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Which MMO for my son and I?
Talk about a difficult task in choosing. There are so many MMO's that are around and also ones to come it has made it hard to research which game would be ideal for my son and I. Ideally I would like to part of an MMO that has a good social environment where we both can enjoy the gameplay. I would like to teach him some of the social ettiquetes of gaming online and provide a chance to socialise with other players. Not too keen on some MMO's that have scantily dressed women roaming around. My son is 11. Also would like to teach him moderation so hopefully would like to play an MMO where one can jump in for two hours at a time and feel there has been a slight achievement. I apologise if this too broad of a question. I'm new too MMO but not new to RPG. Oh I should mention the type of game we have played Company of Heros at the moment. So he is subject to some gore.
Look forward to hearing your comments.
Comments
One key thing is the community, and what type of people you want to subject your son to. As an example WOW is a good choice for ease of play and content you both could enjoy, however the community is not something I'd suggest to an eleven year old. Most MMO communities aren't actually, I'd suggest something like Wizard 101 or The Lego MMO. I don't know how much enjoyment an adult would find there though. COH, (city of heroes) always had a decent community if I remember correctly, it's been a very long time since I tried that though.
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My Guild Wars 2 Vids
Guild Wars 2 isn't out yet but I would highly recommend looking up the information now. A few reasons I point this out is
I play socially and there are a lot of things this Dev team is doing to bring social play back to the Genre with things like implementing ideas to limit griefing in the game. Examples are no node stealing for the crafters, character scaling so people cant come in as higher levels and kill monsters while you are trying to do a DE.
Another thing is the sidekicking. If you or your son played on different schedules, keep in mind sidekicking means you or him won't out level the other since the game makes it where you can sync your levels and enjoy the content together no matter who pulls ahead.
You mentioned teaching him moderation. Well 2 major things worth mentioning here. The game is B2P meaning no monthly sub so you won't have that feeling you have to log in and get your moneys worth or unsub when schedules get busy. Also the fact that there are no quests so you explore the game and find your content rather than being told where to go for experience. this means you don't have to worry about whether or not he or you did a quest already and now the other is excluded from that content, in GW2 there are no set paths so the world is your playground. Since the design is not setup as a gear dependant system you will not be told you need to grind for better gear to be allowed to participate in some content. Go wherever you want and do the dynamic event's that you see fit to or skip them, it's all about choice. The game is designed so you can pop in and out and nothing makes you feel left behind.
There are very few games out now that I feel are worth paying what will be $30 a month for the two of you, and the free to play games aren't all that great either. With what GW2 is trying to bring to the genre, a lot of the social barriers we run into are going to be lifted. I could also recommend playing Guild Wars one since it is also buy to play and you can get a feel of the story and the games roots, as long as you don't mind lack of jumping and a non persistent world. GW2 will be a whole different animlal from the first but it's a good place to start to tide you over till the real deal comes. Feel free to PM any questions you may have,
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There's alot of MMO with the detail you are giving us.
Are you looking into a Free game ? Or does subscription is in the choice ?
3D, 2D ? Do you prefer grinding or questing ? Do you want something more "social-oriented" ?
Don't mind paying subscription and paying for the game. I guess I would enjoy 3D more, the social aspect is important. I thinkg questing would be more ideal as I think grinding would require more dedicated time.
If I were gonna try teaching socializing and etiquette to my own 10 yo grandson through an mmo videogame, it would most likely be LOTRO, but I think he'd get bored with it real fast.
Godspeed my fellow gamer
LOTRO or EQ2. I have had the funnest and most memorable times playing EQ2. Was in the big guild BLACKHAWKS, everyone is so mature. Always helping, im actually thinking about going back just for that fact.
I would have to say LOTRO. Or Lord of the Rings Online since your new to MMO's you said. I would highly highly suggest giving World of Warcraft a pass. Gameplay wise its perfect for you to teach your son that aspect of MMO's. The community is just awefull though. If you do look into WoW I would highly suggest doing some research on there forums (cant post untill you subscribe but can at least look at server forums) and find a guild that suits what you are looking for. Look for a guild specifically for families and there children. Then turn off every other chat besides party and guild chat for your son and pray he doesnt learn how to turn them back on. In general chat he will run into everything from racism to sex to just plain stupidity.
Lotro on the other hand has a verry friendly community (every MMO has its dirtbags) and is easy to learn how to play and tons of social aspects to the game including player housing. Also with exception of instances and verry few quests the 2 of you could handle almost everything else the game has to offer content wise. Even most of the epic story line quests can be done with 2 people.
I think Wizards 101 might be a great match. Or Lego Universe Online if your son likes to build. I was a huge Lego fan at 11. Or if you and him are Star Wars fans, look into Clone Wars Adventures.
We like to play MMOs because real people aren't as interesting, real exercise and fighting hurts, and virtual females are attractive.
I think he would enjoy city of heroes the most. The community is about as good as your going to find in an mmo imo.
Lego Universe is especially for young people but i doubt there is much socialzation and teaching of mmo etiquette.
Lotro would be a good choice for existing mmos.
Bt why not wait and make yourself a christmas gift with SWTOR, i really expect that at least the rp community will be a great one with much etiqutte and it gets the ersb teen rating.
I dont know how much this will make your son a king in school or an outcast regarding to the chosen game you will play...what games do his schoolmates play?
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I started wow when I was 11 >.< but then it was vanilla and the community was pretty good. If I were him I'd go for LOTRO as it has the better community although if u don't mind paying you should play some SWTOR
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you may want to read this thread http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/328670/biggest-ds-in-mmorpg-history-Mod-Edit.html
Despite what people will tell you, unfortunatley almost all mmo's have 'bad elements' in their communities. It's just that in some games you can avoid them more readily than in others. Usually these are games that centre around small group or solo play such as lotro or guild wars.
Only suggestions i can make is that you try a few out and see for yourself what you think, stay off pvp servers and don't discount older games that have a small community to start with.
As someone suggested your best bet would be something like wizard 101 or maybe pirates of the carribean online.
I recommend Lotro. It's great for duoing in and has a great community, make sure to pick a server like Landroval though for better/nicer community.
Actually, another good game for duoing in is EQ2. Community is good for the most part, just don't pay attention to 1-9 chat too much, hehe.
Vanguard might be good too, not sure how duoing in it is as a ton of quests are group quests...and they can be difficult with just 2 people. Good community though.
I would stay away from games like Aion, WoW, and AoC. Communities there are horrible and frankly the game design lacks depth in all 3.
For a nuetral game I would suggest Rift. It can be fun and the community can be ok, but it varies and the game needs to grow a ton.
If you're new do WOW or LOTRO, but probably WOW. The cash model of LOTRO can make things get carried away with spending money and WOW would end up being cheaper with more content in the long run. You can play WOW for free up to level 20.
But if you really want your son to gain social skills get him involved in after school clubs and/or sports. Give him some freedom too. Sounds from your post you might be controlling and protective at times.
Word up and good luck.
You do know you can still play lotro with time cards or subscription without the ftp limits?
There's still a cash shop selling all the gear and horses and goodies that allow people to plow ahead while you're stuck in inconvience/tedious land.
1st off id like to say i hate wow only cuz its not my cup"o"tea
but just play wow with him / let him is stupid easy to learn and what 90% of most newer games copy
all the things you dislike are in EVERY mmorpg out there
women that dress sexy and bad talk / back talk follws in EVERY mmo..unless you choose hello kitty or marvel super friends or maybe even wizardry101
but this stuff happens in EVERY game..dont let any fanboie tell you diff.
I'll go with everyone.
WoW is the "best game" if you don't mind a subscription.
LOTRO would be the best game to try for a Free to Play. Even more if you and/or your son liked the movie.
I'm currently working overseas and Skype my son in the weekend. Not only do we catch up for a chat but we have a game of Company of Heros. Its good to be able to participate in something he likes. I agree with your comment that he should get out and socialise unfortunately from where I am at I don't have a say in that. His mother wields all the power.
It seems that it is becoming more apparent that playing online is becoming more popular and I thought it would providea a good avenue for socialising. Thanks to the comments I am becoming more wiser of what to expect. You could be right in saying that I am protective perhaps insinuating that I should let him do his own thing, however reading the comments people have warned me about, there are bad aspects of online gaming. As a parent I guess I need to direct him in the right direction and not let him become a character in the Lord of the Flies.
Thanks for your reply, I'll definitely have a look into WOW and LOTRO.
Guild Wars.
1) Money-wise, it's pretty cheap now.
2) It's quick and easy to learn how to play.
3) It can cater to a 2-man group.
4) It's easy to hop on for two hours at a time, and actually accomplish something.
5) Not much sexual theme to the graphics.
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Might I suggest Free Realms? its a browser game from Sony online entertainment. No questionable content and free to play. Lifetime subscription is $40 or $5 a month. Its colorful and easy on the system requirements.
That was my thought, too. While Free Realms' payment scheme isn't to my taste, the game itself is a pretty good introductory course in MMOs. It has combat, but it's pretty cartoony and totally avoidable, it has lots of crafting mini-games, lots of quests that are easy to reach, racing, soccer, collections, guilds, pets, and a number of other things. It can be a very social game, but it has some very strict language filters in place. I'd say the game itself probably skews younger than 11, but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable (I had some fun with it while testing it).
Since it's "F2P," it's easy enough to try out. It's also a very small download. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, it's very cash-shoppy, but you don't have to spend money; they just bombard you with how much better your life would be if you did spend money at every possible opportunity. Teaching your son how to resist those temptations might actually be a valuable lesson in this day and age, since cash shops are becoming more and more prevalent in MMOs of all kinds.
I would recomend Dragon Nest. Its a fun free to play game and is new. Community is pretty good. Just do some research on guilds if you so choose to join them. Martyr guild on argenta server is very fun and cool guild with a younger player base.
Gameplay wise is perfect for what you are looking for. Its dungeon based, so you run out of town and to a dungeon and pick your difficulty before entering and go kill stuff! Def a game where you can hop in for an hour or two and run some quests in the dungeons and feel you have accomplished soemthing! Game play is action so alot of mouse clicking to attack with special skills 1-0. Very fun and all around PG rated. The cut scenes are pretty cool too with lil mini movies to develpoe the plot!
Check it out you both will def enjoy it!
Well Swtor comes out in December which might make for some fun times at Christmas. He'd probably be out of school. Thats a bit away but it might be worth a shot.
That might work well for playing a game with your son.