Online gaming, in particular MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online roleplaying games), is a booming industry, with Blizzard’s World of Warcraft alone boasting 12 million subscribers world-wide and breaking PC gaming sales records with the December, 2010, release of it’s latest expansion.
So what do you do when your child announces that he or she would like to start playing an MMORPG? Perhaps you already play and your daughter has been watching you slay dragons, or maybe your son heard about a friend at school’s wicked cool elf. Either way, you will need to consider some things before you log your child on and send him or her off on that first quest.
Your child's maturity is key
The first thing to consider is your child. Nobody knows your child better than you. Is he mature enough to handle the responsibility of the internet? Is she savvy enough to communicate with strangers without putting herself in danger? Can he read well enough to understand what is going on? Can she type fast enough to communicate with others? Games can be great for improving those skills, but kids need to have some basic proficiencies in order to enjoy the game.
The game must be appropriate
Different levels of games exist for different levels of player. For the very young, less mature player, some “starter” games are available, like Hello Kitty Online or Club Penguin, where children control a penguin avatar and the chats are filtered and closely moderated. These games also strongly encourage parents to monitor their child’s playtime and set limits. If your child is dead set on a fantasy setting, Free Realms is another game that has restrictive chat settings and an emphasis on parental controls.
If your child is older and wants to try a game like Final Fantasy Online or World of Warcraft, it’s time for you to make a judgment call. These games are far more complicated, with more advanced skills for players to learn, and a reliance on cooperation with other players. The chats are also not moderated or monitored, so they can breed trolls (people who stalk the internet and enjoy harassing others) and therefore your child needs to be closely monitored by you. You can make these games more kid-friendly through the stringent use of parental controls, such as turning off chat channels so your child isn’t exposed to the spam and trolling that can take place there.
How secure is your system?
Before getting started and signing on for the first time, you should take a moment to inspect your system and the security measures you have installed. You should have a good anti-virus program running, like Norton, McAfee or Microsoft Security. Doing basic maintenance will help with both security and performance. Make sure you are dumping your temporary internet files and cookies. A regular defragmentation of the hard drive would be helpful in getting rid of potentially dangerous scripts and keeping your system running faster.
Blizzard, the company that produces World of Warcraft and Starcraft, has an optional authenticator that can be attached to an account to prevent hackers stealing your password and account. This authenticator is available as both a physical device and a free app for most smart phones. Teach your child to never click links that are sent to them via chat as they could be keyloggers attempting to gain control of your system or gold farmers which could get you and your child banned from the game.
What are parental controls?
Most games have an option to change the features to customize the games and make them more kid-friendly. You will want to read through the manual that comes with the game (and can usually be found online if the game was downloaded). If your child is playing a game geared towards children, read through the “For Parents” section carefully. Some control options available are turning the chats off, limiting the game time, and a usage report that you can run to see how much time is being spent online.
Time to teach basic internet safety
If it hasn’t already happened, now is the time to have “the talk” with your child. The internet can be a dangerous place and, unfortunately, some less-than-savory people hang around in games just as they do in chat rooms and on social networking sites. Your child should know that under no circumstances whatsoever should he give out his real name, phone number, address, school information... anything that could allow someone access to him. When choosing a name for your child’s character, don’t use her real name.
You may want to create a character on a different account so you can spend some time with your child as he gets going and be available to help and see what kind of interactions are likely in the course of the game. After each session you should talk about what happened and what might occur in future scenarios. If your child is not able to follow the safety rules, he or she is simply not old enough to be playing MMORPGs.
By making some simple tweaks to your computer and the game’s settings and instructing your child in online safety, you can set up a safe environment for your child to have a secure and entertaining gaming experience. The most important thing to remember is that you are ultimately responsible for the well-being of your child, not the gaming platform, and no control or setting can ever substitute for parental supervision. Have fun and happy gaming!
Amelia Ramstead - Amelia hopes that her experiences as a mother prove helpful to others as she shares what she has learned.
Join the Conversation