Letting your kid visit Paragon City.

[Generator]

Hey,

 

So I've got a son who knows that I got back into the superhero game I used to play when he was teeny-tiny.  He's nine now.  As a family we're not really into video games, the kids don't have a console, and really COH is the only thing I play myself.  We moved last week, and he helped me hook up my desktop PC and the router.  As a thank-you gesture to The Boy, I launched COH, showed him how to move around, and let him take my Rad/Rad Brute and stomp a few Skulls in Kings Row (said Brute is like level 34, so this was a pretty lopsided fight).

 

Last night at the dinner table, he asked me if he could "Play more Paragon City."  I was like, "Uh yeah, sure, if Mom agrees it's okay."  He didn't follow up on that after dinner, but I'm not going to ignore this.  I was thinking I'd let him make his own character (on my account) he can have for himself.

 

So, open question to any parents with kids in that age range.  You think there's any reason I shouldn't let him play?  Anything you do to "secure" things for them?  (I was thinking maybe always leave his char hidden, and/or make his LFG message read something like, "Hi, I'm 9, and my dad is sitting with me as I play.")  Any other general advice?

 

Later on,

Generator

[PaxArcana]

If you can get a second computer that will run CoH .... give the kid his own account, and let him play _with you_.

 

On the one hand, that would let you supervise any contact he has with strangers in the game.

 

On the other hand, that would give you and him something fun to do together, and as he moves towards middle-school age, that's not an opportunity to discard lightly.  :)

[Sidious]

my son was 7 when he started during Live. I say go for it. There are profanity filters in game and should be good enough protection.

 

Honestly, I'd make him his own account. That way when and if you do buy a second computer (even a 5 yr old comp can run this game) he'll be ready to roll and he and Dad can take down some baddies together.

[Generator]

If you can get a second computer that will run CoH .... give the kid his own account, and let him play _with you_.

 

That's definitely something to consider going forward, but isn't the setup I've got right now.  We go to Paragon City with the PCs we have, not the ones we want.  :)

[Generator]

my son was 7 when he started during Live. I say go for it. There are profanity filters in game and should be good enough protection.

 

Honestly, I'd make him his own account. That way when and if you do buy a second computer (even a 5 yr old comp can run this game) he'll be ready to roll and he and Dad can take down some baddies together.

 

That's a possibility.  Do you know offhand if you can make a second Homecoming account off the same email address?

[Adeon Hawkwood]

That's a possibility.  Do you know offhand if you can make a second Homecoming account off the same email address?

I don't know either way, but if you can't it's pretty trivial to setup a new Yahoo or GMail account just to use for it.

[PaxArcana]

If you think you might EVER have that second PC, then, start the new account right now.

 

Picture your son, age 11 or 12, learning that to continue playing City of Heroes he'll have to start all over again, and give up both his 50s, or whatever.

 

Not gonna be a happy kid, don't you agree?  :)

 

...

 

As for needing another email address: just make one with GMail, and keep the login credentials so you can check on it yourself until he's old enough to be trusted (when he's, say, 40 or 45 .... right? :D )

[PaxArcana]

Oh, also: join my Global channel, Temporary Powers.  When your son is playing, just give a holler - let folks know a 9yo is actually playing - and I/we will do our best to put together a kid-friendly team for him.  :)

[plewto]

My son was about that age when he started but it was back on live. He was the one that actually told me about Homecoming and the CoH resurrection. He's currently a level 50 Arachnos Soldier so, just keep that in mind you could be starting a villain out.

[Generator]

As for needing another email address: just make one with GMail, and keep the login credentials so you can check on it yourself until he's old enough to be trusted (when he's, say, 40 or 45 .... right? :D )

 

Hell, I'll be 49 next month and I don't trust me with email.  :D

[Sidious]

my son was 7 when he started during Live. I say go for it. There are profanity filters in game and should be good enough protection.

 

Honestly, I'd make him his own account. That way when and if you do buy a second computer (even a 5 yr old comp can run this game) he'll be ready to roll and he and Dad can take down some baddies together.

 

That's a possibility.  Do you know offhand if you can make a second Homecoming account off the same email address?

 

I made one for my son when he was that age and kept control until he was in middle school. by then he was already drifting into WoW and console gaming, and having rode the public school bus he had been exposed to more swear words than I could count.

 

If you are there with him if he has any questions he can ask you right there, and show off his super cool, awesome, whatever monstrosity he makes with the costume creator.

If you are worried about him that much be there when he plays.

He'll ask you questions and you'll see that look on his face as he blasts people.

Win / Win if you ask me.

[Without_Pause]

Maybe I missed something, but I feel like you can have two game accounts under the same forum account. I know I made multiple accounts for dual-boxing and don't recall needing multiple e-mail address.

[justicebeliever]

That's a possibility.  Do you know offhand if you can make a second Homecoming account off the same email address?

 

You cannot have a 2nd HC account with the same email.  I tried when I create my kiddo's HC account.

 

What I've done is some of what has been suggested - I marked him in LFG as "WILL NOT TEAM".  I removed most of the chat tabs (He has Team, Local, Broadcast, and the Sys/Rewards/NPC/Cut Scene channels as well.

 

Where we will differ Gen, is that we do have a second computer, so he can play at the same time as me, and I am always on a team with him.  That way I can monitor him.  And when we team with others, I let them know he's my kiddo, since his playstyle is still pretty rough...

 

Also, we are talking about hypothetical kids, since the ToS prohibit anyone under 13 from playing.

[_NOPE_]

Hey,

 

So I've got a son who knows that I got back into the superhero game I used to play when he was teeny-tiny.  He's nine now.  As a family we're not really into video games, the kids don't have a console, and really COH is the only thing I play myself.  We moved last week, and he helped me hook up my desktop PC and the router.  As a thank-you gesture to The Boy, I launched COH, showed him how to move around, and let him take my Rad/Rad Brute and stomp a few Skulls in Kings Row (said Brute is like level 34, so this was a pretty lopsided fight).

 

Last night at the dinner table, he asked me if he could "Play more Paragon City."  I was like, "Uh yeah, sure, if Mom agrees it's okay."  He didn't follow up on that after dinner, but I'm not going to ignore this.  I was thinking I'd let him make his own character (on my account) he can have for himself.

 

So, open question to any parents with kids in that age range.  You think there's any reason I shouldn't let him play?  Anything you do to "secure" things for them?  (I was thinking maybe always leave his char hidden, and/or make his LFG message read something like, "Hi, I'm 9, and my dad is sitting with me as I play.")  Any other general advice?

 

Later on,

Generator

 

Other than "because it's against the Terms of Service"? No. Hmmm... I wonder if a Terms of Service is worth anything if it's unenforced... interesting legal question...

[justicebeliever]

Maybe I missed something, but I feel like you can have two game accounts under the same forum account. I know I made multiple accounts for dual-boxing and don't recall needing multiple e-mail address.

 

You can't.  Once you create your game account login, it becomes read only - https://forums.homecomingservers.com/account/

 

There is no option to add a 2nd account.

 

[Generator]

Other than "because it's against the Terms of Service"? No. Hmmm... I wonder if a Terms of Service is worth anything if it's unenforced... interesting legal question...

 

Interesting point.  I'll be honest I hadn't considered the TOS.  Thanks to both you and justicebeliever for pointing that out.

[justicebeliever]

Other than "because it's against the Terms of Service"? No. Hmmm... I wonder if a Terms of Service is worth anything if it's unenforced... interesting legal question...

 

Interesting point.  I'll be honest I hadn't considered the TOS.  Thanks to both you and justicebeliever for pointing that out.

 

Generator - let's play hypothetical.  If you "hypothetically" allowed your kid to play, there is no way for HC to know that.  The ToS are there to protect HC, should YOU claim that they let your kid play and your kid was harmed because he decided to spam chat his personal email, address, or phone #.  It's a legal requirement HC has to follow to comply with Federal Law, but not because it's their personal philosophy.  And I am extremely dubious they would spend hard $$ trying to do anything about it.  I mean I wouldn't let me hypothetical kid go around spamming that he's 9 in team chat or anything, but seriously, I don't think it's a bigger deal than going 60 in a 55MPH zone.

[Generator]

Very valid point, JB. I'm just saying, it is literally the first time in my life the TOS to anything has made me say, "Hey, wait a minute, that's actually relevant to me."

[Shazzie]

Generator:

 

I can't speak from experience as I chose to never have children, but I've seen my friend have her 4 year old daughter on her lap as she helps said daughter create characters for this game. I've seen the joy this little girl has in her characters, and I think it's a wonderful thing.

 

There was a post on the original game forums, a very, very long (and long lasting) post, "What my 6 year old has learned from CoX", about another daughter who started playing at about the same age as my friend's daughter is now, and what she learned over the years and how good of a thing it was, helping her learn to read and spark her curiosity and imagination and even how to work on teams. I haven't gone Wayback Machine to find the post on the old forums, but I did find someone reposting it on the Blade and Soul forums. It's a truly great read.

[Generator]

Oh yeah, Sister Flame, or something like that, right?  I'll take a read later.

[Shazzie]

Yes, exactly, Sister Flame! :D

[biostem]

The chat has been very friendly from what I've experienced, but you may still want to shut it off and perhaps create a custom window just for NPC chat, XP, and powers info, just to be safe...

[PaxArcana]

I made one for my son when he was that age and kept control until he was in middle school. by then he was already drifting into WoW and console gaming, and having rode the public school bus he had been exposed to more swear words than I could count.

Somewhat related to this .... when I was just fourteen (right about at the end of 8th grade, actually) my mother told me she was certain I already knew all the swears she'd ever heard, "and probably a few I haven't" but she'd make a deal with me: around her, her friends, and any adult family members, I would pretend not to know a single one, and in return, she'd pretent to believe me.

 

That last little twist of humor, coupled with not treating me like a little kid with an "or else" rule, really drove it home.  Even now, in my 40s, I find myself reluctant to swear around my mother.  :D

[madpoet67]

My sons were 7 and 9 when I got them there own account on live. My youngest mostly did it because Dad and big brother liked it, but the 9-year-old played for years. We mostly played together, but he did, quite often, log-on on his own.

 

All I can say is this:

 

1: CoH is a lot more "wholesome" than most games out there. Remember, no one ever dies; they just arrested.

 

2: In the immortal words of CSNY, "Teach your children well..." ...and you won't have to worry about what might happen in chat.

[ghost emoji]

I'd definitely mute most chat tabs, except game stuff like NPC dialog. Most content Blueside seems pretty safe for kids, less so Redside (there are some missions that have heavier themes so it might be harder for kids to process). My biggest concern would be other users but that should be ok if you're supervising him. I've seen costumes that could raise some eyebrows but they're not explicitly NSFW.

 

I don't know if you've talked to him about people on the Internet, but I'd do that. Explain that he shouldn't give out his personal information, though I'd also recommend telling him that if someone says something weird or scary to him he can talk to you (or if he sees something he doesn't understand or any upsetting content). CoH is probably a relatively nice place to get the hang of these basics, as far as things go.

 

I see some people introducing CoH to their kids and teaming with them. I hope it's still around when or if I have kids, it sounds really fun. Maybe CoH parents could talk to each other and make a group for them and their kids... the world's most heroic playdate!