Passin it on to the littluns

[Meat-Head]

Hello DDO Brethren and Sistren,


I'm a father of 4 boys. The 4th one is still hanging out in the womb. But, the oldest two are getting to where they can begin to do the RPG thing. (5 1/2 and 4).

So, for now, I've started doing "interactive story time" with them at bed time a couple of times a week. So far, I think I've done this like 5-6 times. They LOVE it.

Basically, I pulled a story line out of my butt, and they are the main characters. We don't roll dice (yet), but other than that, it's kinda like running a low-level rpg. I give them some narrative and then ask them what their character does/says. I give results. Etc.

The oldest chose to be a wizzy in the story. The 4 year old chose a cowboy. They've already saved a few villages from the evils of a goblin and a generic meanie named "Ol' Dark Dan". It's funny, I actually have to be careful about how "bad" the bad guys are. The 4-year old gets spooked if it gets too descriptive. Of course, we are usually doing this in a darkened room at bed time..


QUESTION:

For those of you who have gone through this kind of thing on some level, what did you do/are you doing? Any tips or even just stories?

Also, I'll take ideas for story lines. Ol' Dark Dan was captured for poisoning the lake and killing all the fish of a town who relied on it. Then he broke out of jail. But, they recaptured him the next night. THIS time they reinforced the jail cell so he couldn't escape.. There's also a motorcycle gang that roams the roads around here looking for stuff to steal led by a guy named "Big Eddie."

[Meat-Head]

Why does no one love the children!? Think of the CHILDREN!!!


I know some of you have kids that play DDO with you. What age did you start that? Do they play only with you or alone also?

[LordMond63]

I think I introduced my daughter (now 15) to MMORPGs when she was maybe 10 or 11 and the game was Dark Age of Camelot. She has played DDO a few times, but she prefers Sims because it has cheat codes.....

I think I would be hesitant to introduce kids the ages you have to these types of games not because they couldn't handle the games (honestly, not many baddies are all that nasty-looking in this game...maybe some of the undead types) but because of the gaming community as a whole. It's not specific to DDO so I'm not aiming this at our community in particular. But there are a fair number of 8-12 year olds who think that they have to channel South Park when they get on their micophones. Yes, my daughter had heard all of those words (probably from me as I think back....) by the age of 10 or 11 but that doesn't mean that she has to be treated to it while she's playing a game. Throw in the fact that she is a female gamer and that can- and did- lead to some other issues that she simply should not have to put up with. She can handle it pretty well now but she's had 4 or 5 years to mature a bit.
And, though I hate to point it out, sexual harassment does not have to be opposite sex.

My advice would be to start out on any of the young'un friendly games. My daughter, many years ago, played Club Penguin for a while. CP blocks the use of real names and personal information in the game and can even prevent communication with other players (other than emotes perhaps). The parent can set the parameters that their child is allowed. They employ in-game Guides to randomly monitor conversation and interaction and can temporarily suspend access (or even permanently ban repeat offenders) if lines are crossed. I'm just using CP as an example- if your kids are into swords and sorcery, there's got to be age-appropriate games in that genre as well. I know you want them to share your gaming passion- I know I did- but think of what games might look like in 6 or 8 years? I'd be willing to bet that what they'd see then might not be too advanced for "old" Dad to enjoy as well. I know I hope not.