Should I Let My Kid Play An MMO?

Unless the weather is failing you right now, you probably noticed the snow outside. Winter is coming, and with it the tides of holidays. Maybe your kids have asked for something. Maybe you’ve said no because no one their age has any idea how to wield a katana. But your kids want gifts and you want to make them happy. So what about a big MMORPG, a gift that doesn’t stop giving?

Then again, what monster sends their child to *gasp* THE INTERWEBS!?!? Well, my parents did.

I still remember the Wintervale when I finally had a World of Warcraft account. I was a dumb ten year old who wanted a human-looking character for reasons I can’t remember, and so I made a Blood Elf hunter. My parents still wanted to supervise me, but it wasn’t long before I could explore the wondrous world of Azeroth on my own.

Fast forward a couple of years and I wonder: Am I the rule or the exception? Should you allow your child to play an MMO, or is that a terrible idea? In the festive spirit of consumerism let’s decide if your child is ready.

First, a couple of ground rules. One: You are the parent/guardian of some tiny person and you are the final word on if I’m right or wrong with regards to said tiny person. Two: A subscription game means you are prepared to lose some money when your kid decides to squander the monthly payment on one day (guilty). Three: You have played the game before. Your child may find different people and a very different community, but you have a general idea of what he or she is getting in to.

Now for a question: Does your kid offer personal information with no filter? If yes, then you probably don’t want to put that idi-...—wonderful ball of social energy on the internet just yet. It’s a sad truth, but there are creepy people on the internet looking to fulfill some dangerous psychotic need. Go ahead, look it up. It’s a lot easier to find than stories of it not happening. If you understand the danger then it’s about as easy to avoid as quicksand (that really seemed like it would be a bigger thing). But it takes a while for kids to gain a healthy dose of distrust, and until that happens you should not give them an MMO.

If you answered no to that question, then the kid is probably safe on the internet and we need to find out what the game would be to them. Providing your discretion, the kid may be able to go online, but what happens when they’re finally in the game? Will they appreciate the gameplay or will they wonder why they can’t turn god mode on? Will they build stats for the class or will they pick the one with more green numbers? Will they accept that death happens in these games or are they going to start screaming and yelling? I was bad at WoW until I finally got to Northrend, where I came to understand the stats on each item and finally achieved mediocrity. Now these are not deal breakers (except for screaming. Do not play a video game if you’re going to scream), but your kid will get more enjoyment from a game that they understand. But they will also get a lot of enjoyment from a social game.

I did not like WoW that much. I could go into depth about it, but mostly there were some design choices that I didn’t find fun. What I did find fun was playing with others. To my family, WoW represented a way to gather in a time when distance separated us. I had some trouble appreciating this until I started playing Guild Wars 2, but MMOs can be bolstered by a sense of community.

Now maybe not every child finds the sociality of MMOs appealing, but it’s a wider demographic than you might believe. Introverts, people that prefer to be alone and keep to themselves? They can thrive in MMOs. Not because they have enough alone time but because they can control whether or not they interact with someone in the game. I should know, it’s one of the things that I love about MMOs. I always had trouble with kids in public school because I was forced into being social. But online, an introvert isn’t forced into anything. They can choose to friend or ignore anybody on a whim, and it’s amazing. I can hop on GW2 right now and say hi to all my online friends and no one needs to know why I’ve been off for a month (College is the worst thing ever). I could also hop on and say absolutely nothing, to anybody, and still enjoy the game. If you have an introverted child, I strongly recommend giving them an MMO so that they have a social environment that they can define.

So we’ve talked about a bunch of stuff you might want to consider, but what games can this site recommend? Well, here’s a list of some games from our various writers. Enjoy, and have some happy holidays:

Kid Friendly MMOs:

Wizard101
Pirate101
AdventureQuest Worlds
Runescape
Lego Worlds
Trove
Spiral Knights
Fantage

For a more in-depth overview of MMOs for kids head to the post "Kids Friendly MMOs and MMORPGs."