Letting your kid visit Paragon City.

[srmalloy]

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.

 

Back before the shutdown, I was on an ITF with a parent and their five-year-old kid (the kid was doing a creditable job of keeping up and contributing; if I didn't know their age, I wouldn't have suspected from their play). The parent made a comment during the run that CoH was the only online game that they would ever think of letting the kid play without supervision. That one statement stuck with me long after the shutdown as a standard for the quality of the playerbase that no other MMO I've played has even come close to matching.

[Nyghtmaire]

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.

 

Back before the shutdown, I was on an ITF with a parent and their five-year-old kid (the kid was doing a creditable job of keeping up and contributing; if I didn't know their age, I wouldn't have suspected from their play). The parent made a comment during the run that CoH was the only online game that they would ever think of letting the kid play without supervision. That one statement stuck with me long after the shutdown as a standard for the quality of the playerbase that no other MMO I've played has even come close to matching.

 

Absolutely and wholeheartedly agree.

 

In fact, my son (just finishing 6th grade) just created his first character today. It was one of the happiest times we’ve spent together in some time. Seeing his creativity and joy just overflowing. Wonderful.

 

Thank you all for the good advice re chat tabs, etc... To the OP, I’m sure you have a good grasp of you child’s maturity. And if you are playing in the same room, it’s not only adequate supervision, but a great opportunity. As for a second computer, I’m constantly shocked at how little it takes to run this game if only you lower the graphics settings. My kid is playing on a real dinosaur of a laptop with no difficulties.

[PaxArcana]

As for a second computer, I’m constantly shocked at how little it takes to run this game if only you lower the graphics settings. My kid is playing on a real dinosaur of a laptop with no difficulties.

 

THIS, in so many ways.

 

Remember that CoH was first released in 2004, and even then, it was not on the cutting edge of graphics.  CoH is a game that can, and does, run on surprisingly low-end machines.  I would not at all be surprised to find that modern integrated graphics chipsets could handle CoH on Low or possibly even Medium settings.

[Redlynne]

City of Heroes is an EDUCATION ... for parents and children alike.  The worst thing you could do with this opportunity ... is squander it ... just like NC$oft did in 2012.

 

Don't make their mistake.

Give your kid the gift of a lifetime.

 

Give them the chance to DREAM WITH YOU.

[DSorrow]

I would not at all be surprised to find that modern integrated graphics chipsets could handle CoH on Low or possibly even Medium settings.

 

CoH minimum requirements:

    CPU: Pentium 3 or Athlon equivalent.

    CPU SPEED: 800 MHz.

    RAM: 256 MB.

    OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP/Vista/7.

    VIDEO CARD: 32MB Direct3D Card (GeForce 2+/Radeon 8500+/Intel 845G+)

    TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 32 MB.

    DIRECTX VERSION: 9.0 (included)

    FREE DISK SPACE: 2 GB.

 

Pretty safe to say it will run on a potato if you haven't taken a bite out of it.

 

To contribute some on this topic: I started playing online games on my own when I was 9 or 10. While it's worth noting that English isn't my native language so I barely understood a word back then which probably insulated me from some things for a year or two until I learned, I can only recall one nasty experience from my younger days when it comes to gaming. That one singular experience was dealt with easily by using the ignore function in that game, as my parents had fortunately checked the game I was playing and told me what to do in situations like that even if they didn't directly supervise my playing.

 

Other than that, I learned a lot by gaming: a new language, teamplay, dealing with all sorts of different people, communication with language barriers, optimizing/applied mathematics, hand-eye coordination, and so on. Most of all, I had a great time exploring worlds and playing these games with and without my RL friends. The only thing I can imagine that would've made this experience better was to play with my folks, but unfortunately their generation wasn't exactly the one to go for video games besides the odd racing game my dad would sometimes try.

 

Definitely let your kid play, but create a good environment to do it (you know your kid so you know what limits and freedoms are applicable). My experience in games probably shaped a lot in my life as my work is currently optimizing processes (who knows if I had ever discovered I enjoy this without min/maxing things in games), not to mention the benefits of leading teams/raids/dungeons regularly as a rather introverted person. What will your kid will discover in games: art, story-telling, min/max engineering or maybe something else equally interesting to them?

 

To echo some of the other posters here, definitely set up a new account for your kid. At some point in the future when you have the opportunity to get a second PC, it'll be awesome to be able to play together instead of continuing to share an account or starting from scratch.

[Vareos]

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.  :)

 

This point exactly. It's an experience to share with your children. If I recommended anything else it would be to close he chats for the time being incase something does slip in you didn't want him to see. The most are pretty mature and responsible in chats but now an again someone goes off the rails and mis-tell happens. I can't think of a better game to share with your children though be it son or daughter.

[NightReign]

My wife and I played CoH in its early years and my son was not even a year old. Now that it is back, he is now 12 and my daughter is 10. We let them play on their own accounts, but only if me or the wife are also on. We have a regular family super hero night as a team of four savings citizens and beating up bad guys, but only within their normal allotted screen time (which annoys my son because he has a serious case of altitis). We even set up a discord since the computers are in different rooms. They are having an insane amount of fun and it spurs a lot of conversation outside of game.

 

I believe that with some controls in place and the present eye of a responsible parent, allowing your kids to play CoH can be a fantastic family event.

[Chuckers]

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.

 

I remember Sister Flame and her "adventures!"  She gave me my profile tag line that I used for years: "You don't hit smiling monsters!"

 

[Man_From_AUNTIE]

:

...

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

 

...

Aaron Theiry might have something to say about that.

[justicebeliever]

:

...

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

 

...

Aaron Theiry might have something to say about that.

 

Hey, I arrested Aaron...If you killed him, that's on you...

 

Seriously though, I won't let my kid (to his eternal dismay) play the villain side, because I don't need him seeing villainy exalted.

 

We just did Aaron Theiry together (we both had the arc and just ran the missions at the same time), and he chose to kill Aaron and was disappointed I just gave him a pass and arrested him.  I'm glad most of the blueside doesn't work that way.

[Queen Nefertiti]

I play in many teams and my SG has a rule about no rude character names and be nice. To be honest this game has one of the best communities and most teams are pretty chill, especially if they know there is a minor playing. One of the good things is people have to type their comments rather than be on voice chat so obscenity is pretty minimal. On voice people get a bit hyped up and start shouting, but if they have to type they are usually too busy for more than a quick abbreviation of swearing. I was on helping a 12 year old new to the game and he was having fun running round and dying a lot. It was a bit of a learning curve for him but by the end of the first mission he had started to get the idea of teamwork. In the second mission he was alive all the way through and had a blast. I gave him half a million inf to buy enhancements and added him as a global friend in case he got into trouble. I'm not unusual doing this, I was helped enormously when I first started on live and was given a large chunk of inf to spend as well. Pay it forward is my motto.

[Kodo]

My son is 10 so here goes:

 

1st off, he's been gaming mmorpgs since he was 5. I let him play The Sims 3, he's really good at Age of Empires, he's bet most story lines in Skyrim and recently he beat GTA5. Etc. Etc. Etc. I even punished him once by making him beat Star Wars the Old Republic MMO.

 

Patenting advice, take it or leave it:

 

You cannot control nor filter what your children will inevitably discover. They will learn about sex from other kids on the school bus. It will learn about drugs from others kids in school. They will learn every bad word in the world. You cannot stop this, nor should you. You cannot raise your child in a bubble. This is the age of information, at the touch of anyone's hands they can discover anything via the Internet. Parents who put a leash on their children in this regard, raise stupider children.

 

Despite all popular opinions about how to parent, the best thing that you can do is be your child's friend. That way when he does cross these Bridges of what's drugs, of what's a slut, of what is sex, Etc. Then you can be there to explain it in a way that you want to explain it. As opposed to a way that another kid his age interprets it and then explains it to your kid.

 

So rather shelter him, just go down that lane with him and answer his questions and encouraged his questions and when you answer his questions be honest and elaborate and make him feel comfortable so that he'll ask more questions in the future.

 

Children who grow up with computers are smarter than other kids. They have the world's largest library at the tip of their fingers. Socrates and Aristotle would shit themselves if they had that opportunity.

 

My son play City Heroes with me and every time we see a Super Chick running around in a thong he makes a fart sound lol. And then I'm like yeah that's a dude in real life how funny is that. And we laugh.

 

When he played Grand Theft Auto V he learned very quickly that you cannot break the law because the police will get you.  When he played Skyrim you learn the same thing.

 

We watch movies together all the time. He loves rock and roll and he loves metal and he knows that a lot of those people died from drugs. So instead of him learning that some Rockstar was cool and died on drugs And thinks that is cool because the dude was a rockstar and got all this information from school or wherever. Instead he gets that information from me. Like Chester from Linkin Park I told my son he died because he killed himself because he did a lot of drugs and that he's a fucking idiot. And now all six of his kids don't have a father. And I say this all the time, yeah X Rockstar was on drugs because he's a fucking idiot and now he's dead, and now his kids don't have a father oh, and he had all that money and all that success and he shitted away for drugs what a fucking moron.

 

So by doing this you guide them into the truth instead of them getting it or instead of them getting an obscured opinion of it from some retard at school.

 

Back to gaming.

 

Same thing here, play games with your kid. Let your kid play any game he wants, I highly encourage you to play with him, that way when sensitive subjects do come up and you can give a solid opinion on it and build his moral Foundation from that.

 

My son make Straight A's, he doesn't use cuss words, he's generally the most mature kid in his class, and he's good at a lot of things like guitar drums computer games, etc.  The only real way that we shelter him is from sexual content. If we're watching a movie or TV show and there's a sex scene then we make it funny we're like oh no close your eyes gross. But in 5th grade he's going to have sex ed and when that happens we're not going to say that anymore.

 

Right now his computer is in the living room where my computer is so he's in a environment where he can't look up shit without feeling uncomfortable. But after 5th grade sex ed happens oh, he's going to get a tablet and nature will occur.

 

So yeah dude don't be that guy, that dying breed of human failure, that shelters their children and as a result their kids grow up fucked up. People who shelter their daughters are raising whores. And people who shelter their sons raising drug addicts. That doesn't mean encourage your daughters to be whores nor does it mean to encourage your children to do drugs. What it means is open that door for them through conversations about what occurs in video games or movies or on YouTube or wherever, the news, open that door and talk about it with them so that you can build that Foundation of what whatever is occurring truly is.

 

Teenagers and adults don't like taking advice from authoritative figures. Generally the hate Authority so much that they'll do the exact opposite. Which is why at this age of 9 to 12 is so important to build morals around these sensitive subjects so that when they do Bloom, they bloom off of the base of your foundation. 9 to 12 is the age where they Now understand things but they haven't rebelled against authoritative of advice yet. That is the age to mold their morals. Not by force but by opinion and by philosophical conversations, using metaphors that they can understand, and the best way to come up with these metaphors is by using examples from things that you both do together like playing video games or watching TV shows. Doing these things together creates a friendship Bond. When they do Sprout into teenagers oh, they are not going to listen to their parents, but they will listen to their friends. They will listen to you if you force your opinion down their throat but then they're going to fucking hate you and you're going to miss out on ten good years of their life because you're an asshole who chose the whip instead of being their friend.

 

So guide him through the door, be honest, answer all the questions, and make things fun and funny, because you've got three years to do it. You got 3 years to Guide that vine to grow straight before the natural occurrences of puberty occur and that stake is removed and the little robot minded human becomes a self thinking entity. Once that occurs, the only people they're going to listen to are their friends. So start building that friendship Bond now and hope it sticks.

 

I also want to emphasize on the Sims 3 and that being one of the greatest games that a kid could play because it teaches them about life and responsibility and obligation.

 

Minecraft is absolutely amazing because it's one huge geometry game. If your kid plays that game he starts building asymmetrical buildings then call him out on it and be like dude that looks like crap it's asymmetrical. Then Google the White House or something to be like see see how they built this this is symmetrical that's why it looks awesome. Minecraft is excellent for kids.

 

Age of Empires also extremely excellent. 100% micro and macro economics.

 

Games like City of Heroes are just fun games. Most people are like oh my kids don't read books. I'm like did you even read that power do you even know what you're doing? If he's like where do I go (which he's not he's passed that stage), I'm like dude look at your map. He's on a quest and he's like what do I do, (again past that stage), Im like did you even read the quest? There's tons of reading these games and every time your kids starts a new game he's building an aptitude to learning new things which is entirely the design of the University system. It just creates a higher aptitude for learning.

 

The end

 

 

[justicebeliever]

My son is 10 so here goes:

 

1st off, he's been gaming mmorpgs since he was 5. I let him play The Sims 3, he's really good at Age of Empires, he's bet most story lines in Skyrim and recently he beat GTA5. Etc. Etc. Etc. I even punished him once by making him beat Star Wars the Old Republic MMO.

 

Patenting advice, take it or leave it:

 

<SNIP>

 

I also want to emphasize on the Sims 3 and that being one of the greatest games that a kid could play because it teaches them about life and responsibility and obligation.

 

Minecraft is absolutely amazing because it's one huge geometry game. If your kid plays that game he starts building asymmetrical buildings then call him out on it and be like dude that looks like crap it's asymmetrical. Then Google the White House or something to be like see see how they built this this is symmetrical that's why it looks awesome. Minecraft is excellent for kids.

 

Age of Empires also extremely excellent. 100% micro and macro economics.

 

Games like City of Heroes are just fun games. Most people are like oh my kids don't read books. I'm like did you even read that power do you even know what you're doing? If he's like where do I go (which he's not he's passed that stage), I'm like dude look at your map. He's on a quest and he's like what do I do, (again past that stage), Im like did you even read the quest? There's tons of reading these games and every time your kids starts a new game he's building an aptitude to learning new things which is entirely the design of the University system. It just creates a higher aptitude for learning.

 

The end

 

I am always cautious about framing my parenting as advice...I've raised one kid to adulthood (24) and working on another right now (9).  Anecdotal parenting advice is a gambler's game.  There are so many factors that go into raising a child, it's hard to determine the "right" set of parenting skills.  Even for parenting styles I generally agree with, I've seen kids fail out of school or with their own kids by age 18, or straight A student battling depression, or an awesome seemingly well adjusted kid who got decent grades, did 2 years of college and just got their first promotion.  And it all depends on what your definition of "success" is as far as child rearing goes...

 

When my 2nd wife and I got pregnant with our little one, I told her that the one thing every human being has advice on is parenting styles.  Even those who have never been a parent.  And no matter how you do it, people are going to tell you it's the wrong way.  I do it as well, if only in my head mostly

 

I'm not criticizing your advice at all (I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but much of it I do) and I really don't want to get into a "how to parent" discussion here. 

 

I do want to give +1 Inf however, for the great suggestions you made about Sims, Minecraft and Age of Empires.  My kid has played Minecraft and AoE (loves them both), so I will have to check into the Sims...And my kids experience with navigating and completing mission objectives were the same experiences your kid had as well...

 

 

[LeapingLemur]

I'm sad I missed so much of this thread and am just now getting here.

 

All 3 of my boys have played and two of them (17 and 26) play now. At one time our household had 5 CoH accounts.

 

If they are really young (like under 10), it's probably best to play along side them. This is what we did. Let people know you're playing with your child and how old the child is. If people are going to be dicks about it, find other people to play with. I never did have ANY trouble letting folks know one of my boys was teaming with us. People usually thought it was awesome.

 

Anyway, that's just my two cents.

[Chuckers]

:

...

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

 

...

Aaron Theiry might have something to say about that.

 

Statesman would disagree too... oh wait.. he can't....

 

[Abraxus]

I'll jump in and say that both of my boys played from the time they were around 8, and 10 respectively.  The older one didn't play CoH for long, after moving on to other things.  But, the younger one stuck with it, and eventually got to be a better player, with more in-depth knowledge of the game than me!  Now that it's back, that same kid, now 20, is giving me advice about how to make your first billion in-game, and how to properly slot my L40 Dominator. 

 

He learned a lot from playing in those years.  Analytical skills, the concept of using resources wisely, and having to make choices that benefit the present vs. those that will benefit long term.  Valuable stuff there.  He is a very smart young man, and I believe that his formative years playing CoH almost exclusively, will turn out to be one of the things that contribute to his eventual success in life.

 

So, for me, I say let them play.  Hopefully, when they are really young, you can play with them, to show them the ropes of the game, but also of interacting with other players.  What to do, what not to do.  Give them a good start, so that eventually, when they start playing on their own, you know you have given them a good start, with all the tools to be a great player, and not be taken in by anyone with potential ulterior motives.  We can't protect them from everything.  All we can do is give them the tools to make the right decisions when the moment comes.  If you do that, you have accomplished what a parent should be doing.  The rest should take care of itself.

[WanderingAries]

Something that often gets missed in the prep/worry of such things is that we learn from our surroundings and what we're intentionally taught. So if you teach the good and encourage the behavior, then they'll learn to lean towards those things.

 

As for the suggestions:

 

1) Create that Adult controlled email that's used for gaming accounts only;

2) Create that individual game account for them and let them have a say in its naming (as well as any alts);

3) Remember that you Can have multiple accounts on the same machine so that your stuff stays separate from theirs and can Easily be copied to a new machine; (there's a way to simply copy the whole game and play in minutes!)

5) Pre-Customize the chat / LFG / etc so that they're only talking with people you don't mind them playing with; Or not at all, that's up to you;

6) Any ripe potato will play the game so long as you don't mind lowering GFX; (if they've played the lego games, then they're fine)

7) Have fun and schedule time for everyone;

 

General suggestion:

Someone make a set of age-appropriate global chats that are parent moderated. AFAIR you can mute people who are abusive in the chats. I'd also suggest that these chats Require the parents to somehow be on a roster of sorts where the their global soft-links so the childs so that mods can know who to send in-game issues to. A sort of volunteer nanny system. This would be an Entirely community based thing and as such require a group approval system I'm sure to get established.

[PaxArcana]

General suggestion:

Someone make a set of age-appropriate global chats that are parent moderated. AFAIR you can mute people who are abusive in the chats. I'd also suggest that these chats Require the parents to somehow be on a roster of sorts where the their global soft-links so the childs so that mods can know who to send in-game issues to. A sort of volunteer nanny system. This would be an Entirely community based thing and as such require a group approval system I'm sure to get established.

 

Better idea:

 

Back before Sunset, I was part of a lite-RP supergroup whose theme was "teen superheroes": Young Paragons.  The characters, not the players, but ... that's still not a shabby idea:  a supergroup for younger players, and their parents/guardians/etc.

[justicebeliever]

General suggestion:

Someone make a set of age-appropriate global chats that are parent moderated. AFAIR you can mute people who are abusive in the chats. I'd also suggest that these chats Require the parents to somehow be on a roster of sorts where the their global soft-links so the childs so that mods can know who to send in-game issues to. A sort of volunteer nanny system. This would be an Entirely community based thing and as such require a group approval system I'm sure to get established.

 

Better idea:

 

Back before Sunset, I was part of a lite-RP supergroup whose theme was "teen superheroes": Young Paragons.  The characters, not the players, but ... that's still not a shabby idea:  a supergroup for younger players, and their parents/guardians/etc.

 

For my kiddo, I'm not keen on either idea...

 

If he was "hypothetically" less than 10, I really wouldn't want him sending chats yet to anyone...He has no need to, and I don't want to encourage him to reach out to strangers on the web yet...

 

And "if" he really, really, really wanted to build a SG base he would be crushed to leave our little SG.

 

I'm not knocking the intent of the ideas...just for my parenting style, it would be a no-go...

 

I'd love to team with someone else's parent/kiddo combo though...that sounds like fun.  So if there was a channel for parents who are currently playing with their kids, I'd be down for me joining it and we could share when we are on with our kiddos and team up...Thoughts?

[Ironblade]

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

Right, hypothetical kids.  Let's see, my nephew is currently 12 and he played CoH with his parents while the game was still live.  How long ago did it shut down?  :)

[Zep]

Every kid is different.

 

I remember on live - I was working a late shift and would be up till pretty late in the morning before bed - I ended up with this same kid on my team a few times -- somehow it would always work out it was a timed mission. Having him there was much much worse then not having help. People would get quite frustrated - no one ever said anything mean to him/her the community was too good for that though.

 

My point it isnt just about the kid -- please make sure your not unleashing a horror upon the world. Second point with very few exceptions this is the best MMO community I have ever experienced.

 

How did we know the playing was a young kid? Because he would leave all a sudden because it was time to go to school now at the same time every morning. I remember sending tells to a couple of frustrated team leaders its ok he is leaving in 5 minutes - having experienced this player enough times to know when he was leaving. Been 7-8 years but I am thinking 1st or 2cn grade.

[Hyperstrike]

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

Right, hypothetical kids.  Let's see, my nephew is currently 12 and he played CoH with his parents while the game was still live.  How long ago did it shut down?  :)

 

2012.  So about 8.5 years ago.