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Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Is ‘World of Warcraft’ safe for my child?
By Aaron Barbee
Contributor Published May 24, 2009 Question: My son has been playing a game called World of Warcraft. The boy won’t get out of his room at all these days. What is it and should I be concerned?
Answer: World of Warcraft (WoW) is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). It is an online game set loosely in medieval times where you interact with other WoW players around the world. WoW is loosely based on the Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings genre. Basically it’s a highly addictive game and in my mind it is perfectly safe … with a few cautions.
World of Warcraft is not only an adventure game, but it’s also a social setting. While playing the game, you can chat and group up with other WoW players to achieve harder tasks. As long as your son understands the importance of not giving out personal information online, I would think that everything should be okay. It’s equally as important to keep personal information off social sites such as Facebook and MySpace as well.
There are a lot more MMORPG’s out there, but WoW was one of the first and definitely the most popular. Blizzard, which made World of Warcraft, is constantly adding new content to the game to keep it fresh. The game is designed to keep you hooked, and they’re doing a good job at it. World of Warcraft is an entire online world complete with continents, cities, professions such as leatherworking, blacksmithing, and other things to give the game depth.
I think it is safe and healthy to enjoy a particular game, but when it causes friction in the real world, that’s when something needs to be done. Your son will probably shoot me, but there are parental controls in which you prohibit the game being played at certain times. Go to www.worldofwarcraft.
com and you will see a section called Parental Controls. Log into your son’s account and you will be able to set the times he is allowed to play based on each day of the week. You’ll get the opportunity to set a different password on the Parental Controls so only you can change them.
I wouldn’t watch too much of the game, you may get addicted yourself and that will create a whole new set of problems!
Check out my Web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.
Contributor Published May 24, 2009 Question: My son has been playing a game called World of Warcraft. The boy won’t get out of his room at all these days. What is it and should I be concerned?
Answer: World of Warcraft (WoW) is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). It is an online game set loosely in medieval times where you interact with other WoW players around the world. WoW is loosely based on the Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings genre. Basically it’s a highly addictive game and in my mind it is perfectly safe … with a few cautions.
World of Warcraft is not only an adventure game, but it’s also a social setting. While playing the game, you can chat and group up with other WoW players to achieve harder tasks. As long as your son understands the importance of not giving out personal information online, I would think that everything should be okay. It’s equally as important to keep personal information off social sites such as Facebook and MySpace as well.
There are a lot more MMORPG’s out there, but WoW was one of the first and definitely the most popular. Blizzard, which made World of Warcraft, is constantly adding new content to the game to keep it fresh. The game is designed to keep you hooked, and they’re doing a good job at it. World of Warcraft is an entire online world complete with continents, cities, professions such as leatherworking, blacksmithing, and other things to give the game depth.
I think it is safe and healthy to enjoy a particular game, but when it causes friction in the real world, that’s when something needs to be done. Your son will probably shoot me, but there are parental controls in which you prohibit the game being played at certain times. Go to www.worldofwarcraft.
com and you will see a section called Parental Controls. Log into your son’s account and you will be able to set the times he is allowed to play based on each day of the week. You’ll get the opportunity to set a different password on the Parental Controls so only you can change them.
I wouldn’t watch too much of the game, you may get addicted yourself and that will create a whole new set of problems!
Check out my Web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.