Topic: Got some great parenting advice for you!

[idolminds]

Kotaku brought this to my attention.

Open Letter to Parents of League of Legends Players

This is an online game. In most cases, your child is playing with real people. Please take a moment to understand how this game's person-to-person interaction functions. In the past, I have seen numerous stories of children who routinely disconnect mid-game because it's bedtime, or their parents decide that they've played enough for the day. Some of these stories have come from parents themselves, proudly stating that they are firm about making their children stop playing at a specific time.

While it is admirable that you are teaching children some responsibility to schedules, please stop neglecting to teach them responsibility to other people. Unless your child is playing a Custom Game, his actions will permanently affect the statistics of up to 9 other people. Don't enforce behavior that involves disregarding other people. Do you want your child being callous to people in face-to-face situations too?

The average game of League of Legends lasts over 30 minutes. Many last close to an hour. When a game has begun, players have implicitly committed their time to each other until the game ends.

If you have given your child a strict cutoff time for play, do not allow him to begin a game if he has less than an hour left.

    -Bedtime in 30 minutes? Don't allow him to start a new game.
    -Dinner in 45 minutes? Don't allow him to start a new game.

If a game is in progress, do not interrupt it unless it is an emergency. You are affecting up to 10 people, not just your child.

    -Feel like checking your e-mail on the same computer? Please wait until the game is over so you don't completely ruin things for the real people on your child's team.
    -Is a game that started 90 minutes before bedtime somehow still in progress at 87 minutes? Please allow him to finish the match so you don't completely ruin things for the real people on your child's team. Games almost never last that long, and if people lose due to a teammate quitting after spending that much time on a match, they are likely to be more upset than usual.

Now you're probably thinking, "But what if my child takes advantage of me and starts a game 5 minutes before bedtime because now I'll feel guilty about making him quit a game in progress?" I have an answer for that. Are you ready for it? It's a two parter.

    1. Let him finish the game. This sounds like you're letting your child walk all over you, but please just let the game finish normally and follow through with step 2.
    2. Ground him. You're the parent. Don't let him play League for a while. If your kid tries to exploit you, you don't have to stand for it. Step 1 is just about showing courtesy to other people and being responsible to the team. However, your child should definitely learn that there are consequences for all actions.

If you are a parent and can't figure out why this is a problem, take some time to read how people react to children prematurely abandoning games.

If you know any parents who make their kids leave mid-game on a whim, please direct them to this thread.

Yeeeeeeah...no.

[Quemaqua]

Haha, jeeez.

[Xessive]

An important of any geek's growing up is parents not understanding that you cannot pause online games.

[Cobra951]

That's hilarious.  Responsibility to other online players?  Yeah, right.  Even the WOPR had to deal with Matthew Broderick's mom demanding that he take out the trash.

[scottws]

This is BS.  If the kid knows he has to stop playing at 9pm and it is 8:45pm and they start an hour-long game, how is it the parents' fault when the kid is forced to get off at their normal time?  I'm sure the kid realizes what time it is and what time they start and are just hoping to push the boundary.  This has nothing to do with parents and everything to do with the kid taking it upon themselves to be responsible for their parents' rules and their commitment to the other players.

Also, in no way ever are parents going to care about other people in an online game when they are making demands of their child to stop playing the game.

Basically, STFU League of Legends whiner.

[PyroMenace]

If you force him to get off ending the game prematurely, it allows the players on the other end to meet their bedtime curfew as well. I call that a win win, this article is bullshit.

[gpw11]

Hahaha.  Poor guy needs a reality check - no one gives a shit about that thing you're not supposed to take seriously but do.