So... My little brother (soon-to-be-13 years old) texted me today and asked, "So... When can I play your online game?" About a year ago when I was at home, I played a bit and he watched some and was interested, but I said "No way jose! Not with people like Visaeris running around!!"

So, I ask you all... When can he play my online game? I'm obviously extraordinarily inclined to have him wait at least a few more years...

Just hoping to spark some interesting discussion!

That depends on how evil you are and how badly you wish to destroy your brother's currently-innocent mind.

Hey, I matured really fast after I played Lusternia. Extensive exposion to gore/death/killing does that to a little guy. But look what became of me, so yeah, let him start asap. *smooth*

Put him on Nexus!

Just don't let him near Narsrim or Ilyarin. If he gets to talking OOC with either of them he may be scarred for the rest of his life

Really depends on how mature you think your brother is. I'm pretty sure there are some eighteen year olds in Lusty who definitely should not be allowed to play, while there probably are thirteen year olds out there who are mature enough.

That's a good point.

While he's really quite mature sometimes, he's also pretty much as innocent as an angel... ::shudders at thinking of him interacting with Narsrim::

Narsrim scarred me and Mali

It's difficult to say really. I mean, I'd let a thirteen year old play, personally. Bad language and 'inappropriateness' on public channels (that is, not in clans) are pretty strictly regulated. The few times I've seen people've let four-letter words slip or really raunchy discussions start up in city or guild channels, they've been pretty soundly scolded and it just doesn't happen that often that I've noticed.

Now, obviously, there are clans were people just let it all out and all and you might warn him against those. That said - I had a fairly strong potty mouth myself at thirteen. Just didn't use it around my folks.

I guess mostly it depends on how sheltered the kid is, how worried his parents would be and how mature the kid is. Particularly, how mature the kid is. Some thirteen year olds are quite mature and able to handle themselves. When I was thirteen, I babysat other people's little kids and my sisters if my parents were out, I had a weekend job where my mom worked (got paid cash. Made $5 an hour for four hours on Sat and Sun putting fliers on car windows in front of grocery stores and churches. Which was the same amount of money my mom made there delivering pizzas! ), was buying my own school clothes and supplies with my own money, and so on.

edit: Of course, not all thirteen year olds are like that. Some are just naturally more childish than others. Some have been spoiled and are bratty. Some have been sheltered too much. Too much sheltering can stunt a kid's maturity in some ways IMO. Cause if they're never exposed to things, they don't know how to handle it when they are. Some friends of mine homeschool their kids, for example, and while I have nothing against homeschooling, these are the most sheltered kids I've ever seen. They've got a 13 year old and I'm not sure he'd be able to handle the game because of being so sheltered.

Yeah...I'm sure.

He's had a tough life, and is probably pretty sheltered. Non-hodgkins lymphoma cancer at 11, and really one of the sweetest temperaments you've ever seen. Basically... Take the few good things there are about me, multiply them by 100 and subtract all of the bad things, with the exception of the occasional shelteredness and you have him. Plus pop on blue eyes and blonde hair.

Ah, I'm sorry to hear that If you do decide to let him play, I hope he gets a few laughs out of the game rather than stress.

That is ALSO a good point!

And it's all good. He's been cancer free for 1 year now, so yay!

Wow. Poor guy. Is it in remission?



Oh good! It's awful when kids have life-threatening illnesses like that. I'm glad he's better!

It's not in remission!! Luckily it's the one type of cancer that's flat out CURABLE! WOO HOO!

Oh, that's awesome!

Hmm... I'll definitely say that I matured pretty fast after I started playing Lusternia, but I do look back and regret it at times. I want to be immature and able to do all sorts of the stupid things, without feeling like I'm doing all sorts of stupid things.

There are two questions you are asking.

1. When is one old enough to go onto the internet.

2. When is someone who has been exposed to the internet, old enough to play Lusternia.



Personally, I'd let my kids play Lusternia before I allowed them exposure to the rest of web2.0 sites. So, if he's already going to chat rooms, or looking at mySpace, then let him play Lusternia.

It matured me, too. I was 23 when I started playing last year.