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And not to exclude, if you happen to know off hand from a younger family member (niece, nephew, brother, sister, cousin etc etc etc), I had a question to ask.
It has come to my attention that my 11 year old daughter is interested in roleplaying. I've known for some time she's always had the creative streak and enjoyed writing stories and making up adventures to play with the kids at school (magical cats, fairies, girls with special powers, etc etc) but after an incident involving Miiverse I'm starting to think she's also looking for a written creative community.
What we found as other people tried to talk about normal life stuff, she was trying to roleplay these creative, magical scenarios and abilities.
Now to start with she wasn't supposed to be on her DS doing this in the first place but after my wife and I started reading through the posts we discovered a weird problem besides her sneaking behind our backs like a turd; she was being ignored. Her posts were longer, more creative, and incredibly thought out for a kid her age while, as I mentioned about, these others kids were just playing "high school" (nothing inappropriate mind you and like all silly kids, when they actually GET to high school they're going to feel stupid for fantasizing about it.)
Now I've tried to do Gaming sessions before and that can let out some of that creative spark but even I know there IS a joy of actually taking the time to write out and convey what your character is doing through text instead of trying to act it out. The story seems more alive.
... but how the heck is she supposed to do that?
So the question to go with this story is this; does anyone know a kid friendly (if not kid ONLY) website where young children can try and roleplay with one another in a free-form fashion with the website/forum/posts monitored constantly (which I would be doing myself anyway but it's nice to know that a site has a zero tolerance policy.)
If anyone knows, please help a parent out. Thanks.
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I think if you want to be safe, best to introduce her to some of the old gaming classics which will be single player, but safe away from online perverts.
Final fantasy, baldur's gate (that can get a bit mature, but also playfully immature), secret of evermore, secret of mana, the civilisation series (see if she is into strategy rp), Suikoden. Simple graphics will mean you don't have to worry about exposure to what can be seen on the internet.
Her interest will grow or peter out, some of these games take a long time to complete. It will answer the itch. That may then push her into roleplaying in person with another young group, or maybe she will start dming. For the young I think it is best for rp to be in person, at a table with the parent or guardian involved. That is how I got into it when I was about 7.
I really wish you the best. So exciting for a new young'un to be starting out. Pass the torch.
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The problem with that is all it does is give her a game where I was looking more for an online forum type place for her to creatively write and RP with other similar children without the fear of, as you said, creepy adults sneaking in or trying to talk to them.
Basically a child friendly/only way to introduce her to a free-form type of roleplay. I could try to get her involved in a very very G/PG Play by Post but I'm not looking to have her self esteem crushed by others since she IS just 11.
You can pick the game out and decide. Every game that I have played had an age range and you can email who ever was in charge of the specific game. There are star trek games out there too and games that are genre specific (Buffy, Farscape, etc)
This is the closest thing I can think of for an intelligent 11yr old to play at. Besides, you can have the emails come to your address and help her out with the gaming if she wants it.
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I'd agree with Digitalelf and say that quite possibly the best way for her to try the game out is with a trusted family member. You can control how deep things get, and since you know her well, you'll be able to decide what she can and can't handle. Some kids can deal well with themes like moral questions and trying to do the right thing, and some do best when it's a more black-and-white, Saturday morning cartoons format.
Of course, I'm not a parent, but I got into the hobby at about the same age--I think I was 10 the first time I played, and I got the 3.5 Starter Set when I was 11 or 12. I was introduced by my older half-brother--he's 5 years older than me--and my mother had played when she was young. The first few games were definitely more free-form and rough around the edges, but it was a lot of fun and it was definitely an outlet for me. I did a lot of the things you referenced in your post, actually. It's not for every creative kid out there, certainly, but it definitely interested me and it's become a very great part of my life, probably my favorite hobby besides writing (barely a hobby anymore, seeing as I'm a Creative Writing major now... feels like just yesterday I was the kid on the playground making believe).
Anyway, I'd say that starting small is probably good; make sure she enjoys the idea before having her go online with it. If she has some friends who are in the same boat, maybe invite them all to get together and try out a game. Have them do it through email, maybe. Set up a game right here on the forums, even--I don't think anybody would bust in and ruin it, and as long as they don't go wandering it shouldn't be risky.
Good luck!
There are some PbP groups that are fairly good and moderated. I know Lackadaisy Cats was one a while back.
You might start there.
I'd agree with Digitalelf and say that quite possibly the best way for her to try the game out is with a trusted family member. You can control how deep things get, and since you know her well, you'll be able to decide what she can and can't handle. Some kids can deal well with themes like moral questions and trying to do the right thing, and some do best when it's a more black-and-white, Saturday morning cartoons format.
Of course, I'm not a parent, but I got into the hobby at about the same age--I think I was 10 the first time I played, and I got the 3.5 Starter Set when I was 11 or 12. I was introduced by my older half-brother--he's 5 years older than me--and my mother had played when she was young. The first few games were definitely more free-form and rough around the edges, but it was a lot of fun and it was definitely an outlet for me. I did a lot of the things you referenced in your post, actually. It's not for every creative kid out there, certainly, but it definitely interested me and it's become a very great part of my life, probably my favorite hobby besides writing (barely a hobby anymore, seeing as I'm a Creative Writing major now... feels like just yesterday I was the kid on the playground making believe).
Anyway, I'd say that starting small is probably good; make sure she enjoys the idea before having her go online with it. If she has some friends who are in the same boat, maybe invite them all to get together and try out a game. Have them do it through email, maybe. Set up a game right here on the forums, even--I don't think anybody would bust in and ruin it, and as long as they don't go wandering it shouldn't be risky.
Good luck!
Echoing this...my first gaming group was composed of family and family friends. It was safe and fun. There's nothing wrong with this...and a rl group helps her develop offline social skills, too. It has the bonus of you dropping in to see how things go, and being able to speak with the parents.
Check out https://storium.com/ and see if that might be something she could try. Its only in a beta right now but if she likes writing out scenarios it could be a fun thing to try with her.
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Your daughter sounds just like a younger version of my daughter (she's 19 now). When she was younger, she used to spend a lot of time on Wajas.
They have a kid-friendly forum where people can post little stories. Might be worth a look.
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I have been debating whether to add something to this... decided I should.
Honestly, if you intend to be there with her all the time, you don't NEED the protection of a perfectly moderated forum - nor should you expect to find one. She is eleven, with a fully functional imagination. You don't need absolute protection, you need her to learn what the internet is and what it isn't, what to do and what not to do, what is dangerous and what is problems, and what to do when things go bad. Kids today are brighter and more worldly than we ever were. Just learning what you can teach her about the net is quite enough to deal with what problems may happen.
There are needs and then there are wants.
What he wants is pretty reasonable.
The child is also only 11, still pretty young given what is online (and children being solicited only goes up in the rate of occurrence year after year). Education is great, I'm an educator, but preventing weird s!~@ from going down is even better.
Which he is already intending to do himself, as by the first post, DMutB. Duh.
You don't learn to be safe around water by never going near it. You do so by learning how to swim.
Your daughter sounds just like a younger version of my daughter (she's 19 now). When she was younger, she used to spend a lot of time on Wajas.
They have a kid-friendly forum where people can post little stories. Might be worth a look.
Wajas is down, and it was down when I checked it out yesterday.
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I'm going to suggest something in a different vein. Are your familiar with National Novel Writing Month? The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month (each November.)
The organization has a young writer's program, and while I've not used it before, if it is as well done as the main site, it may be useful for her. They have forums where people are constantly talking about their writing and going over elements of their works. It may give her an opportunity to interact with other young writers.
Here's a link: Young Writer's Program
Wajas is down, and it was down when I checked it out yesterday.Your daughter sounds just like a younger version of my daughter (she's 19 now). When she was younger, she used to spend a lot of time on Wajas.
They have a kid-friendly forum where people can post little stories. Might be worth a look.
I just went there and the site came right up. Though I don't have a profile or anything and I'm just getting the main page. If there's something down past that I don't know.
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Just to make it clear I have read and will be reviewing the posts listed here. Thank you all for the great advise and different sites to try. The solution might be a bit of all and less than just one. Starting a PbP game with her and her mother is a good start but as I want her to meet and interact with other kids like her as well I'll have to look into other sites as well.
Perhaps Storium?
Though it reads that you're looking specifically for an online experience for your daughter, so not sure if this works, but what about Pathfinder's Beginner Box? Maybe you have a GM on deck, and she just needs the tools to write a good gaming story. You and Mom (and others) could be the characters, let her tell the story.
It's a one-stop creative engine that might play well to her storytelling, and with familiar players she might find encouragement to ask peers to join in.
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These guys have a good sized player base, are forum-centric, and have a zero-tolerance for what they call "########" posting, and encourage reporting of same to the mods. I can't say from what I've read, that they monitor the site super-closely, but again, they do encourage the users to report bad behavior, and they seem to remove it quickly.
EDIT: Whilst testing the link, just noticed a "user" online who has zero posts and zero friends and calls himself "ifap2-handed." So... might want to put off using the site, or maybe the first thing you do when you create an account is report that dude.
Lol, reminds me of two handed proficiency back in Baldur's gate.