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What is World of Warcraft?
World of Warcraft (also known as WoW) is a popular MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game). World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG today, with nearly 12 million monthly subscribers.
To play WoW, one must buy the game online or through a local retailer. The box comes with an authentication code needed to set up your account online. Buying the game gives you a free month, but after that each player must pay a monthly subscription fee.
Concerns for Parents
- WoW was given a Teen rating by the ESRB for blood, suggestive themes, use of alcohol, and violence, and therefore may not be appropriate for children and young teens.
- Considered to be moderately violent, the game involves a great deal of fighting. While the battle scenes aren't horrifically graphic, blood is often shown and blows are accompanied by appropriate sound effects.
- WoW is known for its superb, artistic graphics. While this makes for awesome gaming, this also means that some of the characters and creatures may be frightening for young children.
- Many of the female characters are scantily clad and sexually suggestive.
- Alcohol is referenced throughout the game. Many quests involve obtaining alcohol, which characters can consume in pubs. WoW characters can even get drunk, which makes the screen blurry for a short period of time.
- WoW allows players to chat with other gamers. This creates the potential for cyberbullying and puts your child at risk for exposure to inappropriate language and material.
- Like many MMORPGs, World of Warcraft can be addictive. The nature of the game often fuels addictive and obsessive behavior because the more time one spends consistently playing, the farther one can progress. In other words, WoW is hard to play for short bits at a time—serious gamers will play for hours at a time.
How Can I Keep My Child Safe?
- Decide whether or not World of Warcraft is appropriate for your children. This will take a bit of research on your part. We invite you to start by reading the reviews and information in the section below. From there, you may want to play the game by yourself or with your child to familiarize yourself with the game's overall feel and assess the possible safety risks.
- If you do allow your kids to play World of Warcraft, set reasonable time limits and stick to them. Internet gaming addiction is real, and it can have terrible social, emotional, physical, and educational effects on your child if you allow such an addiction to develop.
- Make use of the parental controls that World of Warcraft has made available from the account management section of the game's website. Familiarize yourself with what you can and can't do and make sure your child understands the restraints placed. For more information visit the parental controls FAQ.
- If you're worried about in-game chat, voice chat can be turned off using parental controls and text chat can be subjectively turned off in-game. Furthermore users can report inappropriate behavior by other gamers to in-game administrators also known as GM's or Game Masters.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read the Wow website's General FAQ page.
Here is a review written by The National Institute on Media and the Family.
How to quit the World of Warcraft? http://www.ehow.com/how_2222786_quit-world-warcraft.html
