mmo-family
Latest
MMO Family: Six kid-friendly MMOs that need to be made
Back in 2010 at DICE, game developer and Carnegie Mellon Professor Jesse Schell gave a thought-provoking talk about extrinsic motivations in games. In it, he postulated that there's a blurring of the lines, and that we're moving toward a day when our everyday actions are driven by "points" and "achievements." All too often, that's what drives gameplay in popular MMOs, particularly for children -- complete some minigames or tasks in order to accumulate points/tokens/currency that can be used for rewards of your choice. But sometimes, what gets lost is the fun of playing in a virtual world. When my son plays Wizard101, one of his favorite things to do is stopping by the hidden cave under the waterfall in Wizard City because he was so excited to have discovered it on his own. And when my kids found the vault in Free Realms, it was one of their biggest moments. Granted, the vault is closed now and partially hidden by vines, but they were still excited to have found it. There's so much more to MMOs than achievements and points, and there are many popular children's titles that would be great settings. Some foster exploration, some teach, and some are just wonderful venues for kids to have fun. Read on for a look at what children's MMOs need to be made (and I promise that not one is Harry Potter!).
MMO Family: First Impressions of Project Exonaut
Lately, I've been moving away from my "sword and board" mentality and instead checking out some MMOs that have faster gameplay, such as Vindictus' physics-based, arcade-style combat and Global Agenda's jetpack shooter battles. But while I've had fun grabbing gnolls by the throat and crushing them against the wall in Vindictus and fending off waves of zombies and chupacabras in Fallen Earth, the content isn't necessarily kid-friendly. I wanted to find a game that had action, fast-paced combat, and jetpacks but still touched on all the things that make for a good family game. I stumbled on Project Exonaut, made by Cartoon Network, and decided to check it out. It's a browser-based, free-to-play game that pits you against other players in a futuristic setting. It's not quite an MMO and would probably fall under our Not So Massively heading, but I decided to try it out. Read on for a look at the game and my first impressions!
Leaderboard: Free Realms' vs. Wizard101's unicorns
In honor of the recently revived MMO Family column here on Massively, I thought that this week we'd extend the brutal beatings, clobberings, and verbal beratings to family-friendly MMOs. In many ways, Free Realms and Wizard101 are almost like siblings with so many things in common, and this extends to the use of sickeningly cute unicorn pets. While I personally stopped paying attention to unicorns when Trapper Keepers went out of style, apparently they're still a "thing," especially with the younger market. You young 'uns, always keeping the unicorn union in business! Why don't you just let us harvest them for their magical horns which can be ground up and sprinkled on our Starbucks lattes? Ahem. Sorry. In any event, one such instance of ultra-cuteness is enough; two is completely unnecessary and unhealthy for the well-being of our universe. So today you must decide which game's unicorns will rule as lord supreme over the hearts of tweens everywhere, and which will be sold to the salt mines to haul loads while crying rainbow tears. Vote! And let it forever be on your conscience! [The unicorn on the left is from Wizard101; the one on the right is from Free Realms.]
MMO Family: Why games are good for family
A couple of years ago, Massively readers engaged in a great discussion that doesn't get covered nearly as much as it should. Thanks to former Massively columnist Lisa Poisso, the column MMO Family was born, and she and the readers looked at how MMOs affect the family, both the positives and the potential dangers. I'm excited to have the opportunity to start the column up again because I think a lot has changed in the short time since the column went on hiatus. We'll revisit a few issues that Lisa brought up and some of the more recently released MMO titles to see which ones are the best for family-centered gaming. To kick things off, I'd like to explore why MMOs are good for kids and for the family unit as a whole. When it comes to talk about kids and gaming, the discussion tends to revolve around the negatives, like violence, antisocial behavior, or lack of physical activity. No one will argue that MMOs, as with most anything, can have detrimental effects when played to excess. But to focus on the negatives is to ignore the vast amount of benefits that gaming can provide. Read on for a few examples.
Breakfast Topic: Do you let your own children play WoW?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. I suppose that I was destined to play computer games. My dad played strategy board games with his friends into the wee hours of the morning until my mom demanded use of her kitchen table back. Eventually, he, my brother and I discovered Age of Empires II. We played online on dial-up internet, cursing the people who called our house while we were gaming. Some friends clued me into WoW in high school, and I've been hooked ever since. My parents were always cautious with my internet exposure. When I played AoE, I understood that I was not to repeat the foul language I saw in chat, and if people were being particularly vulgar, I would voluntarily remove myself from that particular game. Even as an adult in WoW, I often /leave trade, especially late at night, because I have no interest in seeing keyboard sewage on my screen. Moreover, when I'm visiting my parents and let my younger sisters play on their gnomes, the first thing that I do is /leave trade, and I or someone else keep an eye on the screen while they're playing. I fully expect that one day, my own children will play video games if they so desire. However, I am aware that the internet is an adult world. Some parents blame other players when their child sees something adult while playing WoW. I tend to take the other approach and blame the parent, either for not closely monitoring their child's play or for not teaching their child how to avoid the adult content. What has been your experience? How do you monitor the game play of your own children, and do you have any tips for keeping the potentially harmful aspects of the WoW atmosphere away from your child? %Poll-57785%
MMO Family: A parent's look at Club Penguin
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family, from tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate online games for everyone in the family. Perhaps the leading name in virtual worlds aimed at the younger set, Club Penguin has taken its place as the starter game of choice for many a young online gamer. Ask around any elementary school, and you're bound to find kids who're playing this Flash-based browser game. We'd heard of the game too, of course -- but we'd never played. So let's take a look at how this virtual world of waddling friendlies stacks up against the rest of the kids' games we've reviewed in our Parent's Guide to Kids & Family Gaming.
MMO Family: A parent's look at Neopets
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family, from tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate online games for everyone in the family. Neopets is one of those uber-cute browser-based games that seems to have been around forever but is still going strong. It's a game that's aimed at younger kids, but it somehow manages to attract older kids as well -- and is often a guilty pleasure for their parents too. My kids are fans of Neopets from way back, and I confess to keeping a few of the adorable little pets for my very own. So what's the attraction here? Let's take a look!
MMO Family: A parent's look at World of Warcraft
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family, from tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate online games for everyone in the family. World of Warcraft? Yeah, even folks who don't play video games at all have heard of this behemoth of MMO gaming. With 12 million subscribers worldwide, the WoW phenomenon has practically come to define an entire generation's worth of MMO gaming. While it's designed for teens and up, the game is so ubiquitous that you wouldn't have to dig far to find players of all ages, including many teens but also younger children as well. With a new expansion, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, due for release on December 7th, plenty of kids (and grownups) will be angling for WoW in their holiday stockings. The question is: Is WoW a good fit for your kids? With good preparation and consistent parent moderation, it can be -- but if you don't play the game yourself or you take a more hands-off approach to gaming, you may want to wait until your little goblin- or worgen-to-be is well into the teen years. Join us after the break for an insider's look at WoW for younger children and teens.
MMO Family: A parent's look at LEGO Universe
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family, from tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate online games for everyone in the family. Most kids who play video games have at least seen one from the LEGO franchise. There are a ton of them -- enough, in fact, for a whole page listing them. They're fun games; I'll bet you've played at least one of them, at least in bits and pieces in a demo somewhere. After all, who doesn't love LEGOs? Still, there was a decided "ho-hum" reaction among my team of young playtesters when I announced we were going to test the ropes of the brand new LEGO Universe MMO. Oh sure, they were willing enough, but it seemed there was always something shinier and more appealing to play on any given day than the game about good ol' LEGOs. Until they played LEGO Universe -- and had a (brick-)smashing good time.%Gallery-105603%
MMO Family: A parent's look at Lord of the Rings Online
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family, from tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate online games for everyone in the family. Lord of the Rings Online went free-to-play last month, opening its doors to a much wider audience. This new business model makes it a fun new option for gaming families who passed it over previously due to the cost of subscription fees for multiple family members. LotRO has the advantage of a backstory loved by parents and kids alike, not to mention a crafting system that rewards interdependence, a beautiful world, and accessible system requirements -- but is it a good fit for families with younger children?
