I don't have a problem with either, but it feels weird from an organizational standpoint to have a plain looking naked anthro having missionary sx in the same category as an anthro with super exagerated genitalia performing some impossible feat.

Main issue: Not everyone is going to agree what counts as 'softcore' and 'hardcore' in a given thing that won't be vice versa for someone else. Like, I enjoy unbirthing and don't see it as hardcore, but someone else whom mainly like oral vore can see unbirthing as hardcore.

discardothediscarded said:
I don't have a problem with either, but it feels weird from an organizational standpoint to have a plain looking naked anthro having missionary sx in the same category as an anthro with super exagerated genitalia performing some impossible feat.

That's a very subjective thing, everybody's got their own definition of softcore and hardcore. Someone can see the average pin up pretty hardcore for them, while the opposite, the most kinky bdsm/whatever kink might be an everyday occurance for someone else could also happend.

Also, i know you're asking for the how of the implementation aswell, but i'd also ask, what's your idea? Make explicit 2 seperate ratings? Or make a sub category in ratings?

The blacklist. It does exactly this. It just takes some time to set up. And I don't think we need a "super explicit" and "slightly explicit" rating, if that was your idea.

"Softcore" is just "Questionable." We've already split up NSFW artwork into "softcore" and "hardcore," just given it different names.

Also, sites that have tried to use a four-tier rating schedule tend to transition to a three-tier because that level of specificity is difficult to work with.

Wouldn't it be easier to just make a softcore tag and apply it to NSFW works that fit that description?
Pretty sure you shouldn't be looking up softcore porn at work anyway, so there's no reason to distinguish it from explicit as a category.

lonelylupine said:
Also, sites that have tried to use a four-tier rating schedule tend to transition to a three-tier because that level of specificity is difficult to work with.

AO3 has four tiers, but the third tier is basically "sex but not super explicitly detailed", which is a much easier distinction to make with the written word as opposed to visual depictions.

simski said:
Wouldn't it be easier to just make a softcore tag and apply it to NSFW works that fit that description?

No, because such a tag would be incredibly subjective and instigate tagging wars all over the place.

wat8548 said:No, because such a tag would be incredibly subjective and instigate tagging wars all over the place.

Seems easier to just make a new tag than creating a new tier which will just confuse everyone and possibly demand a site-wide change.

How about vanilla_sex? That seems to be what OP wants to search for

simski said:
Seems easier to just make a new tag than creating a new tier which will just confuse everyone and possibly demand a site-wide change.

How about vanilla_sex? That seems to be what OP wants to search for

Is anal sex vanilla? For some people, it is. For others, that's already highly kinky.

dubsthefox said:
Is anal sex vanilla? For some people, it is. For others, that's already highly kinky.

True. Well maybe this area is just too subjective to do anything about really.
I think the current categories of "not explicit, maybe explicit, and explicit" are pretty straightforward. Sure an anthro getting a blowjob from their girlfriend and a building sized fox drowning people in cum might be somewhat different in terms of realism and deviancy needed to enjoy them, but they're both explicit and we have tags and the blacklist exist for a reason.

lonelylupine said:
Also, sites that have tried to use a four-tier rating schedule tend to transition to a three-tier because that level of specificity is difficult to work with.

Danbooru switched to four ratings rather recently, apparently because of issues with their payment processor(?) https://danbooru.donmai.us/forum_topics/21277
I do wonder how that is going for them. Q on danbooru is softcore, E is hardcore, but with wildly different interpretations from what is suggested here. Overall their rating system is pretty different. https://danbooru.donmai.us/wiki_pages/howto%3Arate I do find our system to make more sense, but then again I am a bit biased.

earlopain said:
...I am a bit biased

nah. its just true

earlopain said:
I do find our system to make more sense, but then again I am a bit biased.

I think Danbooru's just kinda a mess in general, maybe it's the diffrent communities that we're serving but some of the way that site functions is just bizarre. even ignoring their ratings system, some of the tags/tagging standards there use are just not great like, having the 1boy, 2boys, 3boys, 4boys, 5boys, 6+boys tags but no catchall.

earlopain said:
Danbooru switched to four ratings rather recently, apparently because of issues with their payment processor(?)

Wait... "Sensitive" is the new "Questionable"?
Dang, and I was just thinking that it might be of minor benefit to have a rating for things that would almost certainly cause a tag war in comments...

darryus said:
even ignoring their ratings system, some of the tags/tagging standards there use are just not great like, having the 1boy, 2boys, 3boys, 4boys, 5boys, 6+boys tags but no catchall.

searching for *boy*
also a very awesome paywall :>

lonelylupine said:
"Softcore" is just "Questionable." We've already split up NSFW artwork into "softcore" and "hardcore," just given it different names.

No, softcore is when you can't definitively see penetration or other direct genital contact
But two characters in a sex position under reasonable implication that they're fucking is still explicit here regardless, as is genitalia being visible at all.

dubsthefox said:
The blacklist. It does exactly this. It just takes some time to set up. And I don't think we need a "super explicit" and "slightly explicit" rating, if that was your idea.

I mean, I don't exactly mean it like that because not only are there common blacklist tags that I would consider to be technicly soft core (things like cuckholdry or simply things other than the viewer's orientation) and there are very popular hardcore tags that arguably anyone blacklists (giant genitals and the like)

I didn't mean to demand for anything which is why I didn't make this a sugestion thread. I was more curious about what it would take.