No, the stories don’t contain a LOT of scenes where you’re murdering people. But, why glorify the excitement and leave out the BAD part about being in a gang. Just don’t make it seem like it’s one big, sweet, lullaby.
Where’s the reality of it all? I agree, the plots need some definite revision.
that’s exactly why i said these unrealistic plots can give off the wrong impression and people need to know the difference because some kid that likes to play rough and an actual notorious and dangerous drug leader
i never said writing about gangs & taking out all the backstory and details are okay.
Agreed. 
Because gang stories are full of action/horror and romance, that’s what make them amazing
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to be honest I’m a fan of gang stories but I don’t support the ideas of them in real life. I get why you say that they’re violent and I agree but don’t forget that the genre they come from is action so it kind of makes sense to have that content. However, there are story plots worse than this for example: pregnancy stories yet they are still promoted. Everyone has their own preferences and tastes so we can’t really judge them
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No we can’t judge, but we can state our opinions on these stories. Which is what this thread is for. I personally don’t like the gang stories. Especially, in a 13+ app.
I know that there are people who do. Everyone’s different. That’s what makes the world unique.
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of course I get that this thread is for sharing opinions and thats what I did and I also agree that our different tastes are what make us unique
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Personally I love gang stories, like deep attraction. One of my favourites. Not all people in gangs are dangerous. I have family in the bloods, and there the sweetest people ever! 
But I do understand that this is an app for 13 y/o. But I guess it’s just how we were all brought up and taught makes us view the world differently.
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Well, if Gang/Mafia stories can be displayed in movies (Casino directed by Martin Scorsese), why can’t they be depicted through the medium of stories in Episode?
I think most of us are tired of seeing the usual budding romance between the MC and the male protagonist. Yep, it oh-so-bores me to death too. But that doesn’t mean that Gang/Mafia stories are bad. Most of the Gang stories depicted through movies and books were a hit because they showed the real, dangerous, calculative and opportunistic politics between the mobsters, gang-leaders, crime-lords etc.
Maybe we could introduce further difference into these stories? We can keep the romance, sure, but in a limit. Introduce certain other plots like, for an example, Road To Perdition directed by Sam Mendes, where Sullivan doesn’t know whether to be loyal to his crime-lord boss or save his son, or American Gangster directed by Ridley Scott, where Roberts is the only cop who’s courageous enough to drag down the drug lord, Frank. And, why only men are the leading ones? Ladies can too dominate the stories in their own and other way, not just in a romantic way. It all depends on the author’s creativity!
~AS007
I understand what you’re trying to say but I think your examples are really working against your point. Those movies aren’t for kids, they don’t make movies like Casino or Goodfellas or The Godfather for thirteen year olds. Those films are made for adult audiences and adult consumption. This is a platform specifically for kids as young as 13. Also, I think the people that consume these stories aren’t looking for hard hitting character driven narratives that depict organized crime authentically. The people who read these stories, most of them anyway, want to live out their fantasy of being special to someone powerful and hard to get that every other person wants.
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Everyone’s opinion is appreciated, let’s just keep it argument free, okay? 
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I understand why gang stories are popular, because they mostly depict a rich and powerful alpha male which I guess is desirable. But for me personally, it’s a case of once you’ve read one you’ve kind of read them all. I find them dull and unimaginative.
To me, its the same with wolf stories - They take a basic plot line and add or subtract something to make a ‘different’ story. (Kind of like taking a chicken pie and adding a bit of bacon then saying it’s a completely new thing).
If the app is going to advertise itself as 13+ then gang stories should be thoroughly looked through because almost all of them break guidelines. Not to mention some include some seriously morally wrong things to promote to young teens.
Just my opinion, don’t turn me into a pie
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I agree. I know somehow these stories will always exist. However, they need to be tamed down a heck of a lot! (Especially taking the younger audience into consideration.)
The app ratings do mention Violence, suggestive themes, Alcohol and tobacco, etc.
But, there should be a limit to the extent of how much you’re able to add this content. This is not a mature 17+ app, this app is listed for 13+ teens. I feel not everyone takes that into consideration. They’re just worried about views and adding a whole bunch of woohoo in their stories.
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I agree with you, I think a lot of newer authors want as many reads as the popular stories so they read them all, realise a lot of them have sex, drugs, gangs e.t.c and think if they write a story that contains the same ideas then they’ll get popular too but they fail to see that it doesn’t work like that (most of the time).
I’ve seen a lot of discussion within the forums about the possibility of raising the minimum age from 13 to 15 e.t.c but I don’t think the age is the issue. Everyone knows the age restriction but they still insist on putting things in their story they know is wrong. Why does a gang leader have to make derogatory marks towards a girl? Or threaten her? and this is supposed to make him more desirable too!!! Yes these things happen in real life but as entertainment for a 13 year old I think is wrong.
When I was 13 I was watching High School Musical (
) not reading about gangs.
But to be fair, I’m from Oxford in England so gangs aren’t exactly common place for me like they are for other countries.
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Personally I enjoy reading mafia/gang stories, and I know some people don’t, honestly stories like these aren’t for everyone. Some of these stories are actually really good and interesting but some are complete nonsense.
For example- a girl is taken by a gang leader (who’s a “bad boy”), raped and then they fall in love. It’s complete nonsense and SO unrealistic, most of these stories are unrealistic.
These stories may be unrealistic but so are a lot of the stories on episode, but people read them anyway, usually because some and enjoyable. Kind of like movies, books and/or TV shows, some are VERY unrealistic and maybe triggering. And that doesn’t make them okay, but in the end they’re interesting and just stories.
Yes I know in the real world gangs and mafia’s are extremely dangerous and i wish they didn’t exist, but here we are.
By the way I’m not trying to be rude AT ALL, and everyone has they’re own opinion.
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You know, I have the exact same question. 
Young children are so easily influenced…
I literally want to scream.
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Edited. @LaurieKrisette
I didn’t ask how old are you at any point, at all, it was a random exaggerated number on purpose, and I didn’t ask anything.
And I’m just saying you’re exaggerating its meaning, if there’s sexual content that violates something, then it’s not okay, but just the simple idea of a gang and “falling in love with a gang leader” is not that horrible.
@m-d First of all, I’m not 12 years old. And I WILL NOT be sharing my age over the internet. Everything was going fine on this thread. For you to come up here and insult someone you don’t even know shows YOUR maturity level. I’am entitled to my own opinion just like everyone else. Apparently, you’re having a bad day…You don’t have to take it out on people over the internet. There’s other ways to state your opinion without being aggressive.
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Don’t over react, you just made a big deal out of it, I didn’t ask for your age, you said something about young people on Episode and what it teaches them.
@Jeremy I don’t think I broke any rule, it’s just pretty silly, that kind of stories doesn’t violate anything in the content guidelines by its self, Bunch of those are stories made by actual Episode writers (they pretty much have to answer content guidelines) and that’s completely fine, so what’s the big problem with that?