I think the warning is fine as is, though it wouldn't hurt to make it more explicit to cover his back. As far as being flippant, I mean, it is still just a game even with those topics. What do you mean by the 'face your fears is better suited to a horror game' part? I don't quite get that line. If you mean as the title, the horror is a major element, but this is still basically a dating sim, so that wouldn't work. Let me know if I interpreted that line wrong, I'm genuinely interested in your meaning there.
I'm going to preface this comment by saying that this is not a hill I intend to fight and die on, it really doesn't matter that much to me. Ultimately either Selebus sees my comment, agrees and tweaks the warning, or he sees it, disagrees and does nothing. There are more important hills.
I had intended to go no further than my original comment but as you have specifically asked me to explain I will. I really don't want to shit the thread up with a discussion about trigger warnings though (which funnily enough tend to trigger people).
You have definitely misunderstood my comment. Currently the warning states that "as in real life, horrible things may happen" then goes on to say "face your fears".
It is this final line that I was referring to as flippant.
The reason I say this is that usually I'd expect such a phrase to refer to more visceral fears - the dark, spooooooky ghosts, the unknown, blood and guts i.e. generic horror.
In a straight up generic horror setting this would be entirely appropriate. The ghosts (or whatever) aren't real, they aren't going to hurt you and it is through them that we experience catharsis.
But Selebus is pushing in to some really heavy topics regarding mental ill health and the very real consequences of that.This to me is starting to butt up against the boundaries of what would usually be lumped into the "horror" genre, particularly in games. Indeed I struggle to think of any mainstream games that really seek to address these issues, perhaps Silent Hill?
I would accept that "horrible things" does in fact include the kind of topics that are being explored. But I'm not sure it's a simple as facing one's fears when addressing them.
You specifically mention being more explicit to help him in covering his back but I think this really misses the point of content warnings and ascribes a really cynical motivation to Selebus. Given the very genuine style of his writing and engagement I don't think that's a fair assessment of his motivation for including such a warning given that he didn't have to include any warning at all.
I have found as I have gotten older and worked through my own issues that I have mellowed on the concept of trigger warnings, which I never used to like. To me, giving your audience a heads up that "hey we're going to be talking about some fucked up shit" is just a way of showing respect for that audience and hurts noone.
I suppose a parallel can be drawn with the medical warning immediately preceding the content warning in question. This is a photosensitive epilepsy warning. Very few people would begrudge such a warning despite it being virtually redundant. Why should we treat mental health differently?
So the point, if any is to be found in the rambly nonsense above, is that on the one hand Selebus is addressing some serious stuff in a serious and respectful way, but begins that by undermining his approach a little.
Tl;Dr snowflake got triggered
