Hi,
sorry for tearing the quoted sentences out of context, I just felt like discussing your points further, pasting your general view of things more into the core of the problem discussed here at hand:
For? Not knowing what their kids were up to. Not caring what their kids were up to. Not caring enough to foster a close enough relationship with them whereby if a problem began arise, it wouldn't have gone unnnoticed.
So, to follow you to the extreme, kids should not be allowed to watch Sesame street or Teletubbies unless their parents already pre-screened the whole show first, or unless they sit through the whole programming with them? Should we follow every word, every move, every cut of the show to deem it allowable for our siblings to watch?
Not even the most overprotective parent would do that. Not because of lack of time, lack of responsibility etcetera. It's because such shows are greatly profiled to maintain strict, well-known standards in respect of the age and maturity level of its target audience - young preteens. As long as you make sure that the show your kids are watching is, indeed, one of those mentioned above, you can leave the kids (and the room) certain of no possible harm to be done. (except for sore, red eyes if watched from the point-blank range
)
Although targeted to a few years older audience, Runescape, or Jagex if you will, has lately tried to portrait itself as a game (game developer) with the same safety standards set for the kids as the beforementioned TV shows. They have made every attempt to "lure" a parent to a false belief of a save, secure game for their 8 to 12 years old. It's not only the purposefully-inacurate parent guide lull, out-of-the-harm game startup (introductory island walkthrough), the newbie-haven overkilled Lumbridge, its everything-made-easy tutors and bank that were redesigned with utermost care to trick a caring parent, Jagex now started to advertise its game more actively than ever at children web pages, children targeted books, stating _everywhere_ very clearly, that the game is suitable to minors of the preteen age. With all its connotations applied.
I believe that most, if not every non-gamer parent will fall for the Jagex's trap of TeletubbieScape and after a few hours or days of direct guidance, parents will leave the kids on their own, efectively just limiting the game time similarly as with the TV.
Not teaching about life and the world, which increasingly incredulously continues to bombard impressionable young minds with material which can be best described as encouraging precociousness.
In fact, it is vital for parents to explain that indeed, multiplayer games are nowhere close to real life; that they are artificial worlds with artificially made rules, gaming options and experiences. I'm getting tired of people, citing over and over one of the silliest excuses ever used on defence of their belligerence:
"It happens in real life all the time, so why should be a game any different".
Well, in real life, apart from set rights, we also have certain duties and regulations in effect that are placed upon the society we live in to keep its citizens protected and the rule-breakers of agreed-upon laws held liable with sanctions. In real life, it is upon every member of the given society to act to its standards, practicing his or hers rights as well as obligations.
But not in Runescape or any other artificial world/society-lookalike game. No one has the slightest oportunity to practice the rights expected, there are no means given to directly answer any attempt to break the rules or harm other person. On a schoolyard or a city street, if anyone gives you shit, you have the immediate opportunity to retaliate, either personaly or by calling the guy in charge of the place, or most likely, the wrong-doer will be pacified by onlookers way before any harm can be done. In the game, however, not even a place full of kids, save adults, can do a nough against one little brat. One person can spam the screen making any communication impossible, add any thinkable abuse to the mix and there's nothing to be done.
The silly excuse of the customer support report button is a joke. I've kept track of the names of every single person I reported and to this day, only two players were banned for their actions. I'm an adult and do realize that the images of characters on screen can't cause any real harm, but still I've been very shaken to see a person who threatened to kill my parents in real life (add more obscene insultations involving animals and sodomy to the mix) still walking around a month after I "reported" him. Yep think of this conversation - Hey man, I'm going to find and rape your kids, burn them in your house down and spit on their grave - Oh really? How about I'll go and report you - now that's a comeback, isn't it?
None of the people I know and ever had on my friends list were younger of age 20. In fact, the average age of my friends list is above 30. Still, quite regullary, I keep listening to my friends' distress calls for any help available, recovering from recent in-game abuse. And I'm talking people who went through the army or work as a medical staff at hospital, the sort of people whom you'd think they already got used to pretty uneasy stuff in their lives. But in Runescape, you are completely naked, stripped of any sensible means of retaliation or prevention. It makes people act accordingly: the rule breakers abusing the system to the greatest imaginable extent and the rest of the players getting used to the preemptive strike gaming - ignorance, denial, escape. Not myself, not any of my friends play with chats "on". Every single one of us has the private and ingame chat set on Friends or Off. In fact, just last week, I've met the author of this article ingame, but as much as I'd like to start a conversation, I've rather kept my ingame chat shut, given the fact that we've met in a rather unpleasant place to talk - Trawler - poluted with unbearable bickering of puberty-aged crowd.
Interestingly, the community rapid downhil started just after the Jagex's first children-targeted ads hit the market three years ago. The game's community degenerated to the extent that you can now spend several hours overhearing the conversations in any major populated area, without catching even one single coherent English sentence. If a person wants to sell something, he won't approach you and say something along the lines Hi, wanna buy dragon dagger? He just starts following you for no apparent reason and after a while starts spamming the chat Sell dd - Sell dd - Sell dd - Sell dd, spamming several minutes straight in one-second intervals. Such behavior became staple of most places.
Jagex made it very clear that they prefer the new blood, the youngsters over the veterans who were the ones to spread the word of mouth, who were the first to pay for the game, those who made Runescape going and allowed it to exist to its "glory". The game developer currently adopted several features that allow newcomers to gain experience and levels at a 10 times faster rate, introduced many ways to gain wealth without working, all just by a pure luck. Along with the dumbed down gameplay, the company tries hard to incorporate many means to nurse new high leveled players as quickly as possible to compensate for the rapid departure of the disgusted old-timer players.
A few minor notes:
Yes I'm Runescape player, although I do not care about levels anymore, just for the sake to shut any future childish arguments - yes, I'm very high leveled with a throughout knowledge of the game and its mechanics.
Charles, you might check
this link before replying to some of the comments. It seems you have been "owned", "scored over", and apparently are "idiot" :?
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