World of Warcraft

[Mellissandria]

Yeah, MMOs are more of an adult thing.

To be honest, I wouldn't want my two nieces to play til they were 21. Part of this is because there are predators playing as well as teenagers.

Guess this just made me a hypocrite of sorts. If others don't mind letting their kids play, the kids should do so only with adult supervision.

I do know some kids who play, and some are more mature than others. I know an eight year old who plays Star Wars Galaxies mostly to fly and hang out with his grandfather. Btw, he can fly circles around everyone else smile (Grandpa supervises his flying sessions as well as his socializing..the kid is also a musician in game..and once in a while, will remind you he's still a kid)  

[cwilson8199]

YES!
I have:
LvL 43 Female Human Warrior
LvL 12 Female NightElf Druid
LvL 5 Undead 'Lock
LvL 1 Gnome 'Lock

My warrior is my main and I havent even started playing with the Gnome.
I play on Fenris and have an AWESOME guild, we are the Underoos!!
I am proud to be an Underoo! My friends started the guild and now I have my little sister in the guild too!
Having a full time job during the week makes it hard to play, but I always try to hop on and play some on Friday nights and on Saturdays! My main is Jeradecourm! If you are on Fenris say HI!!  

[cwilson8199]

I have been playing D&D since I was 18 and have been on WoW for almost a year. I am 27 yrs old (almost 28 ) and have all but raised my baby sister (17 in two weeks). She plays WoW and has played D&D with us on occasion. She is fine! And her WoW character list is similar to mine mostly Alliance with a few Hordies thrown in.
Its just a game! Even if he is not PLAYING an Undead Hordie, he will be fighting them. Just remember its a fracking game. It doesnt matter if the character is a gnome, undead, troll or human...its all the same thing. You do quests: collect things, find things, kill things and escort people about the world for points (XP) and money. I understand making him come up with the money on his own for the game and the time, I agree! The time cards are great for that! But dont hold him back if he can pay for it himself. Wouldnt you rather he be playing a game, no matter what character he creates- instead of doing something silly (ie drinking-drugs-etc) I know I do. Just remember, give a bit and they respect you more. The "I dont like this BUT you are being responsible enough to pay on your own so I wont say no. Just remember, if you cant pay, I am NOT going to." It gives them the pleasure of the game they want and teaches them responsibility for the future.
Umm...thats my 2 cents!

MQubed

Ok. I need help.

I have a friend I know plays WoW (my age), and I've heard rumors about it becoming addicting. My 16yo son wants to start playing, and I'm hesitating for several reasons: 1. the cost (he'd have to come up with it on his own), and his grades/school effort haven't been too great: #2; 3. we are a compulsive family and we're almost all "vid-iots." 4. I'm very conservative and really don't like him playing undead, etc. (However, he does play D&D, but the DM doesn't allow anything more than Chaotic Neutral).

Can you give me some pros and cons??

Thanks!!

 

[Kane_Blueriver]

I play WoW and have lots of fun. I am scattered through a few realms.  

[Chachere]

I am a night elf mohawk!!!  

[MrNiceGuyQA]

I'm a WoW gamer. Horde baby biggrin  

[Widow-Of-D00m]

MQubed

Ok. I need help.

I have a friend I know plays WoW (my age), and I've heard rumors about it becoming addicting. My 16yo son wants to start playing, and I'm hesitating for several reasons: 1. the cost (he'd have to come up with it on his own), and his grades/school effort haven't been too great: #2; 3. we are a compulsive family and we're almost all "vid-iots." 4. I'm very conservative and really don't like him playing undead, etc. (However, he does play D&D, but the DM doesn't allow anything more than Chaotic Neutral).

Can you give me some pros and cons??

Thanks!!

imo i think u should let him play, as long as he keeps his grades up and pays for it that is.

i play (of course im 25) but when i was younger i was playing games like diablo (which have FAR WORSE content than wow does for someone who is conservative) with my parents, as well as dnd. and other than being ugly, being an undead really doesnt matter. even though each character race has its own back story, no one ever follows along with them. they just log on, quest and play wtih friends. yes each race has some things that help enhance certain things like classes, but honestly no one pays attention to that kinda stuff. they just play what they think is kool. like me for example, i personally like the blood elfs, while my hubby he likes the tauren.

i personally havent come across anyone that actually rps their character they play on wow because everyone knows its just a game and there are people out there, that if u play on a pvp server, are vicious and attack any and all opposite sided people they see. and yes there are people on there that have different views and cant sit there and argue with people, but its really easy to block them out and ignore it and just continue on playing, thats what i do. its basically the same stuff u get here in gaia, just in live action character form and not on a delayed post rebuttle type.

i think he will be fine, and u too if u just set some ground rules down like making sure he picks his grades up and pays for it.

oh and if ur THAT serious and want to know what else u can control, go here to this link for WoW and read up on all the different type of parental controls u can do.. maybe that will help u in ur decision smile  

[WebenBanu]

Yes, as Widow mentions there are parental controls which come with the game. You can set it to a timer so that the game shuts off at a certain time or after a certain period of time. And it would make for a nice incentive to motivate your child to keep his grades up.

The game isn't really addictive, it's just fun. Therefore it depends on the level of maturity of the player whether or not they play the game responsibly or otherwise. Personally, I consider myself to have an obsessive, addictive personality- and so I've been very careful with playing. I have remained on good social terms with my roommate, even though I am not really a very social person. I make an effort to go out and do other things from time to time- like today, we're going down to the wharfs to see the ocean and the sea lions. From time to time I take a break and read books. I listen to online news stations while I play to keep up with the goings on of the world, or listen to audio books so that I can keep up with my interests in both Egyptology (nonfiction) and fantasy fiction novels.

Oops, my friends are downstairs waiting to go to the pier. (Friends I often play with on WoW, btw, lol!) So I've got to go, but maybe when I come back I'll have more to say. Good luck!  

[bearian]

I plaed for a bit on a friends account and now I have my own account. I like to play as a Tauren hunter but I barely hit lvl 12. I also don't play often enough because of time issues.  

[Widow-Of-D00m]

yea the timing thing can work out really well. for instance, if he does say 2hrs worth of homework (and not just crap but actual like.. he tried hard) he gets 2 hrs worth of play time. and he could store it up so that on the weekend he might have say 5 to 10hrs of play time that he can sure over the WEEKEND (not just in one day, although i spend quite of time on wow sweatdrop )  

[Tirsden]

Mmm. There is a saying I really, really like, and found recently: "Children are little people, not possessions." That's possibly a paraphrase, but the meaning carries (the original wording was in the Washington Post Magazine I think, a couple weeks back or more). For parents who really want to try and control their children, perhaps you need to instead look at who your child is and not who you want them to be. Discover the little person in them! (There are a lot of people who would balk at such a thought... my own parents included. stare )

With that in mind, I'm also going to throw the thought into the mix that addiction to online games is usually a sign of something else. (This is true with a lot of addictions anyways.) I personally find MMOs to be a great way to socialize, being as I have Asperger's Syndrome and otherwise have a lot of problems figuring out how to exist in a world full of normal people. Perhaps it's because in the game I get to pretend to be someone else... perhaps I just have more confidence in my own personality when I'm online.

But yeah, people have said at times that I have been addicted to [insert MMO choice at the time]. I was more escaping than addicted, simply because the game filled a need I was not getting elsewhere. I was in abusive relationships and had to survive somehow. Here I am, still alive, and moving forward. The list of things I have to thank for that most definitely includes video games & MMOs.  

[Ashreyel]

I've got a 7x healer priest, 3x balance druid and an assortment of lowbie alts on Blackrock.  

[Old Ugly Bunny]

I've played WoW since beta

Silver Hand Alliance
72 NE Hunter
78 Drenie Mage
33 Gnome warlock

Horde
58 BE Priest
and a 61 Undead Rogue someplace lol

and a ton of alts all over the place....  

[Iron Fish]

Horde all the way here!

lvl 70 Orc Warrior
lvl 21 Night Elf Pala
lvl 23 Tauren Druid

smile  

[Toad Sparx]

i play WOW both horde and alliance but my main is Cellus on the Llane server. He's a Drani Paladin. Any newbies thinking about starting the game feel free to join my server I'll help you out