Hmm... I just got to thinking.. I don't remember how i got into the internet O_O

Yeah , I've since quit wow it's become some kind of wild party zone where people are exchanging certain kinds of pictures , talking about stuff I totally didn't start playing the game for etc. The anonynimity in that game , coupled with blizzards' greed (25 dollars and you can change servers AND name) has killed the community and turned it into a cut throat environment that didn't exist when it first came out. You couldn't just disappear and reappear somewhere with a completely different name , so it was important to uphold a decent reputation. So many games devalue the community essence of their games for the sake of money it's really pathertic.

True. I still play (as do my daughter, SIL, and two granddaughters, though my sis and nephew have quit for IRL situational issues) but we really only play "as a family" in group, or solo with most all chat crap disabled. I love the game - but I definitely do NOT love the "populace".

I wouldn't let her do the Namira daedric quest lest she runs around cannibalizing people in Skyrim. Also, I wouldn't let her get the perk that allows you to decapitate people.

I'm only 14 so I probably don't have much say in which quests aren't appropriate for a 10 year old lol.

If my daughter could handle any part of Skyrim, I'd just let her play the entire thing. There's no issue at all with this. I was playing Doom at 8 years old and didn't go postal in school nor did it screw with my head at all.

If they hadn't demonstrated interest in the game nor that they could handle it, obviously no Skyrim. No sense in forcing something leisurely they aren't even interested in.

OTOH, letting them play and limiting them to certain quest lines is a pretty futile effort since there's boobs, blood, violence, and swearing everywhere.

To me this should be a pretty simple issue.

My daughter is almost 16 mo... she loves to play "FISH!" (Feeding Frenzy on XBLA, but that's a bit hard for a 1-year-old to say), but that's about as complicated a game as she can handle right now. Just uses the control sticks and she mostly likes making the fish swim around... I'm not even sure she gets that he's eating the other fish.

I'm really looking forward to the day we can spend some time playing games together (hopefully she'll be interested... it seems like more & more girls are today than when I was growing up), but I'm not sure how I'll handle games like this.

For the most part, if it's a linear game, I think it's easy... treat it like a movie, look at the rating, and say "would I let my child watch this." But in a sandbox game that places so few restrictions, I think it's a bit more tricky.


I haven't put a ton of thought into it yet, but my first inclination is that before we ever play the game I will sit her down and give her a background on the world of TES. Then we'll sit down at the kitchen table and create a character old school P&P style... I'll explain that she's creating a character who will be doing these things- not her- that she's telling that character's story when she plays. Then we'll talk about what type of character she wants to create. Hopefully she'll say something along the lines of Warrior Princess/Knight in Shining Armor type thing, and we'll talk about what kinds of things that her character would want to do (If she says I want to be a sneaky bastard wood elf who robs and kills and sixes up every maiden in town before murdering them... we may have to have another talk). If it's not a character I feel comfortable with, we'll modify it. Then I'll just monitor the game as she's playing, making sure she's acting in accordance with the character we "built" before we started.

...Anyway, that's my initial thought on how we're going to do it... but I've still got a decade to work out the details.

You are quite right. The best way is actually, if on PC, use the console commands to trigger and advance the quest stages of undesirable quests to completion.

Now this is not directed at YOU but just my own thoughts. I have a concern with the line of thought that "I could handle it so my kids can." Our kids aren't us, they're different people. The world now is different. We as parents need to be involved to keep an eye on things. There are people who survived abuse and it didn't have an impact on them. Does that mean they should allow their kids to be abused because of that idea?

That said, raising kids isn't a science and it definitely isn't a sure bet. We all do what we think will work best for our child and can only hope for the best.

I do believe that society has gotten entirely too over protective. We want to take every single "distraction" out of cars to make driving safer. In time there won't even be radios or at least no talk radio because that can be "distracting" and cause an accident. Perhaps we should just look at better driver education instead.

Okay, I'm stopping otherwise I'll go on and on.

Hmmm. You know.... saw a little girl on one of the college bowl games tonight. She's had ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT WEEKS (yeah.... I did that on purpose.... there are 52 weeks in a year, guys.... do the math....) of chemotherapy.

I want someone to invent a game for her and every other child out there who's dealing with cancer.... In that game, you will seek out, hunt down, and destroy in the most bloody manner you like, every last cancer cell inhabiting your body....

So sad for all the kids dealing with this. Yes - I'm sad too for anyone dealing with a horrible incurable disease - but it just seems worse for kids. "I haven't even started yet...."

[Sorry.... pretty off topic.... but there aren't many things that really jerk my chain. This is one of them.]

Ding! Winner!

This is always a touchy subject because people tend to parent differently.

But IMO, I find hysterical parents are trying to shield their kids from such things. If any parent took the time and heard what kids said and did when they are not around, they would have a heart attack. IF any parent out there does not think there child is aware of six by 10 your in denial.

When it comes to games that are rated for advlts, you either let them play all the way or don't let them play at all. It's OK for the child to decapitate someone but its not OK for them to join in on a Daderic quest or even the Dark Brotherhood? (rolls eyes).

Parents have the right to choose which game is best for their kid to play. Parent's should not have to shield a child from the realm of fantasy. Just take a moment and give them a long talk about this is not real and you should not try or repeat what you are doing or being shown.

My 7 year old nephew is playing Halo, but he knows not to try to repeat any of it, because its not real and he'll get in BIG trouble if he does. We gave him a long talk before he was allowed to play and now he is kicking my ass .

Don't let her go to markarth. it is a strange city.

Too late.... He already had to work around that issue (page or so back now I think).

Oh alright I did not read that page. It is creepy with cannibals and forsworn.... Y'know?

The main thing to do is know your kid and know the game. While on the surface the game may seem rainbows and ponies, there are a few quests in there where the content can get questionable and rather advltish for kids.

I quite agree. I don't mess with Markarth at all. Closest I get is the stables - on my way to wherever else. I REALLY dislike the Forsworn - they are BEYOND creepy....

But the Forsworn are so cute when they are "sleeping"

yeah. just to put this out there, I am 14 and I am extrmely cautious when it comes to daedra and demons in games LOL, i make sure to stay as far away from the creepier daedra as possible. Sheogorath is an exception and Meridia, along with Azura. I'm not really affected by the strange stuff in this game because I grew up with the Half-life series and Quake.
We don't go to Ravenholm.

Heh. Guys, I'm a 64 year old grandmother. I've never played Doom or Quake or Half-Life (because those are just not my sort of games) - but believe me when I tell you that if something like the Forsworn creeps me out, it's an EPIC MOMENT....

How about Skeevers or Spiders?

how epic? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASj81daun5Q&feature=related epic?

After Shelob (the original - you know, from the books....) I don't really have issues with them, no.


I'm not into youtube stuff, sorry.... just not my thing. So I don't know if it's epic or not.

Also, dont talk to random "peddlers" on the side of the road, they try to sell you skooma and moon suger. it is not good....

I'm 30 and still play Pokemon... But aside from that, I wasn't much allowed to play video games as a kid. I just had educational stuff like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, which I played so much I ruined the disks (5.25" floppies!). I think we also had a Centipede rip-off. Then when I was in high school, some family member bought my younger brother an N64 (I think he was about 7 or 8 at the time), and in no time he was playing Goldeneye and Rainbow Six and all that, and for my money, he turned out far more well-adjusted than I did. Not to mention with much better hand-eye coordination.

Though nowadays (besides Disgaea, which he's logged nearly a thousand hours in over the years) he mostly just plays COD like everyone else...

rainbow 6 and goldeneye were good games....but COD? haha....no.