I love my kids, and I love that my kids are growing up to be smart and healthy people and gamers, but man, there are times when the way they play games drives me up a wall. It’s not that they’re playing wrong; they’re just doing that whole “explorer brain” thing we talked about in an earlier TDG.
My husband reminded me of this recently as he’s been playing Destiny 2 with our 11-year-old for the first time this summer (as a treat for his academic success this past year!). We’ve been trying to show him the ropes of his first shooter, help him get over the typical noob hurdles, but our son just wants to explore everything, learn everything, see everything. He’s not to the “exploit brain” stage yet. And realizing this makes me sad – not for him, but for us, because in some games we’ve lost that magic and it’s hard to get it back. But also, just follow us so we can finish the darn mission, kid!
And I’ve had the same experience with my daughter in Trove and Guild Wars 2. She’s not interested in maximizing her play or winning; she just wants to do whatever grabs her in the moment, and sometimes that’s running across a zone or flopping around on a mount or doing keg brawl (seriously, what is it with keg brawl that is so compelling?).
Does playing MMOs with your kids ever frustrate you?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
