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The University of California at Irvine has been granted $100,000 to study the differences between Chinese and American World of Warcraft players, according to the Orange County Register. The study will mostly focus on explaining why American players are much more likely to employ modifications such as Cosmos than Chinese players are, but project lead Bonnie Nardi made some interesting observations outside the scope of this particular endeavor.

For example, she noted that Chinese players are for some reason more likely to talk about the aesthetic appearance of the game than are Americans. Whereas American players often play with their children, parents, or siblings, Chinese players are unlikely to do that. "The older generation dislikes video games," she said, and playing with siblings is obviously rare since most Chinese of the gaming generation have none.

"The vast majority of Chinese players are not gold farmers," she said. "They're ordinary players like anyone. The media has blown that story out of all proportion. Many people think Chinese play for a job. They play for fun." Enlightening stuff. We're looking forward to seeing what else comes out of her research.

[Via Ten Ton Hammer]

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For literally generations now, we've had to endure those ongoing discussions regarding the harm of video games on children. Now with almost the entire industry being online, children are able to interact with other people across the world. This, of course brings up a whole new array of problems when it comes to protecting our children from harm.

In a recent article at Yahoo's Shine, this subject is approached in a way that keeps its distance from the usual mainstream doom and gloom we read regarding online games and parenting. Instead, readers are invited to share their own experiences with their kids and video games or online games. The comments are (mostly) interesting, and give a glimpse into how some parents are conquering this battle. Also, there's a link to a survey conducted by SOE regarding what parents think of their kids playing video games, and how it affects the children's school work and social lives.

I'm going to hijack my own column this week to cover a topic that I believe is worth spending some space on - Age of Conan and the buzz of negative media attention it has been getting. Age of Conan's controversy spans almost all aspects of the game, from fatalities, to nudity, to even such odd things like race selection.

Now, I've written a few of these articles. I enjoy controversy as the next person and I'm always interested in seeing the opposite viewpoint. It wasn't until I started getting some very, very nice hate mail in my inbox that I began to wonder if anyone understood my own viewpoint on the matter. So, this column is dedicated to other people's opinions, my opinions, controversies and, of course, Age of Conan.

Dizzywood is a Flash-based virtual world for kids, with a wide variety of environments to explore, ranging from Mayan-themed jungles to skateparks. Worlds in Motion took at in-depth look at Dizzywood and weighed in on how Dizzywood innovates, and how it flounders. The game is developed by Rocket Paper Scissors, who have been getting some love by the media in recent weeks. It's clear to see why; the relatively new company has a simple, compelling vision:

Our aim is to create a website for kids that inspires a sense of imagination, discovery, exploration, and most of all, fun. Frankly, when we took a good look at what was already out there, we felt that kids deserved a lot better. Our hope is that through a commitment to quality storytelling, creative vision, and technological innovation, Dizzywood will deliver an outstanding entertainment experience for young people that inspires the imagination in a safe environment. Our goal is to be the most popular web destination for kids in the 8-12 age range. It's a lofty goal, to be sure, but we're all about dreaming big.

Dizzywood runs in a web browser, with no additional install beyond Flash required. Rocket Paper Scissors has billed the title as free-to-play, but there are pay options to unlock new clothing, items, emotes and powers, as well as avatar customization. The games in Dizzywood are solo-friendly, but encourage cooperative play and socializing in order to solve mysteries. The excellent Online World Atlas over at Worlds in Motion put Dizzywood through its paces, ultimately finding some flaws in the virtual world, yet praising it as one of the 'tween worlds to watch.

Via Gamasutra

Here's a recent news item from the Contra Costa Times, about a kid who played way too much World of Warcraft: "[World of Warcraft had become] the one place he was joining the world. Bringing him back to the real world took months of therapy, a wilderness camp and boarding school." Months of therapy, a wilderness camp and boarding school -- could the cure be worse than the disease? The article describes him as a "tween" -- between the ages of ten and twelve. So let's break it down. A middle schooler was allowed by his parents to spend as much unsupervised time playing World of Warcraft as he liked, such that it was the only thing he did. A game the parents would have had to pay with their credit card each month, along with the initial cost of the game. The parents didn't notice their son had become withdrawn for such a long time that months of therapy, a wilderness camp and boarding school became the only options. Who was really to blame?

Blizzard knows that their game is addictive; they've even gone so far as to create parental controls for the game. Parenting support groups urge children to be restricted to just a couple of hours a week on the game. Given there is so much concern about children playing computer games of any sort to excess... how is it Blizzard takes the blame? Before World of Warcraft, it was EverQuest. Before EverQuest, it was Dungeons & Dragons. It can be hard for parents to keep tabs on their children; their natural desire is to give their children space to mature and learn how to take care of things on their own. But any sort of parents should be able to tell when a game, or depression, a fight with a friend or any of the thousand things that get too serious has gone beyond what a child can handle. Waiting until a problem has become so severe that boarding school and months of therapy are the only solutions are not Blizzard's fault. It's the parent's.

Last year, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown commissioned the Department of Children, Schools, and Families to write a report on, among other things, the potentially harmful effects of the internet and video games on children and young people. Many harbored fears, based on past precedent, that this report wouldn't cast the game industry in a particularly flattering light. Despite these fears, the study, called the Byron Report, is not quite as damning as we might have thought.

In particular, the chapter on online games identifies the fact that the discussion about online games and children should be moving away from seeking to find causal links between games and harm in favor of finding ways to empower children to make smart choices when it comes to games. At the same time, they recognize that its in their nature for children to push boundaries, and parents have to be willing to overcome their lack of awareness (with the help of retailers and the game industry in general) in order to police their children's online behavior.

While we don't agree with all the recommendations of the report, which include some more Big Brother aspects like regulating content on the internet, we think that online games at least got a pass.

[Via Terra Nova]

Each week, Robin Torres contributes Gamer Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with MMOs.

There is an interesting article over at Channel Massive that states in very strong terms that "You can be a great parent or a great gamer but you can't be both." He defines a "great gamer" as someone who is in a hardcore raiding guild in WoW or a top level ranked PvPer. He compares gaming to other activities which parents indulge in to escape familial responsibilities. He also claims that these "great gamers" play more in their MMO of choice than the average person watches TV and that watching TV is more conducive to parenting than "hardcore" gaming is. He breaks down the hours that must be required to be a "great gamer" and that leave no time for being a great or even good parent, spouse, billpayer, etc.

Hi, my name is Robin Torres and this is the new home for my column about having a successful MMO life while still having a successful real life -- formerly Azeroth Interrupted on WoW Insider. I have a hard time with many of the opinions put forth by the article mentioned. I don't like the definition of "great gamer". I disagree with the playtime required to maintain a "great gamer" status. And I really dislike the judgmental tone directed at anyone who seems to be trying to achieve the balance of "hardcore" MMO gaming and living an otherwise successful life.