Last week I found out that my Niece who's 6 years old has been pestering my sister to let her play an online game called Maple Story. Being the game guru of the family she asked me for my opinion, so I downloaded and played Maple Story + did a little research on it.
I'm gonna do a review targetted towards parents allowing or disallowing their children to play this game.
Its got more than 50 million people world wide playing this game. So don't think that its only played by a small subset of people. The first 8-10 levels are Beginner levels. Then you can choose your first Job. I choose to be a Magician. Not something I would recommend to first time players because its slighter harder to do.
For more indepth info on
this game Maple Story for South East AsiaMaple Story for the US
Quick Review of Maple Story:
Pros: - Free to Play. No cost at all beyond having an internet connection and a PC able to play the game
- Low system requirements. Basically if you got your PC in the last 3 years, you will probably be able to play this game.
- Simple Graphics, cute, bright colors. This appeals to kids and the "young at heart".
- Easy to learn and play. (My Niece leveled a Warrior and Priest till level 5 on World of Warcraft. This will be a snap)
- Chat System is archaic and not very user friendly.
(I list this as a Pro because I'm gearing this review more for my sister allowing my niece to play. Having a Clunky chat system is good because it will tend to discourage talks with potential strangers online. At 6 years old I think this is a good thing).
- Reading. I've always believed that online games suuch as this encourage children to read. Not all of us like reading 200 page books. So reading Quests and in game messages are great ways for kids to improve their reading skills.
- Something for something. These games teach kids about money. In game you need money to buy things. To get money, you have to kill monsters. Its a reward. It also helps their basic math abilities (subtraction and addition).
Cons: - Grind, Grind, Grind. If this is your first Online game, it might not bother you much. But the game is fairly basic in terms of MMORPG's. Its essentially a 1st generation MMORPG with World of Warcraft being 2nd to 3rd generation. (Not an issue for a 6 year old)
- This game is free. So to make money they have something called a CashShop in the game. Simply put, you pay real money and get in game money. This can be used to purchase Pets and Clothing and other goodies for your character in the game. Trust me, when I say that kids will want the goodies being offered, especially when they see other characters with all these cute wonderful stuff.
Conclusion:I have no problem recommending this game for my niece with a few provisos.
1. Time Commitment. This and all these kinds of games are addicitive. And initially (the first 2-3 weeks) are the worst. If you like the game, you might think about nothing else but playing more of the game (Trust me I speak from experience). So Parents please manage your children's Computer Time.
2. Servers. This is harder to explain to non-gamers. Essentially, when you first login and create a character, you have to choose a server to play on. A common problem that occurs is that players jump into the game and just choose any server. Then a few days/weeks/months later they find out their friends are also playing the game but on a different server. This might not sound like an issue to non-gamers but trust me when I say it pays to find out if any friends are currently on an existing server and to create your character on the same server.
3. Enforce the fact that while you can talk with people in the game, never make appointments to meet other characters outside the game unless you know who that person is. This is very important for kids.
4. MOST IMPORTANT!!! Never Never Never tell anyone your Username and Password. Scammers can spot kids in the game by the way they type messages and will create devious methods to get them to revel their Username and Password. So drum into your child to Never Never Never tell anyone your Username and Password. Not in game, not in email, not to friends. Also, parents should know what the username and password is. Expecting a 6 year old to remember this information is just asking for trouble.
5. An Email is required to activate the game. The email address will most probably start receiving junk emails and even worse, Scamming emails. I highly recommend that Parents use their emails and not the Child's emails to activate the game.
6. Parents are highly recommended to spend the first 1-2 hours with the child registering, and creating the first character + playing a the first 2-3 levels with their children. This way, parents have a better understanding of what's actually going on.
As I said, this review is geared towards my sister allowing her daughter to play Maple Story. I say go for it.
Labels: Online Games
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