As much as I'm starting to have more fun in EVE since my return, on this Labor Day weekend I couldn't get much done because of an extended parental duty weekend. I've mentioned my theory on EVE and kids often enough so no need to repeat myself. But at 4.5 and 5.5 years old I can already see the makings of a pair of future gamers. That part of my genetic legacy is impossible to deny! Now the interesting part is to make sure they don't abuse the interest too much, and most importantly nip any negative behavior that may happen in the bud, which ain't always easy. Two guys, one computer... yeah, fun!
So what do kindergarten sons of a hardcore gamer play? You'd be surprised! The obvious one for boys their age is the games on the Hot Wheels website. But of course after seeing dad in action it didn't take long for them to want to try true games. I did show them EVE PvP but face it, EVE is slooooooow! But First Person Shooters? Different story! Of course I'm not talking about FPS games too violent or realistic; they do have a good grasp of what is fantasy and what is reality, so no CoDs, MW2, GTA and etc. I'm not into those anyway. But they love Quake, especially with esports fugly graphics! They haven't started deathmatching yet but they do understand how to move around and switch weapons. But this weekend another game grabbed their interest: Mechwarrior4:Mercenaries!
The fun part about Mech4 for them isn't only the walking around in gigantic "robots" (they aren't calling them mechs yet), it's looking at the mechlab screen! Seriously, they spend more time fitting the mechs than they do on the field, where they usually go all alone or against a single weaponless assault mech I made for them to practice on. Something just grabs them as they try to balance their fits; what weapon type goes where, what can be fitted with 2 tons left, how to free up some tonnage for jump jets, that sort of thing. Some of their fits are pure fail, but others are quite good. To determine this they have me enter a multiplayer game against bots and if I start decimating the competition the fit gets the seal of approval. And the favorites: for Leandre it's the Supernova because he has a thing for high-powered energy weapons (Amarr pilot in the making), and Timothee prefers the Marauder II for its massive railgun... I hope hybrids get fixed before he gets in EVE!
So yeah, having youngsters playing grown-up games is doable, but the most important thing is to make sure that they understand that games are games. And of course I'm writing about this because this has been a truly dismal weekend weather-wise, either too hot and humid or pissing rain; video games are NOT my activity of choice for my tornadoes. OK, is it my turn yet? I WANNA PLAY !!!
Fight hard and get crits!
o7
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