Online games for kids - Is it safe?

Are online games for kids safe? There are several types of online games and most of them were not designed for kids. Single-player games like flash games that you can play on your browser are generally safe. For example, coloring book games are safe and fun to play.

Parents should just check the game itself or the game website for any objectionable content like excessive violence, blood, gore, nudity, strong language, etc.but these games are mostly harmless.

Multi-player games are another thing entirely. Since these are played by all kinds of people, parental controls should be in place if your child will be playing online multi-player games. Parental controls in a game will make it safe for younger players and parents can monitor and limit their children's playtime, activities, online chat, and so forth.

Games like World of Warcraft are called MMORPGs and they are very popular nowadays. These games are basically virtual world games where players take on a role to explore and adventure in a fantasy setting.

If you want a specific recommendation of a safe game for kids that has parental controls, visit our blog post on the best free MMORPG game for kids and teens that is free to play and free to download plus it has the Parent Tested Parent Approved Media Seal of Approval and has been recognized by the National Parenting Publications Awards.

The truth is that million of kids and teens play games online. It's nothing to be very alarmed about but as a parent you should probably keep an eye out and steer your kids towards the more child-safe games.

Another good resource:
 
MMORPG for kids - Top Online Games Squidoo lens

Is it a WoW Clone or Not? Runes of Magic

Well, yes and no.

Runes of Magic is definitely very much like World of Warcaft. It has that WoW feel and look but so when first log into the game your first reaction will be "it plays like WoW!" However, according to Mike Fahey of Kotaku, there is much more to the game than that.

While at times it stretches the very limit of the word homage, Runes of Magic isn't a WoW clone. If anything, it's a game that seeks to harness the best elements of all MMORPG games into one, adding a few innovative new elements in the hopes of becoming one of the most compelling free-to-play online RPGs in existence.

In his blog post,  Fahey lists the gameplay elements of Runes of Magic that are similar to WoW and other MMORPGs but gives kudos to RoM for having a lot of great updates for a free to play game.

Best Free PvP MMORPG 2011

Yes, it's all about the best free PvP MMORPG games in 2011.

Now first of all, PvP stands for Player vs Player. In other words, this means MMORPG content that pits players against each other in combat. Player killing, that means when you simply go and kill someone's character in the game world, is actually the biggest part of PvP though there are also other types of Pvp.

PvP Content in MMORPGs 2011

1. Player killing or pking - good old-fashioned killing and sometimes looting the equipment of other players
2. Dueling - fighting one on one with the consent of both parties
3. Clan or guild wars - when two player groups clash with each other, it's a form of pking except on a larger scale and with more organization
4. Wars and in-game planned events - sometimes games will have server-wide PvP events at times which are announced in advance
5. PvP Dungeons - dungeons where one group can kill the other group if they meet one another
6. Minigames - games within MMORPGs that have set rules and objectives such as capture the flag

All of that is PvP content.

As to which games are the best free PvP MMORPGs of 2011, I personally like S4 League. It's a third person shooter that has many different game modes for PvP and it's fast. So okay, it's not everyone's cup of tea because of the cute anime graphics but I like it. :P

Besides, you can use both guns and swords!

Big War on ARGO Online This Weekend

The Shining Desert, a vast and sandy expanse which lies at the heart of ARGO Online, will play host to the steampunk-fantasy MMORPG’s first official “Great Field War” this Saturday, July 16, at 9 pm PST.

During the daily Field Wars that take place in ARGO Online, one of the Top 10 MMORPGs this year, players from both the Floresslah and Noblian factions vie for the control of the scarce and vital mineral Earthdium. Competing to survive, players from each faction coordinate their assault in an attempt to destroy the enemy mine. The victors enjoy access to the bountiful Earthdium deposits at the core of the desert as the spoils of war, while the losers wait in shame for an opportunity to try again.

For this special Great Field War event, players will not only be able to participate in the brutal battle for access to the best Earthdium mining in the game, they’ll also be entered for a chance to win a unique item that cannot be found anywhere else in ARGO Online. Winners will be selected randomly from the participating players, so be ready for a serious fight this weekend if you want a shot at the prize!

Biggest Sign of Success for MMORPGs

Goodness, if this isn't one of the biggest signs of success for MMORPGs, I don't know what is. Check out this headline:

IGXE Prepares to Launch ARGO Online

Now at first the news headline seems innocuous enough but then I realized something - hey IGXE isn't the publisher or the game developer of ARGO Online, what's up with that?

Well it seems that IGXE is actually a Chinese company that sells virtual currencies. So in other words, the Chinese gold farmers and real world traders have realized that ARGO Online is a big hit. They are going to spend their real life money to buy ARGO gold and sell it to players for more real life money.

“Based on our earlier market survey and customer requirements, we believe that ARGO Online will become quite popular, and IGXE.com will not miss this opportunity. Our team has done plenty of preparations for this online game, so that players can enjoy the professional services of Argo Gold and so on in the near future,” Vinson Feen, Manager of IGXE.com said excitedly.

Apparently ARGO Online, one of the best free PvP MMORPGs of 2011, has become popular enough for other services to spring up around it. It's crazy but this is actually a good sign of sorts, don't you agree?

MMORPG Statistics You Will Love

When it comes to MMORPG statistics, Runes of Magic has some really good ones. Consider this:

For two years players have been wandering the lands of Taborea, the world of Runes of Magic . Millions of characters have been created, thousands of quests have been completed, and scores of professions have been learnt. Reason enough to take a look at the statistics. Which profession is the most popular? Which pet are players clamouring after?

In the past two years, 6,667,370 characters have been created. Of which 2.2 million are mages, nearly 650,000 are rogues, and just as many warriors. An especially popular class combo in the dual class system is the priest/mage combination. There are clear favourites in the choice of secondary classes as well: with 350,000 players, the priest is the secondary class of choice, while the warrior has won over around 150,000 players. Out of all these players, 3,3 million have chosen herbalism as their farming profession, whereas the crafting profession, Alchemy, has attracted 1.1 million players. To keep them entertained along the way, more than 100,000 players have chosen the Rune Pet as their favourite in-game companion.

But what would a true MMORPG be without instances and bosses? This is where the Demon Lord comes into the picture. He’s been taken down 4,521 times. But there are also many other fearsome bosses to conquer such as maxim Erekat III, the endboss of the Dungeon of Dalanis, who has been defeated almost three times as often as the Demon Lord. Bringing down Raksha has also proved to be a tricky assignment, until now, he’s only been vanquished 182 times on the games highest difficulty setting.

The English speaking servers have seen the biggest bloodbath of all. A total of 3,505,269 quests have been completed, 4,622 guilds have been created, and wait for it, 36,681,098 monsters have been slain by Anglo speaking warriors everywhere.  And still the monsters come back for more.


Part of Runes of Magic's popularity can be attributed to one simple fact: it's a WoW clone that you can play for free. Because of the World of Warcaft's mass appeal, games like WoW are very much in demand, as the MMORPG's statistics show.

Hellgate Open Beta Starts

The much-awaited open beta of the new MMORPG Hellgate Global is here. It's a post-apocalyptic horror RPG/MMO/FPS hybrid with a good mix of horror and sci-fi.

While many players lined up to download the game client, fans were surprised to know that the game is not actually free, as had previously been announced. Many were outraged at the last-minute change, especially some players who had also purchased the "lifetime subscription" to the old version of Hellgate.

All in all, it was a rocky start to the Hellgate Global launch.

From the press release (take note that the official press release calls the game free to play):

Hellgate will celebrate the Open Beta launch with four special events to reward and entertain the growing Hellgate community - the Guild Reservoir event, the Daily Supplies event, the To Level in Hell event and the Level and Be Rewarded event, each awarding top players with valuable prizes. Additionally, the Open Beta will feature two new game modes – the PvP Duel Area and the zombie-infested Cow Room.

About Hellgate

Hellgate is a free-to-play, online, action RPG that allows you to play in a first-person or third-person perspective. Set 27 years into the future, an ancient prophecy made centuries ago has come true and the gates of hell have opened. Demons have overrun the world of man and roam our lands, destroying, pillaging and killing humans. With the world above ground abandoned, dark and burnt to hellfire, humans are forced into hiding to protect what remains of their race while making plans to take back a world that was once theirs. In the game, mankind escapes to the underground system under the sprawling metropolis of London. Prepare for a struggle for survival in a world that has become hell.