Waiting until you feel that your children are mature enough to handle the game's content will be the best way. Removing the mature content is too much work to please so very few users. Like those who wish spiders removed because they have arachnophobia.
If traditional zombies are in and they're like in Oblivion, with missing heads/limbs and in an advanced state of decomposition, it'd be pretty bad to have them removed with a childguard. By doing so you remove some of the game's content at the detriment of the game experience.

Today, "bad" language can't be turned off if the game uses fully-voiced dialogue. Muting the "bad words" and removing them in the dialogue text is too much hassle than for what it's worth.

It's a mature-rated game, it is up to you to buy it or not, but there are other games out there that can be enjoyed. For instance, Morrowind is rated T and the only violence is small blood spots when you hit an enemy.

I don't think BGS should have to filter their game for the sake of kids seeing stuff that is deemed inappropriate by parents. There's a rating on the game for a reason, so if kids are playing an M game then thats the parents' fault, not theirs. Besides, its not like seeing any violence/ will have an affect on children. They'll most likely have more fun than anything.

That would be so awesome if SR had that, but mods will come close enough. Esp if a version of FWE comes out for SR, that is my fav mod, it was basically a giant options menu and I think it would be great if all games had something like it.

Win :trophy:

@projekt202: I am pretty sure that there will be no "bad language" in Skyrim. Serious RPGs almost never use this kind of language - it is considered not suitable to a fantasy world (The Witcher is an exception).

Actually, your asking about turning off "language" makes me believe that you are not particularly accustomed to The Elder Scrolls. Here is the "maturity" I would actually expect from Skyrim:
- blood flowing when people are fighting. Whether you want your kid to be confronted with that is a different question, but generally I don't see much of a difference between blood in a video game and blood in a typical news broadcast, so if your children can watch news, they won't be too much frightened or fall into bad ways by playing a video game with blood in it.
- nudity when you kill and loot a body. This may (but need not) be there. Also, the body might be disfigured after the use of some magic effects (a fireball is supposed to cause some burning...). Not particularly fun to watch, but realistic.
- implicit sixual themes, like somebody going on a revenge rampage because of a sixual violation (just an example). You will not ever actually see such a violation, let alone do it (you will probably be seeing the rampage, though). If The Elder Scrolls stay true to their tradition, the player will not have any ingame sixual encounters apart from (possibly) some which are limited to a screen fading out and in (no actual six shown), so the game will be completely six-free.
- some places that are supposed to be frightening, like dark caves, ancinent ruins full of spiders and deathtraps, etc. This is not much different from watching Indiana Jones (except it is, IMHO, better).

I do not think any of these is a problem to anyone over 15. If you are worried that your kids will be playing a porm simulator or a Grand Theft Auto set in a medieval world, you can safely forget about your worries.

I apologise if this has been pointed out before, but there's a good chance Bethesda would have to do a no (or reduced) gore version for the German market anyway, as they did for Fallout 3. So it would hardly be a huge effort for them to make those changes toggle-able in the game for other regions. Yes, it would be easiest with a bit of forethought on Bethesda's part, but even without that forethought it would be a comparatively straightforward job.

Changing language would be a harder job, but if Skyrim is anything like Morrowind or Oblivion then most curse words will be fantasy ones anyway.

I really dislike this reasoning. Many advlts don't need blood and gore, or even dislike it. I want to turn off blood and I don't want the super lame in my opinion "BLOODY SCREEN!! SO REAL!!!" effect so I hope I can turn that annoyance off.

its usually not even complete nudity unless you get a mod

Just no

Honestly, I would like a screen like that.

Also, if the kid is not mature enough to stand violence, sixual themes, swearing, etc. I don't think they are mature enough to truly appreciate the game they bought.

Thanks. Your reply is helpful. My teens have actually made their own decision about not playing "M" games. With a game like Skyrim, where the developers have spent a ton of time crafting every rock, plant and flower, and the result is a fantastic world, it would be great if it could reach the broadest audience possible.

Very helpful, thanks. I have played video games for many years, but not TES.

Or, you could just by your kids a rated E game.

Are you willing to finance Bethesda so that they can include every possible option in the game that would make the game accessible to the broadest audience possible? If you want your children to experience the most amazing, wonderful, and immersive game series of all time (In my opinion), then let them play Skyrim. If not, then continue on to shelter your children from the real world. Make them believe that they live in a bubble of a world that's a perfect utopia. They might be "pleasantly" surprised when it's not.

PS.
The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind is an experience that I will soon not forget. What an amazing experience.

my favorite part of TES is the satanism and witchcraft.

I see what you did there ... xD

if it gets the M rating, it's for a reason, to keep it out of the hands of children. Logic would state that only a mature gamer should play it, and whether or not the gamer is mature enough (if they are under 18) is up to the parent to decide, as part of being a parent is to protect the young, immature, and naive from getting their hands on content that is too gritty or graphic for them to handle

don't forget his badge of awesomeness :ribbon:

Some games aren't meant for a younger audiance. Tough luck. Besides, there are far worse things to be seen and heard of all over the place than in a game. With graphical content, I believe blood is as far as we get. With language, I doubt there will be any very harsh content as well. I don't recall ever hearing alot of very harsh words over and over. Maybe once, or twice, sometime.

I don't think you have anything to worry about really. Blood and a word or two shouldn't affect your child. Even a 9 year old(or younger, is that just me?) knows blood comes out of a living thing when you hit it with an axe. If he'd actually start acting weird and awkward, I think it's due to his real life connections, not Skyrim.

The Daggerfall version of The Real Barenziah was the only thing in TES that was even slightly disturbing

Now that you mention it, but if you ask me, Fargoth is what should've been toggleable. He left me with nightmares...

This ís my opinion very much.

Let your 'teens' (I mean seriously, they're teens? Let them play the [censored] game as it is) grow older instead.

I am i have first RPG i played was Oblivion still playing it and loving it i even went out and boght the Morrowind: GOTY edition and i love it

But then again, your parents obviously aren't still living in the 90's.

There is a reason that at the bottom right of the game case it has a rating to ward off younger children if its rated ''M'' it should stay ratted ''M'', if a parent buys a copy of this game they are the ones responsible not Bethesda.