Today on WoW, Casually, Robin Torres gave some solid advice on playing with your reading aged child. Interestingly, this weekend on the rawrcast, Stomp and Haf hit on some advice and even solicited some words from the ever popular Totalbiscuit for parents and their kids who play WoW. Whether you are playing with your kids or paying for their accounts, the rules that apply to child rearing in real life are very similar to the ones you would apply in the World of Warcraft. Parents who do give a damn may understand the basics, but not necessarily how to translate it all into WoW-speak.
1. Be Involved
You don’t have to play the game to be an involved parent. If you are one of those people who WoW appeals, then by all means get you an account and play with your kid. It will be the best 30 bucks a month you ever spend.
If you are not one of those parents who can appreciate what WoW has to offer, I would recommend a 30 minute homework session. Wow.com is probably the best place to do your homework. It’s clean and concise and they rarely get to in depth about anything. They are an easy one stop shop to catch up on the events going on in the WoW, and you will find communicating with your child about the game they play is a lot easier when you have a clue what in bejesus is going on.
Being involved could mean knowing what class your kid plays as his/her main or even knowing what a main is. It could mean knowing that the game, like your real life, has drama, or it could mean you are just making an effort to understand a social game.
WoW isn’t like buying them an Atari. They have friends they play with, and they have people they try and impress. WoW is a living breathing world full of people who you would be proud to let your kids hang out with and some you might be depressed if you met in real life. Listen if/when they talk about the game and learn about these other real people on the servers they play on.
2. Talk With Them
After reading up on daily WoW events don’t be afraid to talk to your kid about it at the dinner table, if people even do that anymore. Dinner was at 6:15 every night in my house growing up and my parents used it as the opportunity to catch up on the day’s events with me and my 3 siblings.
No matter how you do it, find the time to talk with your kid. Mute the television or pause the TIVO if you must. If you decide to follow a WoW site and come across something interesting like a player getting banned for pwning bosses with a magical shirt, then talk with them about it. Let them know you are interested in what they are doing. This goes farther than you think it does.
3. Listen to Them
If you are so inclined to start a discussion with them about any news in WoW, be prepared to listen to what they have to say. Talking to them about game ethics will save you a ton in therapy bills and allows you direct access into the psyche of your child.
Adult discussions about WoW topics lets them know you take what they do seriously, and you might even teach each other a thing or 2 after you finish up talking about the “right” things to do in-game. I’d even go out on a limb and say your kids will be relieved to talk about something serious after an evening of dealing with “anal trade chats.”
When talking with them remember Robert Greene’s 1st rule from his book, The 48 Laws of Power and “never outshine the master.” WoW is your child’s domain, and since you aren’t an avid player, you aren’t likely to bring their insight or expertise on any subject matter. Your job is to listen and evaluate what they say and do your best to relate it to real life. Even if you disagree with them, never treat them like their opinion is wrong.
Back when my best friend’s little boy was 5, I was at their place, using the f word, like I’m inclined to do. His son walked up to me and kindly told me, “we aren’t supposed to use that word.” My best friend jumped in immediately and let his son know I was allowed to use that word if I wanted to, but it wasn’t something they wanted him or me to use, but they weren’t my boss. They, kindly, let him know that his thoughts were important and sharing them was ok, but sometimes the same rules don’t apply to everyone.
Listen when your kid talks about WoW. Conversations with your kids will tell you as much about them as it does paladins and murlocs.
4. Take them Seriously and Act Accordingly
My parents were formidable foes growing up. Like Haf mentioned, you can have respect for someone and understand the balance of power. My curfew was and I quote, “don’t be an asshole in the morning.” It meant I was allowed to come home anytime I wanted as long as I called sometime in the evening and told them what time I would be home, but I wasn’t allowed to be a jack ass in exchange for the privilege.
It only took once for me to learn my lesson. I came in at like 3 in the morning on a daylight savings time weekend. When I walked in the door, my dad was in his chair and he asked I was late. Having already thought this out, I said, “dad, it’s only 2 after the time changed and I said I’d be home at 2.” He smiled and said, “ok, well we will be cleaning out the shed in 3 hours, no matter who’s time we are on, so you better get some rest.”
That was one of the most miserable days of my life, but I knew to keep my privileges I would have to suffer through it. My dad had a 20x20 shop that he called a shed, so at around 4 in the afternoon that day, we finally had taken everything out, cleaned, and moved everything back inside. There is no governor like a self governor, and believe me I never tried to pull any more shit about what time I would be home again.
In a WoW context, understand your child maybe raiding with 9 or 24 other people. If he has a raid spot, he is valued. Make pacts with your kid about his responsibilities and stick to them. If they expect to raid 2 nights a week and you want certain things to be done, tell him. If he doesn’t comply with your wishes, PLEASE, don’t ever punish them by not allowing them to raid after they have made the commitment. They have made commitments to other people and breaking commitments, no matter the reason, is not, nor will it ever be, a good lesson to teach your child.
Be the patient parent, and hold your tongue. After the raiding is finished, let them know they will need to inform the raid leader as soon as possible they will not be able to attend next weeks raid. This allows the raid leader to fill the spot and it teaches your child that you respect what they do, and they have to respect you as well.
WoW raiding is a team effort, and you wouldn’t punish their baseball team with a forced absence. Respect a raid the way you would any other team effort because, of all the lessons your child will learn from working within a team, the one you don’t want them to learn is it’s ok for them to act selfishly.
The ideas are basic and generic, but I think some parents chalk up WoW as “just a game.” No matter your opinion, I can tell you it is very much more to those of us who play. Respect your kid and you will find they will come to respect you.
-Rhab
South African On-line Casinos
1 year ago
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