Breakfast topic: How young is too young for World of Warcraft?
by Amanda Dean 
Feb 8th 2008 at 8:00AM
Does it take a certain level of maturity to play World of Warcraft? In the past we have asked for opinions on how comfortable people are gaming with players of all ages. The general consensus seemed to be that behavior is more important than numerical age.
Surely there is value in gaming for young people. Although a full-grown adult when I started playing World of Warcraft, games have always been a passion of mine. They have fostered creativity and logic. Recently our Lisa Poisso featured a guild for Unschoolers, who use WoW as a tool for self-guided education. When appropriately supervised and balanced, the game can be a fun, family activity.
On the other hand there are some serious drawbacks to youth roaming around WoW. Sporting a T for Teen rating, the start-up screens clearly post the ESRB Warning: Game Experience May Change During Online Play. Game masters do act on reported conduct-violations, but I'm frequently a little shocked about the types of messages and emotes that cross my screen. I won't even start about "mature" (as opposed to adult) guilds. Similarly, parents may be concerned about the amount of screen time children get, and there is the potential to miss out on real-world socialization in favor of WoW.
There is also the matter of tolerance on the part of older players for the younger crowd. Those of you who have ever turned off Barrens chat or cringe at the trade channel in the major cities know what I mean. We can only stand so many one-liners about a certain red-headed action hero. In the past, when I've found myself in the market for a new guild, I developed a policy of asking for a general age range of members before signing up.
While it is up to parents to decide what type of activities are most appropriate for their children, I'm sure most players have an opinion on the subject. What do you feel is an approximately appropriate age for beginning adventures in Azeroth?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Breakfast topics, Features
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Melenor Feb 8th 2008 8:23AM
I hate kids, so I hate finding out the person that just wiped my raid 3 times in a row is 10 years old. The game is T for Teen, but even 13 can be too young. For every 200 immature kids who make gaming less fun, there's only one who knows what he/she is doing and can act like an adult. It's bad to stereotype, but I've seen it enough to know.
hpavc Feb 8th 2008 9:25AM
For every kid there are more then a dozen asshat drunks online willing to whip your raid instead.
I'd go with the kid.
Naix Feb 8th 2008 9:46AM
I have a policy of not playing/pug with anyone under 18. Our guild has a policy of no one accepted under 23. Why 23? Cause most likely you have finished college and could be mature, responsible, and not want to scream into vent.
Before there policies I can't could the amount of times in a 5 man the 16 year old would go afk to clean his room/fight with his parents/have to go to do homework.
Leave the drama at the login screen.
Lucas Feb 8th 2008 10:24PM
Bullshit. No ten year old is going to get to stay up at raid times.
Aristide Feb 8th 2008 7:58PM
I often wonder about children playing wow, considering all the obscenities, suggestive phrasings, bigoted slurs etc. that are tossed around constantly. I'm not sure it's the best environment for kids... or I guess I can't imagine the number of times a parent would be required to respond to a constant barrage of, "Mommy/Daddy, what does (expletive/slur here) mean?", not to mention soothing bruised feelings every time some stranger online verbally destroys a young player who has made the unfortunate mistake of not playing up to the demanding requirements of the online elitists.
I know that requests for 18+ servers have been suggested and ignored by Blizzard, but sometimes I think it might be a nice idea for everyone.
Bloodthorn Feb 8th 2008 8:25AM
hmm, dunno, when I stated playing 2 years ago as 25 years old, I quickly found a 12 years old boy who filled me in on the basics of the game, which seemed slightly weird to me. Given the amount of random slur, sexists jokes, stupid people etc I don't think I'd be comfortable myself letting my kid play on his own, but then again, they also shouldn't watch news, violence related movies or listen to hiphop :p
At least some initial guidance on why some people are too stupid to write sensible things.
The world at the moment is so filled with sexual content and violence that is very accessible with very little effort, that I think in terms of protecting your child there is worse things out there really. On the plus sides comes strengthening your language (especially if English is not the child 1st language) and broadening your horizons. Mark that this only applies if done "right", but that applies to life in general in my opinion.
Parents should be mindful of the amount of time the kid plays, as well as what is going on, so taking a bit time out of schedule once in a while and watch what really happens, and how the kid socializes ingame etc would be a very good idea. Of course I am biased, as I played Doom/Wolf at around age 8, and I like to believe that never did me no harm :D
Jaem Feb 9th 2008 6:34AM
I decided to join a new guild on my server the other day with one of my alts...the first night i was on the GL decided to ask everyones age ,starting with himself stating '11 almost 12' followed by about 10 others saying the same , i gave it about 10mins og uild chat before i promptly quit and went on my way.
ThorinII Feb 8th 2008 8:58AM
"For every 200 immature kids who make gaming less fun, there's only one who knows what he/she is doing and can act like an adult"
I can say the same for many of the adults I've played with too.
I have 10 yr old and a 12 yr old that play. At first I spent most of their play time right there with them so I could teach them what is/isn't accepted behavior. Neither has a toon over lvl 32 and I doubt they ever will because they get bored and start new toons constantly. So, I don't have to worry about them whiping raids and upsetting those who take this GAME too seriously. In fact, they've run all the 5 man instances (Horde and Alliance) up through SM so many times each they get upset at other players (kids and adults) who cause them to whipe. They know the instances better than I do!
JettOMEGA Feb 8th 2008 9:00AM
I would love to have my 7yr old son playing. I would have to do some manipulation of his chat channels but I think it would be a good way to increase his reading comprehension at an early age. Of course there are always limitations when playing games but I could see some good in letting younger kids play.
hpavc Feb 8th 2008 9:28AM
Yeah, hiding channels and a few macros to help with fixing the camera when they get wrapped up and disoriented and your good to go.
Getting the hunter addon that says if something is tameable and bookmarking petopia is smart ... then its help me get the white ape time.
Zali Feb 8th 2008 9:11AM
I was never much of a game player as a kid. The only game I was ever any good at was Defender on the Atari. As soon as Nintendo came out with those multi-buttoned game controlers I was completely useless. I haven't used a game console since. So my teen years as well as my twenty's were lived sans video-games. Maybe thats why I just don't equate video games to children.
WOW is a little weird as video games go. It really is a virtual world made up of all types of people, good and bad. It is an online chat room, a video game, a social networking activity. Like the real world, children should be supervised at varied degrees. It can be as addictive as a drug for adults, for unsupervised children even more so. And has anyone seen exactly how much booze related partying is going on in this game? Do we need to be teaching 13 year olds that EVERY PARTY MUST INCLUDE GETTING DRUNK?
You can turn on a mature language filter, sure, but unlike chat logs in IM programs, a parent can't really keep track of what kinds of conversations their kids are having with total strangers, and thats just the text and doesn't even open debate on the voice chat system. At the very least, parents NEED to pay very close attention to what is going on in this game with their kids.
On the topic of kids, and are they annoying? Well, the answer is, some. I was hiking up a mountain on Super Bowl weekend out in Phoenix, nice weather there, and some kid, maybe 8 years old was hiking about 40 yards in front of his mom and dad and said, "Good morning sir." I was practically shocked. I haven't heard a polite kid in a decade. The point is that there are some out there. And same goes for in game. There are some teens that need duct tape over their mouths and their keyboards locked away. I wish they would shut the hell up. And some that are very good at the game, that have taught me a thing or two, who are willing and very capable of leading raids, and do so without all the childish goofing off. I'm happy to go to war with them any day. Not any night though, because I'm tired of kids having to log off because it is past their bed time. :o)
Like it or not, kids are here to stay, which means that for the rest of my life I'm going to be going to stores, dentist offices, doctors offices, motor vehicle departments, movie theaters, and on and on, and almost always have at least one thought of "can't that person control stick tape over that kids mouth," or "I swear to GOD I'm going to spank that snot nosed little fartknocker if his dad doesn't shut him up." Its a fact, kids are here to stay. They're everywhere, like little cockroaches. At least in WOW I can ignore them if I want.
Or am I too cynical?
Jah Feb 8th 2008 9:12AM
My 12 y.o. brother plays WoW and he knows how to play pretty well. He has a lvl 70 lock and a lvl 60 druid and has a pretty good knowledge about loot, specs and classes.
He only doesn't raid much because we live in Brazil and we are 3 hours ahead of our server time, so raids usually start too late for my mom to let him play :P But we raided Gruuls together sometimes and in no way he was a liability. I just only had to help him understand the raid leader instructions and everything went fine (though he can read english well, he is not used to talk to people in english yet)
Peder Feb 8th 2008 9:20AM
My 6 year old son has a level 28 hunter and an account of his own (and has grinded almost 150 gold so far for himself :) ). He can't read or write english, so chat channels aren't a problem yet :) I don't think there's anything in those that he can't watch - it's like TV - the important thing is that parents discuss what is happening and what's said with their kids. We don't let him group with people, and only let him join battlegrounds while we're sitting next to him. Oh and before anyone spews the 'kids that age should do physical activities' line - he goes to karate training several times a week, and spends hours every day playing on the playground. I think it's cool he likes playing WoW as one of his pastimes :)
M.D. Feb 8th 2008 9:33AM
Honestly, it's the same as the sanitization of Hollywood: Many films primed to be blockbusters are required to be filmed as or trimmed down to PG-13 to get that kiddie money. I'm a little tired of the bubblewrapping and beatification of children. I want my rated R Die Hards back, without babies in the theatre after 9pm.
I'm not saying ban youths, but I am saying I'd like to see *parenting* as a crucial part of the equation, something you can tell is often lacking if a kid is causing problems. (exceptions duly noted) If the child is mature and contributing, I have absolutely no problems with kids playing WoW regardless of age. If it's a whining, swearing, camping, ninja-looting pustulant snotrag, I don't care if it's ten or forty, get it off my server. And my lawn.
Hank Feb 8th 2008 12:31PM
The type of parenting you seek is no longer available in english-speaking countries, as the numerous parental failures have resulted in those parents likely to fail to demand the government 'do something to protect us'. Thus, you get things like zero-tolerance, misguided politicians seeking to limit things that were acceptable just 10 years ago, and the easily offended having the loudest voices, i.e. the Parent's Television Council.
Leifo Feb 8th 2008 9:33AM
Well, my 2 year old son loves watching me play "bawk bawk horsey" (his name for the game, ever since he first saw me on a mount doing the /chicken emote). We started with him watching me fly an alt back and forth on a small flight path, and he loved pointing out the mountains and snow, the hot lava, the trees, the water, and the castle. At almost 3 now he enjoys sitting on my lap and using the arrow keys to move my alt back and forth, off a ledge into the water, or to spin around in place. A friend of mine has a 5 year old who he lets wander around Stormwind, and before he knew it, the 5 year old had memorized the location of everything in the town (and found a way to buy a sword even after his dad had destroyed the one that came with the character).
I don't know at what age I'd be comfortable allowing him to play on his own, but I just wanted to say that it's surprising how much fun there is in WoW for toddlers learning to use their imagination to explore a world, and learning to use the mouse and keyboard.
Now, if I could just teach him how to fish, I'd be all set!
h8rain Feb 8th 2008 10:41AM
"Now, if I could just teach him how to fish, I'd be all set!"
Instead of doing chores at the house, "Have you fished 50 Brillant Smallfish yet?"
Simon Feb 8th 2008 11:19AM
Aww. That is really cute. Good to see that the game is a learning tool too :o)
I agree on most of the points made here. I can't say I've seen many stereotypical kids on the game, most I couldn't really tell were kids (that or English wasn't their mother tongue).
Hank Feb 8th 2008 12:44PM
I have a 3 year old as well, he enjoys watching me kill beasties, and ride anything. If he decides he wants to play with me, I just avoid killing anything that looks human. He understands where his hamburger comes from, so I don't see a problem with the hunt.
LostOne Feb 8th 2008 9:40AM
I PUGed with a party the other day and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the healer (one of the best PUG priests I've ever run with) was an 8 year old girl. The other party members were the girls parents and a cousin/relation. I thought that was a great idea, why not let them have their own account and play alongside them? That way you see any chat they do and if the geniuses in general/trade are getting filthy you can reach over and turn it off on their screen.
Also, maybe there's an addon out there that helps filter some of the filth that sometimes floods channels.