Parents
Latest
Egg-man will teach you about PSN security
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has just launched a new website catered to parents looking for tips and tutorials on safe gaming for younger players. PS-PlaySafeOnline.com includes explanations of the PS3's parental control settings function, security features for registered PSN Online IDs, and advice on what to do when faced with online jerks. The entire site is wrapped around a strange (and way too cheery) Egg-man character, who seems to waver been non-threatening and subversively creepy. Our only real gripe? There is no glossary term for PlayStation Home's "Quincying" phenomenon. Everyone must be warned.
MMO Family: Hey, this looks like a kids' game
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. We've talked before about different ways to sniff out if an MMO is a good choice for your kids. What we haven't covered yet are the indicators that a game may not be a good fit for your family. In light of the long hours of freedom stretching before our kids when school's out (and the fact that parental oversight is more likely to be lenient, if not downright indulgent, during the holidays), we decided some yellow-light signals might be in order. Being a gaming parent sometimes makes it tougher, not simpler, to choose the right games for kids. Constant exposure to gaming news and game names can give us a false sense of familiarity. We build assumptions about games based on what we know about the companies that produce them. What we think we know actually makes it harder to spot what we're not clued into at all.
MMO Family: Balancing games with the rest
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family. From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. Let's get balanced. With MMOs, that can sometimes be easier said than done. The same qualities that make MMO gaming such an easy hobby to enjoy – convenience, multiple layers of involvement, immersion, sociability – are the same qualities that make it so easy to overindulge. After you've been at it long enough, though, you begin to realize that you can dip in and out of different games and different gaming styles as your life evolves. Dark Age of Camelot kept me in touch with my guildmates during the ragged, 24-hour days of my daughter's first months of life. I ground EQ XP like a trooper when she grew old enough to start sleeping like one (a trooper, that is). Once she became interested in handling her own nocturnal drinks and visits to the bathroom, I dove with abandon into hardcore raiding in World of Warcraft. When work began beating down my energy level more nights than not, I began dabbling with achievements and meta-gaming. And none of that touches on all the games my kids have splashed their way in and out of over the years. It's an evolving patchwork – and that's what I'm encouraging you to develop for your own gaming family.
MMO Family: Virtual worlds for kids
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. Nestling somewhere in between MMOs and social networking, virtual worlds are a virtual sandlot for millions of kids worldwide. Think avatar-based chat and mini-games alongside other kids of the same age range and interests, and you'll catch the appeal of these kid-friendly destinations. While a gaming parent might consider virtual worlds mere training wheels for games still to come, kid-friendly virtual worlds seem to fit the attention spans, chatty nature and niche-y interests of kids to a T. The sheer variety of worlds appealing to children makes it easy for kids to find a spot where they'll want to hang out. As of early 2009, kids could choose from 112 virtual worlds designed for children and teens, according to Engage Digital Media, with more than 80 new worlds under development. The numbers of kids who've found a virtual home in these worlds rivals even the fat figures of MMO big dog World of Warcraft. Research firm eMarketer estimates that in the United States alone, 8 million kids hung out in virtual worlds regularly during 2008; that number is projected to swell to more than 15 million by 2013.
Breakfast Topic: Are you in a parent-friendly raiding guild?
Recently, I wrote about the raiding as a parent and many of the commenters mentioned that they belong to raiding guilds that are extremely family friendly. These guilds are made up of parents who have similar schedules and little ones who may interrupt at inconvenient times. I knew these guilds existed, but I didn't think they were very common. In fact, I thought they were rare and wonderful things, like playgrounds without graffiti. It is very important for parents, particularly of small children, to get some child-free leisure time in every day. But you are a parent 24/7, so no time is completely child-free. Most guilds understand when you have to AFK for emergencies and you don't make a habit of it, but few guilds want you to raid with them if your AFKing is more regular. Also, start times for parent-friendly guilds are post-bedtime which is often a couple hours later than guilds with child-free players who eat dinner at their desks while preparing for their raids.
WoW, Casually: Deciding to raid as a parent
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win. I finally hit 80 on my druid, Freja and since I am in The Spousal Unit's raiding guild, I was immediately able to put on some nice purples to help gear myself up. But gear myself up for what? Raiding has become much more accessible to those of us with limited playtime, but do I really want to go there? Raiding involves more than just a contiguous block of time during which you can participate in a large group activity. Raids need and expect quite a lot from its members – more than just showing up and downing a few objectives, like you can in AV. If you, like me, are the primary caregiver in your household and have many other pursuits vying for your time, you need to consider many factors before making the decision to wade into the endgame.
MMO Family: Parental control tools
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. If you've been following along here at MMO Family, you'll know we keep a pretty big toolbox. What works for one family won't fit another, so we believe in offering a lot of different options. You can't possibly use every tool at once -- or maybe you could, although you probably shouldn't. You'd be one busy parent if you attempted to wield all 17 internet safety tactics at once for every child, every day. You'd never have time to actually log in and play if you ran every game screening technique known to man ... Treat all these tactics like a buffet, and load up your plate with the ideas you think fit your family's taste. That said, we've got another big tool for the box this week: parental controls. These settings on your computer, game consoles and individual games let you limit access to game features you don't want your children to use. You can use parental controls to determine what games your kids play (and block those M-rated games borrowed from the friend at school), who they're playing them with and when they're playing them.
MMO Family: When enough is enough
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. Whether yours is the kind of family with "screen time" limits or the type that takes a more laissez-faire approach to logging in, there comes a point when enough is enough. Plenty of pixels and ink have been devoted to the debate over whether or not internet and gaming overuse should be considered an "addiction." What we're here to discuss is how gaming affects your family. As parents who game, we should be in a unique position to appreciate, respect and guide our children's attraction to games. But sometimes in the crush of day-to-day living, it's easy to let those last few minutes slip into half an hour ... past an hour ... into the evening ... into a habit that's begun eating away at family balance. To help parents recognize when their children's gaming may have passed what's reasonable and productive for them as individuals, we touched base with psychiatrist Dr. Kourosh Dini (author of Video Game Play and Addiction: A Guide for Parents and himself a gamer). Statistics on gaming use, he explains, show that most gamers manage to balance gaming with their daily lives without negative consequences. "In fact ... sometimes what one can gain from a game is quite profound," he observes. "The person's mind and the video games together set the stage – either for benefit or for detriment." A gaming schedule that suffocates one child's motivation and energy might buoy another through social problems at school. Our mission: to keep the mix healthy, productive and fun.
MMO Family: The family that groups together
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family. From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. Now that we've established why and how to stay plugged into your children's gaming interests, some general internet safety rules for kids and a variety of ways to choose games that are suitable for your family, you're probably ready to log in and get some XP. But if it's the whole family we're trying to consider here, we're not quite buffed and ready to pull. Gaming for kids and gaming with kids are two different things. Have you considered the benefits of fitting both into your gaming family? A gaming family has a lot in common with a rich, well developed MMO. You can solo. You can group. You can team or raid. You can quest, and you can craft. You can go PvP, stay PvE or tuck yourself into a quiet corner to roleplay or socialize. And just as you can cherry-pick your activities according to your interests within a single game, you can mix and match games, what you do within each game and different configurations of groups and partners within your family. There's no law that states that kids must play "children's games" and adults must play "mature" fare. Your kids may be jonesing to play the games they've grown up watching you play – or they may find your enraptured state over the economy of EVE Online utterly stultifying. Cobble together whatever mix of high/low, adult/kiddie gaming everyone finds most enjoyable.
MMO Family: Con your games like a pro
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family.When I first started playing MMOs in the very earliest days of EverQuest, I never quite understood my husband's rantings about the con system (i.e. to "consider" a monster's levels in relation to the player's). He can only take on light blues? Say what?! My magician's pet was putting down dark blues and whites while I ran to the kitchen for a drink. What was his problem, anyway? Unfortunately (for my husband and monks everywhere), no matter what they say, what's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander. And when it comes to choosing MMOs for your family, what's appropriate for one child and one family might be off the rails for another. Like keeping kids safe on the internet, the best strategy for choosing suitable games is a combination of tactics tailored to your family's likes, dislikes and needs. How can you best con the games your kids are begging to bring home?
MMO Family: 17 internet safety tactics for gaming families
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family. From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. "Be careful, there's nasty stuff out there on the internet." It's frustrating to hear this warning clarioned over and over again. We're gamers ourselves, after all. We know easily children can get in over their heads on the internet. "Be careful," intone the experts. "Watch carefully, and be very, very careful ..." But how? What must we be careful to do? To not do? What does "being careful" mean in actual practice? Specific online safety tactics – and putting them into practice without driving anyone crazy in the process – become an epic quest reward that always manages to stay two turn-ins out of reach. As we mentioned last week, your main objective as the parent of a young MMO player is to remain figuratively logged in to their activity. When children are online, parents cannot afford to be figuratively AFK. We're not suggesting you pull up a chair and some popcorn to faithfully oversee kids' every move online. No child needs direct supervision to kill 10 rats (or pick 20 flowers or befriend 30 fairies or frag 50 enemies ...). But young gamers do need your boundaries and your guidance (as well as your feedback, your enthusiasm and your support). Just how strong the boundaries should be will depend on the age of your child and the game that they're playing. Apply common sense, based on your own MMO experience, along with these 17 tactics for safe online gaming.
MMO Family: Log in to your kids' gaming interests
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family. From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. Are you leveling a pack of MMO gamers? Welcome to MMO Family, where we look at tips for families who love MMOs. Should you be keeping an eye on your kids while they game? (Yes!) How can you do that without seeming heavy-handed? (Stay tuned.) Are MMOs appropriate for young kids? (Sure!) Which ones? (Coming soon ...) What MMOs might your family enjoy playing all together? Should you be using parental control devices and tools? What are the best ways to quickly gauge the age-appropriateness of a game? There's a lot to cover when it comes to leveling a family of gamers, so let's breeze through the tutorial and tap our first topic. As the parent of a young MMO player, your main strategy is to remain figuratively logged in to whatever they're doing. There's no AFKing when it comes to parenting. Every parent knows they need to get involved in their children's extracurricular hobbies. We want to know what they're doing, who they're with, whether they're safe, whether they're enjoying themselves, if what they're doing is a productive source of life lessons as well a good, old-fashioned fun ... What you might not have considered is that kids' gaming deserves the same level of scrutiny and support as, say, their karate classes or violin lessons. Whatever captivates your child's imagination should also attract your parental periscope. We're not suggesting you plop down and dutifully watch every move as your child logs in to kill 10 rats (or pick 20 flowers or befriend 30 fairies or frag 50 enemies ...). Frankly, no gamer wants or needs a hall monitor. But young gamers do need your boundaries, your guidance, your feedback, your enthusiasm, your support – all the same things you'd bring to their piano recitals or baseball games.
Microsoft exec feels parents need to recognize consoles aren't 'toys'
UK regional Xbox director Neil Thompson feels parents still fail to grasp that modern consoles aren't "toys." Thompson, who is also a member of ELSPA, explained to MCV that "every responsible member of the video game industry" needs to play an active role in keeping the education process "front of mind." He is speaking specifically about letting parents know that each console has content filters and other specialized tools for them.So, sit down this weekend with a clueless parent (obviously, that wouldn't be a parent who reads this site) and educate them on responsible console ownership with children. Or, if you'd like to be more passive aggressive, send them the link to the ESRB's resource page on how to set up parental features.
Drama Mamas: Let the drama begin!
Let the Drama Mamas guide you through the sticky business of dodging drama, toward becoming that player everyone wants in their group. Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. Getting your own 15 Minutes of Fame is not a bad thing – except when it's for all the wrong reasons. Leave the drama, Dear Reader, to the denizens of GuildWatch. Introducing WoW.com's Drama Mamas, here to help you stay out of the wrong kind of spotlight. Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players. And just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. What to do, what to say? Let the Drama Mamas guide you: The polite way to share quest monsters When someone "accidentally" ninjas your loot When you accidentally ninja someone else's loot Handling the (nice but annoying) pest When your friend's significant other is an awful player What's your dilemma? Send your questions to the Drama Mamas at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. And now, on to the matters at hand ...
iPhone OS 3.0's parental controls to assuage some app submission woes?
Here's something that should help Trent reach a level of moderate contentment. Although we already knew that Apple was expanding its parental controls with iPhone OS 3.0 into the realm of TV shows, movies and App Store apps, a report today about the rejection of Makayama's Newspaper(s) app provides a good example at the ramifications of such alterations. According to iLounge, it was rejected due to a picture of a topless woman under the section for UK-based tabloid The Sun. The accompanying letter suggested a resubmission once 3.0 (and subsequently the parental controls) go public, which we take to mean that the questionable content will suddenly be okay for the App Store once it's behind the appropriate age gate. We won't know for sure until everything falls into place, but sounds like this is one part of the submission approval process that'll soon end up much less frustrating for developers. [Via 9 to 5 Mac]
German Social Affairs minister calls for higher rating on World of Warcraft
Germany is reeling from a shooting rampage committed by a 17-year-old, and as happens in many of these situations, politicians are looking for answers to why a young man would do this to his community. One of the answers they've found so far is videogames. While we don't actually know if the young man played games or not (or what he played), Germany's Minister for Social Affairs Mechthild Ross-Luttmann is calling for a few games, World of Warcraft among them, to be moved up from an age 12+ rating to an adults-only classification.The tie between the shooter and WoW is slim. But a new study over there says that 50,000 to 60,000 minors could be classified as addicted to videogames. And the combination of the two events is causing Ross-Luttman to call for stronger ratings on "addictive" games like World of Warcraft. It's also interesting to note that in the US, the game is rated T by the ESRB, which actually calls for children 13 and up to play it, one year older than the German standard.But of course there are two conclusions here. First, every parent needs to take responsibility for what their younger children do: if these kids are addicted, parents need to step in and make sure things get straightened out. As a former employee of a gaming retail store, I can tell you that ratings only go so far. The responsibility has to lie with the parents. And secondly, while Ross-Luttmann is apparently using the shooting to try and push this agenda against addiction, the young man involved in the shooting was experiencing deep depression, and had access to firearms that he probably shouldn't have had. Changing game ratings is fine, but it won't do anything to help when you've got much bigger problems to deal with first.[via GamePolitics]
The Daily Grind: Questions for the MMO parents in the house
Ah the joy of kids. Packing lunches, making sure homework is done, an endless round of extra-curricular sports/groups/events, and then there's the ever-present question of what to do for free-time together outside of all of the regular things you already do. Kids love new experiences, so as a parent, you may have considered MMOs as an option of something ever-changing and fun to play with your kids. As there are only a couple of us on staff here at Massively who are parents, our experience is limited to what we and our circles of friends have experienced as gamers with kids. Thus, this morning we thought we'd ask - if you're part of the MMO parenting crowd, do your kids also play MMOs? Are you constantly on the lookout for MMO titles that you and your kids could play together? Or do you keep the kids away from MMOs, preferring to give them console games on the Wii or 360, and instead keep online worlds as your escape? Let us know!
Study: Kids want their folks involved in gaming
A survey carried out as part of Microsoft's "Play Smart, Play Safe" campaign shows 60% of kids surveyed wish their folks would become more involved in their gaming. Of all of the children polled, 47% admitted their parents "never" involve themselves with gaming, which is just plain shocking, but not as surprising as the 47% of parents who admitted they sometimes allow their child to play a game rated for a higher age set. On top of this, only 60% of the parents questioned say they fully understand the rating system (are you serious?). However, 94% of the parents feel personally responsible for checking, so we guess that's something. In an effort to get the kids and 'rents together for some gaming, we've come up with with titles we think the whole family can enjoy. You can find the list past the break.[Via GI.biz]
Man arrested for assaulting girl he met in World of Warcraft
Here's an unfortunate World of Warcraft mention in the news: a man has been arrested and charged with all sorts of terrible things for having a relationship with a 14-year-old girl that he originally met in Azeroth. Daniel Joseph Czelusniak is 23 and from North Royalton, Ohio, and is being held by Pennsylvania State Police after having a relationship with the girl last year, meeting at a hotel and her house. He originally met her four years ago (when she was 10 but apparently claimed she was 14) while they were both playing World of Warcraft.Of course, this is hardly the game's fault: parents of young children need to closely supervise their activity online while they're doing anything, be it browsing the Internet or fighting dragons in Northrend. WoW itself is rated T by the ESRB, which means no children under the age of 13 should really be playing it without parental supervision anyway, and the added online component of the game should be even more of a red flag for anyone overseeing younger children. This is a great game (and you couldn't find a nicer community of people who play it), but there are the same dangers in this environment as anywhere else your child might go online.
Get factual with FusionFall guide for parents and gamers alike
We're definitely fans of FusionFall here at Massively. It's really easy to love an MMO that takes cartoons from your childhood and creates a wonderfully fun free-to-play experience around them. So when we saw this guide over at What They Play, we just had to share it with you, our readers.It's a fairly thorough guide detailing just about every key aspect a concerned parent -- or really anyone in general -- would want to know about what the game is, how you play it, how you sign up for it, how much it costs and much more. They even cover what the community is like and how safe the game is for younger players in general. It's a very impressive look at the title from a parent's perspective. So check it out or send it to any curious parental figures you know who may be scratching their heads about FusionFall.
