WoW: Cataclysm still on target for a 2010 release
Battle.net parental controls guide
by Robin Torres 
Jul 31st 2010 at 2:00PM
The gallery below is a walk-through on what settings are available and how to set them up for your child. If you are taking the route of electronically limiting your child's play time, I highly recommend setting up both limitations and a schedule. This way, you don't have to be constantly checking to see if your child is playing outside his approved play schedule. However, it's a very good idea to look over your child's shoulder to make sure he's not griefing the locals or using language that previous generations would wash out mouths for.
Filed under: Blizzard, Account Security
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bankaieddo Jul 31st 2010 2:23PM
Why tell this?!? We need to get our kids hooked on so wow will last forever ;)
Valt Jul 31st 2010 3:05PM
Buuut.. the less they play the more they pay? The less time they get to grind stuff the more longer it takes?
Wich would be kinda odd if kids like to grind instead of enjoy videogame..
Tribunal Jul 31st 2010 2:21PM
Thank you for including that this is no substitute for actual 'parental controls', aka playing with your child, or at least observing your child playing.
I'm afraid many parents take these as a 'set it and forget it', not realizing they're a tool to be used will all your other tools, like your eyes, ears, and most importantly brain!
Tim Jul 31st 2010 3:24PM
Ur awesome Robin. I'm glad you care about the chi'ren.
ryancantrell Jul 31st 2010 7:09PM
If you have any parental control limitations or monitoring activated including disabling real id, your account will be flagged ineligible for a cat beta key.
Muse Jul 31st 2010 7:29PM
Bummer.
logicalfundy Aug 1st 2010 12:07AM
What if you already have a key?
Kaylad Aug 1st 2010 7:29AM
And disabling the parental controls entails sending Blizz a stack of proof that you are the parent etc etc - and usually means asking them at least three times, with increasing levels of frustration, before they figure out that you want to disable the controls rather than asking how to access them.
Hone Melgren Aug 2nd 2010 11:14AM
I have parental controls and Real ID turned on.
And I've gotten a Cata invite.
I call shennigans until you can produce in the form of a Blue post
Hone Melgren Aug 2nd 2010 11:17AM
Opps I meant I had Real ID turned off and a playtime schedule.
I really don't see how this effects your eligibility for beta
Proof and Source pls
Darias.Perenolde Jul 31st 2010 7:44PM
When the new parental controls came in...how many other people's controls got screwed up?
I have little self control when actively playing WoW, so I set my controls up ages ago to force my butt to go to bed. Once I got laid off, I turned them off (eh, I had free time, why go to bed early?). Since I started going to school, I turned them on again, but over vacation in June, I tried to turn them off...only to find the new setup wouldn't let me change anything. I didn't get hacked, it just won't send me the "parental controls email".
After finally getting through to customer service, I have to fill out a form and prove who I am to get everything reset. Pain in the butt. So...anyone else also stuck in a similar manner since the Battle.Net switchover?
logicalfundy Aug 1st 2010 12:10AM
Interesting stuff. May be a good way to enforce me getting to bed on time.
Hone Melgren Aug 2nd 2010 11:34AM
Alrighty folks I just have two things to add here :
1) You can use the playtime schedule to lock down your account. Just access the parental controls and activate it. It defaults to no green slots at all IE no time allowed at all. You won't be able to login to your toons until it has been removed.
It's just a little extra security measure especially because the hacker would need to know what the parents battle.net email address is. It's not completely foolproof - some one could hack your emails and trace it back somehow that way. But then again if your emails hacked content controls for a game is the least of your worries.
But the biggest advantage of the playtime schedule is if that person is logged on your account it should kick them off right away. Haven't had a chance to test but if say one of your guildmates texts you to tell you are being hacked you could activate the playtime schedule block outs to mitigate the damage a hacker does. Would have to be quick as usually the damage is doen withing minutes.
2) Currently the parental controls email itself is rather lax in security. You don't need to be logged into any battle.net account to use it and it doesn't expire for quite some time (mines 12 days old and has yet to expire).
IMHO This is a rather large security loophole - all a kid has to do is get access to your email for 2 mins to either forward the email on or print it out. Doesn't even need your password as the parental controls web page it sends you to can be used if logged in or not. I just used to change my playtime schedule and no i was not logged into my battle.net account.
Make sure you print it out and wipe it from your email if you need to use it. Make sure you clear your history and cookies or use some form of secure browsing to stop the URL being retrieved from the history.