Trying Out Second Life... Finally

I've been meaning to try out Second Life for a very, very long time... but had never actually gotten around to it. Well, tonight night I finally logged in and started exploring. A friend of mine is very familiar with Second Life and helped show me the basics.


It's a massive world with a lot going on, so I've obviously got a lot to learn still. So far, it's a lot of fun. I plan on returning to Second Life again and do some more exploring.

Free Realms Safety Observation

So I just realized in Free Realms, players under age 13 cannot chat at all. Wow, that totally stinks for them. Although, from what I've observed, Free Realms isn't a horribly chatty game anyway. Obviously I'm over 13, though, so I didn't notice this restriction earlier.

But, it makes perfect sense. By keeping the kiddies from being able to chat, they're also preventing them from being able to give out dangerous personal information, such as age, location, phone numbers, email addresses, or any means to contact someone outside of the game. Sure, harassment and vulgarity are issues in any virtual world, but the release of personal information is the real threat because it allows potential predators to contact kids online and lure them to an unmoderated environment.

Yet at the same time, taking away chat from kids isn't limiting the experience for the older users by imposing a super strict chat filter or dictionary.

Free Realms has some obvious safety features for kids, such as a number filter, usernames that have to be approved, and the lack of chat for those under 13. Although, in a lot of ways it seems more like a traditional MMORPG that has made itself "kid friendly" as oppossed to a full fledged kids virtual world. A lot of virtual worlds out there take it to the extreme one way or another, and as a result scare away plenty of potential players... they're either too strict with child safety restrictions, thus scaring away older players, or they're too liberal with their safety policies, which makes the game unsuitable for children.

It broadens the audience so everyone can enjoy it whether you're young or old. So adults who are looking for a user-friendly, free to play MMO can really enjoy Free Realms just as much as the kids that need a safe experience.

Of course, I'm sure all the kids are just going to lie about their ages. So, it problably doesn't really matter anyway!

Free Realms and Wizard 101

I don't know a whole lot about this upcoming game... but I have to admit it instantly grabbed my attention as soon as I visited their site. I'm a sucker for fantasy, and I've been spending a lot of time with virtual worlds for kids lately. Oh, and an upcoming card game? Cool! Free Realms definitely seems interesting! I signed up for their Beta... but am stuck waiting. :(

Anyway, check it out, looks neat! http://www.freerealms.com.

I've also been thinking of checking Wizard 101, a Wizard-themed MMO for kids. I signed up a while back, but never actually got around to playing. I'll probably finally log-in for the first time once I finish this post, so I'll let you know how it is.

Garden Party

As I mentioned a few posts back, I've been spending a lot of time exploring virtual worlds for kids. My all-time favorite was Virtual Magic Kingdom, but anyone who is familiar with it knows that Disney closed it down last summer. It was a really sad time...

Anyway, since the closing of VMK, I'd been looking for a new virtual world to call home. I've tried all sorts of worlds, like Habbo Hotel, Club Penguin, Kaneva, Build-a-Bearville, and many more. Not too long ago I came across Garden Party, which has become my new favorite.

If you've got young kids (or you're a young kid at heart), Garden Party is just perfect! The Mods are very approachable, the world is beautiful, there are plenty of neat mini games (including some educational ones for the children!), there's a safe chat filter, overall it's just tons of fun!

While a game about gardening might not sound like a lot of fun, you'll likely enjoy growing plants in order to obtain unique in game items and apparel. Most exciting of all, you never really know what kind of items you might grow, so you'll often find yourself surprised.

My only concern is with a bit of the Moderation features (I'm not sure how much chat moderation there really is) and a few bugs here and there. However, it's still in the early days of Beta and surely deserves a chance!

http://www.gardenpartyworld.com/