I just wanted to add that I had no idea you could hide avatars. I've been here for 12 years and somewhere along the line either didn't notice you could or completely forgot it was a feature. I am active on the site every day, especially when an event or holiday is about to happen. Just 1 line in the first news announcing the start of Survival about there being gore and a reminder that HAs can be disabled on the forums would totally suffice. No changing of anything about the event at all, just a reminder. Again I had no idea about disabling HAs. I love participating in the event otherwise. I could have continued just dealing with it, but disabling HAs has made this much better for me personally. I would not want to take away anything from the event or expect multiple warnings or anything to change at all. Just a little disclaimer with that first news post, I think would be awesome. Just to remind people. Or let new users know. :) Or old users know. Lol.

Since those are usually reserved for when the site is acting up so I would venture to say that falls in the realm of being an excessive reminder. By that I mean, Survival and its features are normal site occurrences. If you put up a blue banner that graphic content is about to occur, I think it goes back to what I was saying about the site needing to shield us from its typical content and you would need to put that reminder everywhere at all times. However, I think putting the reminder that HAs can be toggled off in the initial Survival news post or FAQ is a fair compromise. Something unobtrusive to let people know that there is an option, but not something that says the site has suddenly different content than what is usual.

So I think that there should be a warning in the Survival FAQ. That way it doesn't get buried in the news posts and it helps new and unprepared users next time.

Also it couldn't hurt to remind older users there's a way to turn off HAs because that's not only useful for hiding gorey stuff but helps with loading for those with bad connections.

Come on guys, this is getting a bit far from the point. Nothing in the OP suggested stopping images from being viewed by everyone, nor a warning for every single aspect of the site. Other parts of the site are /already blockable/ which is why so many other things won't ever need warnings- as long as people can single out images they don't like they are actually able to decide what they do and don't see, and they're able to decide for themselves. It's suggested to have a warning because someone felt they couldn't actually decide for themselves to see the gore, it was just thrust upon them without a choice. Maybe a warning isn't the simplest idea, maybe you don't feel the same, but if your argument is that people should manage this kind of thing themselves, you should be on board with people asking for the tools to actually do so.

A warning about gore, even in the form of one reminder that users can turn off HAs, is an option to let people who want to avoid the strains actually avoid it. This suggestion is not going to hurt you or your ability to play Subeta. It's not going to get Survival canceled for everyone because a small number of people want to avoid a couple really specific images.

Edit: @ Solsticesprite Solidarity for finding the kissing to be unpleasant haha, I have to overcome the repulsed feeling every year to get these elusive candy hearts. XP

An interesting note, this is from the official Art Market Rules here on Subeta:

"Images should have no content higher than a PG-13 rating, or otherwise break the Subeta Terms and Conditions in any way. No detailed nudity, but mild gore is allowed. Images with violent or gore content should be linked to with a warning provided. "

Pretty sure red strain is a bit more than mild gore and even if it isn't, it is violent content and as such should include a warning as per their own rules for user art. A warning in no way interferes with the experience of a person who doesn't require it.

I didn't know you could hide avatars either! Survival always irks me out and if it weren't for the candy hearts, I would skip the event entirely.

Supporting a reminder on news post :)

i'm no stranger to gore but i am more than a little sensitive when it comes to mind altering procedures and the like, and seeing the new lobotomy-esque strain definitely caught me off guard, too!

i don't think it would be a bad idea at all to have the option to hide the strains/any one in particular considering a lot of the body horror themes on them are mildly discomforting at best. i'm sorry to hear you've been experiencing real hurt over them. for an event that's supposed to be fun, it's not fair for people who are squicked/outright triggered by stuff of this nature.

Ive been a member for a long time & really don’t see why their should be any warning for graphic content, it’s a zombie event. Maybe a warning in the Survival faq would be useful for some, but I think having a warning in the VIP page or something would be unfair because it could spoil the event.

Yes, the red strain lobotomest is graphic but so are many of the previous survival strains. That’s kinda the point of having all these zombie strains. This is meant to be a zombie-inspired event-aka zombies, graphic imagery. I’ll admit to being a bit taken aback by the red strain, but no more so than in previous events but I don’t think it necessarily warrants a graphic content warning by itself. Maybe something like that could be posted for Survival in general.

Previous years have also had some pretty graphic strains that were based upon real life ailments-heart burn anyone?

Please don't take this the wrong way, but shouldn't we all just grow up? There are plenty of items that almost make me ill (pus pastry, snot scoop, and so forth) but I am an adult and try not to impose my own dislikes or squeamishiness on anyone else. I just ignore them and play on. Why can't you just do the same?

I am not taking any offense to this, but to answer your question: everyone is different and everyone handles things differently. It's not a matter of "growing up" or "getting over it". Telling people to "grow up and deal with it" is giving me a lot of "go take a walk daily and you won't have crippling depression any more!" vibes. And that is serious bullshit. 😐

Like you, I think some of the food items on Subeta are nasty, so I try not to think too far into them, or I downplay them. Likewise, the avatars don't bother me.

Someone else might not have the same tolerance threshold as me.

I don't see any harm in simply telling those users who are easily disturbed by gore that "hey, this holiday a mix of gross and loveydovey things! If you're very squeamish, you can disable HAs here until Survival is over!"

Not everyone wants to see their HA rotting away over the course of 4 days. There is literally no harm in reminding people that the option to disable HAs already exists. It's not "discontinuing" zombies as a survival tradition, or "catering to the squeamish", or spoiling anything about the event for you. It's just reminding users that yeah, the thing? The built-in tool to take care of yourself and make your experience better? It's right here for you to use if you need it. And if you don't need it? Dismiss the notification and enjoy the infections in all their gory glory.

Yeah, that strain was really a bit much for me, too. Isn't this site supposed to be PG-13? As in, there are possibly 13 year olds on the site? That's way past PG-13 in my opinion. Some of the other strains, too, but this one is the first to make me feel physically nauseous and really had me questioning the content level here.

I completely support the idea of an alert.

But I think if Subeta Survival skins are giving someone a days-long mental breakdown, that's something that needs to be addressed offline.

[edit] nvm lol, whats the point

I mean like I posted before, according to Subeta's own rules about user made art, violent content needs a warning attached to it, since it exceeds PG-13 restrictions. I don't see why this should apply only to user made art and not Subeta's art/content too.

An alert is all people are asking for, nobody asked for censorship or for the event to stop/be discontinued. A warning can prevent days of stress, anxiety, or any other negative responses someone might have to seeing the zombie skins. A few seconds to click it away won't affect anyone negatively.

Depression can kill people too, and is a serious and increasingly prevalent condition these days. Don't toss it out just because it's a mental illness and not a physical problem

@ Devil As someone who's had mental health issues since age 13, I understand, and the same can be said about any feedback topic about any feature on a PG13 children's website with virtual animals and pixel dolls. Realistically - it's completely trivial, and insignificant in the bigger picture. But if someone comes here to enjoy themselves and find a brief escape from their own issues, I feel that they deserve to be made aware of tools that already exist to improve their experience.

None of us here know why OP was having these issues, and frankly, it's nobody's business. Just like taking a daily walk won't cure depression in the long run, telling OP and others who dislike or have reactions or an aversion to these images to "get over it" won't magically make them realize which steps they need to take to desensitize themselves to them. That's their issue to deal with, and if they need professional help for it, I trust they'll seek it out. And if someone is lying about having a violent physical reaction to something, that's on them.

That's what I meant by what I said, and I'm sorry if it came across poorly.

Yeah, I agree that a warning would be good. It's weird to have one standard for user art and another for official art. I didn't even know you could switch HAs off, though it won't be an issue for me once everyone's past the point of having evolving strains.

(And yeah, mental health is very important. I'm currently dealing with ARFID and getting nauseous makes it even harder to eat properly, so seeing that strain really screwed up my day...)

Not at all, you said it very well! I think I realized this after I wrote all of that, and really, this topic is just about the concept of an alert/warning-- and it's a good idea, so I have nothing to add. I like what you said, and I don't want to make remarks myself that might be interpreted as like delegitimizing the OP's experience.

As much as I love gore, Stage 3 of the red virus made me feel a bit uneasy (but I was kinda expecting this to happen to the HA) - I tried to avoid looking at it again, and it kinda worked.

I think, everyone can be disgusted/shocked/whatever by any Item on here - man it could even be a pair of sneakers. You can't please everyone.

That being said; in case of violence of any sort a simple warning won't hurt anyone. Especially new Users who don't know what Survival is about will always be surprised by the often drastic changes our infected pixel-selves go through....and maybe they will be even shocked or disgusted ... so, again, a warning would not hurt anyone at all.

And if it does, put a warning on the warning. ;)

I don't really support the idea of the thread. I would only support warnings for explicit depicted acts of violence/gore/etc, not 'implied' like this zombie virus seems to be. If we have to cover up anything that's bloody or gross just because it makes a handful of people uncomfortable enough that they get upset then the site will just be digging a hole for itself.

I agree I'm pretty sure people see more violence and "gore" on TV and/or video games than on here. On the news and in conversations you will hear descriptions of horrendous acts of violence that occur all around us. You may not see it, but a description can leave very vivid imagery in the mind.

A lot of the skins are disgusting looking... but not revolting. Vapors actually bothers me more the most b/c I have seen pictures of how a body looks when it's left in the water... it's truly disturbing. So unless you have some kind of reference point, I think getting worked up over some very minor art work is a bit excessive.

I've been here over 11 years and until I saw this thread, I couldn't have told you that there was an option to turn off HAs from showing (seriously, I had no clue).

While I've been here long enough to know (and expect) zombies to show up around Valentine's Day, yes I do wish I'd known that I could turn the HAs off, as the Red one this year really squicked me out. So just a simple note in the news at the start of next survival (or the floating blue header thing if that works better, seeing as it won't get lost in the depths of the front page), would be perfect. That'd then mean those who can't handle a stage of the zombie progression (or just prefer to not see any zombies!) get a reminder that we can just turn them off (with a lazy link to where it gets toggled), and those who don't mind, can still enjoy their creepy HAs :D

I've blocked certain site items with ad-blocker, because they cause me problems (and I certainly wouldn't expect the site to alter those just because I have a problem with them), but as far as I know, you can't ad-block a zombie strain (I certainly wasn't going to ad-block each HA individually :P). So, I really don't see the problem in adding in the OP's suggestion - it's not censoring the zombies, just reminding us that we can turn the HAs off (and warning any new Subetans that Valentine's Day is followed by zombies, which is knowledge we probably take for granted now, but would be confusing for a new person!)

tl;dr I'm in support of a note thing on the front page at the start of Survival, just to remind us that we can turn off HAs from showing