Potential Concerns: Antisocial Players
MMOGs are online and have a massive number of players. These two qualities make it a challenge to protect the player from others who may say things that are offensive, graphic, or threatening.
However, many MMOGs, including World of Warcraft, are monitored, in order to protect the players and enforce the ESRB rating of “Teen.” Game designers want to minimize antisocial play behavior because it drives mainstream players to quit playing. Players who say (type) something offensive, graphic, or threatening can be punished and potentially banned. Keep in mind that this is most effective against these types of incidents when they are reported, and no level of monitoring is perfect.
Here are some ideas to keep in mind.
- Playing with members from a guild avoids many of the people who would say things that are offensive.
The goal of a guild is to commit to helping your fellow guild members, playing together to benefit everyone involved. By regularly playing with guild members rather than just looking for random players, your teen will have more control over knowing his or her teammates are committed to cooperation.
- There is likely to be a selectable feature that will censor swearing so your teen doesn't have to see it.
This feature in World of Warcraft can be activated in the interface options menu. When turned on, it will display characters ("#$^%$#@") instead of cursing.
The option to censor chat in World of Warcraft is called Profanity Filter. It is located on the "Interface Options" section of the main setup menu, under the category "Display."
World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries - Talk to your teen about what goes on in the game world.
While the technical descriptions and detailed information about the game may be difficult to understand, the focus of an MMOG is that players are working in a group with other people to achieve some a shared goal.
- Encourage your teen to play with a friend or someone they know in real life who can act as a friend and role model (perhaps an older relative).
Playing together provides an opportunity for a parent or relative to model and talk about moral challenges faced in the context of the game. An adult can help evaluate situations they encounter in the game.
Some players, (fortunately, a small minority) enter MMOG's with the intent of causing trouble and interfering with other people's game.