Parents' Guide to Popular Games in Singapore
Game: World of Warcraft
Website: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com
Platform: Windows (Vista/XP/2K/ME/98)
Singapore Publisher: AsiaSoft Online Pte Ltd
Game Genre: Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game (MMORPG)
Pricing: US$15 per month (credit card), S$47.50 (2-mth prepaid card)
Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) Rating: Teen
Media Development Agency (MDA) Rating: Not Rated
INTRODUCTION
World of Warcraft (WoW) is arguably the most well known online game in gaming circles today. The original game was launched in 2004 and two expansion sets, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, have been added since then. The expansion sets introduced additional game content and features, prolonging the life of this five year old game. It is not uncommon for players to devote hundreds of hours every month living their virtual characters in this award-winning Warcraft universe, interacting with thousands from all over the globe.
GENERAL GAMEPLAY
Players start by creating a level 1 game character. As the character increases in level (through gaining "experience"), he obtains more skills and becomes more powerful. Every game character belongs to one of two factions in the game – Alliance or Horde. Each game character would also have a race (eg, dwarf, human, elf) and a class (eg, paladin, mage, druid).
WoW has essentially two modes of gameplay, Player versus Environment (PvE) and Player versus Player (PvP).
PvE focuses on killing computer-controlled monsters or super monsters ("bosses") and clearing dungeons or instances (which are places filled with monsters) either by playing alone or together with other players in a party. For monsters and dungeons of lower difficulty, playing alone or with a small party is sufficient. However, once you reach the max level, which is as of now level 80, you would need a guild (an organized group with a common identity) or find a big group of other players in order to go for more valuable treasure. The size of the parties would depend on the type of dungeons that are being challenged and it can consist of 10, 25 or 40 players. On a side note, in order to accommodate the real-life schedule of members that make up the raids (which is the term for an expedition to conquer a dungeon), most guilds fix their raid timings to be between 6pm-1am.
PvP, as its name suggest, involves challenging and killing other players. There are three modes of PvP, known in the game as World PvP, Battlegrounds and Arenas. World PvP happens when players kill each other in the game world. Battlegrounds take the form of a mini-game which can involve up to 80 players. Each team is given an objective to accomplish, such as to capture the opponent's flag or hold a particular location against the other team. The Arena is the most competitive form of PvP as the game developers are keen to promote this as a form of competitive sport. Forming teams of 2, 3 or 5, the best Arena teams can obtain significant in-game rewards and even worldwide acclaim. The game developers organize tournaments which showcase the skills of professional Arena teams and offer prizes up to USD50,000.
AGE GROUP OF PLAYERS
In Singapore, the players usually range from young teenagers to adults due to the monthly subscription needed to play this game.
4 THINGS PARENTS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR
- Time Spent ()
This game is designed to be time-consuming and even casual players spend many hours
at this game. There are also a multitude of different achievements in the game designed to keep players occupied and interested. WoW (unlike other non-MMORPGs) has no ending and
one cannot "win" or "finish" the game. Instead the game is a continual quest to become
better and this does not change even when the player achieves the maximum level of 80. As such, it is common for WoW players
to spend most of their free time in the game, even up to 14 hours/day. If your
child is in a period of life when he cannot afford to spend long hours gaming, this is one
game to stay away from. Parents should not that players typically find it difficult to quit the game because it means forgoing all the time invested into their game character.
- An Emphasis on Acquiring Virtual World Assets ()
There is an incredibly diverse range of virtual items to acquire. As
players purchase these items through virtual cash or by doing game-tasks ("quests"), they
will become increasingly rich in virtual assets. While it may seem harmless fun, be careful
of your child getting into the habit of spending real world money and time to buy
virtual items which are not tangible.
- Influences from Game Communities ()
Guilds consisting of up to a hundred or more players often wield significant influence
on the gaming habits of players. Many players invert their sleep patterns in order to "raid"
with guild members from other time zones. Guilds also require varying commitment levels
for playing and more demanding guild leaders can assert pressure on members to turn up for gild events or face expulsion from the guild. Also of concern are the values, habits
and language of guilds (example: vulgar language) which can influence considerably over
extended time.
- Developing Aggressive Tendencies ()
There is significant violence and agression in WoW, especially in the PvP (Player vs Player) modes.
While there is less blood and gore compared to other popular games, research has shown that
it is the "intent to harm" that produces aggressive behaviour in players. This intent
to harm is definitely present in PVP elements although players do have a choice to focus on PvE (Player vs Environment) gameplay ratehr than PvP.
3 WAYS IN WHICH THIS CAN WORK FOR GOOD
- Significant Parent-Child Playtime ()
Because this game appeals to both adults and teenagers, it presents a unique opportunity for
direct bonding and interaction - provided the parent can spend significant time on
WoW as well. There are entire families who play together in WoW. That presents
many teachable moments for parents/adults to process what they see and learn through game
situations, as well as basic parent-child bonding.
- Developing Social Skills and Interaction ()
WoW provides oppportunities for gamers to interact with other gamers from all over the world.
It is not uncommon to see players of different nationalities and age groups playing together.
Players also learn to cooperate and collaborate with guild members, friends and many
strangers as well. Much of this happens through textual communication although
voice communication is also common using either the in-game voice chat function, or through external voice chat programs such as Ventrilo.
- Teamwork and Leadership ()
When players gather together to raid, there is a need for one or more leaders to direct the raid. This is to facilitate gameplay as well as to keep the groups organized as dungeons in WoW always require teamwork in order to succeed. Hence there are viable teamwork and leadership development opportunities found in regular WoW gameplay.
MY CHILD WANTS TO START PLAYING WORLD OF WARCRAFT...WHAT CAN I DO?
- If child is too young, control his exposure to WoW. Children usually do not take to WoW as much as they take to the more cartoonish games as the WoW storyline and themes are catered for a more matured audience. Offer non-MMORPG games as alternative if you want to prevent him from being sucked into WoW.
- Help your child to engage in other pursuits that require time investment. It's best to get your child to direct his energies into another aspiration which is healthier and less prone to obsession.
- If your child is already playing, encourage less time-consuming playing patterns.
- Login to the WoW time restriction manager function (LINK) and restrict your child's time if you feel he is gaming excessively.
WHAT SOME PARENTS SAY ABOUT THIS GAME
- "While I play WoW myself, I'll not allow my eight and six year old daughters to play WoW because they may not be able to distinguish between real and virtual behaviour. The time investment required to make playtime meaningful can also be better utilized to further their interests and competencies in other real world pursuits." - Parent of three kids (aged eight, six years and one month old)
- "My whole family plays WoW. It helps me keep check of what my kids are doing and I like that compared to having them do other activities on their own."
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Question: My son tells me that he can earn real money from playing WoW. Is that true?
Answer: Yes, there are a lot of people playing WoW who are willing to pay real money for game accounts, in-game items and currency ("gold"). However, such sales of virtual items for real money is a violation of the game developer's Terms of Use Agreement and can lead to the termination of the game account.
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