Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Kids and MMO's
Aseenus
Member UncommonPosts: 1,844
Look, maybe it’s ok with you but I am very much against it!
Im only 18, but what I fail to understand is: are parents ok with paying $15 a month for a 10 year old to play a game? If I have children of my own one day, I will never in my wildest dreams pay even $1 a month for my son to play games.. Mmo’s and most games aren’t based for kids anymore and who ever thinks they are should really open there eyes and see the big picture! Do you want your children having nightmares coz they fought a demon and died? Do you want them getting used to seeing violence in games and applying it in real life?
back in the days if I re call right I remember my parents not letting me watch some movies coz they were "scary" and I might have nightmares, do people even care about that junk anymore? As a child I remember the world was such a nice place till about 13 years of age.. At least give your kids that much! Instead of watching TV and playing games you should encourage them to play sport/do well in school, when they get to the age of 16 or so then you should let them make there own decisions! When games first came out (Mario brothers etc) they were very much based for kids, then after the launch of Sony playstation they realized that the older players were much more into gaming then the young crowd, so they made games for the older crowd!
Swords/guns/killing/blowing things up... these aren’t for kids, when people like me kill something in a game I think "ok I just killed a demon.. its a game woopdy doo" when a kid plays they think "OMG IM KILLING THINGS!!!!" my 7 year old brother played WoW for a few hours while I went out.. I came back and he said "when you die do you go back to your body and come back to life" after this I never let him play a game again!
So please people do the right thing and buy them a soccer ball for there birthday and not a new game for them to play on pc.. Pc games are for the older crowd! I promise you that if everyone in the world did this then games would have such good communities!
Comments
I started Everquest when I was 12....my parents made me pay the mothly fee with my allowance...it sucked but I understood why and I enjoyed the game even more knowing I was paying for it.. rather than having my parents do it for me.
Hi! My name is paper. Nerf scissors, rock is fine.
MMORPG = Mostly Men Online Roleplaying Girls
http://www.MichaelLuckhardt.com
You know, the last thing we need is gamers buying into the schlock about violent video games causing kids to be violent in real life.
My parents never told me I couldn't watch a movie because it was scary. Kids I grew up with whose parents tried to shield them from "scary" either saw the movies anyhow without their parents' blessing (encouraging the idea that to do anything fun means you have to disobey your parents) or ended up being afraid of their own shadows.
A parent should allow their kids to see what the real world is like. Not force it on them, but let them see it as it comes, and be there to explain it to them. When they see violence in a movie, the parent needs to explain why it's wrong, and when it's right, and what the difference between reality and fiction is. If the kid isn't exposed to it in a gradual manner, then they're just going to have to try to figure it out when it hits them all at once, when they don't have their parents right there.
Video games don't cause youth violence.
Always supported the idea of adult only servers.I started playing EQ in 99 when i was just starting my first job.Back in the hardcore days of EQ it was common for kids to join raiding guilds and play 16 hour days.Then when school time came round ebay there characters off or just vanish.Outside that miff i usealley find that kids are the first to complain,go LD and not come back,make idiots of there selves,ninja loot, or use some racial slur.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7153152098207965240
If this was me when i was little my father would have strangled me till i was blue with the xbox controller.You time out and no playstation for a week parents need to beet your dam kids or theyll never learn respect.
Really thow i think every mmo and online console game with voice supportshould be should be 18+.Regardless of parents concent with the exception of maybe the disney one that has monitors for child predators.If something happends to even one child regardless of the fault of the parents to monitor the childs online activity it could cause some serious blowback to the mmo community.
---------------------------------------
No Userbar here, sorry to disappoint.
On that note, I wouldn't let my son go to an adult club or a bar either.
OK, well this situation effects me quite alot.
I'm 14 years old, and I have been playing PC games with violence since I played half-life when I was 7. It hasn't turned me into an overly aggressive person, it hasn't made me gone mad, and I am not addicited to games.
Why? Becuase I have a BALANCE. Computer games need to be balanced,playing 17 hours a day(yes alot of people do this) is a BAD thing and can seriously damage your health.
I am extremely sporty, and do pretty well in school, if I ever tell people I am a gamer in real life they are very surprised because i'm the opposite of the "sterotypical gamer".
I pay for ALL my own games, i always have done, if it is through pocket money that is mine to spend or from a job's pay. I pay for monthly subscriptions and game costs.
I'm sorry,but I have to say : GAMES HAVE TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE.
Yes, it's true. Games have taught me about people, about how people act, why things happen, why people do what they do.
I mean, how many 14 year olds speak to Americans,french,dutch,Finish,Australians,Iranians in ONE day? Not many. (even though there are more and more people my age playing games, it's still a minority)
If I hadn't played games (especially MMO's i'm talking about here) I wouldn't be the person I am today, I wouldn't know or be as interested in political areas or life in general like so many kids my age aren't.
Some may have their views on games, "omfg GTAIII made my 3 year old kid rip his teddy bears head off!":
Well no shit sherlock. When I have kids (if i do) I will incorporate the same balance my parents have. My parents encourage sport,school,social life and life in general, but they also see the GOOD sides in the games I play.
Balance is needed in life, too much of one thing is a bad thing.
P.S, I think games CAN cause violence, if put into the wrong enviroment. But most of all, I think 100% that society causes violence, alot more than games. Games are just an excuse people use when they can't realise how fucked up things are.
P.S/2 : That kid is a total asshole. Some may say he was born that way and some might say it's his parents fault. People don't get born like that, kids 100+ years ago would have probably have not been fed for a week if they did this to their parents,if not thrown out. I think it's the parents fault, not enough balance.
P.S/3 (i keep editiing :P). In my honest experience, it is the people who are OVER the age of 16/17 that are the ones shouting at the very top of their voice because they got pissed off.
Is it the 12 year olds who are making all the hacks in this world? Yes alot of kids are annoying little moronic idiots but there really aren't that many of them. It's just that when there is one little annoying kid, peopl treat it like a world wide catastrophe and think there is 100 of them for every 1 there actually is.
And speaking of microphones for use in ventrilo/teamspeak that kind of thing. Every time I go into a new game or meet new people who don't know my age, they are like "wow I didn't know you were 14, thought you were like 17 or something". Not all kids sound like chipmunks with a stick up their ass.
It's why I love eve so much; its pretty exceptional that someone under 18 can deal with the complexity, knowledge required and pacing.
Every child reacts individually to such themes you mentioned (killing with swords, frightening creatures, etc.). Games are just an other form of entertainment, (albeit an interactive one) and most children (10+) I know can completely tell a game from reality without getting influenced in RL behaviour (which this whole thing is about in the end). The problem I see with children playing games that involve killing, death and frightening creatures, is that partents often don't care or get involved very much in what their child is actually playing, and if it affects him/her or not. There are still a large group of parents who never got involved with computer games and they see it as an other form of board game, while others (often younger ones) let their kids play anything they want unreflected, because "it didnt hurt them".
I personally have been allowed to watch movies that were meant for 12 or even 16 year olds when I was 8 and 9, and I wouldn't consider myself a violent or "unstable" person. While ofc the movies gave me something to think, I still saw them as what they were. Stories told in pictures and not as something I need to base my life philosophy upon, or even reenact. While games have a lot larger interactivity and therefore more intense perspective, they can still be viewed as such. The sons of my cousin have played Starcraft with 11 (quite a lot of blood) and Soldier of Fortune a bit later (with 14 or so), and they are very likable, mature and most importantly non-violent kids. (although oldest is now 19)
My child(ren - as the second is on its way) will be allowed to play computer games (I don't differentiate between MMOs and not MMos) for a restricted amount of time, depending on the need to learn for school and how they react to the games (the more it takes their spare time the less they will be allowed to play). They should learn to manage their time properly. Computer games are and will be an even greater part of the entertainment of the future, and it's in the parents task to learn the child a responsible management of their spare time, including the use of computer games. Parents that just let the child sitting there without them checking in are not acting in a mature and responsible way imo.
------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Mandolin
Designers need to move away from the old D&D level-based model which was never designed for player vs player combat in the first place.
We played HOMM2 and HOMM3 usually. As a kid I got bored to it easily and we started doing other stuff.
My own PC sucked so I couldn't play any games on it.
Then later I got my first good computer and started playing Diablo 2. It was violent but I cant know if it did something to me. I just learned english much better than in school.
I got my first MMO when I was 13 or 14, before it I played Runescape for a while but I didnt understand it yet.
I can say that 80% of the english I speak I've learned on internet.
It's hard to say if video games make kids violent, but if a kid kills someone they just use video games as excuse so they dont go to jail.
exactly
i am a parent, i am 26 years old
i would never pay for my son 2 play an online game,(even tho i have a members account on runescape)
my wife does not even no that i play mmos
and i do not really want her 2 find out....
i wish i had a rabbit
It's not nessacerily children it's immature people full stop, which is unfortunatly an issue that you cannot put a stop to.
plz do not call me immature
just cos i play mmorpgs and i am 26
i wish i had a rabbit
1. parent should control and watch/guide the children
2. what is the point of having a rating of games when no one cares
3.If they dun understand what the ppl in the games are talking about due to their young age ( less understanding of the world) they will treat it as a jargon and they won't care about it.
And for u all to know I am just a teen that is 15 years old who been gaming since 10. And i have no problem about what some of those X-rated/ sensative topics u are thinking of in games as majority of gamers have what is call self-conscience to know that there are younger players there.
1. parent should control and watch/guide the children
2. what is the point of having a rating of games when no one cares
3.If they dun understand what the ppl in the games are talking about due to their young age ( less understanding of the world) they will treat it as a jargon and they won't care about it.
And for u all to know I am just a teen that is 15 years old who been gaming since 10. And i have no problem about what some of those X-rated/ sensative topics u are thinking of in games as majority of gamers have what is call self-conscience to know that there are younger players there.
18 years of experience and already knows everything. I remember those days. Thanks for the advice, but I am pretty sure I can manage without your insight. Enjoy college and let us know what it is like when you get your first job.
Short of the GTA series, I would have no problems with my 6 year old playing games. My wife and I buy him games as a reward when he is good. I'm sorry your parents may have over-sheltered you. That was their choice, and I'm not questioning it. But I know what my kids can and can not handle. Are you telling me watching Freddy kill people in movies was not ok with your parents. But watching Hitler burning jewish folks or Bush bomb middle eastern folks in school was ok? Seems hypocritical to me. Nothing they won't see on the nightly news, in the paper, on the internet or the discovery channel. I give my children what your parent gave you. My kids still play outside, we take them for walks in the park, they swim in their pool, they ride bikes, we shoot basketball as a family. My kids prefer watching the Science channel over most television programming. We encourage our kids to play sports, guitar. Even though my son is only 6, he is a damn smart kid. He was doing 1st grade stuff halfway through Kindergarten. He is cultured to find beauty in all music, from classical to punk rock, and he doesn't put things into categories. He just knows it's music and if he likes it or not. I teach my kids that there is beauty in all things, you just need to look for it sometimes.
But I do have problems with censorship. I think it's rotten, and I think it's rotten for people to tell others the "right" way to bring my children up. If half of these people that push for censorship and what-not spent time playing and raising their own kids, they wouldn't be messed up to begin with. You want to know why those kidsshot up Columbine? It wasn't video games or Marilyn Manson. It was the parents lack of being there, teaching their kids right from wrong and just a general lack of love and respect. It was also them turning their heads when they thought something was wrong.
For a short time my parents tried the censorship over-sheltering route. It may have worked for your parents. But more times than not, it backfires. Usually it leads to more rebellion than you could evr want. I believe by teaching my children right from wrong at a young age, they will turn out to be fine children. It may surprise you to find out it does work. Instead of banning your brother from playing a game from making a statement like that, maybe someone should sit him down like a little person and explain to him what really happens and that games, movies, music and books are only entertainment. Did you tell your brother what really happens when someone dies? Or did you just ban him from having fun and sent him back out into the world ignorant? See the problem with censorship? You didn't help your brother, you fueld his ignorance. People need to stop acting like things don't exist, if they don't like them...."Jee, if I don't let my kids play games, he'll never see murder, death, drugs or swearing"........Oh wait, he'll see them in school and on the news. He'll hear more swearing at the playground in school than he ever will on TV.
Who are you to say what the right thing is for mine or anyone elses children? Do you know my kids? Here's an idea...You're only 18 and it sounds as if your parent gave you a very sheltered life. I want you to go out into the world, learn a few things, have a few children, raise them into their teens then come back and tell us how to raise kids. Until you do such things, you have no knowledge on raising children.
Not all children are stupid and ignorant fools. There are many times I've found that kids and teenagers are a lot more willing to listen and respect each other ingame then a group of 30-year olds. It's the individual, not the age group that you have to look at.
I personally don't have a problem with a kid playing an MMO so long as he/she is mature enough to understand what is going on in the game, etc. As for the games morally destroying children, just the other day I heard 9-year olds walking by saying words that at that age I would have been totally clueless about. Parents who play games will almost always get their children into gaming to some extent. In fact, 80% of parents who are gamers play with their children. And with the growing popularity of MMORPGs you can't be surprised to find more and more kids playing.
The only thing I could recommend is that parents should make sure their kids understand the difference between gaming and reality, have a good basis of common sense, and are mature enough to handle a game where they are part of a broad community.
My teens used to play online, but when it came down to it, they decided that they'd rather spend their money on CDs, DVDs, and girlfriends. Go figure.
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Think you're kind of throwing an insult at all the other mmorpgs here, theres plenty of them not flooded with kids. And I think anyone playing games brings the child back in someone, why would an adult "waste his time" on a game anyway?
I don't play EVE because it doesn't excite me, I'd rather do something productive in real life rather than in a game where u get little return out of it (okay the social part...).
Maybe I just play games too let that uncivilised part of myself go loose? (anger, being out of control, letting emotions/feelings go). not to think of myself that I'm a real genius because I figured a rather economical/strategical game out, and play it along with 15.000others at the same time that all think they're Einsteins
Greetings,
HelldogBE
and how do you earn your money? with the money your parents give you? sorry mate thats not called earning your money, thats called "your parents" paying for you..
and how do you earn your money? with the money your parents give you? sorry mate thats not called earning your money, thats called "your parents" paying for you..
Well you certainly are mature for your age.
So how about you put your "woohoo I'm 18, I'm a grown up" act away. I know I don't buy it. Before you try flaming me for not being mature myself, remember, I never claimed to be the most mature person here. I don't want to be totally mature...ever. As a matter of fact I carry a little bit of immaturity on my sleeves proudly. It keeps me rolling around in the dirt playing with my kids. It helps my kids trust me as a buddy as well as an authority figure. That way I can let them play games or watch horror movies. They trust me when I teach them right from wrong. I don't just turn my head the other way and let my children grow up ignorant. Cause no matter how you look at it, kids will see far worse on the news or the internet than they will playing WOW.
I still think by not explaining things to your little brother, you've made him more ignorant. I mean golly, instead of explaining what really happens when you die, you got mad and banned him from playing a stupid video game. So way to go on teaching another young kid how not to ask questions. The next time he'll figure it out on his own..right or wrong. Anyway, I can't believe I am here arguing with a kid on how to raise kids. I've stooped to your level long enough. As you were.