World of Warcraft and my 10 year old

[DoesntCompute]

Ok I am looking for advice. My 10 year old wants to get WoW. My wife and I monitor pretty closely what our kids play and watch. I have investigated the game and it doesn't seem any more graphic/inappropriate than other games we have allowed him to play. I have played several MMORGs and know what they are about. I have three main concerns:
1) I am not terribly comfortable with him entering the online chat realm at age 10. He is an incredibly responsible 10 year old but he is 10 and as our own community can attest to, there are creeps out there who can manipulate a 10 year old. I could play with him and he has agreed to only play when I do (if I agree) but this feeds into my 2nd and 3rd concerns.
2) It seems WoW is as addictive as other MMORGs. I can personally attest to the addictive nature of these games because I have experienced it myself. I quit playing EQ because it was interferring with my life. After several years, I thought I would try again and played Star Wars and Eve. I quit both as I began to recognise the signs of spending to much time with them. I don't know that I want to expose him to the addiction and I don't know if I want to risk becoming overly involved myself.
3) The cost. $40+ for the game and $15 a month for him to play. That cost would double if I play with him. He has stated that he is willing to pay his monthly bill out of his allowance ($20/month).

I would really appreciate your advice in this. He really wants this and I want to accomidate him if possible but I am not sure it is a great idea.

If you believe parents should allow their young children to do whatever they want then please don't bother to post. I am not looking to turn this into a debate on whether parents should sensor what their children see.

[CupidsArt]

I can say that if you are willing to play along side your child, then you have gotten rid of 80% of the perceivable problems right there.


So long as you have the will to tell both yourself and your child to only play for limited amounts of time you should be fine. I found that getting into a routine with addicting games like WoW, it's better to have that time pattern.

Overall I really can't see you needing much advice, you seem like a genuine and caring parent and I'm certain you and your child will have a good, fun and safe time, :D



EDIT: i would also like to state that I am not a parent, but I just had to reply to a post like this, :) so my words shouldn't be taken with as much validity as those on the site with children, :)

[KingArthur1976]

Although my wife and I have not been lucky enough to become a parent yet I thought I'd still add my two cents.

1) Are you really going to have the time to sit with your son everytime he wants to play?

2) Is it worth investing the money? Although we know how addicting it can be. (I was a FFXI Addict) It may not appeal to a ten year old as much.

3) There are so many other things out there for him to experience at this age. (HEROSCAPE for 1 lol) Ultimatly I know its your decesion and I agree with Cupid in that you sound like a very responsible adult.

I would definitly introduce him to video games, but I may keep him from the ole MMORPG for a little while.

[Doc_Savage]

Not to say no for you, but I wouldn't let my kids...

[outtakontroll]

Doesntcompute,
I am in a the exact situation with my 9 yr old son. We have been looking into RTS games since we got Goblin Commander for ps2. He absolutey loves it!
I ruled out WOW due to the fact that it costs money to play. And because it is only playable online. I recently downloaded a demo version of Dawn of war. My son and I have went through the tutorial version and it seems pretty decent.
I almost bought the trial version of WOW at walmart for $1.99 that comes with a free 14 day trial period. But decided against it due to the fact that we might get hooked on it as well. And we cannott afford a monthly fee for a game.
I am very interested to keep tabs on this thread and hear more members opinions as well as find out what you decide for you and your family.

.............outtakontroll

[DoesntCompute]

Not to say no for you, but I wouldn't let my kids...
Why Doc?


1) Are you really going to have the time to sit with your son everytime he wants to play? He won't be allowed to play unless I am able to play as well.

2) Is it worth investing the money? The problem is that to be truly worth the money, you have to play a lot...

[Kepler]

I am not really familiar with it. How does it work? Do make decisions for you character and watch a video of the results of those actions, or do you control your character like a video game?

[LilNewbie]

WOW is an online D&D game. You make a character (or characters), complete quests and kill monsters to increase in level and power and to get better gear. It's fun but can be addicting. With two accounts that will be at least 30+ USD per month (unless you choose the longer terms.)

I don't really see anything wrong the game. Like anything in life, moderation is the key. I've played WoW off and on since it was made public.

Just keep the profanity filter on (it helps some) and group a lot with your son. It's a fun way to hang out. You can pretty much solo (or run in small groups) all the way to the max level (60 atm...soon to be 70) without too much trouble and I would choose a PVE (Player vs. Environment) server to keep the lameness out of the game (getting killed while doing a quest in hunting areas is no fun.)

One last thing, just use common sense when dealing with others online. I've met a lot of great people in the game and few stinkers. The stinkers eventually get blacklisted and have to move servers or change characters. Overall it's a good game and can be a fun experience if you keep your wits about you. :)

Newb.

[kenjib]

I think that a lot of very questionable stuff for young children happens in chat - especially in a gaming environment that will be filled with such a volatile mix of older ages, immature people, and anti-social people. Furthermore lots of roleplaying will occur, some of which might be objectionable for a 10 year old. If you want to spend the time to play with your son, then parental supervision will definitely fix most of that, and since you are a gamer anyway it might not be too much of an inconvenience unless you are always hectic busy like I am. If the cost is bothering you, you could look into Guild Wars, which has no monthly fees - but if his heart is really set on WoW then I'm not sure if that will be an acceptable substitute.

[Euryon]

I agree with the general sentiments above here. Whilst I dont have a biological child, my fiancee has a great 7 3/4 son who ive played many a game with - board and video - who I promise by the gods ot get into HS :D Anyway, he really loved playing Rome: Total War with me; now this was great, but the poor guy got quite upset when I sent my pigs off to scare the enemies war elephants - he didnt realise I had to set them on fire to frighten the elephants...

Anyway, thats more of an anecdote; but my point is - you cant control "real life" - but you can be a parent and ensure that youre child is not around people who speak abusively or inappropriately - but in a MMORPG world, there are certain things that the game aims towards which are out of your control. Im sure some people beat the profanity filter, much like I f*cking am right now, im sure theres a private message system or somesuch which inappropriate messages could be sent (when I played SWG for a while, I would often be offered online blow-jobs, which was always very comical).....

My point is - unless you are going to sit beside him and read everything said before he does, you ought to be prepared to answer some awkward questions. At 10 years old, I expect many of them are going to need to be answered soon anyway, so perhaps being there when the awkwardness arises might be beneficial...

Hell, I personally would try and push my kids into other games, because I have a negative attitude towards MMORPGs in general, and I dont think Roleplay is an essential method of expression in the emotionally undeveloped; at least, not unexpressive roleplay (as I know the 8-15 formative years are when real life roleplay is very p-s-ycholocially dominant); so if my advice is worth anything; I recommend other games simply because an online world has certain dangers inherent in it which can be avoided with other game types.

Theres the WoW board game and CCG too, if that helps :P

[Havokscry]

I was an Everquest and a WoW junkie and I can't recommend it.

The online community can be rather brutal. It's not a casual game. I've been in numerous situations where people are fighting over a drop, how to play a character, how bad they are doing, etc. If I'm paying $15 or whatever it is a month to play the game, I really don't want someone telling me how to do it. I've also been in groups that are patient and encouraging.

Secondly is the social aspects. The games are addicting. He'll want to spend most of his free time playing, unless you control it. Your child may enjoy hanging out with his online friends more so than his real friends.

[geddy lifeson]

Your child may enjoy hanging out with his online friends more so than his real friends.

As some of us do here :lol:

Seriously, I could think of better video games to play with your little one that would be more beneficial and cost much less in the long run. WoW can be very addictive and time consuming and at such a young age children need to experience more than an online world for development. I vote in the no category.

[django]

IM a video game junkie and i would fight for kids to play games.WOW or any other mmorpgs are completely wrong for kids his age i strongly believe for the better of every one old and young the ESRB ratings should be strictly enforced WOW is rated teen and if your son wants to play he should have to wait until he is a teen.

[Rodriquez]

WoW is fun but ye really need to check it out yerself and check out what server would be good for him...

some servers are raunchier than others..
also I'd suggest ye limit him to the pve(person vs environment) servers..

and WoW is addictive...

[DoesntCompute]

Thank you all for your input. This is exactly what I was looking for. I admit that I am surprised that the response has been so overwhelmingly in the 'no' category from a group of gamers. That has definately pushed my opinion to saying no.

I am currently (and have been for hours) downloading the demo (3 GB!!!). I am going to try it out and discuss it further with him.

I know he is wanting to play it because most of his RL friends are playing it and he wants to join them. I think that in the end he will decide that it isn't worth 75% of his allowance each month and 2.5 months worth of allowance to get started.

[justjohn]

This might be silly, but have you considered doing the boardgame version or CCG version instead of the computer version? I've heard both are fun.

He'll still be getting WoW, but you won't have to deal with the aspects that are making you second guess getting the online version for him.

Since you'll have to start an account too (I don't think the same account can be active at the same time on two different computers, but I could be wrong) the price difference is minimal when compared to buying the software plus a month sub.x2.

Just a thought.

Hard choice, good luck!

[AmishBurrito]

Thank you all for your input. This is exactly what I was looking for. I admit that I am surprised that the response has been so overwhelmingly in the 'no' category from a group of gamers. That has definately pushed my opinion to saying no.

I am currently (and have been for hours) downloading the demo (3 GB!!!). I am going to try it out and discuss it further with him.

I know he is wanting to play it because most of his RL friends are playing it and he wants to join them. I think that in the end he will decide that it isn't worth 75% of his allowance each month and 2.5 months worth of allowance to get started.

Also, If he's saying that he'll only play when you play, and all his friends are trying to get him to play with them, what is going to end up happening is that he'll want to play because his friends are, and you wont at some point, and then he'll get upset because of the agreement he already made with you. And if you become busy doing something important (for work or whatever) he won't be able to play during that time, and his $15 are going to waste for each month this happens.

[Avenger]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! DON'T GET IT!!!!! IT'S A HORRIBLE THING!!!!!! MY FRIENDS HAD IT, AND GUESS WHAT!? I COULDN'T CHILL WITH THEM FOR LIKE A YEAR, BECAUSE THEY WERE PLAYING THAT STUPID GAME!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR SON'S SOCIAL LIFE (IF HE HAS ONE) DON'T GET THE GAME!!!!!! PLEASE< I'M BEGGING YOU!!!!!!!!!1

[Finrod]

I've been WoWing for a few months now. I wouldn't recommend it for a 10 year old, unless you could get him teamed up with a guild of other players that you trust.

As far as chat, etc., it's easy to turn those off. I almost never have to see anything someone else says unless it's a guild member.

[Nooblar]

I've played for most of two years now (no, not like that! :P ) and I have to agree that it is definitely only Teen and up. A 10-year-old is not mature enough to police himself, and you will eventually feel like dropping the "play when he plays" requirement.

Let him get the popular equivalent in 5-6 years :)

[DarkSpade]

You can find many RPG games that play like WoW and yet are not online.

Dungeon siege
dungoen siege II
diablo


I'm sure others can name more.

[Doc_Savage]

Not to say no for you, but I wouldn't let my kids...
Why Doc?

I just don't let my kids spend that much time playing videogames... I don't really care for them, except when you are playing against a live friend in the same room.

They have only recently gotten Nintendo handhelds.

[Karkadinn]

I'd actually go against the tide here and offer a cautious 'sure, go ahead.' But only conditionally. ;) The addictive aspects of MMORPGs MUST be kept in hand for a child to be able to enjoy the game with no negative p s ychological consequences. (That goes for adults, too, lol.) In addition to only letting him play when you're on to play with him, I would also restrict him to a certain number of hours of playtime a week. I'd do that for yourself too, for that matter. ;) Give as many hours as you feel comfortable with being healthy without eating into other aspects of his and your lives, but don't ever let either of you go over that limit, or start monkeying with it by trading hours from one week into another, or anything like that. Stick to the rules you set for yourself and your kid, and you'll be fine. But only so long as you have the self-discipline to stick to 'em.
It helps if you use mics or have comps set up side by side to make it a more social experience, too. :D
Games are good things. ALL games are good things. You just have to keep them in their proper place and not let them run your life.

[Nwojedi]

I would give the thumbs up here as well. I used to play dark age of camelot for 3 years. Man did that game rock, and I met some really good people on there, that were helpful patient and very understanding. Eventually, you'll find a guild with good people. Sure, there is the occasional high school kid that takes his anger out in game, cuz he has no friends. but they are usually on the pk servers. If you stay in friendly servers, you don't run into that as much. Especially, if your going to be playing too. It's a lot of fun to play when your sitting side by side with someone. Makes things a lot easier too.

[bushi96]

I'd still go with a more kid friendly and less time consuming game (cheaper too!). Diablo II is a really good choice. Dungeon Siege is OK. My 10 yr. old son plays Neverwinter Nights.

[TheMightyAargh]

I've played WoW for a year now, very casually, and can throw in :two cents:. I also have a 10 year old nephew.

Let's see, first off WoW is way more addictive than EQ in that you can always achieve a little something everytime you play. So once you're done gaming you want to play again to achieve the next thing. So it's super-addictive. I think that is the real danger of the game. He'll be wanting to play, get grumpy if he doesn't play...I mean you can imagine the scenario. The worst part is, there's no end. That behavior could go on for years!

I'd definitely give this the thumbs down, and that's before even addressing the language (which you can turn off chat, and it can be an almost non-issue) and violent content (which is there, no matter what).

A lot of things depend on your childs temperment as you see it. Maybe start him off on a rpg that isn't a "never-ending story" and see how he handles it. Some people don't get that addicted no matter what. I've been playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance with my nephew and he really likes the super-heroes in it. It's not too difficult either. He could probably finish it in 40 hours no problem and I know there's a PC version out there too.

Good luck with it. Either way you go it will be a challenge.

[DoesntCompute]

Well, the decision has been made. He is not going to be able to play it at this time. We will revisit the issue in a couple of years. Fortunately, he had reached the conclusion that it wasn't worth the cost if his time was limited so he wasn't very upset with my decision.

The main factors for deciding no were:
The chat factor - this would have been mitigated by me playing with him.
The addiction factor (for him and me) - While imposing timelimits would work on him, I tried doing that for myself in EQ without a huge amount of success. I found it easier to have willpower once before I am hooked than to have to tell myself no over and over again once I had the game.
The cost - If we successfully limited ourselves, then the game isn't worth the cost. The only way games with a monthly fee are worth the cost is when you play a lot.

I want to thank all of you who gave your opinions on this. That a bunch of avid gamers would give a strong majority thumbs down really spoke volumns.

[dragonfire]

the money keeps on adding up. You should get him a 1 player rpg like tales of symphonia or star wars nights of the old rebublic. They might say some very minor curse words{ very minor} but anything is better than finding out your soon wants to run off with a 35 year old exconvict,petafile named sancho.

[Su_Nan]

There are tons of MMORPG's out there that have no monthly cost and cost nothing to download. Basically you just download the game and play for free.

IMO WoW is ripping you off. I'm playing Silkroad Online that plays just like WoW if not better and it costed me nothing.

If you want to try the MMORPG scene, Maple Story, Trickster, and Silkroad come to mind and are all totally free.

[Avenger]

Well, the decision has been made. He is not going to be able to play it at this time. We will revisit the issue in a couple of years. Fortunately, he had reached the conclusion that it wasn't worth the cost if his time was limited so he wasn't very upset with my decision.

The main factors for deciding no were:
The chat factor - this would have been mitigated by me playing with him.
The addiction factor (for him and me) - While imposing timelimits would work on him, I tried doing that for myself in EQ without a huge amount of success. I found it easier to have willpower once before I am hooked than to have to tell myself no over and over again once I had the game.
The cost - If we successfully limited ourselves, then the game isn't worth the cost. The only way games with a monthly fee are worth the cost is when you play a lot.

I want to thank all of you who gave your opinions on this. That a bunch of avid gamers would give a strong majority thumbs down really spoke volumns.



THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! :pray:

[Fallen Templar]

Halo 2 is a better game........

[django]

NO Gears of War is better! Marcus Fenix would crush master chief.
http://static.flickr.com/77/193752865_3698bdf04a_m.jpg :P

[dragonfire]

and samus would kill all of those over rated ''stars"

[johnny139]

and samus would kill all of those over rated ''stars"

Secon'.

[Nooblar]

:hijacked:

[Uprising]

Here is the new World of Warcraft movie. I have no idea what it's about, but it looks amazing as usual. Blizzard should just go ahead a make a feature film already.

http://www.spiketv.com/events/vga2006/simulcast.html


Also, I didn't wanna start a new thread, but here is the vid for Warhammer Online. I think it's pretty funny.

http://www.warhammeronline.com/english/media/video/easterEggs/WAR_Promo_081606.html