Personally i think all MMO's aiming at grown ups/adults should have a PEGI rating of atleast 16+. Why? Well, because its not healthy for kids to reside in a grown up/addult community at that age. They might misunderstand certain things from general and guildchat. Now in Normal live, you can see who is underage and keep that in mind when talking trash and such things, but in an online community people often dont see that and talk like they do all day.
I.e. kids are much better of playing together with kids.
In subscription based games most kids never got to play because most sane parrents just didnt pay the subscription, but in these subscription free games its a whole different story. Thats why these games should have 16+ rating, the influence on these kids from the online community is much worse then the little blood that splashes from ennemies.
So how do you handle these minors in game, do you handle them like you would handle your own kids (which is actually what they need) or do you treat them like grown-ups and dont care any further?
Having kids around requires a different attitude then not having them around, and this might be one of the biggest problems. and PEGI ratings does not take that intoo account.
This was ruined when 11 million children and adults started playing together overnight back in 2006...
"The King and the Pawn return to the same box at the end of the game"
Making the age rating higher will accomplish nothing at all. Teens will still get their hands on the games they want as most parents will either ignore the rating or judge their child to be able to handle them. The latter is fully in their right.
Furthermore I find it both selfish and big brotherish to even suggest such a thing.
If you have to change the way you handle yourself around children/teens than maybe you need to look at your own behaviour and how mature it actually is. Most of the time it will mean the behaviour is immature to begin with. So it would be a selfish to exclude them so you can go on being immature.
On that note Age does not represent maturity. If that was the case than the rating should be 25, because the human brain doesn't stop making new connections until that age. Give or take a year. Meaning up to that point people can still behave in an immature fashion due to random firing of neurons. That of course doesn't mean people can't behave immature even after their brain are done growing. I find there are more immature adults than children.
I treat both children and adults the same way. That doesn't mean we are equal. Just that I don't have to surpress my natural behaviour differently around either.
well said. Couldn't agree more!!!
Now get a grip, we're talking about 13 and 14 year old kids... the ones that can handle an MMO environment are the exceptions.
Get a grip on what? I have met plenty of 20 somethings who act worse then some 13-14 year olds and even some 30 and 40+ somethings who throw their toys out of the pram at the slightest thing or run around spamming crap, being an annoyance or have serious epeen issues. These aren't just a few oddballs, they are everywhere and on forums too I might add. If you haven't come up against these types as well I don't know maybe you are lucky! If you can find a way to label people like that as well I'll vote for the pacifier, until then I think it's a silly idea. This is my opinion of course, you are welcome to your own
To be crude 14 years do the dirty , they have far more ability to be mature than is expected , then of course seen from them, i say let them learn at least part of being an adult is about ... if you don't they never will.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine
Making the age rating higher will accomplish nothing at all. Teens will still get their hands on the games they want as most parents will either ignore the rating or judge their child to be able to handle them. The latter is fully in their right.
Furthermore I find it both selfish and big brotherish to even suggest such a thing.
If you have to change the way you handle yourself around children/teens than maybe you need to look at your own behaviour and how mature it actually is. Most of the time it will mean the behaviour is immature to begin with. So it would be a selfish to exclude them so you can go on being immature.
On that note Age does not represent maturity. If that was the case than the rating should be 25, because the human brain doesn't stop making new connections until that age. Give or take a year. Meaning up to that point people can still behave in an immature fashion due to random firing of neurons. That of course doesn't mean people can't behave immature even after their brain are done growing. I find there are more immature adults than children.
I treat both children and adults the same way. That doesn't mean we are equal. Just that I don't have to surpress my natural behaviour differently around either.
well said. Couldn't agree more!!!
Now get a grip, we're talking about 13 and 14 year old kids... the ones that can handle an MMO environment are the exceptions.
You totally missed the point of the post.
Also, ratings have never meant anything to anyone. As if we didnt all watch mature rated movies as kids.
Well, I started playing MMOs at about age 12, and never had any problems fitting into the community or communicating with other players. It should be taken into consideration that these ratings are just a general border, and don't have any real value. I'm now 18, and I can honestly say that I would rather play with 12 year olds who act like 12 year olds than with 30 year olds who act like they're 12.
P.S. Trust me, kids today are wayyy more familiar with the foul language and behaviour than a couple of years ago. Of course, I never crossed that line that would provoke unwanted reactions from other people in-game.
Comments
This was ruined when 11 million children and adults started playing together overnight back in 2006...
It should be 18+ but some devs just love catering to the 2 year olds.
Grim Dawn, the next great action rpg!
http://www.grimdawn.com/
This thread is sad.
Get a grip on what? I have met plenty of 20 somethings who act worse then some 13-14 year olds and even some 30 and 40+ somethings who throw their toys out of the pram at the slightest thing or run around spamming crap, being an annoyance or have serious epeen issues. These aren't just a few oddballs, they are everywhere and on forums too I might add. If you haven't come up against these types as well I don't know maybe you are lucky! If you can find a way to label people like that as well I'll vote for the pacifier, until then I think it's a silly idea. This is my opinion of course, you are welcome to your own
the poster formerly known as melangel :P
To be crude 14 years do the dirty , they have far more ability to be mature than is expected , then of course seen from them, i say let them learn at least part of being an adult is about ... if you don't they never will.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine
You totally missed the point of the post.
Also, ratings have never meant anything to anyone. As if we didnt all watch mature rated movies as kids.
Well, I started playing MMOs at about age 12, and never had any problems fitting into the community or communicating with other players. It should be taken into consideration that these ratings are just a general border, and don't have any real value. I'm now 18, and I can honestly say that I would rather play with 12 year olds who act like 12 year olds than with 30 year olds who act like they're 12.
P.S. Trust me, kids today are wayyy more familiar with the foul language and behaviour than a couple of years ago. Of course, I never crossed that line that would provoke unwanted reactions from other people in-game.