World of warcraft for 12 year old??

[preciouslillywhite]

My son is 12 this week and is BEGGING me for WOW. I say Definitely Too Young- he says (the old chestnut) All My Friends Are On It.

I doubt that very much-I doubt their parents would let em, also that they have time to play it...but does anyone else have any experience of this game and young teens?

If I don't respond is cos I'm just rushing out now..thanks for any help. I'll be back later!

Both Dh and Ds1 (12) used to play this.

I didn't feel it to be unsuitable for a 12 year old ( not violent, sweary like some games can be)

It did however, become far too time consuming at the detriment of Ds getting anything else done. He had a time limit put on it, but this invariably led to stroppiness and arguments.

We have now unsubscribed as it was not worth the hassle- It was also causing problems with me and Dh, but that's another story!!

Wilts- gazing into my crytal ball that is exACTly what I see!

..also I wouldn't get a look in for mumsnet

Noooo you can't let him have a game that will limit your mumsnet time

Deffo agree with Wilts there - there's nothing unsuitable for children of that age on there, but it is highly addictive.

I go on it sometimes and am quite strict with myself about the amount of time I spend on there, but if I were twelve I think I would find it well-nigh impossible to get off the computer! Maybe you should put it off until he's old enough to pay for it himself

Trouble with WoW is that you can't just play it when you want and for the length of time you want. From what I see of my (adult) friends who play it, you are pretty much tied into what your guild wants to do - which is a problem.

Get him to play Warhammer instead - real life interaction with people, rather than virtual

CMOYdibbler- Dh was always 'raiding' with his guild until the early hours of the morning

That was part of the trouble with Ds, he had to be off the pc by nine, yet would be stropping about not letting his guild down

It is so much better now we don't have it.

Ah yes - once you get into all that sort of thing I can see how it would really take up time.

I don't belong to a guild or anything like that so it's not a problem - TBH, I don't really like interacting with "real" people on WoW, I find it a bit odd. But I suspect I'm in the minority!

Of course, interacting with real people on Mumsnet is quite different!

Dh & I used to play it. We had our own guild with others that just played it fairly casually. Can be very addictive but you can set time limits on the accounts I think

There was also a MN guild set up, but I don't know if anyone still plays on it (haven't been on in ages)

Ta very much all for yr comments. Think will make ds shelve it for another few years- at least till he gets a pt job!-and hopefully by then he'll have found something more interesting to do than sit at a pc in a darkened room all day till his eyes bleed...-ie not follow his mother's example

once agin mn has given me a calm and reasoned response...looking on tinternet I either got baffled by gaming sites/alarmed by DM-type panic articles!

Ds plays runescape online, all swearing etc is banned and there are clear guidelines regarding online safety. He's ditched this though and has become trapped in the warhammer cult. It keeps him off the laptop, gets him out of the house and meeting other children but it's expensive. They buy plastic models (like airfix), stick them together and paint them, then play games with them. It's harmless but a bit of a cult IYKWIM.

He did runescape for ages- then he found a video on YouTube which contrasted the basic graphics of rs with WoW- after that he dumped runescape and has been nagging me about WoW ever since.

I do miss runescape tho...was harmless (and cheap) fun [siiiiiigh]

Ds say's WOW is really violent.
Games workshop do introductory lessons on Sundays, he could go and have a look. I prefer it to online games, it's far better to play with real people. It can get expensive though.

I know someone who is into painting the little warhammer men, and plays WoW and warhammer on line.

I wouldn't say who as DH would probably be embarassed.

WoW not unsuitable for 12, ditto warhammer online. They do take a lot of time though.

The warhammer little men/game thing is good though and they can go and hang around in the shop etc. A bit more sociable.

FWIW you don't have to be in a guild on warcraft although it does help at higher levels. He would probably be in a guild with his RL friends I'd have thought if they really are all on it...

Games workshops are great cults places, all the staff are CRB checked and really get all of the children involved. You can drop them off and go back for them in an hour or so (leaving a contact number). I normally pop next door for a peaceful coffee!!

??what's games workshops?
I ain't never heard of em!

It's where they sell warhammer. They have the shops in the cities, people buy models, they can make them/paint them/play with them in the shop, they also run clubs ranging from know nothing to expert.

www.games-workshop.com/gws/globalLanding.jsp?gotoGWSPage=http%3A//www.games-workshop.com/gws/home.js p

that sounds ok FluffyBunny, I'll see if he'll give that a go...tho fear the last thing he wants to do is meet RL folk and interact with them which is of course part of the problem...he's the shy retiring type and happier sat in front of a screen then talking to people he doesn't know

(I did tell him before I'd consider WoW if he gave Woodcraft Folk a month's trial but he was having none of it!)

Ahh, this place really is like magic. Give it a try, you can stay with him. The staff are all lovely lads, really friendly and welcoming. He won't have to interact if he doesn't want to and they will happily leave him to paint (and give the appropriate 'wow, that's great' even if it's not).
He can build lord of the rings, goblins, space troupers etc so there should be something. Ds is building tanks and an army (the good side) at the moment.

Jesus christ, though...
BOYS

God I know. It's such hard work, ds gets worse as he gets older, then there's the aspergers so he doesn't always know what he or other people are doing. He's so expensive aswell. He is lovely though, a real mums boy and he wants to help so much.

They will know when they have children!

i wouldnt let my husband do this - and he would if i wouldnt divorce him - never mind my kids

no fucking way - its not called world or warcrack for nothing

NOOOO!

Do NOT let him start WoW. I have lost friends over this. Custy is this, it's like crack.

This is for you.

The thing about Warhammer (and the myriad of other tabletop roleplaying games) is that they are great for the reluctant interacter. In that, you can stick to the topic of the game, there are strict,written rules of how it all works, and if he is trivia/data driven there are masses and masses of things to know.

Would you let your 12 year old do opiates, dh says.

Warhammer's not opiates!! It's a cult though.