13 is fine, just don't let him join Magnagora. Unless perhaps he is a fan of japanese porn recreations?

13 and things like language and so on are, sadly, not an issue. Does the kid go to a school filled with other 13 year olds? If so then that is all he needs to learn every horrible thing out their.

The real question is if you feel he is mature enough in that he can play without Lusternia effecting his personal/social life. Obviously a lot of us have seen the time sink that Lusternia is. If your going to have him play then make sure that does not happen.

Another question is if he is mature enough to interact with people older then him on equal grounds? His experience will go a lot smoother and be much more fun if he can interact with people who may be considerably older then him and keep up with them and not feel like a kid.

And to add, I'm 17 and started playing at 15, I think I was mature enough then to interact on an even ground and not have Lusternia take over. And I think I'm doing ok, no real scars for life. Except Nifilhema worship, I'm more or less screwed from that.

This is a very interesting topic that concerns not only the MUD community,but the whole video games industry.
Personally,after quite a few years in the gaming communities of Americas Army(in the anti-cheat communities) and 2Moons(as moderator/volunteer game master),I think that it all depends on the kid and the family.
In your case,I would say that your brother,having gone thru this horrible sickness and seeing as he has a mature and caring brother, I would say that you can let him play MUDs.

I started playing when I was 11. Achaea was in it's infancy. I've had almost every position in at least one guild in every IRE game. The experiences are something that I actually hold quite dear. I've met people who I would consider life-long friends, and people I've even gone so far as meeting in person. (Horrifying I know!) IRE also helped me realize my potential as a writer. I have great spelling and grammar skills and I even wrote my HS senior research paper on Text-Based games and their effect on the gaming industry. I covered the infancy of text based MPG gaming as a whole, and how it eventually led to the creation of games like EverQuest and WoW. (Uber-nerd! Beware!!)

It can have very different effects for very different people. Obviously, it had a profoundly positive influence on my formative, adolescent years. But my mom also knew about everything I was doing. And she puts limits on it. No playing til after homework, no playing past a certain hour, things like that. (During the summer break it was a whole different story however..) So if you're truly that worried about him, then have him join the Shofangi, be his mentor, and train him yourself. At least until he gets the basic ideas of the game and sees what else is out there. That way, you can keep an eye on him, at least as much as the coding allows. The rest is up to your RL eyes. Heh.

I'd be very interested to get someone like Estarra's input on this. New people coming to the game are money in the bank. So it'd be interesting to see how that would correlate to her (his? >__>) own "moral values" and also her bank account...

My first question is how do you stop someone from playing if they want to play, especially if you're not their parent.

I'd advise that you definitely NOT advertise your age if you are under 15 (just to avoid those who may treat you either prejudicially or predatorily). Also, I don't think anyone should purchase credits until absolutely positively sure you will stay with that character for the long term. Other than that, I have no strong opinion. I agree it depends totally on the individual. Basically, if this gaming medium and environment suits a person, he or she will stay and enjoy what we have to offer. If not, they'll leave as soon as the novelty wears off.

Let him join, just remember your brother is in good hands whilst THORHOEZ IZ HERE.

I was tempted to make some comments regarding you, younger brothers, and helping people to mature. I decided instead to make a not-so-vague reference to the same thing instead of saying it outright, to avoid being edited/banned/PPKed in the head by the Shiribot.

Just be careful of addiction.

I started Achaea at 13 and I'm now 22, these games have a way of creeping up on you addiction wise and thats something you've got to watch. I normally take breaks by locking myself out of my character for 3-4 months at a time, unfortunately with the advent of www.lusternia.com/password.php that doesn't work anymore

Sidenote: I once managed to run up a £250 phonebill in a month playing Achaea back in the old days of dialup internet being charged per minute and needless to say my parents weren't happy people. No danger of that these days fortunately but shows how addictive these things can be to whippersnappers...