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Child Friendly

1
AuthorMessage
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
My sister has several kids that I would love to introduce to Pirate101 and she LOVES your attitude toward most of the kid-friendly features. She only had one suggestion: find a way to skip the visual part of the battles. She didn't like the idea of her children watching the characters hit each other. Only one of her children are over 13 years old. I believe if there was an option to turn that off, she would happily let her children play with me.
Captain
Dec 11, 2010
748
Brinckmyster on May 27, 2014 wrote:
My sister has several kids that I would love to introduce to Pirate101 and she LOVES your attitude toward most of the kid-friendly features. She only had one suggestion: find a way to skip the visual part of the battles. She didn't like the idea of her children watching the characters hit each other. Only one of her children are over 13 years old. I believe if there was an option to turn that off, she would happily let her children play with me.
Unfortunately an option to remove that feature would cause some ways to make it work for those that have it on.
Since skipping the battle animations would mean those who watched them would have to wait for the players that are watching the animations. Not to mention the battle animations sometimes have some important message showing up (Like in the Hydra fight) during the battle animation. I have an idea, tell your sister that the hits are merely helping you get closer to defeating a great evil. Thus justifying it because your doing it to save the spiral aka the universe :D
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
Rachel Dreamsong on May 27, 2014 wrote:
Unfortunately an option to remove that feature would cause some ways to make it work for those that have it on.
Since skipping the battle animations would mean those who watched them would have to wait for the players that are watching the animations. Not to mention the battle animations sometimes have some important message showing up (Like in the Hydra fight) during the battle animation. I have an idea, tell your sister that the hits are merely helping you get closer to defeating a great evil. Thus justifying it because your doing it to save the spiral aka the universe :D
There are so many ways to do this that could work. My sister and a friend of mine who does play it have thought through those issues. Justifying the hitting only makes it worse. That would give my nieces and nephews a reason to justify hitting each other! I have never seen a fight where you couldn't take the actual hitting part out and have a problem, and I have two characters that are level 65! In fact, my level 65 witchdoctor has earned every badge that there is available so far.

Really, the main problem she has with it is that they SHOW the characters hitting each other with the sword/gun/staff (or whatever they have equipped). There is a game that she plays where it just shows two swords crossed during the battle. Or, a glitch happened the other day where we only saw the side of the ship. Something like that would be just as useful. No need to see the actual fighting - but you are still waiting for the animations to happen and can still see the "important messages" that may show during the battle.

I promise that there are many ways to do this that would work and make this game much more kid friendly (and therefore have more people playing it). Plus, if this did eventually happen, I would be much more likely to use my disposable income (when I have any) here in order to support KI's stance on child-friendly games.
Petty Officer
Jan 31, 2013
68
This is probably a wrong thing to say but if your sister can't handle her children seeing any fighting then she probably can't handle any of the dark subtle things in the game as well. What is she going to do when her child asks, "Mommy, how come the story says some one is dead?" or "Mommy, why are there so many dead pirates?" or "Mommy, why did you start a war?"

Yeah, showing her kids the whole world and story of Pirate101 with all of it's glory and she doesn't want them exposed to any fighting? My suggestion for her is to wait until they are older to handle the game, and instead turn them to something else. Like My little pony for example.

Again, sorry for this being harsh but this just sounds really odd to me and that I don't think she should get her kids involved at all if she can't even handle the fighting animations.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 10, 2009
6204
Brinckmyster on May 27, 2014 wrote:
There are so many ways to do this that could work. My sister and a friend of mine who does play it have thought through those issues. Justifying the hitting only makes it worse. That would give my nieces and nephews a reason to justify hitting each other! I have never seen a fight where you couldn't take the actual hitting part out and have a problem, and I have two characters that are level 65! In fact, my level 65 witchdoctor has earned every badge that there is available so far.

Really, the main problem she has with it is that they SHOW the characters hitting each other with the sword/gun/staff (or whatever they have equipped). There is a game that she plays where it just shows two swords crossed during the battle. Or, a glitch happened the other day where we only saw the side of the ship. Something like that would be just as useful. No need to see the actual fighting - but you are still waiting for the animations to happen and can still see the "important messages" that may show during the battle.

I promise that there are many ways to do this that would work and make this game much more kid friendly (and therefore have more people playing it). Plus, if this did eventually happen, I would be much more likely to use my disposable income (when I have any) here in order to support KI's stance on child-friendly games.
I don't see how it could work either. The battles are an integral part of the game.
Sometimes I think some parents worry too much about kids seeing some forms of game violence. Yes there are games out there that are in first person shooter that practically teach you how to go mow down people with guns. Those I am not if favor of either. They are just too realistic and graphic.
I see the KingsIsle games as more cartoonish. I grew up watching the Wiley Coyote drop anvils and try to blow up that Roadrunner many a time and I was never ONCE temped to try it myself. I knew it was pretend and not even close to reality and I was just an impressionable kid. I know this is a game and I have not been tempted once to go get a ship and start attacking other ships. It is all in fun and I think kids get that.
Petty Officer
Jul 26, 2011
82
Have they tried wizard101?
The main reason why they made pirate101 in the first place was to attract a slightly older age level.
Right now I guess the only option is to look away from the screen but what is the fun in that?
I mean they are going to have to grow up sometime and there is no gore whatsoever.
I would recommend that you explain to her that the fantasy violence of kingsisle games really shouldn't count as violence, cuz it's not. Show her something about pets...that should help your cause a bit!
Captain
Dec 11, 2010
748
Brinckmyster on May 27, 2014 wrote:
There are so many ways to do this that could work. My sister and a friend of mine who does play it have thought through those issues. Justifying the hitting only makes it worse. That would give my nieces and nephews a reason to justify hitting each other! I have never seen a fight where you couldn't take the actual hitting part out and have a problem, and I have two characters that are level 65! In fact, my level 65 witchdoctor has earned every badge that there is available so far.

Really, the main problem she has with it is that they SHOW the characters hitting each other with the sword/gun/staff (or whatever they have equipped). There is a game that she plays where it just shows two swords crossed during the battle. Or, a glitch happened the other day where we only saw the side of the ship. Something like that would be just as useful. No need to see the actual fighting - but you are still waiting for the animations to happen and can still see the "important messages" that may show during the battle.

I promise that there are many ways to do this that would work and make this game much more kid friendly (and therefore have more people playing it). Plus, if this did eventually happen, I would be much more likely to use my disposable income (when I have any) here in order to support KI's stance on child-friendly games.
Well to be completely honest, playing a hero role won't make them think "Oh hitting is ok". Fantasy violence shouldn't even be considered violence. Kingsisle has done everything they can to make Pirate101 as child friendly as possible. Perhaps you should have your sister introduce them to Wizard101 first (spells aren't physical so maybe it will ease her nervousness?) and then perhaps after she sees that there is nothing wrong with Kingsisle games she will let them try Pirate101.

Also I completely agree with Chrissy, she knows what she is talking about. Cartoon Violence if this nature isn't bad at all. Personally some of the things on cartoons are more violent then the battle animations of Pirate101 and Wizard101.
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
The only one of you that has even remotely understood what I've been saying is GoldRoseKnight, who mentions looking away from the screen (which is where we are currently at in order for them to have any involvement). To you, I say that I haven't shown her Wizard101 because I like Pirates better and they (Wizard101) really have the same issue with the "violence" being shown.

Not saying the kids won't need to grow up sometime, but I am saying that if we are going to have an option for kids under 13 to even sign up, there should be an option to turn off even the cartoon violence.

Don't any of you have kids? Or young nieces and nephews? These particular ones likely would try to drop an anvil on somebody's head after watching Wiley E. Coyote. I also grew up watching that type of thing and never even wanted to try it.

Honestly? The only reason I even put this message up on the boards was because KI support suggested it. I'm looking for a response from KI. The rest of you don't much matter since you so obviously don't understand what I'm really asking about. Ratbeard? One-Eyed Jack? What say ye?
Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
Brinckmyster on May 27, 2014 wrote:
There are so many ways to do this that could work. My sister and a friend of mine who does play it have thought through those issues. Justifying the hitting only makes it worse. That would give my nieces and nephews a reason to justify hitting each other! I have never seen a fight where you couldn't take the actual hitting part out and have a problem, and I have two characters that are level 65! In fact, my level 65 witchdoctor has earned every badge that there is available so far.

Really, the main problem she has with it is that they SHOW the characters hitting each other with the sword/gun/staff (or whatever they have equipped). There is a game that she plays where it just shows two swords crossed during the battle. Or, a glitch happened the other day where we only saw the side of the ship. Something like that would be just as useful. No need to see the actual fighting - but you are still waiting for the animations to happen and can still see the "important messages" that may show during the battle.

I promise that there are many ways to do this that would work and make this game much more kid friendly (and therefore have more people playing it). Plus, if this did eventually happen, I would be much more likely to use my disposable income (when I have any) here in order to support KI's stance on child-friendly games.
I think what Rachel was saying, and I may be wrong about this, is that if there were an option to turn "strikes" on/off, you would end up with battles with some players having it set to OFF and others having it set to ON, in the same battle. I would imagine that this type of scenario could and would possibly cause all kinds of programming issues with having to try and accommodate both options during the same co-op instances. Both scenarios would have to carry out their programming task to accommodate each option for each player and still end up at the same ending point, at the same time. I am no programmer, but I do play one on TV....wait, I mean- it may be possible to do, but it sounds as if it would be difficult to balance it all out....but I surely could be very wrong about it.

I do understand that many games are more younger-children friendly and don't show any type of violence period....but this game is rated 10+ and in all honesty, a child over the age of 10 should have already had plenty of tutelage in keeping their hands to their selves. If they are younger than 10 and there are questions about whether they can separate real life from a game, then they should not be playing a game rated 10+. My son is 8 and has not once ever acted out any of the cartoon violence in P101- at least not towards any other person in a harmful way. He will "air swordfight" and give a good whoopin' to a pillow or stair post....but to be fair, the pillow started it....the post however, never saw it coming.

In my opinion, any child over 10 should be able to handle the cartoon violence without mimicking it in a mean and hurtful way to other kids or people- and they should be aware of what is right and wrong, plus understand the difference between cartoon violence in a video game and real life violence.

KI has found a good balance to entertain both adults and older children. There are many games meant strictly for very young children and many games meant strictly for adults. Pirate101 falls somewhere in the middle but way down towards the younger crowd. It just wouldn't be the same without any animated mild cartoon violence at all and having it as part of the game is why it is rated 10+. If somehow the option to have it turned off/on could be done without it affecting everyone's gameplay, interrupting the flow of the game and taking away from the general creative process and future development of the game....then perhaps it would be worth looking into.

But, I personally think that the level of cartoon violence at present is more than acceptable for children 10+, whom the game is intended for. Great, now I have to inform my 8 year old that his piratin' and plunderin' days are over, for at least another 20 months....that stair post is sure in for it now.
Administrator
Brinckmyster on May 28, 2014 wrote:
The only one of you that has even remotely understood what I've been saying is GoldRoseKnight, who mentions looking away from the screen (which is where we are currently at in order for them to have any involvement). To you, I say that I haven't shown her Wizard101 because I like Pirates better and they (Wizard101) really have the same issue with the "violence" being shown.

Not saying the kids won't need to grow up sometime, but I am saying that if we are going to have an option for kids under 13 to even sign up, there should be an option to turn off even the cartoon violence.

Don't any of you have kids? Or young nieces and nephews? These particular ones likely would try to drop an anvil on somebody's head after watching Wiley E. Coyote. I also grew up watching that type of thing and never even wanted to try it.

Honestly? The only reason I even put this message up on the boards was because KI support suggested it. I'm looking for a response from KI. The rest of you don't much matter since you so obviously don't understand what I'm really asking about. Ratbeard? One-Eyed Jack? What say ye?
The suggestion to have a toggle that shows a Crossed Swords label over the combat execution phase of Pirate101 is an interesting one that I don't believe has been suggested before. As Ratbeard stated in the past, it's not possible to completely remove the combat animations; however, this is a bit different.

I'll make sure the suggestion is at least seen by our decision makers; however, please understand we do have an ESRB rating of E10+, which does include a parental notice of Cartoon Violence and Crude Humor.

Thanks for your feedback!
*One-Eyed Jack, Your Pirate101 Community Manager*
Petty Officer
Jan 31, 2013
68
Brinckmyster on May 28, 2014 wrote:
The only one of you that has even remotely understood what I've been saying is GoldRoseKnight, who mentions looking away from the screen (which is where we are currently at in order for them to have any involvement). To you, I say that I haven't shown her Wizard101 because I like Pirates better and they (Wizard101) really have the same issue with the "violence" being shown.

Not saying the kids won't need to grow up sometime, but I am saying that if we are going to have an option for kids under 13 to even sign up, there should be an option to turn off even the cartoon violence.

Don't any of you have kids? Or young nieces and nephews? These particular ones likely would try to drop an anvil on somebody's head after watching Wiley E. Coyote. I also grew up watching that type of thing and never even wanted to try it.

Honestly? The only reason I even put this message up on the boards was because KI support suggested it. I'm looking for a response from KI. The rest of you don't much matter since you so obviously don't understand what I'm really asking about. Ratbeard? One-Eyed Jack? What say ye?
Well just be sure that the young children who do act out the cartoons that they see turn away from away from all of the story aspects that talk about violence. Actually she should stop playing once she finishes skull island. It's really hard to say based on the story, how her children will handle it. I'm also talking about the skull island itself and not the world because the first place off shore is where the story gets involved.

By the way, I babysat really young kids before and none of them were likely to try and drop anvils on people. They were pretty happy to just play games, watch power rangers, and go swimming. However, all children are different so I shouldn't judge. Still, it's odd but that's only because I'm a stranger and I don't know your situation. Overall, I just don't think your sister should be having her children play this game at all ever.
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
ValkoorTheVictorio... on May 28, 2014 wrote:
I think what Rachel was saying, and I may be wrong about this, is that if there were an option to turn "strikes" on/off, you would end up with battles with some players having it set to OFF and others having it set to ON, in the same battle. I would imagine that this type of scenario could and would possibly cause all kinds of programming issues with having to try and accommodate both options during the same co-op instances. Both scenarios would have to carry out their programming task to accommodate each option for each player and still end up at the same ending point, at the same time. I am no programmer, but I do play one on TV....wait, I mean- it may be possible to do, but it sounds as if it would be difficult to balance it all out....but I surely could be very wrong about it.

I do understand that many games are more younger-children friendly and don't show any type of violence period....but this game is rated 10+ and in all honesty, a child over the age of 10 should have already had plenty of tutelage in keeping their hands to their selves. If they are younger than 10 and there are questions about whether they can separate real life from a game, then they should not be playing a game rated 10+. My son is 8 and has not once ever acted out any of the cartoon violence in P101- at least not towards any other person in a harmful way. He will "air swordfight" and give a good whoopin' to a pillow or stair post....but to be fair, the pillow started it....the post however, never saw it coming.

In my opinion, any child over 10 should be able to handle the cartoon violence without mimicking it in a mean and hurtful way to other kids or people- and they should be aware of what is right and wrong, plus understand the difference between cartoon violence in a video game and real life violence.

KI has found a good balance to entertain both adults and older children. There are many games meant strictly for very young children and many games meant strictly for adults. Pirate101 falls somewhere in the middle but way down towards the younger crowd. It just wouldn't be the same without any animated mild cartoon violence at all and having it as part of the game is why it is rated 10+. If somehow the option to have it turned off/on could be done without it affecting everyone's gameplay, interrupting the flow of the game and taking away from the general creative process and future development of the game....then perhaps it would be worth looking into.

But, I personally think that the level of cartoon violence at present is more than acceptable for children 10+, whom the game is intended for. Great, now I have to inform my 8 year old that his piratin' and plunderin' days are over, for at least another 20 months....that stair post is sure in for it now.
Thank you for your feedback. Most, if not all, of what you said did make sense. Love the comment about the stair post. Also glad that you have a child and seem to understand where I was coming from. I also agree that KI has done a GREAT job at mixing it up so that both kids and adults can have fun with it. Great work KI!!

BTW - apparently you haven't watched Wizard101 battles lately. They also show "violence" during their fights. Spells are not violence-free.

Jack - Thanks! My sister and I much appreciate you entertaining the idea. We do understand that the battles can't be taken away completely. It would take away from much of Pirate101 if you tried to do that.
Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
Brinckmyster on May 28, 2014 wrote:
Thank you for your feedback. Most, if not all, of what you said did make sense. Love the comment about the stair post. Also glad that you have a child and seem to understand where I was coming from. I also agree that KI has done a GREAT job at mixing it up so that both kids and adults can have fun with it. Great work KI!!

BTW - apparently you haven't watched Wizard101 battles lately. They also show "violence" during their fights. Spells are not violence-free.

Jack - Thanks! My sister and I much appreciate you entertaining the idea. We do understand that the battles can't be taken away completely. It would take away from much of Pirate101 if you tried to do that.
And thank you for the reply as well. Glad you enjoyed my goofy antics, I surely wasn't trying to make light of your concerns- I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit. I know that it can be hard trying to protect our children from what's out there in the entertainment world, so I 100% get where you were coming from.

I have not played Wizard101, so I have not seen what the "battles" are like and what level of violence is depicted in the spell casting.

I would absolutely fully support the option to toggle the "combat strike" animations ON/OFF, if it could be done in such a way that it would not interfere with the battles and great animations that so many of us older pirates enjoy, take away from the game's future development and creativity and/or take away from co-op play for those that like to play with friends.

If KI can somehow (they are pretty much geniuses, right?) appease both sides without causing any disruptions or changes to battles/animations for those who enjoy them the way they currently are....then I am all for it.
Bosun
Apr 19, 2012
331
Brinckmyster on May 27, 2014 wrote:
There are so many ways to do this that could work. My sister and a friend of mine who does play it have thought through those issues. Justifying the hitting only makes it worse. That would give my nieces and nephews a reason to justify hitting each other! I have never seen a fight where you couldn't take the actual hitting part out and have a problem, and I have two characters that are level 65! In fact, my level 65 witchdoctor has earned every badge that there is available so far.

Really, the main problem she has with it is that they SHOW the characters hitting each other with the sword/gun/staff (or whatever they have equipped). There is a game that she plays where it just shows two swords crossed during the battle. Or, a glitch happened the other day where we only saw the side of the ship. Something like that would be just as useful. No need to see the actual fighting - but you are still waiting for the animations to happen and can still see the "important messages" that may show during the battle.

I promise that there are many ways to do this that would work and make this game much more kid friendly (and therefore have more people playing it). Plus, if this did eventually happen, I would be much more likely to use my disposable income (when I have any) here in order to support KI's stance on child-friendly games.
Eh. It sounds to me like the children you speak of may be too young to play the game period. Besides, pretending that something doesn't exist doesn't make it go away. There is violence in the world and there are bad people and there are times that good people might have to 'fight' the bad people. I would think it healthier for a child to learn and see things for the way they really are than to be isolated and insulated from it. Instead of trying to pretend that people never hit each other, use this as an opportunity to teach the children why people sometimes hit each other and why it is wrong...in most cases...to do that. Sweeping reality under the rug makes for a rude awakening later on in life. My younger siblings and friends have played this game and others like it since they were 5 years old. They are now 18 year old honor students with no behavioral problems at all...aside from always asking me for money lol. It's not what we are exposed to that shapes our minds...it's the context within which it is presented.
Captain
Dec 11, 2010
748
Brinckmyster on May 28, 2014 wrote:
Thank you for your feedback. Most, if not all, of what you said did make sense. Love the comment about the stair post. Also glad that you have a child and seem to understand where I was coming from. I also agree that KI has done a GREAT job at mixing it up so that both kids and adults can have fun with it. Great work KI!!

BTW - apparently you haven't watched Wizard101 battles lately. They also show "violence" during their fights. Spells are not violence-free.

Jack - Thanks! My sister and I much appreciate you entertaining the idea. We do understand that the battles can't be taken away completely. It would take away from much of Pirate101 if you tried to do that.
The "violence" in the Wizard101 battle animations are appropriate for an E10+ game. I was just saying that spells might help ease her mind due to them not being physical hand to hand attacks.
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
Captain Rosethorn on May 28, 2014 wrote:
Well just be sure that the young children who do act out the cartoons that they see turn away from away from all of the story aspects that talk about violence. Actually she should stop playing once she finishes skull island. It's really hard to say based on the story, how her children will handle it. I'm also talking about the skull island itself and not the world because the first place off shore is where the story gets involved.

By the way, I babysat really young kids before and none of them were likely to try and drop anvils on people. They were pretty happy to just play games, watch power rangers, and go swimming. However, all children are different so I shouldn't judge. Still, it's odd but that's only because I'm a stranger and I don't know your situation. Overall, I just don't think your sister should be having her children play this game at all ever.
Well, some do, and some don't. There are a few of her children that wouldn't, no matter what, act out like that. Then there are others who would, but only depending on the situation. Honestly, I was frustrated at what everybody was saying and that none of you seemed to understand what I was trying to ask about. So, I posted about the worst. They honestly aren't usually that bad.

Skull Island isn't battle-free either. Thank you for understanding that you are a stranger and don't actually know the full situation. She's not trying to shield them from everything - this just seemed like something KI could fairly easily implement.

ValkoorTheVictorian - I quite enjoyed your comments. I'm with you when you said "I would absolutely fully support the option to toggle the "combat strike" animations ON/OFF, if it could be done in such a way that it would not interfere with the battles and great animations that so many of us older pirates enjoy, take away from the game's future development and creativity and/or take away from co-op play for those that like to play with friends.

If KI can somehow (they are pretty much geniuses, right?) appease both sides without causing any disruptions or changes to battles/animations for those who enjoy them the way they currently are....then I am all for it."

I know KI can do it.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Brinckmyster on May 27, 2014 wrote:
My sister has several kids that I would love to introduce to Pirate101 and she LOVES your attitude toward most of the kid-friendly features. She only had one suggestion: find a way to skip the visual part of the battles. She didn't like the idea of her children watching the characters hit each other. Only one of her children are over 13 years old. I believe if there was an option to turn that off, she would happily let her children play with me.
It is good to see that your sister is one of those caring parents who doesn't want her children exposed to violence as entertainment. But perhaps the issue can be resolved without changes to the game. Parental or adult supervision while playing and a discussion after play, could be all you need.
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
anecorbie on May 30, 2014 wrote:
It is good to see that your sister is one of those caring parents who doesn't want her children exposed to violence as entertainment. But perhaps the issue can be resolved without changes to the game. Parental or adult supervision while playing and a discussion after play, could be all you need.
Thank you for noticing that my sister is a caring parent. It is true, that with the more mature children, adult supervision and discussion after play would be all that was needed.

This thread was created mainly so that KI could see an improvement in making an already child-friendly game even more friendly for children. Thus, in my humble way of thinking, even more players to play and support KI in the great work that they are doing.

I love this game! I want to have MANY others love it too.

To those of you who posted above, I apologize for my earlier tone. I realize you were just giving your opinions and I didn't mean to be yelling at anybody.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 10, 2009
6204
Brinckmyster on Jun 1, 2014 wrote:
Thank you for noticing that my sister is a caring parent. It is true, that with the more mature children, adult supervision and discussion after play would be all that was needed.

This thread was created mainly so that KI could see an improvement in making an already child-friendly game even more friendly for children. Thus, in my humble way of thinking, even more players to play and support KI in the great work that they are doing.

I love this game! I want to have MANY others love it too.

To those of you who posted above, I apologize for my earlier tone. I realize you were just giving your opinions and I didn't mean to be yelling at anybody.
x Chrissy hugs x
Dread Pirate
Jun 17, 2013
2743
Brinckmyster on Jun 1, 2014 wrote:
Thank you for noticing that my sister is a caring parent. It is true, that with the more mature children, adult supervision and discussion after play would be all that was needed.

This thread was created mainly so that KI could see an improvement in making an already child-friendly game even more friendly for children. Thus, in my humble way of thinking, even more players to play and support KI in the great work that they are doing.

I love this game! I want to have MANY others love it too.

To those of you who posted above, I apologize for my earlier tone. I realize you were just giving your opinions and I didn't mean to be yelling at anybody.
I didn't hear any yelling.....I had my speakers turned off!

No worries at all, we all love this game and share the same passion for it as well. As often is the case, when you are passionate about something, it can be easy to speak with ,and through, emotions. There's nothing wrong at all about being passionate about something you love and there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to bring as many people on board this amazing game.

I am sure it is quite a delicate balancing act for KI trying to bring Pirate101 and future P101 content to such a wide ranging and diverse fan base. There's always that element of, if you make one group of people happy, you run the risk of alienating or disgruntling another group. I applaud them for not only to trying to balance all sides' contentment, but also making the game seem like it was made just for a certain audience, but yet for all audiences.

When my son plays Pirate101 he thinks that it was made for kids his age due to the absolute fun factor and all of the hilarious moments and great pirate play. When I play, I think Pirate101 was made for people like me and from my generation because of all the Easter Eggs and pop culture references from the 70s/80s/90s that the KI crew expertly crafted and brought to us. I can only imagine that players with historical and social & cultural studies interests would believe the game was made to appeal to them. And it would seem that High School and even College students would be inclined to believe that P101, with all of it's WOW factor, fantasy elements, amazing graphics and down right coolness (sorry I am getting old), was meant to be directed at their age group. Then you have the Western theme, Rat Pack referencing and more to appeal to slightly more seasoned generations. And not to mention all of the Art & Literature references that surely captivate the hearts of those with a an appreciation and love of those respective fields- they too could easily view P101 as being made for their enjoyment.

Every single group, class, generation and type of player that plays Pirate101, probably thinks that the game was made with them solely in mind....and that's a beautiful thing. KI done did good.

Like I said before, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you wanting this great game to reach as many people as possible- because IT IS THAT AMAZING and deserves to be played by as many people as possible. So for this, I applaud your efforts and intentions.
Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
The one thing I don't want to see is Pirate basically milqetoasted down to the point that teens no longer are interested in it, and kids who love Wizard101 dominate the players.

This is, in my opinion, what killed Disney's Toontown. They created a game that required a heavy amount of reading ability with a large amount of teamwork, and then, because it was attracting younger kids and parents who think cartoons=easy and non violent they decided to cater to this group, by opening up all of the areas to even beginning characters and very young players who did not have the reading level needed to understand what was being said, nor the social skills for cooperative team play.

The result: Very young players begging higher players to take them into areas to supposedly "explore" not realizing that their exploration was making it impossible for the higher players to advance. Very young players were being basically coddled in game play early on, and when the fighting got tougher had no idea how to fight properly then crying to their parents when the other players, who were losing battles they should not, basically chased them away. The parents then come back and complain about the other players being mean to their children, not realizing that their own children were being equally mean by demanding help then ruining play.

And because Disney sided with the younger players and the parents of these younger players, older players left, and the game died.

I don't want to see that happen to Pirate101. Not when there is Wizard101 as an alternative.
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
Max DeGroot on Jun 3, 2014 wrote:
The one thing I don't want to see is Pirate basically milqetoasted down to the point that teens no longer are interested in it, and kids who love Wizard101 dominate the players.

This is, in my opinion, what killed Disney's Toontown. They created a game that required a heavy amount of reading ability with a large amount of teamwork, and then, because it was attracting younger kids and parents who think cartoons=easy and non violent they decided to cater to this group, by opening up all of the areas to even beginning characters and very young players who did not have the reading level needed to understand what was being said, nor the social skills for cooperative team play.

The result: Very young players begging higher players to take them into areas to supposedly "explore" not realizing that their exploration was making it impossible for the higher players to advance. Very young players were being basically coddled in game play early on, and when the fighting got tougher had no idea how to fight properly then crying to their parents when the other players, who were losing battles they should not, basically chased them away. The parents then come back and complain about the other players being mean to their children, not realizing that their own children were being equally mean by demanding help then ruining play.

And because Disney sided with the younger players and the parents of these younger players, older players left, and the game died.

I don't want to see that happen to Pirate101. Not when there is Wizard101 as an alternative.
Oh heavens no! That would be horrid! I sincerely hope that doesn't have to happen.

We (my sister and I) weren't asking for the fighting to disappear altogether, nor do we want it to have to change for players who want to play it how it is. It's a great game and there is a lot of strategy involved in the fights, so taking them away would be bad for the game.
Community Leader
We'll see what they can do with the suggestion that Jack noticed...

But there is nothing here beyond typical "cartoon" violence predominant in todays childrens cartoon shows.

There are a number of different perspectives and philosophies regarding this topic. KI I think does ok at achieving an acceptable "medium" so to speak.

In Beta some of this came up in conversations, there is a reason the "firearms" don't shoot bullets but just zap opponents.

Somewhere education and upbringing must step in, its not the worlds job to babysit everyone elses children. There may be some moral responsibility at play, but people cant expect everyone to adhere to THEIR moral standards. So not everyone is going to agree on where to draw the line....
Dr Zeppers (aka Silent Sam Stern)
Piratey parodies I like to make.
I be a crazy pirate for goodness sake!
Artist & Admin of Skull Island TV
Ensign
Jan 06, 2014
16
Dr Zeppers on Jun 5, 2014 wrote:
We'll see what they can do with the suggestion that Jack noticed...

But there is nothing here beyond typical "cartoon" violence predominant in todays childrens cartoon shows.

There are a number of different perspectives and philosophies regarding this topic. KI I think does ok at achieving an acceptable "medium" so to speak.

In Beta some of this came up in conversations, there is a reason the "firearms" don't shoot bullets but just zap opponents.

Somewhere education and upbringing must step in, its not the worlds job to babysit everyone elses children. There may be some moral responsibility at play, but people cant expect everyone to adhere to THEIR moral standards. So not everyone is going to agree on where to draw the line....
Thank you for considering the suggestion. That's really the most I can reasonably ask you for anyway.

We both appreciate that it isn't bloody first-person shooter type stuff.

KI has done a great job at listening to their players, which is something a lot of other MMOs seem to have problems with. So, THANK YOU once again for even considering the possibility!
Captain
Oct 26, 2012
524
Well to be honest I think the violence in P101 is pretty minimal. It won't really affect anyone's mentality. Of course this differs with some children, but from my experiences as a kid (which ended about 4-5 years ago), I loved the lightsaber battles of star wars (and still do) and those cartoony mishaps of Oggy and the Cockroaches. However I never would have dreamed of taking a knife and reacting Yoda battles, or throwing a baseball at someones face to see a funny looking X. X face... or anything.

If anything the problem is not in the minds of young kids, but crazed people that are over 18+. Examples are those game addicts who play games like GTA and eventually go out in a mentally instable state and go do some... pretty bad stuff unfortunately .

If you really do care, dont let them get involved in such games. Thier tolerance to violence should be mild (no worse than LOTR at teenage years, definetly not such things as Game of Thrones). Also teach them maturity, and they will be fine.

Also be wise. Expose them to right amount of violence as the maturity increases. Keep away from excessive R17+ content and even extreme PG-13 stuff (am I getting your ratings right guys) preferably forever, but you cant hold them up forever.
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