A parent's guide to World of Warcraft for kids
by Lisa Poisso 
Apr 27th 2011 at 9:00AM
For players whose kids are itching to join in the family fun, though, there are plenty of ways to make World of Warcraft a productive, happy experience for kids, parents, and fellow players alike. Here's the thing: There's more to think about and more ways to throttle age-related issues than simply turning off trade chat and forbidding PUGs before walking into the other room to watch TV. We'll show you how to find the best fit for WoW with kids, teens, and even parents themselves.
Lay the groundwork
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A parents'-eye view of WoW Although this overview of World of Warcraft was written for non-playing parents, it's a solid reminder of how WoW might look through your child's eyes. We'll help you consider what factors make WoW a good fit (... or not) for kids of different ages, and we'll show you ways to adapt or limit their play so that they (and everyone around them) can have fun. |
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Log in to your kid's interest in gaming We're all gamers here, and we know how it feels when non-players minimize our interest in gaming as a hobby. Show your kids the consideration you wish you received from others and respect their enthusiasm for gaming by staying actively involved in what they're playing. No, that doesn't mean simply watching the game over their shoulders, nor does it mean dragging along and holding their hands in game ... Here's how to stay connected and supportive. |
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The family that groups together ... Undeniably, the best solution for a gaming family with a youngster who's burning to join in the fun in Azeroth is to play together! However, that doesn't have to mean lassoing yourself into plodding about Stormwind with a preschooler intent on chasing down all the other Stormwind kids. Find the playstyle that fits. |
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17 internet safety basics for gaming families No child needs direct supervision to kill 10 rats (or find 20 Noblegarden eggs or bonk four orc peons ...). But young gamers do need basic boundaries and guidance on navigating the very public world of the internet. Start 'em on safe internet practices from the very start with our 17 internet safety basics. |
Keep it all on track
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Kidproofing an MMO There are a number of ways to create a safe sandbox within World of Warcraft for younger children to play in. We'll show you the best methods of keeping the social pressures and factors young kids aren't ready for yet at bay. |
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Mind your massively multiplayer manners Don't leave your kids' online social education up to the unwashed masses of the internet. Start them off right with practical advice on social interaction on the internet, building good manners that will serve them through a childhood of gaming and into their professional lives. |
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Does video game violence provoke aggression in kids? Won't killing things in Azeroth inevitably lead your child to aggression? Sensible parents have long recognized that the way kids react to video game violence varies according to their personalities. Now research backs those views. |
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What exactly is a "family-friendly" guild? Being "family-friendly" is definitely not the same thing as being "kid-friendly" -- and so-called family-friendly guilds are sometimes as blatantly inappropriate for young players as the booziest college conglomerates. We'll show you when the family-friendly label isn't necessarily the best pick for your young WoW players. |
Help kids strike a balance
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The 10-step back-to-school gaming tuneup School comes first -- that's a given. Mixing gaming with school comes down to context, and your role is less about laying down rules than it is helping children put one into context with the other. |
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Screening screen time The question isn't so much how much screen time to give your little gamers, but more whether or not instituting screen time limits is the right strategy for your family in the first place. |
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Is your teen ready for MMO raiding? Raiding represents a big commitment for your teen, and time management skills are a must. We have tips on finding the right guild and the right schedule for a young player, as well as caution signs that let you know whether things may be straying off track. |
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Teens: How to lobby your parents for more gaming time Wish your parents would give you more time to play WoW? This article is for you. Here's our game plan for responsible teens on how to convince your parents to allow you more time in Azeroth. |
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Putting a leash on playtimes for younger players Parental control settings allow you to choose blocks of time that an account is and is not accessible for play. Players cannot log in during restricted hours, and they'll be automatically logged out if they play past their allowed time window. |
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How to customize and opt out of Real ID Because it exposes real names and real email addresses, Real ID throws up all sorts of privacy concerns for young players. Here's how to opt out of the feature. |
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When enough is enough Sometimes, it's time to draw the line. Parents almost always know their children best, but sometimes it's hard to recognize danger signs of overinvolvement if they've been creeping up over time. Here are the major yellow lights to watch for. |
WoW for parents and partners, too
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Finding time to game during the family years Let's not forget yourself, the WoW-playing parent, in all of this. When do you get a chance to get your own game on? We'll help you pick the right playstyle and set the right expectations so you can enjoy rewarding gaming at every stage of your family's development. |
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Balancing games with all the rest Balance, balance, balance – the best thing you can teach your kids (and practice yourself) is how to keep gaming in balance. Try out these tips for gaming kids, gaming parents, and even non-gaming spouses too! |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
hgnc52 Apr 27th 2011 9:17AM
I have a little cousin who is 3 years old who likes to watch me play. I try not to do too many violent things when he is watching. So what I do is I kill spiders or bugs and not humanoids as I think that would have some kind of adverse effect at such a young age.
I go on my druid and shapeshift all the different land animals and "kick spiders" because they are ugly and scary. Also, he loves when I purposefully run into walls and do a jump back like a knockback effect. He finds that hilarious! lol He just yells "Dumb cat, crashes in wall!" Then I have to do it with the bear, cat form, cheetah form and bird form. He's a fan of the cheetah form even though he calls it the tiger.
Scard Apr 27th 2011 9:51AM
I have a daughter who is almost four years old who watches me play. I recently bought a Vial of the Sands Drake and she absolutely LOVES to fly it around. Before that, it was the "Purple Bird" (purple gryphon). While I would NEVER expose her to the vile filth that is trade chat and much of what goes on in it, there are things in WoW that can be appropriate for younger children.
There is a reason the game is rated "T for teen" and not "E10" or "E."
Yoyo Apr 27th 2011 10:22AM
My son who is 6 years old loves "playing" WoW. To him playing is either soloing underbog on my lvl 85 toon (makes it hard for him to die, even if he's killing them with random AOE abilities), or he flies around Zangarmarsh looking at all his favorite creatures. He doesn't interact with anyone in game, but absolutely loves "playing" This is of course limited time-wise, and he spends a lot of time doing other things too.
RipeTomatoe Apr 27th 2011 7:33PM
Scard, remember that "Online interactions are not rated by the ESRB."
nothing.suspicious.going.on.here Apr 27th 2011 9:25AM
"Is WoW appropriate for children? While we're sure the inevitable trolls out there are already clicking straight to the comments to revile the very idea of allowing children into Azeroth"
This is a completely inappropriate comment. Did it ever occur to you that some parents might think differently than you? MMO's are inappropriate for children. If you supervise them and turn of 95% of the content of a MMO (chat channels, groups, guilds, etc.) then that makes a very boring game. I'd rather let my children play single player games (supervised and with limitation of course, children should be playing outside with friends) with more depth until they are old enough to understand MMO's and how to behave (around 14 years old, if you raise you children to be mannered).
Just don't open up your article with a line that insults a lot of parents.
Thank you.
vbreeze11 Apr 27th 2011 9:40AM
I don't think that sentence implied that parents who think WoW is not appropriate for children are uneducated trolls. I think that second sentence was aimed more at the many adult (and late teen) players who complain that children are on WoW at all "ruining" their game. I'm sure we've all seen it in trade chat: "oh great the kiddies are home" "who let the kids out" and many louder and inappropriate versions of the same.
Ullaana Apr 27th 2011 9:41AM
I don't think there was any insult to reasonable parnets in that comment, rather at those who have kneejerk reactions.
While I don't agree with your reasons for not letting your children play WoW, you have valid concerns that you address from a thoughtful perspective. I and, I am sure, many others respect your right to those opinions. And that has to do with your manners in expressing them.
Seacue Apr 27th 2011 9:59AM
It's spastic "everything offends me" parents like you that give everything in the world a bad name. Chill out and let kids be kids.
ambermist Apr 27th 2011 10:10AM
I take issue with this quote:
" you supervise them and turn of 95% of the content of a MMO (chat channels, groups, guilds, etc.) then that makes a very boring game."
Are you basing this on YOUR experience or your CHILD'S experience? Depending on the age of the child in question, this might not be the case at all.
My daughter is 6 and is fascinated with this game we play. If I let her, she would sit in front of WoW for hours. Guess what? Chat channels are off. She isn't permitted to group and she knows how to decline guild invitations.
To her, creating characters (she has a slew of level 1-10 characters on my husband's account) and running around starting zones and cities is a BLAST. She explores cities and probably knows Stormwind better than I do at this point. She loves to fish and herb, and she loves killing starter-zone mobs and finding gear she can equip. She likes to pull out non-combat pets (I actually move them to her action bars so she can get them with a click). Her newest favorite thing? Casting Gift of the Naaru on every injured draenei she sees in the starting zone. "See Mom? I'm helping them feel better!"
We're also leveling gnomes together now on a new server away from anyone who knows me so that we can play apart from everyone. She thinks doing quests is fun and I'm enjoying it as much as she is.
I guess if you're 12, then yeah, having chat turned off is pretty lame, but by then you're coming to the age where parents should be discussing things they see in game a LOT more. As for "supervising" being a reason the game is boring, that sounds like a copout to me. Yeah, so you can't park your child in front of WoW and go for a jog, but that isn't a legitimate reason not to let them play.
quickshiv Apr 27th 2011 10:42AM
"MMO's are inappropriate for children. "
http://universe.lego.com/
"children should be playing outside with friends"
I'm guessing you don't have kids, or live in some wonderland that is always 75 degrees and sunny.
SerenityNow Apr 27th 2011 2:33PM
Yay! Meta troll! Way to mix it up!
Let me take your comment a step further... I think it's inappropriate that you should think it inappropriate that someone objects to your opinion.
And yeah, it's just 'inappropriates' from here on down. ;-)
Joker Apr 28th 2011 10:23AM
It's bad parenting to let children play any video game, they should be out having real life experiences.
Kids that play video games all their childhood are most likely going to grow up without any real social skills and be a loser working at Walmart for the rest of their life.
joepsu777 Apr 27th 2011 9:51AM
Who are the clueless idiots that read this site and need guides on how to manage their children? If you can't manage your kids by now then you have more serious issues.
Seriously. This is not a troll response. I will have kids someday and the last place that need to put up a guide on raising kids with video games is from Joystiq's WoW website.
I can appreciate what you are trying to do, but I honestly don't see the point. I can't imagne anyone coming here, reading this stuff and suddenly becoming a better parent. If you're old enough to find this website and already have kids, you should already be doing your job.
Trilynne Apr 27th 2011 10:07AM
This guide isn't going to suddenly make a bad parent into a good one. However, I think it's a great compilation of information for parents who want their kids to be able to enjoy WoW, but are looking for advice on how to make sure they're safe online, how to navigate the tools Blizzard has available, etc, but didn't know how to do it on their own. This is for parents who are trying to do their job, and just want a little advice on how best to do it.
adyuaa Apr 27th 2011 10:13AM
It's a handy resource for specific actions to take for either a gamer or non-gamer friend who doesn't already read the site but has questions, which we could point them to. A parent could be thinking about ways to let their child play with them a little, or could be trying to decide when to open up the next level of privilege/interaction.
jason.canning Apr 27th 2011 10:32AM
@joepsu777 - you are assuming that everyone knows as much about the internet and game culture as you do. I know many parents who have never heard of WoW, and would not even know where to start making a judgment if their kids wanted to play - these guides are a good starting place.
You say "the last place that need to put up a guide on raising kids with video games is from Joystiq's WoW website", would you prefer it on a parenting web-site written by people with no games knowledge who are feeding off the negative hype that abounds, or it written by gamers who are trying to help parents?
This isn't about making people better parents, its about giving parents who want to be good parents some advice to help them.
Caliea Apr 27th 2011 10:42AM
It's not about suddenly becoming a 'better parent', Joe. It's about providing parents with some helpful hints they may not have thought of.
I have 4 young boys - the 2 oldest, at 6 and 7, love to group together and wander around Azeroth killing critters and slowly leveling their characters. I have Trade chat turned off, and they don't pay any attention to the guild chat. My guildies know that those toons are my sons, and they don't get offended when my sons don't respond in chat. I am typically in and out of the room where they play, mostly helping them decipher quest objectives and reminding them of tips to help them not die. They love the non-combat pets they've collected, and one plays a hunter and loves taming new pets.
They love it. It's something fun they can do, and right now it's age appropriate. I welcome this article, as it gives me some places to look over and gather tips that may help me as my boys age and want to branch out into other games as well. We've already talked about why you can't play video games all the time, and about creating balance in your life between school, inside/computer games, and outside games, as well as chores.
It's just another aspect of modern life that parents have to address with their kids. I'd rather understand the games my kids are playing, and how I can help guide them to make good choices, than be a completely clueless parent that doesn't understand the different types of games they will eventually be exposed to and may want to play.
And honestly... the phrase "I will have kids someday" is pretty telling. Until you have them, don't be bashing parents that do and are willing to take well-intentioned advice wherever they happen to run across it.
quickshiv Apr 27th 2011 10:45AM
"I will have kids someday"
and once you do feel free to come back and comment. People that don't actually have kids have this awesome filter that lets them see the perfect way to raise children. For some reason as soon as that kid pops all that knowledge suddenly flies out there head and some new back seat parent starts telling them how to raise their children.
(cutaia) Apr 27th 2011 12:06PM
"I will have kids someday"
And when you do, maybe you'll realize that parents often enjoy getting different advice and perspectives on parenting. And that anyone who would talk down to them for doing so is truly the "clueless" one.
quickshiv Apr 27th 2011 12:43PM
cutaia
This is a great observation. In-fact the creators of freakanomics put forth that parents that bought "parenting" books had better off children, however it made absolutely no difference which books they bought. It was the fact that the parent was willing to spend time trying to be a better parent that mattered not the source material they read.