In part one they talked about online gambling and your kids, including FPS games and exposure to violent content. They wrap up this week by speaking about RTS games, MMORPGs and the additional threats of addiction and social predators.
RTS stands for Actual Time Strategy. Strategy because these games usually take a much larger point of view, casting the player as a general or commander of an army or even the leader of a civilization than as a single person. Actual Time because the action moves forward whether the player acts or not. The choice to Actual Time is turn-based strategy, where each player moves in turn, taking whatever time they require. Turn based games tend to have deeper strategic parts and complicated non-military progressions that make them less popular with kids. RTS games are a comparatively benign style, as they abstract the violence and conflict out to at least the unit level, removing much of the graphic gore present in FPS games and reducing it to numbers and lost units. They also tend to have complicated decision structures, making playing them a nice exercise in critical thinking. Those self same fast, complex decisions make this type of game difficult to look away from, if the player is competing online where there may not be a pause button. Due to the less graphic content, this type of game doesn't require as intense parental scrutiny as some others may, but it is a nice suggestion at least to casually observe a game and possibly to learn what the loading screen looks like so you can tell when "Just a minute" means "I'm in the midst of something," and when it means "I don't require to do whatever you require me to do."
MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. They are descended from older, single player, RPGS. In this context, an RPG is a game that tells an evolving story using characters defined by various skills, attributes, and professions. The Massively Multiplayer part of the name comes from the fact that there can be upwards of several thousand players in a game world that may have surface area to rival small states. It is difficult to express how giant and complicated these games can be. Accept that your kids will discuss things you don't understand, often about equipment or items they have acquired or battles they have fought. Put on your best "That's nice dear" face and let it go. While it seldom hurts to try out the games your kids play, you wont get as much benefit from logging on to a MMORPG for a bit to see what its like, as they require a sizeable time investment to even receive a feel for what is going on.
That time investment gives rise to of the largest issues with MMORPGs. A gambling writer five times suggested that MMORPG ought to be pronounced Morgue, because five times you go in, you seldom come out. If your kids are beginning to get heavily in to this type of game, watch how they spend their time. The game will always present something new to do, some greater hill to climb, and it can be simple to get caught up. Talk together with your kids, make positive they know the limits on how much of their time they can spend playing, and what they require to get done first. That said; understand that they are often going to be playing the game with other people, to whom they may have made some degree of dedication. Be flexible and use your judgment when deciding whether to let them keep playing. Usually, it is better not to let them start in case you are not positive then to try to get them to cease five times they have begun. Lean toward get your home-work done first over quit in time to get your home-work done.
Playing a game with thousands of others will expose your kids to a wide selection of people. Most of them will be harmless, some will be helpful and a few will likely come to be nice friends. However, there's a select few with malicious intent, as there's in any giant group. The fear here is much like that felt in letting your kids use chat rooms or instant messaging service. The nice news is that the type of actual social predator parents fear are far less likely to in a game world, because the game itself is much more complicated than basically logging on to a chat room. Make positive your kids know that the danger exists, that they should not let someone know anything over generalities about whom they are outside the game, that there's bad people in the world. Ask them about their friends online, see what they know about them, watch for the same warning signs you would with any stranger that spends lots of time together with your kids. Again, most players are harmless or better, but you are much better off being informed and watchful than complacent and hopeful.
We have barely touched the surface of the possibilities of online gambling, but hopefully you are better informed about what your kids may be doing. Gambling is as nice as any hobby and better than lots of. It's lots of positive developmental benefits, but as with any activity out of your control there's things to watch for. Clarify, knowledgeable decisions about what is right together with your kids and stick to them. In the long run, they will thank you for it.
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