Long time “metaverse” resident here (Secondlife, not Zuck’s dystopia)
For what it’s worth, I thought the way SL Implemented things with both age gating and world/content gating was more or less Okay, but could be built upon. I’d say it worked out well for them in the long run, since they initially implemented manual age verification back in 2008! and anyone under 18 simply did not get access to anything tagged as such, or the ability to view it in the viewer and on their own Asset store (Marketplace)
Given recent events, Itch.io, Gumroad etc. cracking down on NSFW content across the board (not just vrchat/unity assets) due to mounting pressure from payment processors (a topic of its own)
I’d say that adding a framework for such content much like SL has in place wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Tillia, the Payment Processor behind VRchat’s Marketplace is a Subsidiary of Linden Labs, so I’d be highly surprised if they suddenly took issue to it given their own market contains adult content too, which is not against their terms of service.
Back on topic though;
If rules were to be changed, I think NSFW content should be tagged NSFW/Adult using the existing tags already in the SDK, this content to my understanding is already off limits to unverified 18+ accounts. (And if it isn’t, it should be)
That already takes care of the main issue tbh.
The Rules really only need a small tweak that simply state, [NSFW content legalese] must be tagged as Adult and must not be used or displayed in public instances or instances not gated to 18+ or Private where all parties are 18+ Verified. This is more a reflection of common decency really.