Cute virtual world Papermint wrongly traduced of being a "sex game for minors"

Cute virtual world Papermint wrongly traduced of being a “sex game for minors”.
January 26, 2010 – London, UK
 
The independent online game publisher Blouzar would like to correct some misreported information about their new game, Papermint (www.papermint.com), that launched yesterday in the UK.
 
 
Papermint is a peaceful social online game based on creativity and family
 
While being praised in design and game publications as an unrivalled innovative, creative and peaceful social experience, the award-winning illustrated game Papermint has been accused by The Sun Online today as “encouraging children and teenagers to have sex and get pregnant”. In response to this, Blouzar and developer Avaloop would like to state that The Sun’s comments misrepresent the content and spirit of Papermint, an online world clearly targeted to females aged 16 to 35.
Papermint does not contain physical sex and is completely free from sexual imagery and explicit language. Further, Blouzar and Avaloop do not promote or tolerate sexual conduct or violence between players, including minors, in any form.


The Papermint marriage and family system

As in numerous virtual worlds and games, players can get married in Papermint, and a Papermint wedding is a big event in the life course of a player – it is a real commitment. The couple must apply for the virtual marriage at the Papermint town hall first, and set a date for the ceremony. All marriages require official permission by an authorised player, and age restrictions apply; if either partner doesn’t meet the age requirement the game system will not permit the marriage to take place.

Papermint’s family system can be compared to the classic clan or guild system in fantasy based role playing games. By getting married, players are making a public statement that they belong together, and forming a formalized family group. Married couples and their children have the same family name, and normally have a flat together. Like clans or guilds in other games, Papermint families can gain recognition and influence in the virtual world.

Papermint is fostering a feeling of community all the time, serving as a playground for social networking and giving players a “licence to communicate”.

Having children in Papermint is based on responsibility

Only an officially married couple can decide to bring a “baby” into their family, and this is not a superficial decision. “Children” (in reality, new Papermint players) can only be made by experienced players who are old enough, experienced Papermint players, own a flat together, and have to be successful in the completely non-sexual child-making-game, which is similar to a personality test.

The child-making-game does not focus in any way on a physical act between the paper avatars, but instead is all about in-depth values and how well the partners know each other. If they complete the game successfully, the partners become expectant parents. If there are several expecting Papermint couples at the same time, the couple that is “furthest along” is blessed with a child – the next new Papermint player to log in. The child is born directly into the parental flat, with the benefit of experienced mentors to take care of him/her from the first second of his/her Papermint life.

Like “playing house” and other family-oriented role playing, Papermint offers the chance to experiment with the idea of taking responsibility for a partner and/or a child. Very strong bonds can emerge naturally in this role-play family setting.


Protecting children in Papermint comes first

Papermint is designed to be a peaceful online experience for everyone. Concerning the age limit, Blouzar states that protecting children comes first. In addition to an obligatory terms of services agreement, stating that children younger than 14 are not allowed to create a character and minors between 14 and 18 need parental approval, a sophisticated, three-layer community management and administrator system supports Papermint, and all family issues are verified by Blouzar’s authorities within the game. The safety of all Papermint players, most particularly children, is their paramount concern and the process for Papermint getting the PEGI approval is just under way. Blouzar apologises for any confusion or upset that may have resulted from the spread of misinformation about the nature of the game.

Papermint is developed by the small independent game company Avaloop, and, positively surprising, 50 percent of the team is female. This is an extremely rare occasion in the game industry, and the female touch might be a reason why Papermint stands out as outstandingly safe, peaceful and inclusive.

Blouzar and Avaloop encourage the responsible use of the Internet for children and young adults. Peaceful games like Papermint support parents in teaching their children about internet safety, and motivate parents to play games together with their children.
Papermint is cute, social and fun
 
Papermint is a new social networking game which is set within an original, illustrated 3D virtual world. It’s good fun for everyone: if you're creative, playful and love to socialize, then Papermint is for you! The game is free to play and can be played on both PC and Mac.

Papermint game play video:
http://www.youtube.com/teampapermint#p/u/4/G9n-eWtYhd0


More Resources

A lot of useful material to download (screenshots, logo, team photos, songs, game guide comics, texts etc) is to find here:

http://www.papermint.com/press


Contact

press [at] blouzar.com
press [at] papermint.com