Last updated 15:40, Friday, 21 November 2008

THE release of a new World of Warcraft game last week may have been good news for the 11 million people who subscribe to the online role playing game – but it is bad news for many parents.

As the game’s fans queued up at stores in Barrow and around the country ready for the midnight release of the new expansion pack, the media was rife with reports about schoolchildren who were “addicted” to the game – spending hours in front of the computer screen rather than doing their homework.
The World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King is an online role-playing game which allows people to control characters and interact with other players in a Lord of the Rings-style fantasy world.
Senior sales manager at Game in Barrow, Matt Branshard, says that most of the fans of World of Warcraft (WOW) that come into the store on Portland Walk are school kids.
He says: “I’d say the majority are under 16s, as they all come in after school around 4.30pm.”
While he admits that he has never played WOW himself, he can guess why the game is so addictive: “I think it is one of those games that once you start playing it could really take over your life.
“I play games on my X-box 360 and they can be pretty addictive too, but they do end.
“With these online, virtual reality games it doesn’t ever end, the player just carries on to another story.
“There are 70 levels a player can aim for and it could take months, if not years to reach level 70, depending on how good you are.
“I know from experience on my 360 that I will continue playing a game to reach the next level, even when I am not enjoying the game.”
When I ask if there is any kind of software that parents can set up on their computer to limit their offspring’s online gaming, he says: “If there isn’t then there probably should be. I think there might be a setting on the game where parents can limit the amount of time spent on the game to just two hours at a time.”
The new expansion pack costs around £20 but players need a copy of the original game, another expansion pack and a monthly subscription costing £8.99.
Matt finishes: “I suppose in extreme cases the parents can simply stop paying the monthly subscription if they are worried about their child but then they would have to deal with the fall out.”
Barrow graduate Daniel Finlayson, 22, has been a subscriber to WOW since last June.
Now a fan of the online game, he was the first person to buy the new expansion, the Wrath of the Lich King, at Tesco last week when it was released at midnight.
Daniel says the appeal of the game is obvious to him: “I have always been into fantasy and the Lord of the Rings, so it was like putting it into action.”
Like many young people, he started to play WOW because his friends did.
Daniel explains that when he subscribed to the game he joined on the same server as his friends, so that they could all “meet up” online.
“My friends and I are all in the same “guild” which is what we call the group we form to go on raiding sessions.
“You can talk to the people in your guild through microphones connected to the PC.”
Daniel says that there is a pressure from many guilds to put in time playing the game.
He explains: “There are ranks within each guild and to uphold your rank requires a certain attendance record within the month.”
In Daniel’s case this attendance requirement is 75 per cent. This means that Daniel must be online for three quarters of the raids that his guild organises each week.
He says: “We meet up online on Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays from 6pm to 11pm.”
He says the aim during these raiding sessions is to kill certain targets in the game. He adds that what he calls hard core raid guilds can meet up to six nights a week.
If that is the case with schoolchildren it seems little wonder that they are neglecting their studies in order to fulfil their gaming commitments.
Daniel agrees: “I can see how it would be very easy to play the game excessively.
“Even though you know it is only a game – it is almost a false reality because you are a character and you are playing as someone else.
“And the game never ends.”
But while he admits the game can be addictive, he adds: “It is good for learning and coordination, there is a lot more to it than most computer games – it also involves maths and strategies.”
Does he think there should be more restrictions on who can play the game?
“There is already a 12 plus age limit on the game – which I think there should be because of the violence aspect.
“But I think it is down to the parents’ discretion as to how long children should be allowed to play,” he finishes.

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