Parent's Guide to World of Warcraft: What Parents Need to Know About WOW When They're Kid's Ask to Play

World of Warcraft is the biggest phenomenon the video game world has ever seen. With all the controversy around the video game industry, it's hard to know what to do when kids ask for the game. Hopefully this parent's guide will help you make that decision.

World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). For $14.99 per month, you get access to a world that is always there and filled with other people playing from all around the world.

It's fantasy based with mythical creatures and monsters populating magical lands. Think Lord of the Rings. Theres magic, swords and battles.

When first starting, a player chooses what race and class to be. The races include elves, dwarves, humans, undead and trolls among others. Mages, Paladins, Priests, Warriors, Hunters and shamans are a few of the classes.

After choosing, the player starts in a small zone designed to slowly introduce different aspects of the game. Most of the game is about doing quests to help people that populate the world. A computer controlled non-playable character (NPC) will need help with something or have a mission that needs to be done. Typical quests are to go find something like ten witherbark sticks or to kill something like 5 hellboars. As the player gets more experience, he'll start getting to higher lvl's and have more abilities.

Warcraft is a fairly complex game. There are a lot of things to keep of and a lot going on at once. Despite what some say about video games, you can be sure your kid's brain isn't rotting while playing. Plans must be made and changed on the fly as things change. Group composition and duties must be considered to get a lot of the tougher quests completed.

A big part of the game is group play. Many quests can't even be done unless you get other people to all work together. Teamwork is essential. As he plays, he'll start meeting people to do quests with. Most conversations are about the game and how to go about getting quests done. People rarely ask personal questions so the risk of meeting someone dangerous is minimal. Make sure he understands what he can tell others and what he shouldn't though.

The downside of this is that some other people who play can be quite mean. Some players yell at others or make mean remarks. There is a profanity filter but some things like misspellings and slang can get through. If another player is a problem, it's easy to put them on your ignore list so you dont see anything they say anymore.

A real danger is playing this game too much. Lives have been hurt from people neglecting real life duties for playing. Thankfully there are parental controls which can be set to limit how long your kids can play or during what times. For example, you could set it so he can't play from 6pm -7pm while your family eats dinner or from 3pm-8pm so he has time to do his homework first. Making sure homework is done is before playing is a good idea.

Overall, World of Warcraft is a fun game as the ten million people who play it worldwide can attest to. The fantasy setting and gameplay can inspire a kid's imagination as he fights monsters and rescues hostages. He'll use a lot more of his brain playing this then watching TV. So if your kid asks for Warcraft, just be sure he understands not to be upset over what other people may say and he doesn't neglect his real life responsibilities.