We often have problems in my Middle Eastern country with our internet connections at home, and in offices. So sometimes we go to cyber cafés. For the past year or two, I’ve noticed that every time I go, there seem to be kids there playing games with each other, but seated at different computer posts.
Then, every so often one or two kids leap out of their chairs, and go physically attack another kid! They knock over his chair, start hitting him, and they end up in a brawl on the floor, among the computers. I’ve been wondering why. Now, I know.
According to the kids at my school, these kids are playing two games called Dofus, and World of Warcraft. Apparently both games are similar. You first create your own character. Characters can be wizards, rogues, knights elves, dwarfs, queens, fairies, kings, monsters, dragons, skeletons, mummies, and pets. They fight with magic swords and they use magic.
Here’s what’s fun for kids about this game. The fifth-graders (ten-year-olds) at my school say, “You can steal from other characters, get objects and sell them, buy things, and fight others to steal their stuff.” When I asked what kinds of stuff people would want to steal from each other, they told me, “Gold coins, swords, bones, and magic. And if you kill another character, you get their magic.”
In some of these games you have to pay about 6 Euros ($7- 
to create each online character. It’s not a game you win; it’s a game that just goes on and on, as long as you can keep your character alive. The machine saves your place each time. If you don’t play for two weeks, your character disappears. On another game, you just pay for a subscription.
The kids tell me that the reason people are jumping out of their chairs and attacking others is that people get mad when their characters get killed. This is because kids have to PAY again to create a new character. When the person who kills you is in the same room, it’s much easier to attack them, than if they are some unknown person on line.
If you’re interested in finding out more about these games, Wikipedia has a good page on each game, under Dofus, and World of Warcraft.
If you’re interested in trying out a free version of this game (I did), you can do it at:
http://www.miniclip.com/games/dofus/en/
Eileen
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Tags: Cybercafé Problems, Dofus, Parents' Worries, problems in cybercafes, World of Warcraft
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