well this tread has been very interesting, many good points some that arent even worth responding to so I wont. I have decided to let her play her own game. If she can find the quest on her own with out me having to direct her to it or look it up on the PC to see where to go than she can do it. I did ask her what she was doing in Windhelm last night and she told me "looking for someone" she never did find that person. I know who she was looking for but she missed the clues .

Sean1977, I believe you to have not only a good handle on how to deal with your girl and the game, but with parenting in general. More power to you, and I repeat, I hope both of you continue to enjoy the game.

Salute!

It is not games that push kids over the edge. However, exposing them to violence and six at an age where they should hug bunnies and catch butterflies is really unhealthy and when such a child already has a history of mental problems it could very well be a trigger to tragedy. But then again, this is the modern age I guess. It's a lot easier to just go with the standard answer of "It doesn't matter anyway because they'll see it on T.V. or at a friends house anyway".

But there is no scientific proof or examinations that proove that games or movies can make someone go insane, so i don't get why people think so..
It's just something people have grown to believe over time.

I agree with her! when I got the Kyne's Peace shout I had no idea what it was for, but now I think it's so you don't have to kill bears/wolves etc.

It's great that you've allowed her to play Skyrim. But I don't understand your logical approach to this. By allowing her to play the MQ, Companions and TG questlnes, she WILL have to kill something at some point of the game. This is particularly true of the MQ which = playing the Civil War. You'd literally have to buy the 655 page game manual to see which of the "evil" quests you want to censor from her game play. Based on what you said, are you aware of this?

The Companions involves becoming a werewolf (as many of the Companions ARE werewolves). It will also require her to massacre many NPCs in the quest line. There are also some ethically questionable quests which involve violence that are required for advancement in this quest line.

The Mages questline involves a LOT of dungeon crawling and fighting undead/magical creatures.

While the TG questline doesn't sanction killing, there's a 99.99% chance that she'll end up having to do exactly this if her character is low on the stealth. Particualry if her character is low in the sneak skill---a LOT of killing will occur then. Besides the abundance of theft/pickpocketing/swindling involved in this quest line, there is also betrayal (and attempted murder in the final few Nightingale quests). And she'll ultimately have to deal with a Daedra---the Nocturnal--if she wants to get the Nightingale armor.

The Thane mini quests--In order to become a "good" upstanding citizen of Skyrim, many of the Thane quests require acts of violence. The Riften Thane quest requires her to investigate a drug problem (skooma) which will ultimately end in violence. And specifically the Morthal Thane quest in which she'll be required to solve a homicide involving a child. This quest will most likely lead to her becoming a Vampire as she'll be forced to "clean out" a Vampire Coven near the town. And that particular cave has some really disturbing imagery (corpses, bloody skulls,etc). The Solitude Thane quest requires her to fight an undead necromancer. etc etc. Just something to consider there....

And then threre are the numerous side, miscellaneous and dungeon quests that she will inadvertently encounter violence/killing NPCs just from freeroaming and having to interact with other NPCs in the game. I've yet to see a single TES player completely play through any TES game, in which they didn't do something "evil" aka having to kill at least one other NPC for whatever the reason. And that also includes self defense btw--the only way she can kill another NPC without being thrown into jail...

I guess what I'm saying is, there's an obvious reason why this game comes with a Mature 17+ rating. If you're so concerned about protecting her to the more "evil" aspects of game play, then you might want to consider waiting until she's a bit older. It's either that or hanging over her shoulder to monitor every second of her game play.

if you are calling me an idiot... you may wanna read the other posts too.

btw i know that blaming videogames about that stuff is wrong, but sure won't help exposing a kid to violence while in young age, and that's why they invented game ratings.

if the dude wants her 10 year old girl to play skyrim idgaf, i played doom and duke nukem 3d when i was young and i'm not goin around shootin people for sure (and btw there were no game ratings back then, they've been invented after mortal kombat), but how can you speak on behalf of everyone else? do you know every person in the world? how can you know if someone could go nuts after playing a game? are you god?

plus, besides what people thinks, the arrested kid i was talking about said he was doing the same thing he saw on a videogame, maybe just as an excuse to get out of trouble (i bet), but he said it, and draw major people attention to it, so even if there's no scientific proofs, IT IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED, do you need something more scientific than a fact?

And sure, i think it's great that he restricts his daughter to certain things, i would probably do it too! I just stated that people are way to sensitive and scared of games and movies...
I am not speaking on behalf of everyone, i am speaking on the behalf of science(i think that's how you say it), there isn't any records or anything of someone going mad over a game if they aren't mentally sick before they play the game!
And yes... I am god

As a parent of a 9 year old and a 5 year old I applaud you for considering the implications of what your daughter sees and does in games. I allow my oldest (a boy) to play TES games and Bioware's Dragon age and Mass effect series as long as I'm nearby. He doesn't spend a lot of time talking to his companions in the Bioware games so I'm not real worried about him stumbling on an inappropriate scene. I am in full agreement that these type of games encourage reading and consideration of consequences if handled correctly. We talk about the choices he makes although I don't limit him to playing a "good" character or restrict quest lines.

He is a very gentle and considerate child outside of games and has recently been having a real crisis about whether or not to go turkey hunting with his dad when he turns 10 because he is afraid of crippling one and having it suffer before he can kill it. I don't think he has suffered any damage to his ability to empathize or discern right from wrong with exposure to video games or violent movies (I nearly had a heart attack when he was 6 and I came home to him watching "alien vs predator" with his dad).

I think a good parent evaluates what their child is able to handle and makes a decision based on that, not on what rating boards decide. I also think that discussing the content (game, movie or book) that a child is exposed to is essential to make them think about what is going on in a scenario and to differentiate it from real life.

I have been playing games for years and seen loads of violent stuff on the intrawebs and i still can't hurt an animal! I can't kill one either!
I could NEVER handle killing or crippling an animal It's to emotional for me xD

We raise our own beef and both my husband and I grew up in hunting households, my husband is currently an avid hunter and we make sure that we eat everything he shoots. I am very proud of my son for considering that he will be taking a life when he hunts. But humans evolved as omnivores and I think that it is important to remember that when we eat meat, wear leather, ect, that something died to give us that. I'm a veterinarian in mixed animal practice so my kids are exposed to a pretty large dose of "real world" death, blood, ect. So perhaps they have a better basis for determining reality versus fantasy than some. My kids have been exoposed to everything from dogs with multiple broken limbs from being hit by cars to euthanasia to artificial insemination in dogs, horses and cattle. I don't try to shelter them, I simply try to put things in context.

I think ten is a bit young.
If you must allow it then be right there to explain anything she has questions about.

I don't think at 10 she can absorb most things yet...

I don't think at 10 she should have to absorb them.. Start her out on some other game first.. Dungeon Siege 1 springs to mind..

Being right there with her for every single session to explain things would be the only way I would allow it.
My sons are 29 and 30..

Good luck.


-edit-
I would not censor much if I was allowing it. I would instead explain everything that she has questions about.. In a way that her young mind could understand -s-
Violence and nudity is a part of life.. Our children only imitate what they see and hear.. It is our job to guide them in the way that they should go -s-

Not meaning to come across as a complete [censored], but surely the best person to know if your daughter should be playing it, is you, no?

Why do you need my opinion or even want it as I don't know the first thing about your child. 10 year old children can vary in maturity. For example, some can be ok with media beyond their years, whilst others are best kept as far away form it as possible. As far as I'm aware, it's only illegal for kids under a certain age to buy such material, not play it or watch it. That responsibility should fall upon the parents, not some random internet users.

Let's put it this way, if I know who you are OP I WILL call the police on you because it's illegal for a 10 year old to be playing Skyrim. End of.

If i know who you are, poster, I will be writing a letter to your state's senator, because obviously your areas' educational facilities are failing you.

So you dont mind the kid getting involved in stealing from people but you dont want it being involved in any Fantasy stuff?
Go figure.

The usual ill informed random spouting legal nonsense that they obviously know nothing about. Here in the UK, It's illegal for vendors to knownly sell a certified game to an underage person, or a kid to go into a shop and buy such a game, but it's not illegal for a minor to play or watch a certified film/game or whatever if an advlt has done the purchasing. I suspect the US has a similar stance.

it's like alcohol laws here in the UK, kids can drink wine under supervision from an advlt, in their own house, but can't buy it. how do you go about policing what people do in their own houses? You can't so they don't go passing ridiculous laws prohibiting such things.

I feel so weird reading this thread. I was 11 when I started playing Morrowind, my parents didn't even know. I ended up joining the Morag Tong and I remember I absolutely loved the fact that they operated within the law, like a sort of an unofficial arm of justice. But damn, I was playing an assassin. I did daedric quests too. Surprisingly, none of this left me emotionally crippled or turned me into a psychopatic murderer. I knew it was just a game.

I'm actually surprised that people try to protect their children from certain content in games like Skyrim. I agree Dark Brotherhood is explicitly evil, but really, is performing contract kills any worse than killing for the Companions, or for a quest giver, or just when exploring a random cave? It's still killing; I believe that if your daughter perceived something as evil or scary, she would just leave it and do something else. That's what I used to do, anyway.

Then again, I have no idea what 10 years old girls are like. I didn't know it when I was ten, I certainly don't know it now. I agree, however, that in cases like this parents are the best judges of their children capabilities; you know what your daughter can handle: what you expect her to and probably a little bit more (think of what you shouldn't have done when you were ten years old ). I don't think we can help you with deciding what contet your daughter is ready for - we just don't know her, how can we tell?

Too young, in my opinion. Far too young.

Seems like you're the randomer who's misinformed and spouting nonsense. Who ever said OP is in UK? If you look at OP's current location, she's in Texas. If you're going to use alcohol as an example, whether it's possession or consumption of alcohol the underage is breaking the law. If an advlt gives alcohol or watches the child consume alcohol s/he is breaking the law too. Perhaps OP won't go to jail but she'll probably be fined $5000 if caught.

That's what is wrong with your logic though. You can't get arrested for having six, but it is 1000 times easier to do than kill somebody. Not many people will ever kill anybody in cold blood, but most people will. Encouraging young kids to get involved will more than likely make that happen. Either way, the end result is usually never pleasant. Either you go to jail, or you have a grandkid.

You have provided nothing against my argument whatsoever, with regards to the main point i was answering - the kid playing a certified game.

the alcohol example was just that, an example. off on a tangent if you wish. i quite clearly stated, it was a UK law and at no point did i say those alcohol rules applied to certain states within the US, nor the US as a whole.

Ok, now we have that out of the way, feel free to back up your initial comment and show me the law which states under age kids can't watch or play certified games. All you have done is roll with the alcohol comment as you have absolutely nothing to back up your dramatic OTT comment.

I'm big enough and ugly enough to hold my hands up and admit that i was wrong if you provide information to the contrary, but i suspect i'll be waiting a long time.

Alright, I've grown tired of the argument.


Though it's an old article from six years ago, it clearly states that not only are laws of this type (making it illegal for minors to play games) are immoral, but they're also unconstitutional. I doubt the decision (and by doubt, I mean HIGHLY DOUBT) has changed since then.

http://news.cnet.com/Judge-blocks-California-video-game-law/2100-1043_3-6005835.html

"For the sixth time in five years, federal courts have now blocked or struck down these state and local laws seeking to regulate the sale of games to minors based on their content, and none have upheld such statutes," ESA president Douglas Lowenstein said in a statement.


So in short, even if some crazy law did exist that caused jail time or even a fine, all you would have to do is appeal the charge to get the fine removed and be acquitted of all accusations...and probably get the statute removed from the books as well.

Not if they're the parents, the right people to okay whether or not their child should have Skyrim or alcohol, they most certainly are allowed for both their child to consume alcohol and buy Skyrim. What's clear is you have no clue whatsoever of what you're talking about and should cease offering legal advice when you're not correct in the slightest bit:

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/AL/htm/AL.106.htm (Texas state law)

This legal jargon fits easily with buying rated M games for one's child, taking a child to rated R movies, and yes, allowing your child to consume booze.

Unfortunately the world is going to have plenty of bad parents who wish to forego their own common sense and have a rather illogical, idealist mindset approach about their child's development, all while their child's development passes by their ideals. What's clear is as far as Skyrim and other M rated games are concerned, when my daughter shows interest in M rated games and shows signs that she's mature enough to play and handle a game like Skyrim, I let her play it. It could be at 5, it could be at 10, 15, it depends on her. Maturity has no age number, which I can see is evident that also goes for advlts.

I have an 11yr old boy that I allow to play it on my Xbox.
He is enjoying the game as much as I am, even taken to comparing notes on how I've done things differently. He started playing about a month behind me.

So far I haven't had a problem with playing with the exception of competing time.

Really it's about the rules in life you set forward for the kid. I've allowed him the M-Rated games because he has been mature enough to handle them. But I'm also in the room when he plays them, even the online ones. He uses my account for the online interaction mainly because it was the first account long before Xbox came up with the Family Plan of four accounts for Live.

It's actually kind of a proud moment when I was barely paying attention because I was reading a book when he was playing MW2 on a game he setup and somebody kept cursing so he booted them off and told me what he did.

Personally making something a forbidden fruit makes it that much more desirable. By letting them them stretch out with supervision, knowing you will let them try different things allows them to continue growing.

Heck the MW2/3/Battlefield series have lead to an interest in history with him. While it's more of military history, it has sparked an interest. Skyrim has lead to an interest in some of the books I read, so his reading has increased.

As long as he acts mature and keeps wanting to learn things/read more because of stuff he plays, I will continue to allow it. Doesn't hurt that he is maintaining an 'A' average while playing sports either. (Mainly cause I'm being a hypocrite and not letting him become a couch potato like I did for so many years.)