Anyone who has been playing
WoW for a bit knows that this game is unique in that both adults and children can
enjoy it at the same time. Indeed this duality can be considered one of the best features of the game. How often can you sit down with your son or daughter and truly enjoy the same video game? Besides the amazing adventures of
Dora The Explorer, other kid friendly games like
Disney Online's Toon Town and
Club Penguin just don't provide the same level of enjoyment for adults and their children. (What's the game in Dora, you ask? Assisting her in finding the red berries or yelling at Swiper. See this not-safe-for-work
Kevin Smith YouTube excerpt for an explanation.)
However with that in mind, there are some compelling arguments that its due time for
World of Warcraft to get a few age restricted servers.
For starters, take a look at what
Second Life has done. They're a pretty successful venture, and have a lot of parallels to MMORPGS like
WoW. They've created a server called
Teen Second Life in which they do their best to only allow teenagers between the ages of 13 – 17 access. When you turn 18 you're moved up to the adult server along with all your gear and property. Of course this has the same pitfalls as any other internet site where you can fake your identity, but it is a start; and a good one since
Linden Labs actively polices age restrictions.
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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Guilds, Odds and ends, News items