Is EQ2 reasonably kid-friendly?

#1 Sep 11 2010 at 7:50 PM Rating: Decent

Scholar

17 posts

Hi,

I'm curious about the kid-friendliness of Everquest II Extended. Let me explain the situation.

My wife and I are casual gamers, as is our ten-year-old daughter. The three of us often explore virtual worlds as a family. Collectively, we've spent time in Club Penguin (so so) and Wizard 101 (awesome). More recently, my wife and I have started playing a bit in EQ II Extended after our daughter goes to sleep.

At first glance, the game seems very kid friendly. The gendered representations are refreshingly non-sexualized, the violence is strategic but not gruesome, and the quests are cleverly worded. In the free-to-play extended version, general chat is locked down but we can communicate when we group up together. Considering the fact that we always game as a family -- and she never explores the virtual world alone -- it seems like a safe and positive environment for family play.

What do others think about this? Are there other families who have experience with EQ 2?

Thanks!

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#2 Sep 11 2010 at 8:33 PM Rating: Excellent

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Guru

6,786 posts

I'm the over-protective mom of 7 and 4 year old boys, and I think y'all will be fine. The places that give me parental shock is in the world chat channels, and that's not going to be an issue for you. You'll only have the occasional so-n-so in /say, and you can always /ignore them. You've pegged the violence style correctly. I'm not sure what you mean by "The gendered representations are refreshingly non-sexualized," as my barbarian has huge knockers :) Unless you mean that no one is running around in chain-mail thongs? LOL

I've known many people who play with their kids, and have had kids in guilds before. You'll have a blast!

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#3 Sep 11 2010 at 8:50 PM Rating: Good

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Sage

3,183 posts

I have played for years alongside a friend of mine and her (now) 13 year old daughter.
I think that as long as you monitor her play and keep a close eye on her friends list all will be well.

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#4 Sep 12 2010 at 7:41 PM Rating: Excellent

Cyliena

Empress of News

2,350 posts

I think so. Like mentioned above, you might want to turn off global chat, but really I think it's fine. My oldest started playing EQ2 at age 7 and still plays from time to time to this day (he's 10 now). Whenever someone I don't know groups with him I just shoot them a tell and have never had anyone abandon him due to his age--they actually become more helpful! My 5yo helps me decorate my house sometimes and my 3yo likes to make my character jump a lot. Smiley: lol

I've also met other kids in game who play with their parents (youngest I can recall was 11 when I first met him) and they were cool to work on quests with.

Playing together is terrific--that's what we do here, too! I'm sure your daughter will enjoy playing. :)

Good luck and welcome to EQ2! Smiley: grin

Edited, Sep 12th 2010 9:43pm by Cyliena

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#5 Sep 13 2010 at 1:08 AM Rating: Excellent

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Guru

6,786 posts

Thought I'd mention that when my oldest (now 7 1/2) was a colicky baby sometimes the EQ load music would sooth him :)

Both boys enjoy "Going to see the elephants" in Kingdom of Sky. Kiddo is a master shiny-spotter. Junior has figured out how tradeskills work, basically (when he was three I came back from a bio and he was making arrows). And they both go KABOOM when I nuke something!!

"GET THAT SPIDER, MOMMY!"

Edited, Sep 13th 2010 3:08am by Calthine

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Is EQ2 reasonably kid-friendly?Follow