Heroic 3-year old arises to save Azeroth [Updated]
Some people who read this story cry foul. How can a 3 year-old level to 20 "by herself" (as her myspace page claims) without being able to read? Also, it certainly does seem a bit much to say that she can "gank" people. I also doubt that she can play at the same level as, say, the proverbial 12 year-old WoW player could. My bet is that when the father says "level to 20 by herself" he probably means "without doing any quests and with me watching and talking her through things." And when he says "gank," he means "overpower a level 30ish opponent with a level 60ish rogue alt of her parents using very basic play tactics," which, hello gankers everywhere, even a 3 year-old can do by pressing just a few buttons! Good for her, I say, but shame on anyone over 9.
But I digress. Playing three to four hours per week maxiumum, juBBjuBB says, is helping Charisma get excited to learn the alphabet and cooperative teamplay. Fatherly love and pride in such progress may be leading him to exaggerate a little bit about her gameplay skill, or maybe leave certain details about it to our own common sense -- but can you blame him? If I had a little kid who showed a strong aptitude in any area, from computers to cartoons, I might need to rein in my superlative praise too. She may or may not be the one heroine destined to be the best gamer in the world, but she's the pride of her father's life, and in his Azerothian sky there's no star shining brighter than her.
Update: More from Charisma's father after the jump! You may find it hard to believe...
Hello!I say give him the benefit of the doubt. It's true that some kids are gifted in special ways. If one child can play WoW at three, perhaps another is making her own music, or else making up simple stories. Who knows? I'm not a father yet, so I'm still looking forward to having my own little genius -- and I have absolutely no real clear idea what little children this age are capable of. Maybe I just like believing in massive potential.
I am Charisma's 'Papi.'
I have appreciated reading so many constructive comments and points of view on this topic! She will be thrilled to see her picture on WoW Insider!
It seems some information was left to speculation regarding her ability: She CAN perform a class role in a group with minimal direction. She has learned through initial guidance & trial and error the complexities of the game, it's interface, PvP, quests, world navigation, etc.
She will need some development before she can go 1 vs 1 with an opponent of a similar level. The original topic on the official forums was "YOU may have been ganked by our 3yr old." IE: your lowbie may have been steamrolled as she passed by ;]
Her teamplay is spot on....we have tried her out in a few instances and she understands different classes have different jobs. She prefers to play more hack n' slash as a melee class (Feral Druid, Rogue, Warrior), but she can show a group full support as a healing class.
As a priest, she knows to sit and drink between pulls, that she needs to fill up everyone's green bar, and whoever is in front gets a bubble. She knows healer stay in the back and don't poke their heads around corners till the tank does.
Once she got started, she watched those healthbars like a hawk!
I hope you enjoyed reading her profile and seeing what she can do.
Many of you addressed the question: How young is too young to start playing WoW? For me, the greater question is, if a 3 year-old can do it (or as some parents have said, 4 year-olds), why is it still so much fun for us as adults? Is it nothing short of miraculous that a game could entertain the very young, the very old, and everyone in between?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Guidinglight Sep 5th 2007 4:10PM
That arises a good question?
How young is to young for WOW?
My son is five and I wouldn't think of brining him into WOW, or at least I hadn't thought about it before. He plays plenty of games, but I think the content in WOW is for a more mature audience, but I could be wrong.
Nookni Sep 5th 2007 4:22PM
It's great to see things like this, running counter to the whole "Gamer Parents suck" news.
I have a 4yr old who really really enjoys spending one evening a week running around as "mister cow" (actually a Troll, but it's cute!) and thinning out hordes of boars and scorpids in the Orc starting areas (as a lvl 50 hunter).
Same way this article describes, he started out just jumping and spinning around in circles, but now can hold his own and target the beasts.
He even does an awesome "Murglrglrglr"[sic] if we get near the water!
Slaign Sep 5th 2007 4:28PM
@1
Well, I think her being only 3 actually gives a little bit of slack to the parents. I mean, she can't read, so seeing inappropriate words won't affect her (and I bet the filter is on too.) Sure the game is violent, but she doesn't understand that.
In fact, I feel it is much better to raise a child openly, and let them experience the world, teaching them right from wrong, real from imaginary, all along the way.
Let's face it, violent video games and TV shows are a part of our culture. Trying to shelter a kid from that stuff is not only futile (friends, school, family, just driving down the street), but it causes curiosity. Since you so strongly discouraged them from these things, they won't go to you to explore this curiosity. They will go to someone who cannot or doesn't care to protect them. This is how kids get in trouble.
Being open and honest with your kids about the world means they will grow up to be well informed individuals, capable of making their own decisions. The kid who's parents let him play video games with violence, and openly discuss sex with them isn't going to be drawn in by curiosity. When Joe Cool over behind the gym says "Hey, wanna peep into the girls locker room?" he'll say "Why? Nothin I haven't seen before." and won't get in trouble.
You better believe the kid who's parents still won't let him watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or play WoW at 13 is going to find a way to do it, and you won't be there to help them establish the line between reality and fantasy.
The world is what the world is, and the child who was raised in and open and honest family is much better prepared to deal with it than the sheltered child.
E Sep 5th 2007 4:29PM
Alliance is so EZ MODE...
Sacktacular Sep 5th 2007 4:33PM
Thats it i'm going home and beating my kids because they got upstaged by a cute 3 year old.
Epiny Sep 5th 2007 4:41PM
HA I'm teaching my 3 year old to use my Epic'd out War now!
desfaber Sep 5th 2007 4:54PM
There are Alliance players older than this girl? I, for one, am shocked.
Otherwise, I agree with everything 3 said. As for the game being violent, it is a lot less graphic and malicious than your average Tom and Jerry cartoon.
shmooo Sep 5th 2007 4:58PM
I should get my 2 1/2 year old to start farming motes for me. Hitting amorphous elementals has got to be better than killing puppies (wolves).
Strongmark on Arthas Sep 5th 2007 5:01PM
Those sweat shops must be creaming in their pants seeing the possibilities that they can start training their "staff" younger and younger!
lol, totally kidding, but its the first thought that came to my mind!!
Kurdon Sep 5th 2007 5:04PM
While what this parent is claiming stretches the boundaries of credibility, I'm going to have to pipe up and say that at least some of it is probably truth.
My daughter's been playing WoW in one form or another since she was 9 months old, though she couldn't accomplish much of anything monumental at that age beyond some impressive maneuvering and motor skills... and a complete lack of being intimidated by computers at all which MY parents would never have been able to fathom. At around 1 and 1/2 years of age, she was running and riding around and between Stormwind and Ironforge, and could spend hours riding the tram back and forth. Her pattern recognition was incredible as well, because she could unerringly run to and find us out of a massive throng of players whenever we were standing around in those major cities. We even went ahead and got her her own account, finished upgrading her machine so that she could move around in IF without it turning into a slideshow, and tried to make the whole thing a family adventure. It worked out pretty well for a little while, but in the end, what defeated her wasn't lack of patience or skill or reading ability - it was maturity level. She took everything that happened in the game WAY too personally, so we ended up having to redirect her MMO itch in the direction of Disney's ToonTown and things have gone much more smoothly since then.
I will say this, though. Between WoW and ToonTown, she has shown an avid passion for learning to read, and even now as she starts kindergarten, she can already read all her books by herself. It has accelerated all her interests in things that would help her achieve what she wants, which is to be like her parents and understand everything that's going on in the screens they stare at. This can't all be attributed to WoW, of course, as we've done a great deal of homeschooling for her benefit, but I will give credit to the computer and the games she wants to play for helping to give her a desire to learn above and beyond the norm.
Another year, maybe two, and I think she'll have the maturity level needed to go along with all her other skills. It will become a family adventure once again like it was before, only this time, she will have to make sure her homework is done first. ;p
Troy Sep 5th 2007 5:05PM
I don't see anything wrong with this. It's a cool way to get his kid into reading. I learned how to read watching my father play DOS adventure games and people were shocked when I entered kindergarten knowing words like "peril." This doesn't seem that much different than my experience-- it's not like he's encouraging her to farm motes for him! (LOL @ #8)
Randall Sep 5th 2007 5:06PM
@#3
I would bet dollars to donuts that you are not a parent. If I had a penny for every time I have heard parenting "advice" from childless people I would be a millionaire. My daughters watch me play WoW, so that's not my problem. My problem is with the notion of "sheltering" versus "raising a child openly". Children have absolutely NO NEED to experience violence in movies or TV. We are too quick to push our little ones into being grown up and as a consequence they are not allowed to be little kids.
Kids, in particular those who are 5 or younger, have trouble discerning what is fantasy from reality. I personally believe the amount of violence (not to mention sex) they see should be very limited. As they grow and become more curious, you can let back on the reins a bit and let them experience some things.
It is absolutely ridiculous to say that when "Joe cool" asks your child to go and peep he will say no if you have exposed him to naked women before. I can't believe the foolishness and naivete behind that statement. All young people would be curious enough to look no matter what their upbringing. But for me the key thing is that I hope my child would say no not because they had seen it before, but becasue they know it's not the right thing to do. That should be the goal of every parent.
All this being said, this little girl is adorable and i'm sure she has fun with the game. I just hope her parents aren't exploiting this to gain some type of notoriety.
Markymark Sep 5th 2007 5:16PM
Instead of teaching your child to read or write, you teach them to play WoW am i the only seeing this as retarded?
Leshrac Sep 5th 2007 5:19PM
Just more proof that shows Alliance are immature children that gank and brag.
hate kids Sep 5th 2007 5:19PM
WTB R18 SERVER
Norswap Sep 5th 2007 5:28PM
My brother's 8 and a half and he plays wow since about a year. But he can't focus on one character (so he has about ten) and his higher level is 17. He has it also difficult to understand certains quests.
robotrock Sep 5th 2007 5:42PM
she must play a a warlock
Varja Sep 5th 2007 5:55PM
TBH, I'd never let my kids play WoW that young. As much as I love games, they need to learn that games aren't the be all and end all of entertainment and getting a 3 year old into WoW is just asking to raise a kid that'll develope an addition to gaming. At the same time, I'd place limits on television viewing as well.
Daveti Sep 5th 2007 6:21PM
@12: Sheltering your children is only necessary to a point. By the age of 3, most children will have developed Metacognition, which gives them a basic sense of right and wrong. The age at which a child can discern fantasy from reality... Is completely dependent on the individual child, and it's up to the parents to decide when he or she is ready. Some children may be ready at 3 or 5 or 6 to understand that World of Warcraft is not the real world. Others cannot understand by the age of 40.
The real point here is that at the ripe old age of 18, like it or not, you lose a large degree of control (legally anyway) and your child needs to be prepared for reality fully by that time. The sooner your child lives in the harsh gritty real world, the better prepared he or she will be when the time comes to step out on their own. Your job as a parent is not to prepare them, they can prepare themselves simply via exposure. Your job is to decide when they are ready to be exposed.
Gasher Sep 5th 2007 6:40PM
@#20
Do you have children? Somehow I doubt it. What #12 is referring to (quite correctly I might add) is not WoW exposure per se, but the broader question of YOUNG children's exposure to the harsher violence of TV and movies. I don't consider WoW to be an overly violent game, I do however consider a lot TV shows and movies to be far too "mature" for children who don't quite understand the concepts yet.
It is a fact that YOUNG children in our modern age are pushed too fast to grow up. This rushing is all too often hidden behind the excuse of "oh he/she needs to grasp the gritty reality that is life". While it is true that OLDER children need to begin to understand how life works so they are prepared for the big picture, there is a certain age when this teaching should begin and children below that age should not have to think about such things. It is simply too much for them to take.
I also don't understand how violence and "grittiness" are valid teaching tools for "getting kids ready for the "real" world. If your kids are experiencing real life violence all the time then you may want to consider moving to a better neighborhood. Kids need to be prepared for the stark financial and social aspects of real life, not abject violence.
I believe that too often video games are used as babysitters and parents try to excuse this away as "getting them ready for life". A ridiculous argument for sure.