Matt Chat - Interview With Lord British

Myrthos

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In Matt Chat number 197, Richard Garriott talks about the later Ultimas, his relationships with publishers and the Apple II, the letter that led him to create the virtue system, indies, and more.

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I liked Richard's comment that parents need to do a better job with being involved with what games their kids play. I think that is very true and no government or rating agency can replace that kind of guidance.

I was once at a Gamestop when GTA 3 had just been released and there was a little 6 or 7 year old kid begging his mom to buy it. The mom seemed really clueless about games kind of like how my parents were clueless about rock bands when I was a kid.

I took the liberty to approach her and just tell her that the game has a lot of adult violence in it and adult themes in general and that I wouldn't let my two boys play that game at their age.

She seemed to receive me well and was polite. But I did notice that she purchased the game for him anyway. Some parents are just too unplugged and they end up needlessly exposing their kids to things that really aren't age appropriate.
 
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Maybe some parents don't think games hurt children like you do. That doesn't necessarily make them unplugged.

Personally, I think children can handle a lot more than we give them credit for - so long as we guide them to understand what they perceive.

I suppose, however, that the parent brigade will come crashing down on me - as I have no children of my own ;)
 
…as I have no children of my own ;)

Well, there you go. Your views might change if you ever end up putting a real horse in the race. Not letting a 5 or 6 year old play a game where you play in a shady world shooting at cops while dealing with whores and other assorted underworld-ness becomes a no-brainer.

In other news, I also don't allow my 7 year old to play on the slot machine in the biker bar down the road. He's seen the inside from the outside, and wants to play on the machines. I tell him he can when he's older if he still wants to. Call me and over-bearing censoring prude.
 
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Well, there you go. Your views might change if you ever end up putting a real horse in the race. Not letting a 5 or 6 year old play a game where you play in a shady world shooting at cops while dealing with whores and other assorted underworld-ness becomes a no-brainer.

So you say :)

I grew up with parents that didn't do very much to control what I got to experience. Well, they did try - but with four children full of trouble and both of them with full-time jobs, it was kinda hard for them to make sure at all times.

I saw many, many crazy things as a very young kid. I think it helped me a lot more than it harmed me. But I suppose that's because I never felt threatened or that there was a lack of love and support for me.

I had this fundamental belief in the world being a good place - and people being good. It was only much later that perception was challenged.

Personally, I think it's less about what you're exposed to - and more about how you're exposed to it.

Basically, I'm just not a big fan of shielding anyone from the harsher aspects of the world. Not at all convinced it's for the best.

But if I get my own kids someday - I'm sure I'll feel differently. But as of this moment - I don't.
 
I saw many, many crazy things as a very young kid. I think it helped me a lot more than it harmed me. But I suppose that's because I never felt threatened or that there was a lack of love and support for me.

There isn't a one size fits all because the world is a diverse place.

But in my place in the world I do believe in pacing.

When my oldest son was 9 and under, bed time on school nights was 8pm. Now it's 9pm. In two years it will be 10pm. And a year or two after that he can set his own bedtime as long as he doesn't wake me up.

Movies and videogames have also been paced. As he gets older, I let him see and play games with increasingly mature content.

The pacing of things can actually change, depending on his maturity and self-discipline.

That all said, I'd still be pretty hard pressed to ever imagine any scenario where a 5 year old plays a GTA game. It's not that the kid will somehow break or turn into a serial killer. It just isn't good for the mind. There's plenty of other entertainment a 5 year old can appreciate - they wouldn't even miss a game like GTA.
 
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There isn't a one size fits all because the world is a diverse place.

But in my place in the world I do believe in pacing.

When my oldest son was 9 and under, bed time on school nights was 8pm. Now it's 9pm. In two years it will be 10pm. And a year or two after that he can set his own bedtime as long as he doesn't wake me up.

Movies and videogames have also been paced. As he gets older, I let him see and play games with increasingly mature content.

The pacing of things can actually change, depending on his maturity and self-discipline.

That all said, I'd still be pretty hard pressed to ever imagine any scenario where a 5 year old plays a GTA game. It's not that the kid will somehow break or turn into a serial killer. It just isn't good for the mind. There's plenty of other entertainment a 5 year old can appreciate - they wouldn't even miss a game like GTA.

We simply disagree about psychology and how the mind works.

In my opinion, love is the key. If you love your child and you make sure the child can feel it - then the potential damage of purely sensory exposure is heavily mitigated.

But I feel like it's a waste to exchange about this - because it will inevitably come back to me not having children - and as such, I really have no say.

So, let's just agree to disagree :)
 
We simply disagree about psychology and how the mind works.

In my opinion, love is the key. If you love your child and you make sure the child can feel it - then the potential damage of purely sensory exposure is heavily mitigated.

But I feel like it's a waste to exchange about this - because it will inevitably come back to me not having children - and as such, I really have no say.

So, let's just agree to disagree :)

I'm not going to bash on you too hard about the 'I don't have kids' hole in your argument… :p

Your views on the matter are quite benign because of that fact. But you also don't need to have gone to the moon to understand things about it.

I do have to say that it is very much because I do love my kids that I pace them.

Eventually, they need to know all about the world, the good and the bad. The familiar and the different. Do they need to know it ALL by any particular age. I don't think so. I think it's a lot better in general to build knowledge of just about anything on smaller digestible chunks.

That said I'll go along with your graceful suggestion to agree to… well, have different views.
 
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