On every free to play world girl characters get entire crowds of boy characters chasing them around asking them to please be their girlfriend. While this problem is less evident on paid to play worlds most of Runescape’s players are willing to admit that this is a major problem with the game. Many girl players have opted out of creating a girl character because of this and some still are not happy with the way Jagex changed the female’s body in game. Of course, according to Runescape the player’s male to female ratio is 90:10! So many boys are opting into the girl characters to further abuse the problem.
Free stuff, please!
Most of the advances come from lower leveled players looking to gain free items. While this might seem innocent enough the other player ends up enabling the other to depend on others instead of learning how to play the game correctly. This also breeds a completely new sort of player as some refer to as a noob. Now a noob is someone who exhibits annoying or immature behavior that is not to be confused with a new player – a newbie. This is an insult that is not currently blocked by the games filter. Jagex feels that “noobs calling” should be ignored since they say that we were all noobs at some point. When it comes to dealing with a noob its best to apply the saying, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”.
Cyber sex
Jagex has a filter in place but many times kids can find other ways to spell words using Leet speak and misspelling to show otherwise blocked words. Not all of Runescape’s players are kids though, so make sure you have already talked about this to the player in your house before letting them on next time. Jagex does have several helpful features in their chat program that you and your child should both be aware of and know how to use. Report the character by clicking the tab “Report abuse” and type in the player’s name. It will send a screen shot email to be evaluated at a later time. Once you have reported the player its best to block them just click on the small tab with the red angry face and add them by typing in their name. If your child is the one abusing the game this way they are breaking a rule in game and can be banned. You should also know that if you are paying for an account on Runescape Jagex will not refund your money that is, if you break their rules.
Keep talking!
There are several partnered quests in the game where you do have to trust the other player to give you items so that you can complete the quest. This is something that helps build the trust between two players. Since you only have the word of the other player, it does help sustain in game relationships, many of which can evolve into dating. Therefore, if you decide to let your child Runescape date or find out that they already have been dating online you should let them talk to you about it. Keeping the line of communication open during this may be the key to stopping something dangerous before it happens. You should let your child know that while doing quests together and raising skills is fun they should never give out personal information.
Now you will have to bear in mind that there are weddings on the paid to play servers. These ceremonies are not legally binding so as long as your child knows it is just pretend, their just a fun event.
