How old to play TF2?

rev_rog

rev_rog

Member
Hello fellow CGA members. I have a son Zach in the second grade who loves computer games. All I have let him play is casual (peggle style games) and the Civilzation game. However, he is always trying to peek over my shoulder when I play TF2. The only time I let him watch is when I am on the Tribe of Judah or Fish servers. He is a resonably mature kid and understands that the violence is not real.

My question then is this:

How old would YOUR kid have to be (if you had one) before you let him play TF2?

Feedback appreciated from a humble dad...

:confused:
 
Well thats really a hard one, especially considering TF2 is a rated M game.

I can say from my own personal experience i was 10 when i first played Metal Gear Solid on the ps1 and absolutely loved it and have played the series ever since...

I think TF2 prolly would be ok due to the more cartoon'ish features of everything and they removed the exploding people and lowered the gore alot. One thing I would suggest if you do let him play is if its possible, play together. That keeps him responsible for who he is gaming with but also for his time constraints. FPS games like TF2 and CS when extremely early on can have addictive natures however if your there with him, there is obviously more accountability.

disclaimer: I am 19, a gamer for a very long time, not a father and my expressed views may be different from older and mature people on these forums.
 
Letting him play on any server other than Toj's, I'd say most definitely no. The main reason is the sprays (Fish has sprays enabled. <Edit wait I may be wrong about this but I am 100% positive about SoC>). Quite frankly even if it is a moderated server people WILL put pornographic sprays up if enabled (our server has them disabled). I was on SoC's once and apparently there was no moderator on because there was a pornographic spray in the Blu spawn for I don't know how long. Ego's servers aren't moderated continuously as well as I've seen them on there many times.

However, there is a way! I've never done it myself but you can disable sprays in source games according to https://support.steampowered.com/kb_cat.php?id=72&t=qanda#9192-LFDM-3537 . I'd test it to make sure it works. With that in place I'd probably let him play on Christian Crew's servers too as long as I'd be right there. I know Little Kittens an eight year old girl has played on Christian Crew's server but her father is right there (and I assume an admin).

Also if you feel the violence is too much there is also a way to load the low violence gibs on your computer. http://clancya.org/2007/10/19/howto-enabling-the-low-violence-team-fortress-2-content/ That site talks about it and someone already made up the gib file so it is available for download making it easy to make it work (on another map site which I will not mention because of some ads on it). PM me if you want the link.

After that what remains is the user generated cussing and a couple words the TF2 characters say. He's bound to run into it because you've seen the people that come to our site. Even if you kick them he's still going to see/hear them. It's really a question if you think he'd be influenced to use some of those words.

Anyway I'm not a Father so it's just my un-experienced opinion :p. The only other thing I'd say is I'd be happy to play with anyone regardless of skill as long as they have a good attitude. I've played with Little Kittens and she's so adorable ^.^ (and actually a decent medic). Every time I have doubts about kicking/banning someone I think of keeping Toj a fit place for her and I don't have problem with it (I'm still slow on the draw though :/).
 
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The Mighty Gerbil said:
Letting him play on any server other than Toj's, I'd say most definitely no. The main reason is the sprays (Fish has sprays enabled). Quite frankly even if it is a moderated server people WILL put pornographic sprays up if enabled (our server has them disabled).
Click to expand...
Yep. One of the first changes I made before opening the server last November. I knew, from past experience, people abuse sprays given the opportunity. And once you see something, you can't un-see it.
The Mighty Gerbil said:
(I'm still slow on the draw though :/).
Click to expand...
Have no fear, young Padawan. One day you will be able to permban griefers as quickly as this Server Jedi.

I've been doing the Server Admin thing for several years now, so I can guess when a player is going to cause problems. I used to be more lenient, but I find myself handing out permbans to players who immediately start griefing (e.g. spewing profanity, mocking Christianity, baiting admins, etc.) without a moment's hesitation.

Of course, to permban multiple griefers simultaneously, there's nothing quite like HLSW. <3 for HLSW.

Back to the topic at hand: Remember that while we see the blood and gore in TF2 as no big deal (thanks in part to the cartoonish art style), a young child may not yet be desensitized to such imagery. If you want to give the young one a try at TF2, I recommend finding a way to enable low violence mode. (I'm thinking of trying it out myself, as long as it doesn't mess with file checking for competitive play.)

If you can't disable blood, gore, and mature taunts in TF2, you might want to consider picking up two copies of Unreal Tournament 2004, disabling mature taunts, and lowering the blood/gore level to the lowest setting. With these simple changes, UT2004 goes from a M-rated game to a T-rated game (in my opinion; the ESRB gives ratings based on all content available).
 
I can completely understand you position, wanting to play fps with family is always nice, but as for the age I really could not put a number to it. I personally feel it's more about the level of maturity the child has to how much they can handle. I know of 20-something year-olds that probably act and live less mature then your son.
 
Whon said:
I can completely understand you position, wanting to play fps with family is always nice, but as for the age I really could not put a number to it. I personally feel it's more about the level of maturity the child has to how much they can handle. I know of 20-something year-olds that probably act and live less mature then your son.
Click to expand...

QFT.

While I'm here I'll also mention the ratings system is decidedly messed up. The Games that pass for "Mature" cover a large spectrum from "we've put one word in it to deliberately get a mature rating" to "we've pushed it as far as possible without going adults only". The things that the rating board evaluates games on is not morally based either. As long as it's doesn't show nudity it's apparently ok to have sex in games and get a teen rating.
 
Hehe, Little Kittens, that's right. If you're on at the same time, and it's on a content-disabled server (sprays and such), then I see no problem with it. But I could see turning down the blood through the console commands or GCFs themselves. I know the Fish has plenty of younger kids playing, and even though I don't like the squeaky voices (no offense pre-mic Gerbil), but if they at least help the team, I don't mind. My 15 year old brother currently plays, and I would rather have him play this then L4D or UT3.
 
Thanks So much this has been really helpful. I would never let him play without me being on as well. I think I will get him a steam account and buy him a copy of the game. Then let him play on the family desktop with me on my laptop on our LAN at first where its just the two of us to see how he does.

I love the filter idea. I will definetly look in to that as well
 
Too young...?

Atown said:
disclaimer: I am 19, a gamer for a very long time, not a father and my expressed views may be different from older and mature people on these forums.
Click to expand...

7But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 1:7-8
 
rev_rog said:
7But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 1:7-8
Click to expand...

haha yeah but i usually feel like elihu from job 32,
" 6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:
"I am young in years,
and you are old;
that is why I was fearful,
not daring to tell you what I know.

7 I thought, 'Age should speak;
advanced years should teach wisdom"

haha, actually i can remember making some pretty stupid (stupid meaning immature and offensive) posts here when i first came to cga so i try and be as respectful as possible.
 
Hey Rog,

From experience make sure mom is on board with the decision.

My wife ok'd tf2 a few months ago, then was shocked the other day when she saw someone blow up. She got a bit upset. Then my son and I said, "well you said it was ok?" Which was not actually the best thing to say.

Anyway my son is actually almost 12 and I think at the lower end of being able to play well enough to be on servers.
 
Guys i know how to turn off the blood in TF2.
First though you have to go to the settings and look for enable console, then press ~ key.
then if the console pops up ur doing it right.
Then type in
cl_phys_props_enable "0"
cl_phys_props_max "0"
violence_agibs "0"
violence_hgibs "0"
violence_hblood "0"
violence_ablood "0"
---------------------
that should turn off the blood and body parts
i was looking it up and found it
 
I feel like something important is being missed here. I don't think that whether children of a certain age are mature enough to see blood is the issue. I think the issue is whether they are mature enough to pretend to kill someone. If you disable blood and gibs entirely to avoid giving them violent impressions then you're actually giving them impressions of violence without the blood and chunks (which i believe to be just as or more dangerous).

When I was 10-12ish my parent would not let me play Soul Caliber because it had no blood when you do something blood worthy. Mortal Kombat however was fine with them.

TL;DR Disabling blood and gibs does not make a game less violent. An unrealistic image of violence is still violent but also misleading.
 
My daughter is 8 almost 9. She leads a very sheltered life. I've let watch me play Minecraft a few times and she always seems to want me to kill things. I think it's just in our nature to be destructive and violent (to a point).

I've even let her play a few times and she likes to wander around and punch sheep.

She's very creative and loving and we've talked about it at times as well.

Personally, I know she will play video games soon enough. I push her to do other things. When the opertunity comes up I usually try to spend time with her playing a board game or sending her outside (I know I'm a horrible dad but hmmpf).

Our children are exposed to way too much 'world' as it is. I want to protect and shelter my daughter for as long as I can. If you want to play with your son, use it as a way to talk about the sin and wrong in our world today. Explain to them who Christ is and why He had to die on a cross for us. Explain to them right and wrong and how to know the difference.

I've always tried to explain why to my daughter instead of just dictating yes and no. In some areas it works very well. The minecraft sheep don't seem to understand yet but for her, I like the results so far.
 
Last post in thread: January 16th, 2009, 05:27 PM

REZ ALERT! REZ ALERT! REZ ALERT!
 
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