Newsletter Discussion: MMOs for Kids?

There have been a number of MMOs geared towards a younger demographic, from Toontown to Club Penguin to Cartoon Network's upcoming FusionFall. But there is also a large number of 15-and-under players in more adult MMOs, and this can have an effect on both young players and the game-world itself

For this week's Newsletter Discussion, we want to know:

How young is too young to begin playing MMOs?

Remember, you can view past issues of the newsletter and sign-up for future emails here. Now voice your opinion in the comment thread!

Permalink

I think high school age (13-14) is as young as they should get for online gaming in general. I've played with some kids younger than that. Some were ok, even better than some adults, but they should be making better use of their time at that age, interacting with other kids their age IRL.

It really depends on the game. I let my kid play Guild Wars since the age of three as it's no monthly fees nature results in non-addicting gameplay. I would never let him play a game known to cause addiction. Of course no matter the age, any kid should play under strict parents' supervision. There are different educational benefits kids can receive from gaming in general but of course there are dangerous influences as well. So at the end it really depends on both the kid and the parents. Otherwise, I completely agree with Devlor that much better use of time is kids playing with other kids in real life.

well. i dont know, cuz if i had mmo's when i was under 14, chances are i woulda avoided alot of the horrible troubles i got into by "playing with other kids in real life" , so its a double edge sword realy, bad things can happen regardless of what your doing i guess.
What it realy boils down to is what Chavi_ said above, which is parental supervision, no kid under 14 should even be allowed online without parents keeping the all seeing eye on them, theres just to much they can easily be exposed to. Ether way though, i dont mind whos in the game im playing, cuz i usualy find that the higher lvl you get, the more mature the crowd becomes (kids dont lvl up?).

I don't think it's good. Kids should be outside playin with balls and shit. That's what breeds all that fat lazy Americans... sitting on their asses in front of the TV's

I have to say I have been amazed that an mmo targeted at a younger audience that was geared towards say one of the collectible monster franchises a la Pokemon, digimon etc... has never come about