How safe is my 11 year old on this game?

[Warhead]

I'm an old fart. I'm miserable, grumpy and have no concept of anything modern. I glory in my status of Ludite Freak and If I can't make it work by kicking/punching/threatening or cutting it's food rationing then I'm out of my element. I have no understanding of this game and distrust anything to do with the net... hell, how safe can it be if I can get on it. Can anyone tell me just how safe this game is for young children to play?.. Mini-Warhead is Micro Bitching a storm about my draconian policies on Internet based games for kids... and I just could not be arsed to sit next to him and watch him play. It's bad enough when he plays Skyrim. I'm near apoplectic by the mental mayhem he gets himself into. Why can't kids take games seriously! DAMMIT!

[Colette]

I'm an old fart. I'm miserable, grumpy and have no concept of anything modern. I glory in my status of Ludite Freak and If I can't make it work by kicking/punching/threatening or cutting it's food rationing then I'm out of my element. I have no understanding of this game and distrust anything to do with the net... hell, how safe can it be if I can get on it. Can anyone tell me just how safe this game is for young children to play?.. Mini-Warhead is Micro Bitching a storm about my draconian policies on Internet based games for kids... and I just could not be arsed to sit next to him and watch him play. It's bad enough when he plays Skyrim. I'm near apoplectic by the mental mayhem he gets himself into. Why can't kids take games seriously! DAMMIT!

You will be fine if you force him to play single-player. Maybe cut his internets connection while he plays. It's basically like LDD with green freaks that blow up your face.

[The Shadowscythe]

Myself, Accio and our eldest daughter have minecraft accounts - and the game is divided into singleplayer and multiplayer elements.

Play single player - it is exactly what you get on the tin.

Play multiplayer - you actively NEED the I.P address of the server you are connecting to - most well known servers are moderated, some are not - but without actively finding and entering the I.P address for the server into the multiplayer menu for the game, you are not connecting to anything.

You only need to pay once for an account and then you can download the game too, and play on any machine.

In terms of game cotent - it is more than safe for mini-warhead to play considering we let the eldest have an account as well (she is 13) so I say give him an account, and if you see him on any form of multiplayer, just rip the privilege to play it off of him for a while until you decide otherwise.

That help ya, oh mighty Warshed?

[Warhead]

Damn, I thought Warshed would have died by now. Grr!

All good info. I read up on some of it but I have trust issues with gaming sites reviews. Ok, thanks guys!.. i may let him on line as you suggest but will see how he goes with Single player for now. I'm relieved it's a one off payment or it just wouldn't be happening. He wanted to play with his local fiends from school and stuff but tough shit, I'll just tell him daddies a dickhead so deal with it.

[Zupponn]

I'll just tell him daddies a dickhead so deal with it.

A very good and wise parenting practice.

Otherwise, I'll have to agree with what Scythe said. Maybe you'll find yourself playing it too.

[Keldoclock]

Minecraft is very innocent- no blood, cartoony graphics and sounds, themes of exploration and discovery- the game is basically lego digital designer with blocky skeletons and giant spiders.

It's a pretty much perfect game for someone his age. If you take the time to modify it, it would probably be pretty fun for you too!

I'd say it would also be fine to play multiplayer, this is coming from someone who played World Of Warcraft when he was eleven and was fine with it.

[Apollyon]

As a single player game Minecrat is totally okay for an 11 year old. You can have a lot of fun on your own with this game, played it that way for at least a year, every day until it grew a bit stale.
Concerning multiplayer that depends on the server and the people playing there i guess. Should be pretty safe though, just check it out on your own first before you allow multiplayer.
Basically, as long as you know and control where and what he plays with which people, everything is good. I mean, he is not allowed here (until he grows somewhat older i assume) so we know you do take correct decisions.
One more thing: the game can be very addictve and thus time consuming. And there is so much worthwhile to do at the age of 11. So both of you should agree one some sort of curfew on the Minecraft time.

[Greenkey15]

The game is completely innocent on it's own. Letting him play with his friends, at least, won't expose him to anything seeing them in person wouldn't.

[501stCadians]

Warhead, Minecraft is good for the kid to play. My 11 year old Little Brother plays. What you have to watch for online is smacktards- that's why you should let him play with his friends, if they do anything you like you can just smack them.

[Robot Monkey]

The only thing you have to worry about with MC, like 501st said, is smacktards. The online community refers to them as "griefers", and they find their fun in destroying people's creations. Mini should just play with his friends, or on a well-moderated server.

[knolli]

One more thing: the game can be very addictve and thus time consuming. And there is so much worthwhile to do at the age of 11. So both of you should agree one some sort of curfew on the Minecraft time.

Before you know it you have spent hours apon hours mining for diamonds or building stuff in Creative Mode. Just recently I helped a friend building a giant tree for about three or four hours before he decided that he had a major flaw in the basic design and decided to just start again from scratch. He is doing research and design studies in Superflat-Creative-Single Player since then. In the beginning he wasn't even using Creative Mode which means that he had already been harvesting wood and leafs for half a day.

If you want Mini-Warhead to have a real life outside of the virtual reality, you should keep an eye on the time he spends in front of the PC/console.


I still remember the first time my father busted me playing PC past midnight. I was about your kid's age then. Wasn't funny. :/

[muffinman42]

I haven't set foot on a multiplayer world since early-2011, so IDK what's normal now. But most people are nice and friendly; Though I did leave due to the number of nice people dropping.

[IVhorseman]

The worst that could happen is that someone builds a giant cock, or says "cuntflap" online. If he's playing with his friends, he's going to hear them say the same things they'd type at school anyway.

[Warhead]

...aw, is that all... He's more likely to mentally scar the utter crap out of everyone else then. Cool.