Runescape!! Arghhhhhh

Paparika

My DS was into Runescape and i even had a go at it.

But we both moved on to wow.

But this week he's been to busy on msn, seems a young lady in his class at school has caught his eye, she even wrote i love (inserts her name) on his hand, awww bless.

My son got quite addicted to wow, and i did explain to him that although it really is a good game, he would need to do chores around the house to pay for his account, so he does his bit after his homework and does his taking of the dog out everyday, even 6.30 in the morning bless him.

mudgekin

As someone who plays online games, along with my OH I understand your concersn. It is extremely easy to get sucked into the virtual world and because there is a sense of achievement when you get something in game it can be addictive. It is the thrill of the getting some reward.

The real danger in these games is that unfortunately the division between virtual reality and real life can get blurred for some susceptable people. We play a game called everquest from time to time and when this came out it was called EverCRACK. Don't get me wrong, the games can be fun and in many circumstances you learn

There has to be a line drawn between gaming time and real time and that unless things are done in real life, then they wont get to escape into their virtual life.

I think one of the saddest things I saw was a young las who was 17 and used to play with his father get completely engulfed in the game. This was a lad who was extremely bright and educationally very clever. He got so obsessed that he was playing till 4 & 5am, then getting up for school, leaving for school and then after registratiion class he would come home knowing his parents were at work. Because he was over 16 the school authorities could do nothing. His parents went to the extent of cutting off internet access but all he did was then go and play in internet cafes. Needless to say his education went down the toilet along with his university place I know this is an extreme example but it can and does develop into an addiction in susceptable people.

By no means am I suggesting that your son is the same and to be honest, I would rather my teenager was gaming rather than getting up to all sorts of things on the streets. I know my DH and I have tons of fun when we play especially on nights whenh the TV is rotten.

I guess what I am trying to say is there has to be a middle ground and it is going to be up to you to set those limits

Becles

My boys have played Runescape, but they're into Puzzle Pirates at the moment - similar sort of game I think, except with a pirate theme!

They are limited as to how much time they spend on it. They must do their homework before they are allowed on, and on weekends they have to tidy, hoover and dust their bedrooms before they can use it.

This morning they got told off for arguing over some wardrobes. Apparantly they've bought a place to live in the game and my eldest bought them a wardrobe each, but they were arguing over who has the biggest wardrobe

jess1974

Both my boys were really into Runescape aswell, and also Tribal wars, DS 11 seems to prefer a pc game called Age of the Empires now...

Threebabes

My son uses runescape, he just cancelled his membership though because he had to pay for it himself out of his pocket money. Hes 13 tomorrow.

Instead he spends loads of time on his ps3, it drive me and his dad barmy!! Weve now limited him an hour a night, maybe 2 hours on a weekend/no school day. He bought himself a headset and we can hear him chatting meeting his mates in his games online.

Hes a lovely kid, but during the summer we were demented and made him go in the garden to get out of his room when the weather was nice.

Threebabes

jess1974 wrote: »

Both my boys were really into Runescape aswell, and also Tribal wars, DS 11 seems to prefer a pc game called Age of the Empires now...

My son has age of empires as well.

Weve also bought the pc game warcraft for christmas, we struggle to think of things to get him.

JAZ63

Im sooooo glad Ive found this thread ! my son too is obsessed with runescape. it has got to the point where he is now hogging the phone to talk to his friends when they are in the same game !!!!!,its almost becoming a virtual reality friendship ..
we have made decision today to take away his laptop for a while,as it is really affecting his attitude to homework. we have been at the end of our tether at times.
It has been some relief to see others have the same problem.

jo1967

Isnt it great to find you are not alone lol!!

My son played alot but has just cancelled his membership as he got an xbox at the beginning of the month (joint bithday/xmas presssie). Now it all about the xbox...........................

Its a phase..............................(dont you just HATE that phrase!!!)

clou19750

Im glad to find people who have the same probs... my son is 11 and is so so so obessed with RUNSCAPE! Every spare time he has he goes on it.. on the school week... he can be on at 4pm but always make him come off at 8 but always cause probs eg he died or lost his weapon.... today was report day so wasnt at school.... but once we been to school and got the report came home he was on it....... then at about 1pm usually i would have left him at home and went shoping with my little one... but i made him come with me.. as i believe hes on it far tooooo much!!

JAZ63

well son has had 24hrs without runescape, and seems to be coping !! I did ask him this morning if he subscribed ,as i really wouldnt have been happy about that,but it seems he has a free account.we are really going to try and enforce the no access to laptop rule for a while to see if his attitude to schoolwork improves (he really is a bright lad),as we dont want him to waste his life away.He is only 14 !,but scared he will end up like mudgekin commented about someone he knew .
jo1967 my sons other passion is guitar hero so we have had to put that away for a while ... (probably not the most popular parents at the mo ha ha ha )