http://8poundpreemie.blogspot.com/2011/01/love-is-battlefield-pvp-is-battleground.html

In pugs I try to be polite and converse but there is rarely any time for conversation, when I encounter any kind of debauchery I have the control of … dropping group even if it means 15 mins lockout. It saves me a lot of aggravation in the end.

On the age thing, I do know of a 9 year old in a raiding guild that I pugged with a couple of time and he can outdps and has more situational awareness than most 19 year olds… it was weird to raid with him I must admit, but his Mom was also in the raid and he was midly amusing and showed his age as much as his skills.

I think the rules of play in dungeons needs to be as safe as possible for all that have access to the game, beyond that you can do whatever you want with your guildies… and honestly since the whole new and shinny smell has worn off the random tool, most people in our guild wait to form our own guild only “randoms.”

I think the kicker against your argument though is that it didn’t matter he was a kid until his brother told you. If it were an adult, honestly would it have been any less vexing if he did the same things?

It’s bad enoguh when parents just leave their kid in front of a TV. But to stick them in a mixed-age group which may not even be aware of their age; that;s outright irresponsible. In addition to being a bad person in general for leeching off a raid. Just go /afk and be honest about it.

As for kids in games, that’s up to the adult. I’m pretty sure I could have handled WoW at 12, but some kids can’t. One of the avid supporters of Meridian 59 said he wouldn’t let his kids play the game because it was way too rough for them. I respected his opinion and even thanked him for being a good parent.

I raided all of BC with a rogue who was 12. He rarely talked in vent, but was really nice, and a very competent player. 9 might be a little young, and certainly is a violation of ToS (Sharing account) but I will attest that 12 year olds can be awesome.

I’m not sure I would let my 12 year old play due to some of the things he might get exposed to, but I know they are capable. Finding an mature guild, letting them know the situation up front, blocking trade chat (is this possible?) might be steps that could make it a safe fun experience for kids ASSUMING THEY ARE CAPABLE OF PLAYING MATURELY.

12 year old doing 800 dps in heroics though? No, I will boot.

I used to let my daughter (5 at the time) create toons and run around the starting zones…. until I saw some creep hitting on her. Not that she knew what was going on but it still upset me enough that I haven’t let her play since. I’ve been thinking about child proofing wow so that she could play around. Turning chat off, disabling certain key bindings to prevent her from taking off clothes (all her barbies are naked) etc.

Anyway I would never let her play in a group environemnt and people who do are just asking for trouble.