My kids are getting to the point where they're outgrowing webkinz, and they're not as excited about runequest as they used to be.  They're interested in some different online fun.  I'm wondering if people have come across any really good kid-friendly games?  I looked at Free Realms and decided to pass because of some of the stuff in the EULA.  Anything else on the market now that seems good?  If so, could you tell me why you like it and think it's kid friendly?  Thanks in advance for any ideas :)

Have you thought about Hello Kitty Online?

Free Realms  is a fun and kid friendly game  www.freerealms.com

Maybe wizard 101 is what you are looking for,but most mmo games support small groups if you are going to play with your kids and vife.If you have good computers then I would advice you to play Vanguard with your family,lot of things to do for small groups very beutiful graphic and you will be able to advance and join raid guilds later if you feel for it. Good luck and I wish you and your family a plesant online gaming houres.-)

Some of the more popular kid-friendly MMO's that I've heard of are:

Fusion Fall : www.fusionfall.com/splashpage.html

Disney's Toontown Online : play.toontown.com/webHome.php

I actually tried Fusion Fall (yep, I was that bored), and it seemed like a younger person may have a lot of fun with it. If your kids are into Cartoon Network, then this is probably a good choice; many familiar CN characters appear in the game, but in a more mature / anime form.

I haven't tried out Toontown, so I can't elaborate on that one, but it looks to be worth a try. Hope this helps.

Oh, and Pirates of the Carribean Online. it is fairly kid friendly, and it is governed by Disney. Can't get more kid friendly than Disney.

How old are we talking here?  I have an 8 year old that has played WoW, War, and Lotro with me.  Lotro is pretty kid friendly if you have a good Kinship, but I would not reccomend the others unless you are willing to play with them and have a good group of friends that understand it is a kid.

If you are not ready to put them mainstream, someone suggested Toontown and Fusion Fall.  I have tried both and both are really good games for kids and you can even have some fun with them.  I know Disney is also developing one, although I don't know what it is call. 

If you need any more advice let me know.  I usually check these boards about 2-3 times a week.

Try Wizard 101.  It's made to be kid-friendly, and it's actually fun so you can play it with them.

Chat is restricted - even if you've given your age as 13 or over so you can chat "freely," some words are still prohibited (not just profanity - terms that could be used to give out personal information). Names are similarly restricted - you choose the components of your name from three lists.

The combat system is a card game, like a simplified version of Magic the Gathering, so it's low-violence but does take a bit of strategy (not much, mind you, but younger kids might need help setting up their decks).

Free Realms and Wizard 101 are both solid, kid friendly games.

For Wizard 101, you're a student at a wizard school and you specialize in card-based battling. It's sort of like a cross between Harry Potter and Magic: the Gathering. However, you should know that after a certain point, you either have to subscribe, or spend real money to unlock zones and areas. It's free to try, but if your kids really get into it and want to go beyond the first areas, you'll have to end up paying for it. Luckily, there are discount family plans for multiple accounts, and there are really good parental controls as far as whether or not your kids can chat freely. Certain words are even restricted, like numbers, since those could be used to give out phone numbers or other personal info.

With Free Realms, 10 out of the 15 classes/jobs are free to play, and there's tons to do, like mining, kart racing, demolition derbies, cooking, fighting, being a postman, being a ninja, etc. The only careers I know of that might require spending real cash are Pet Trainer (since you can only rent temporary pets to gain levels, but permanent pets cost money) and Card Duelist, since there are booster packs that can be purchased.

Also, both games have those pre-paid cards that you can get in stores so even if your kids got into a game, you could monitor their purchases or even buy them something without ever giving any credit card information to anyone.

Wizard 101 is one of the most enjoyable free mmo's I've played.  Ever.

Well it really all depends on what age your kids are and what genre of games they are looking for. In my personal opinion i think Dragonfable.com would be a very safe bet for your kids but like I said, it all depends on what kind of games your kids are interested in.

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

My kids are getting to the point where they're outgrowing webkinz, and they're not as excited about runequest as they used to be.  They're interested in some different online fun.  I'm wondering if people have come across any really good kid-friendly games?  I looked at Free Realms and decided to pass because of some of the stuff in the EULA.  Anything else on the market now that seems good?  If so, could you tell me why you like it and think it's kid friendly?  Thanks in advance for any ideas :)

Hey Arc,

I could suggest Pirates of the Caribbean MMO it's free to play and even though I only played in Beta I bet YOU even might find little joy in the game.

Ermmmmm, sorry to say I think Free Realms actualy might be a fine Family/kids game, I too worry about EULA's and really would like a change of them with all games as ALL MMO/MMORPG's have very similar writting in em that might put questions marks above our heads, it's like getting a doctors prescription, getting it and read all the info about the medicin, in most cases I would seriously doubt even taking the medicine when reading what is in it, what effect it "could" have....etc...etc... Think FreeRealms has allot going for it in terms of entertainment/fun

Fushion Fall, again being in beta enjoyed the game, wasn't my real type of MMO, but what it did it did fine, was more testing then playing, but was pretty amazed how it all looked it being a browser game, this was long before I even tried/tested FreeRealms and did not have much experiance with overall browser type games. So to me it looked pretty fine, and handled great. It's also free to play.

These are all free games, so if they no fun, meaing you lose nothing and only gain new experiance it either to see if the games are actualy fun for your kids or to simply find out they not

Not sure if your kids are into Lego, but if they are keep a eye on Lego Universe.

Own a PS3? get if you not already have Little Big Planet, again might even be something you "might" enjoy yourself aswell.....or not...hehe....well....not really a MMO, but still a fun game to play WITH others..
 

Try Darkfall, its nice and cuddly and has a great community too!

WoW, all the kids are playing it.  Me?  I'm tired of it, raided it, finished all I could do with my Paladin, now the game is empty for me.

Have you heard of Runes of Magic? It's like a cross between WoW, LoTRO and Guildwars and free. Last time I played it, I didn't see any cursing in the chat and lots of helpful people. Maybe you should try it out for a few days to see how it is then decide if your kids should play it? Goodluck!

Wizard 101

Free Realms

Both have clean and well monitored communites. If you are looking for something to enjoy with them I'de personally lean towards free realms. I actually have an open sub to it, just really enjoy the racing/derbies... its like mario cart flashbacks.

I'm not trying to tell you how to raise your kids but if you notice they are starting to get highly addicted to an MMO and getting worse grades in school, you should put your foot down and make them stop and try to encourage them to just be good in school so they have a brighter future. You gotta teach them that a hobby is a hobby and should never become an addiction to the point of where it starts ruining your life. I know 2 people who played WoW constantly and commited suicide. All they wanted to do was play WoW. They didn't wanna go out looking for jobs. It's quite sad. After seeing those 2 guys do that, I started to realise that this is a serious problem and that a lot of people are probably going through the same thing. Always show your kids love and they will thank you for it later in life.

Originally posted by Rallycart

Have you thought about Hello Kitty Online?

You know my daughter might like that, and my niece is a hello kitty nut lol.  Thanks, I'll check it out. 

Originally posted by ronpack

I'm not trying to tell you how to raise your kids but if you notice they are starting to get highly addicted to an MMO and getting worse grades in school, you should put your foot down and make them stop and try to encourage them to just be good in school so they have a brighter future. You gotta teach them that a hobby is a hobby and should never become an addiction to the point of where it starts ruining your life. I know 2 people who played WoW constantly and commited suicide. All they wanted to do was play WoW. They didn't wanna go out looking for jobs. It's quite sad. After seeing those 2 guys do that, I started to realise that this is a serious problem and that a lot of people are probably going through the same thing. Always show your kids love and they will thank you for it later in life.

That's excellent advice, and I thank you for it.  My kids are both A students at the moment.  We have nice family times, and they have good friendships and involvement in things like band and sports. 

We use video game time as a perk for the end of the day and on weekends, but limit the time they spend.  I also try to set a good example for them by limiting my own time. 

I agree that MMOs are a great hobby, but for significant relationships, a sense of worth and purpose etc., God, family and real life activities are a priority for us ^_^.

Glad someone would take the time to encourage this balance though, very kind of you.  Also, I'm sorry to hear about the horrible situation that happened to those folks you knew, who seemed to get hooked on something to an unhealthy degree.  That's very sad.

Originally posted by Reklaw

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

My kids are getting to the point where they're outgrowing webkinz, and they're not as excited about runequest as they used to be.  They're interested in some different online fun.  I'm wondering if people have come across any really good kid-friendly games?  I looked at Free Realms and decided to pass because of some of the stuff in the EULA.  Anything else on the market now that seems good?  If so, could you tell me why you like it and think it's kid friendly?  Thanks in advance for any ideas :)

 

Hey Arc,

I could suggest Pirates of the Caribbean MMO it's free to play and even though I only played in Beta I bet YOU even might find little joy in the game.

Ermmmmm, sorry to say I think Free Realms actualy might be a fine Family/kids game, I too worry about EULA's and really would like a change of them with all games as ALL MMO/MMORPG's have very similar writting in em that might put questions marks above our heads, it's like getting a doctors prescription, getting it and read all the info about the medicin, in most cases I would seriously doubt even taking the medicine when reading what is in it, what effect it "could" have....etc...etc... Think FreeRealms has allot going for it in terms of entertainment/fun

Fushion Fall, again being in beta enjoyed the game, wasn't my real type of MMO, but what it did it did fine, was more testing then playing, but was pretty amazed how it all looked it being a browser game, this was long before I even tried/tested FreeRealms and did not have much experiance with overall browser type games. So to me it looked pretty fine, and handled great. It's also free to play.

These are all free games, so if they no fun, meaing you lose nothing and only gain new experiance it either to see if the games are actualy fun for your kids or to simply find out they not

Not sure if your kids are into Lego, but if they are keep a eye on Lego Universe.

Own a PS3? get if you not already have Little Big Planet, again might even be something you "might" enjoy yourself aswell.....or not...hehe....well....not really a MMO, but still a fun game to play WITH others..
 

Hey Reklaw thanks for all the tips!  I'm taking notes ^_^.  Also, I agree that a lot of the game EULA's are getting scary.  One thing I will say about the Free Realms EULA in appreciation (lol yeah, it's really me) is that it is very honest with people about what they can expect.

Past EULAs would say, "we reserve the right to enhance your game."  Then they'd delete stuff and call it an enhancement lol, ouch.  At least this time they say outright, "hey you might buy a virtual item, and we might delete it anytime," or words to that effect.

I don't think that's an ideal way to do business really, but at least they're letting people know up front exactly what they can expect.  That is a step, and I want to acknowledge it.  I wish people would be able to get virtual items and just know how long they can expect to be able to enjoy them in their current condition, but we're not there yet.

My kids love Lego btw.  Some of their favs are the lego StarWars games for the PS2.  I'll definitely keep my eye on that one.  I'm also going to check out fusion fall.  Thanks again!

P.S. I just read the FusionFall EULA.  Everything's totally cool as far as I'm concerned ^_^.  The game also looks like a lot of fun.  Reminds me of Kim Possible lol, one of my kids' favourite shows.  Wow, I just checked out toontown.  That also looks great.  Thanks to everyone for all the ideas.