As an adult, I play World Of Warcraft Online (WOW). This game does involve several different chat capabilities from 1 to 1 chat to 1 to infinate chat. Your child can have safe filters turned on, but that does not filter out any sexual, racial comments made by players in the game. Some young kids will even join "guilds" which are groups for online players to help each other out. Some of these guilds have sexual explicit chatting that goes on. My approach to this game would be to play it online with my child so that I can explain anything that pops up from the game. Age I recommenrd is 16, but it depends on the maturity/independance of yuor child.

i used to watch my brother play this all the time. Never phased me.

Teaches kids how to manage money, can get to know older, kind "guild" members. A lot of people cuss on there, so make sure your kids know your opinion on this. Alcohol is involved, especially as dwarves lol.

I think this game is appropriate for 13 years old and up. Only big negatives: very addicting, so be aware of this and restrict game play accordingly. Use of parent filters is a plus. Secondly, since chat is a big part of the game, you child will be viewing what others have to say...the good and bad. Most players seem to be teens, however you should pop in and read what your child is reading and how he/she is being "talked" to. Make your own character and try it out too. See if you approve. Overall, good game, kids "meet" other kids from different parts of the world. They learn cooperative play, and really sharpen those typing skills. Just be involved with them and check in a lot. Limit the length of game play time.

OK, ITS A GOOD GAME. Don't bite my head of YET! Anyway, I personally dislike wow simply because of the fact that it TAKES OVER LYVEZ! xD Seriously, if you introduce an 11 year old to this, they won't wanna do anything else... Then just sit back and watch as they turn into an unhealthy dweeb with no social life. LOL. Harsh i know, but its the truth. There are 50 YEAR OLDS on this game. Find a more constructive past time for your kids or at least limit play time to an hour a day. Ps, I speak from experience. My next door neighbour eats drinks and SLEEPS wow. Its pretty painful to watch sometimes, cus he's a great kid. :( DONT LET THIS GAME TAKE OVER YOUR LIFE. CHOOSE REAL LIFE OVER REALITY! GET SOME REAL LIFE FRIENDS!

My opinions are mixed. <=> I feel that games are meant to stretch and develop minds, and off the bat this game is heavily addictive. <+> Pro: It is a great teamwork developer, teaching to work together and fight in teams. <+> It also allows a child to imagine and dream up a world. <+> Beating later high level bosses and dungeons of the game requires significant amount of strategy and planning, not only in teamwork but also in strategic placement both physically and timing. < - > Cons: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE. < - > A game that never ends will have a child that never stops playing. . . . .Ever, < - > While social interactions are present, these social interactions are cornered, people that I want my kids hanging out with do not sit on a computer all day for one Head-plate or shield. < - > It teaches a child and fuels the desire that where you are at is never good enough, there is always something better, something bigger, and you can never reach that state. ( (( Final Conclusion )) ) If you never want to see your child again, invest a few dollars in this game. He/She will never be the same again. And will have mental addictions for the rest of life, if not watched will return to the addiction and ruin life. [[[[[ This is a review, I played the game, and it took years to get me off. I still have to stay a large distance away from it. Don't touch this game, ever. ]]]]]]

This game rocks I got hooked on the first day! my dad plays it to and the violence isn't m- game material. Also some heroes like the argent dawn are extremly focused on protecting the world and its inhabitants.

I have been playing World of Warcraft for almost 2 years, and my oldest daughter has finally taken an interest. She is 9 and is very bright for her age. She is more than capable of playing the game, and understanding the basic concepts mechanics. There are some great things you can do to make this game playable, and highly enjoyable for younger kids like my daughter. How do you accomplish this? Keep the game sandboxed. What I mean by this is, try and limit their playtime to areas that are nearly devoid of other players, and out of the huge chat channels with hundreds of people talking at once. Choosing the correct "newbie zone" to level in is big. I find that the "BC" races, Draniei on alliance side, Blood Elves on the horde side, are best. Their starting areas are filled with rich quests and good low level loot, and will typically have very few other players around. Also, having them work on tradeskills is a nice way to make the game a little more complicated for them, but also allowing their character to be self-sufficient. Make sure they pick skills that work for their class. For example, if they pick a mage..pick up tailoring and enchanting. If they start a Paladin, pick up mining and blacksmithing. This will allow them to gather materials while they play, and create their own items, which my daughter LOVES. There are many other things you can do, like turning off the trade and general channels, and limiting your childs playtime. Unsupervised however... this game is not a safe place for kids. There are unrestricted chat channels full of the kinds of chat the internet is known for, and highly addictive gameplay. Your kids will get sucked into this game, and love every minute of it.

When I first heard about this game I thought it sounded stupid, but then I downloaded the free trial. Within 2 days of having the free trial I bought the game, a month later, the BC expansion. I am addicted. Anyone who says to put a limit of 45 minutes on a child to play this game has obviously not played the game enough. If you only want your child playing for 45 minutes every time they play, they'll never be able to get anything done. There are things in this game called Instances - Dungeon raids. Those alone can often take two or more hours alone. So, if you're not willing to actually let your child play the game - don't bother letting them start in the first place! I know (and raid with) seven year olds on some occasions. I think it would be a lot of fun to play the game along with your children, actually. But as I said, expecting no more than 45 minutes at a time is... really very stupid if you're going to let them play at all. If you're an adult or don't have crazy parents: play the game!! It's a blast!!