World of Warcraft - Please explain

As a fairly typical middle aged female, I haven't played this.

However, I need to know some things about it.

1. I believe it is age restricted. Is this 'tick a box' to confirm you're over 18, give your date of birth or what?

2. The content is unsuitable for young people; I assume it is violent or is there more?

3. When playing it are you playing against others online? Is there any social netorking within the site? Can players contact each other outside the immediate context of the game-play?

Thanks for your help

World of warcraft is a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) as a player you play against two types of players, the first NPC (non player character) these are controlled by the computer and the other type are real human beings sat at a computer somewhere in the world.

As far as I know there is no age restriction although under a certain age you need parental consent (correct me if i'm wrong).

There is violance in the game but no where near as much as most games today.

Players can chat and talk to each other as well as join groups called guilds. You have the option of ignoring people and the game also includes a swear filter.

Hope that answers your questions, I'm sure many people on here can give you a detailed description.

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Originally Posted by bladedanny

World of warcraft is a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) as a player you play against two types of players, the first NPC (non player character) these are controlled by the computer and the other type are real human beings sat at a computer somewhere in the world.

As far as I know there is no age restriction although under a certain age you need parental consent (correct me if i'm wrong).

There is violance in the game but no where near as much as most games today.

Players can chat and talk to each other as well as join groups called guilds. You have the option of ignoring people and the game also includes a swear filter.

Hope that answers your questions, I'm sure many people on here can give you a detailed description.

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Thanks for that. +rep

It's the chatting bit that concerns me most.

What concerns you about it?

People are able to easily chat with any other player on the same faction as them so it is quite open.

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Originally Posted by siuko

What concerns you about it?

People are able to easily chat with any other player on the same faction as them so it is quite open.

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i work in a primary school - can't say more.

I would generally say that due to the open nature of wow and the ability for everyone to chat to everyone else it wouldnt be suitable for primary school children.

WoW is PEGI 12+. You will more-than-likely need to check a box to confirm you are 13 years or older upon account creation, or to confirm you are a guardian on behalf of a minor.

It's also a pay2play game. You'll most likely need to submit credit card details at some point, unless you're running a trial - at which point you'll probably be asked at the end of the trial.

It's a fully submersive world with an integrated combat system, and system-wide chat and messaging features. As far as I'm aware, the combat is not visceral. I'm not aware of any amounts of blood or gore, but I've not played it myself. You can fight both players and monsters/creatures.

There may even be a voice-chat system, I'm not entirely sure.

Given the complexity of the game, I would agree with the above post and say it's not suitable for primary children.

It's more of a plague than a game, though, in my opinion. ;)

Very good post Mako!! :)

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Originally Posted by Mako

There may even be a voice-chat system, I'm not entirely sure.

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Yes there is voice chat if you enable it :D

Thanks guys (+rep) :)

The combat is pretty much just "PG" nothing overly violent, it's more like cartoon violence.
However, It's the community that would make it unsuitable for children. Whist insults and swearing are against the EULA, It's impossible for the Gamemasters (Administrators) to police the system 24/7.

WoW is awesome and will steal your life....

It has text chat in game which you can talk to factions and groups and your nearby players. You can also use voice chat in party mode.

The game is not that violent but involves "questing" and killing beasts etc.

The game is a both a structured and unstructured live play role-playing game.

The easiest analogy is that you take a bunch of AD&D and WarHammer fans, give them a virtual playground to play in, the virtual characters have all the usual accompaniments associated with medieval life, assassins, witchcraft and wizardry, etc ... and throw in the idea of zombies, fictional races (some are monstrous) and the idea that people should band together to get what they want.

It introduces morally ambiguous decisions (ie the option to play the 'Horde' characters) but that is the next stage on from when people play cops and robbers I suppose.

Since this is all in a playground and people are wearing masks you have to accept that they can chat, argue, bully, get upset, get scared and even pretend to be people they are not. There are a number of net-play games out there that involve interaction with others you don't know and as well as educating children and parents about the web we also need to remember that other sections of the internet allow for online contact ... whether it is a nintendo DS, PS3 or PC.

As an environment for learning then I think there are a number of good things that can be learnt from it (and other RPGs). Team work, fair play, meritocracy, finances, skill building, etc .... but there are better ways of doing this.

Personally, I would say it is not right for primary pupils (PEGI 12+ covers that) but that even older students should involve their parents if they want to play.

Thanks GD ... it won't let me give you rep unfortunately. I always value your opinion though.

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As a fairly typical middle aged female, I haven't played this.

However, I need to know some things about it.

1. I believe it is age restricted. Is this 'tick a box' to confirm you're over 18, give your date of birth or what?

2. The content is unsuitable for young people; I assume it is violent or is there more?

3. When playing it are you playing against others online? Is there any social netorking within the site? Can players contact each other outside the immediate context of the game-play?

Thanks for your help

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It does have some scarier parts to the game, lots of skeletons, ghosts, beasts and devil/fiend like characters - I found some bits of the game eerie and a little spooky. If you look for images from the game for places like Duskwood & Stratholme it gives an idea of atmosphere/content. In terms of content, no blood, gore and guts - green stuff spills out on some of the characters animations - the generated content isn't scary but isn't suitable for primary school kids.

The game has a Friends system you can make friends and talk to each other much like IRC querying, it has the option to 'Party'/'Raid' with other members in an effort to work together to kill something.

It also has the opportunity to become part of a 'Guild', this is where you can play with like minded people and do these team based tasks. A guild has a big chat room with all the team members to discuss tactics, ideas and basically anything they want. A lot of guilds have forums off of the game, often members sign up to chat outside of the game. Often guilds will use voice chat programs like Ventrilo & TS2 to discuss tactics as it's quicker than typing when doing a 'raid'.

This is not suitable for a primary school child, the game is known to be very addictive and I've known personally people destroy relationships with how much they've played it. Even with chat moderation people can say what they want through symbols & 1337 speak.

My opinions above are based on playing it on/off since year 2 of university... it becomes a habit rather than enjoyable so I have to keep quitting the game, that's probably more of a reflection on my character than the game :(

@ElsieGee40 - You've got to spread the love a little more :)