philosophy is exactly as it sounds like. Useless philosophy not reality.

All of us meet personalities in APB acting as  5 year olds or worse. 

RTW, G1, LO, regardless any new company taking over, can write APB is rating +1 for all we care, its still fact kids play this game, because their parents couldn't care less of actually raising their own child. They buy their peace from work, with new pc gift to their child, and they let internet shape and raise that kid. Internet is full of lonely bitter clueless bullies who are in fact simply non educated, no mannered non guided children without any principles or protocols to follow. 

So in conclusion rating of game is irrelevant. You cant stop kids from joining games with rating +18 or +21. 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by Kitty Yekaterina

[Mitne 724]

Themes of APB include: Drugs, also hardcore, illegal activity, usage of guns, implied sexual activity, conspiracy, adult-friendly ToS (nudity is offically ALLOWED in symbols etc.), competitive nature of game and also online play (it is also taken in rating but usually don't decrease or increase game rating on it's own, it's just serves as warning). But honestly this game was probably tested on knee by some goverment agent so he just took glance into game and it was enough for +18...

 

And to add: 2000-2010 was big period of GTA vilifying. Mainly because sandboxes were ahead of their time then and people though that if you can mow people down on street with AK-47, it means that this game is training school shooters. To this day people think that school shooters are risen on brutal video games, not that there are some deeper sociological and psychological problems...

Taking that APB at first sight looks like GTA clone, I can imagine where that rating came from.

 

Whole history of +18 rating in game such as APB.

Edited April 15, 2020 by Mitne

[vsb 6171]

esrb and pegi are two different agencies iirc, so it’s not really that confusing that they would have different rating guidelines

 

im not sure about pegi but esrb ratings have no actual legal power, so they’re mostly irrelevant anyway imo 

 

gamersfirst is the hub website, as it’s been for years now

 

afaik k2 networks rebranded themselves as reloaded games (reloaded productions being the apb team iirc) at some point after buying apb, i think around the time the og team was swapped out for tiggs and co.

 

i have no idea what the point of any of this is, didn’t you already make a thread about who owns apb?

[Haganu 104]

owner structure as much of a spaghetti as the code base the game runs on

[SmilyFace 300]

@Amayii This topic came to an and.

[Amayii 398]

This thread has been locked as per OP's request.

 

~@mayii