Not allowed to play ANYTHING online??

[wreck2]

I'm 16, and know everything about "online safety" (ex: not to tell my name, where I live, phone number ect...) My Dad, on the other hand, used to be a cop and works in a security company thinks he knows what he's talking about that online gaming is a giant chat room and that everyone in games, are a stalker, predator, or someone that would want to "hurt" me. I've told him that those are only in CHAT ROOMS and not online games. I've played online games before and KNOW that it is NOWHERE near what a chat room is. The fact that some child sex offender is playing Battlefield 2 to find some little boys is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. (Although my Dad claims it.) I even asked him if he could watch me to prove to him that it's safe, he came back and said, "Even if it's safe, I don't want to take a chance." What chances? IF(and VERY unlikly!!) someone even askes what your name is,(which NEVER happens because the only thing people call you is your online name), you can simply leave, and they would have NO way of coming in contact with you agian unless your on some friend list, which I would remove if so, or luck. (Then you can just leave agian and join another of the thousands of other servers.) My question, do you think that I can play online games with no hazzard to my safety?

[jkovac]

Your dad's probably just concerned. I don't play online games myself so I don't know what attraction there might be to predators. If there's a way that a "friendship" can be started with fellow online gamers that might lead to correspondence away from the game and then to actually meeting someone, then your dad's concerns are warranted. But if all the players are just anonymous and have no interest in each other beyond the game then your dad's fears are unfounded. Still, you can't blame him for being concerned, and you never know where Mark Foley might be these days. Who knows? Maybe he's a big Battlefield 2 fan. That's a joke in case you didn't get it. :)

[Mochan]

I really just can't see Online Games as a venue for internet predation. For starters someone who is going to be in a game is just going to be too engrossed in the game to even bother trying to hit on anyone. And someone who is playing the game will be too engrossed in the game to pay attention to any crappy overtures someone is trying to do with Whisper or Team Chat.

Next, there are barriers to entry. Unlike a chat room which you can join for free, online gaming requires you to buy the game or pay a monthly fee or both, or some such. That's on top of getting an expensive PC just to run the game. Someone who just wants to hunt down a kid is just not going to bother.

The biggest chance of something happening is in some kind of MMORPG where some players really just wait in a chat room area to wonk around, or in something like 2nd Life or similar game that isn't really about playing but more exploring and, well, hanging out. If you're in something like Battlefield 2 or Counterstrike, who's gonna bother or have the chance to?

[Suicides-by-Steve]

I really just can't see Online Games as a venue for internet predation. For starters someone who is going to be in a game is just going to be too engrossed in the game to even bother trying to hit on anyone. And someone who is playing the game will be too engrossed in the game to pay attention to any crappy overtures someone is trying to do with Whisper or Team Chat.



You kind of covered what I'm going to say here, further down in your post Mochan. In an RPG game (such as NWN, WoW, or GW) there's AMPLE time to chat. BF2 though? LOL Still, there's sick ****s everywhere. I personally don't really like talking about specifics online; I'd prefer to do that face-to-face. Gaming is used by me for one thing only. Gaming. Even in NWN, when I played serious role-playing, if anyone got too much out of character class, I would tend to shy away from that player. It's not what I'm looking for. Communiques, I'll leave to emails, forums, or again, in person.

[Mochan]

Just to clarify SbS, I was saying BF2 *isn't* one of those games where you have ample time to chat (check out the paragraph wording, you'll see. :)

[Suicides-by-Steve]

Just to clarify SbS, I was saying BF2 *isn't* one of those games where you have ample time to chat (check out the paragraph wording, you'll see. :)

Yeah, sorry the diction wasn't the best. I was aware of this. I was laughing at his dad's rationale. Not yours.

[DBS]

It is a concern nowadays but still online gaming is mostly about gaming. If I had a 16 year old I would just keep tabs on it but I would not lock that world out. But then again...I have been in gaming a longtime and understand it from a gamers standpoint not a cops.

[Aku]

Wreck, you are already 16, and your dad is not going to change. In less than two years you will be able to do whatever you want online. Unless you've got other problems besides this with your dad, I would just let it go.