Children Concerned By Parents' Web Habits

praps writes "Children are becoming increasingly worried about their parents' Internet habits, according to a report just released in Sweden. Unsurprisingly, dads surfing for pornography is the most common problem, but chatroom addiction also featured in the report — as is a mother who has become obsessed with World of Warcraft. 'This summer she has been sitting up all day and all night and she forgets what's important to me,' wrote the woman's 13-year-old daughter. 'And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing.'" There are also a lot of scammers out there who like nothing better than to find retirees who they can sucker into get-rich-quick schemes involving real-estate, stock options, and convincing the neighbors to be part of a "downstream" for MLM marketing ploys.

WoW

The WoW thing could be bad... depends on whether she's chatting/enjoying herself, or whether she's actually addicted. The Dad surfing for porn thing is normal though.

Re:WoW

I've never played WoW. I've got a few friends who do. One told his wife he'd quit after he got to level 70. He's achieved level 70 and now he's going for all upgraded gear and getting "epiced" (or something). Is there any end? Or is the game built so you never really become king of the hill? Is there always another carrot out there to keep you coming back?

Re:WoW

Let's put it this way: If possible they never want to lose a subscriber, ever.

You can't win the game... it's like a never ending soap opera or comic book. Actually providing resolution so people walk away is not in the plan.

There's always another carrot.

Erik

Re:WoW

'And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing.'"

Correlation and causation, folks. Sigh. It's highly unlikely that WoW took a perfectly normal mother and converted her into a zombie like this. These symptoms are indicative of deeper psychological issues that manifest in an unhealthy obsession with WoW. So WoW not having an "ending" is hardly an issue -- people can get addicted to anything that offers escapism, and the fact that this mother is addicted to WoW is not a cause to point fingers at WoW. And I speak as someone who stopped playing warcraft after warcraft 2 back in the 90s.

Because

People can, and do, quit MMOs. I quit WoW not long ago. No big reason, no epic struggle, I was just kinda bored of it. I hadn't been playing enough to justify my subscription so I stop the recurring charge. I'll probably go back and play it some time later, or maybe another MMO, I'm just not in the mood for them right now. I didn't "win" I didn't have everything in the game, not even close. I just really don't feel like playing it at this point in time.

So there isn't any magical digital crack in these games that forces you to play. Some people just have the sort of personalities or mental problems or life problems or whatever that they get far too heavily in to it and won't give it up and thus their life suffers. It isn't a flaw with the game, it is a flaw with the individual.

Re:WoW

It doesn't end. That's the whole point.

People pay per month. In other words, the maker of an MMORPG gets money as long as someone plays it. So the goal is to make people play as long as possible.

How is this done? By dangling carrots in front of people. There is yet another boss to kill, yet another item to get. And that's what WoW like every long running MMORPG is about: Items.

You get them by killing bosses. But not every time. They drop it once in a while. So you have to kill bosses over and over to get your item. And you don't just need one. You need a set. A helm, a chestpiece, a pair of boots, a sword, a shield. Each of them dropped at some other boss.

To get to such a boss, you have to defeat his minions, pretty much like in a plain old platform game. The size of those areas makes sure that in any given evening, you can only do it once or maybe twice. In other words, two shots an evening to get an item that drops about every tenth time, and you need about 8 such items to have your gear.

Well, the gear to get the next gear. You see, you can't just level to 70 and then go into the top dungeon. You won't make it. You first have to get other gear that gives you the bonus points you pretty much need to even stand a chance in other dungeons. WoW is now, IIRC, at "Tier 6". I.e. you do that whole thing six times before you're at the top.

To make it less trivial, you can't do that alone. You have to find a group to do something like this. And since you can't just depend on some random freaks (I mean, would you want to waste an entire evening to find out the healer you signed up is a complete tool?), you usually do that in more or less constant groups. People form guilds, clans, whatever the name, i.e. groups of people you more or less can trust.

This is another quite strong incentive for many people to keep playing, since they don't want to let their "friends" down. They "depend" on you to some degree.

And since not everyone has time every evening, such "raids" are usually not done every night. Most of the time, you can get a shot at a boss about twice a week.

So let's calc'. Twice a week, two runs an evening. Let's be generous and say you can raid five times a week (unless you are in one of the guilds that really have no life anymore). Five tries on something that drops about once out of ten times (and let's assume the unrealistic situation that you "may" always take it, i.e. that nobody else with "more right" to the item gets it, should it drop) means that you're busy about two weeks to get one of your set items. Now let's furthermore assume you don't go on raids into dungeons that you don't need at all because nothing you need drops there, but your healer friend needs it and he won't come along for your sword (because there's nothing to gain there for him) if you don't help him. But let's assume that doesn't happen.

Then you're busy two weeks per item, eight items a set, six sets to go.

Do the math yourself when you'll be "done". The only question that remains is, will it be before or after Tier 7 comes along? Or tier 8, tier 9...

Re:WoW

The Dad surfing for porn thing is normal

Agreed. My dad had a big stash of hardcore magazines he kept locked away in one of his shop cabinets, my grandfather kept a big stash of lower quality stuff in his garage. Just because this generation gets it on the computer, doesn't mean the concepts are anything new.

I can agree, somewhat, that the younger people have some gripe about their parents fiddling around in chatrooms or WoW, but kids of previous generations often dealt with parents that were either gone fishing, drinking, or like one of my parents and buried in novels endlessly. It was much the same thing, if she wasn't holding a book, she'd be rather distant, would read through the family tv time, would skip meals to find out what the next chapter holds and when one book was finished, it was off to the next one. It seems more like humans exhibiting the same particular types of behavior through different conduits.

Re:WoW

It's not the amount of time, it's the ability to go without or put down the game for other reasons, real-life or otherwise, and whether or not playing is a detriment to your life.

If you suspect addiction, then take a break, and if you're really not sure, see a psych. or counselor.

It's supposed to be for-fun, to enhance your life, not replace it.

BTW, I play WoW too, mostly at night before bed, when I have time.

what's with the porn hate?

"dads surfing for pornography is the most common problem"
Why is that a problem? so dad likes some porn, big deal.

Hmmm, yes I've seen this with WoW. I highly suggest that 13 year old change the router so it 'drops out' during certain times of the day..also she needs to get her mother in intervention.

Obviously, my porn comment is for casual viewing, if it impacts going to work, taking care of the kids etc, it's a problem too. The fact that it's porn or WoW doesn't matter.

Re:what's with the porn hate?

Well, it depends - is dad doing the surfing discreetly after the kids have gone to bed, or is he trolling for pr0n in the living room at midday when the kids are sitting only a few meters away?

The latter would be pretty indicative of a problem, y'know?

/P

My DM is like that... WOW Addict

I don't have a parent with an "internet problem", but my DM does. He is always looking to stop the game so he can play WOW and get that slack jawed look.

He told me he has 7 70's.

Is this a problem?

There's another problem...

parents behaving this was is bad enough, but this statement here says alot about the kids today
"This summer she has been sitting up all day and all night and she forgets what's important to me"

Re:There's another problem...

Yes, because kids were never self-centered little brats before this generation.

Discovering the Internet

All that is happening is people are discovering the internet and exploring it at different periods of their lives. Most people, when they first get connected, end up in a chat room and/or some IM program within the first few days of using it. Just like when many of us discovered it, we were amazed and used the same sort of things these people are using in their early internet life. Games, porn, chat rooms and IMing are often the extent that people use the internet for on a regular basis. They are comfortable with the technology and seem content with what they have found, at least for a bit.

As the years go by and you expand your personal scope of/for the internet, you ditch all the things you did when you first got on and really get down to business finally. Call it internet puberty if you wish... these people are just exploring things just like we all did at one point. Honestly, I think it is funny to see friends of mine who just finally get online and start talking about chat rooms or some flash game they found. It takes me back to the days when all the internet was there for was to entertain me. Now I am connected to the/a network nearly all the time, I make my living from it and if it went down for more than 6 hours, I might get the shakes. :)

Please!

Won't somebody please think of the parents?

Thanks for the reminder ...

Have make sure my 9 year old son making dinner for the wife and I. Back in a minute.

Re:May I be the first to say

I'll be off the computer in a minute sweaty, go watch TV.

Maybe you should send your kid outside to play instead of sitting on her fat ass watching TV.
Then maybe one day you'll call her 'sweety' instead of 'sweaty'. :)

Re:Got sick of fixing my parents computer ...

The last support call I got was because my dad couldn't figure out which port the speakers plugged in to (and apparently he's becoming color blind). I think they're just making stuff up now to guilt me into visiting.

You could at least leave the basement for dinner.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

Kids need to learn about sex. The problem is that porn often teaches the wrong things about sex.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

Kids need to learn about sex. The problem is that porn often teaches the wrong things about sex.

Isn't that what a parent is for? To explain the good and bad and put into context what the child is seeing? It's not very fashionable but it's called parenting.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

I don't like what porn teaches either:

-Sex is easy to get and everybody's doing everybody else.
Everybody but you.
-It's not uncommon for 2 or 3 incredibly hot young girls to seduce some lame looking dude.
Just not you.
-There are literally thousands of hot young people gathering together around the globe to have orgies.
You're not invited.

and of course...
-A shaved pubic area is beautiful.
When the red bumps are airbrushed out.

Re:Pr0n taught me everything

Leaning sex from porn can be a really bad idea. There is a world of difference between good porn-sex and good real-sex.
Sex in porn is meant to LOOK good on film. The people participating in porn are ACTING.
Many "moves" that are great IRL are too subtle to show up in porn and many porn "moves" aren't that great IRL. Not that most /.ers ever experience the difference ;)

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

I protection is used, why shouldn't children engage in sexual activity as soon as they express an interest in each other?

Perhaps because they don't understand the consequences and implications of what they're doing, the protection isn't 100% effective, their minds and bodies aren't ready to deal with the gamut of emotions, and because they're vulnerable to predation from adults who take advantage of this.

Re:LOLCOCKS in your ROFLFACE

Are your children worried about your slashdot trolling?

Re:LOLCOCKS in your ROFLFACE

Mine are increasingly worried that I'm turning into a Slashbot. I'm not sure why.

Well, anyway, I, for one, welcome our new Slashdot-trolling parental overlords!

In Soviet Russia, children worry about YOU!!!