Topic

Children younger than 14 in glitch.

The game is becoming rampant with little kids between the ages of 7 and 12 - They are even popping up in global chat!

As far as I know this game has a minimum age of 14 and 14-17 year olds need permission from their parents to make an account.

But I would like to know a couple things -

Are TS aware of this and are they are taking steps towards dealing with it?

Are TS intending to remove the age restrictions of Glitch?

Would it be worthwhile for us to report any one who is younger than 14? 

I think I might just report any one that is under 14 any way, because this game is not intended for them and its a clear violation of the ToS.

Posted 11 years ago by Potian Dragoon Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • It is appropriate to report players you know to be under 14.  TS has removed them in the past.
    Posted 11 years ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks Kookaburra - In that case I will do with out hesitation.
    Posted 11 years ago by Potian Dragoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Kids under 14 really shouldn't be playing this game. /:
    Posted 11 years ago by Phosomania Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't think that you can assume that the fact you are seeing them more means TS wants them to be here - there is no age check at registration (and it would be hard to instate one that works over the internet, I assume), and they will probably either not read the ToS or just lie about their age. And the game does look rather cute on first glance, so I'm not surprised that ads for it will attract younger people.
    Posted 11 years ago by Not a Princess Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Report them....if they are too young they will kick them out......they enforce their rules.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lyrical DejaVu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Are TS intending to remove the age restrictions of Glitch?" — Nope!
    Posted 11 years ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I saw an age check verifier just recently - 

    globalgeeknews.com/2011/05/...
    Posted 11 years ago by Captain Daisy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If someone says they're under 14, I block them and report them. Not just because they're in violation of the ToS, but because they're stupid enough to not hide it. I mean, come on!

    This is the internet, it's really not that hard to hide your age, or even your whole identity if a person wants to. -_-
    Posted 11 years ago by Panda Party Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I report them. Not because I am a jobs worth but for their own safety. Online is a place full of dangers and you cant't just go blaming the parents as some of them don't know how to safely use a computer and the internet let alone show their children.
    TS appreciate anyone helping them keep kids safe and away from glitch.  :)
    Posted 11 years ago by Misha Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I went to a greet yesterday and was asked how old I am. I told her that I was very old 65, she then told me she was only 11. I did tell her that she was too young to be playing this game, she said "I didn't know". She was level 2, are they not told at the very begining the age limit? I reported her.
    Posted 11 years ago by Miss Melody Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The bit about needing to be at least fourteen isn't mentioned until a player decides to create an account, thereby saving the game.  I'm of the opinion that THE WARNING SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS and be mentioned right at the beginning and several times afterwards, but currently, I think it's just in one spot, and not particularly prominent.  Sometimes children are not removed, even after they admit that they are too young to be playing -- I have reported some who are still active, weeks or months later -- but most of them are removed immediately.
    Posted 11 years ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm 14 now, and have been playing Glitch for a year. You do the math. I didn't even notice any of the innuendos when I first started playing. And when I finally did it was fine with me.
    Posted 11 years ago by Misty Power Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Huh, I wonder if you can be banned for not being 14 in the past and playing Glitch, but being 14 now?
    Posted 11 years ago by Sororia Rose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I hope not.
    Posted 11 years ago by Misty Power Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If I were TS I'd be wanting to know who is inviting underage children to play and why!
    Posted 11 years ago by Reni's Mum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The game doesn't require invites any more to join. People may have just found the game through advertising and mentions on many blogs and sites.
    Posted 11 years ago by TomC Subscriber! | Permalink
  • And people who give invite codes to online acquaintances may not know/be able to verify their age.
    Posted 11 years ago by Not a Princess Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Most of the youngin's who stumble into Global stick out like a sore thumb. They don't engage with the conversation properly, and the moment the subject of age comes up, they get very defensive about theirs and very aggressive about yours. Which, yanno, is a pretty terrible tactic.
    Posted 11 years ago by Xiri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks stoot for confirming that you wont be dropping the age restrictions - I have seen it happen too many times and I do not want to see it happen to Glitch! :)
    Posted 11 years ago by Potian Dragoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If we want a community of mature people (regardless of actual age), we need to avoid/ignore immature players (of any age). We'll have a mature community if we act mature and TS avoids things attractive to the immature as much as possible.

    "Alas, irreverence has been subsumed by mere grossness, at least in the so-called mass media. What we have now—to quote myself at my most pretentious—is a nimiety of scurrility with a concomitant exiguity of taste. For example, the freedom (hooray!) to say almost anything you want on television about society's problems has been co-opted (alas!) by the freedom to talk instead about flatulence, orgasms, genitalia, masturbation, etc., etc., and to replace real comment with pop-culture references and so-called "adult" language. Irreverence is easy--what's hard is wit."
    — Tom Lehrer
    Posted 11 years ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Most of the kids attempting to play this game are not fun to interact with. They beg, whine when you don't give them stuff, and generally seem unable to grasp the fact that the game is nonlinear and character development is very gradual. I wish TS would go to more effort to be sure potential players are aware that this is a relatively slow-moving game intended for teens & adults.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lucille Ball Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So can you be banned for not being fourteen years old until you turned fourteen?
    Posted 11 years ago by Sororia Rose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Some websites I've been on that are similarly appealing to (but restricted from) minors have implemented a "ban until nth birthday" policy. I'm not sure how that is at all enforceable, but it does seem fair. 
    Posted 11 years ago by Spaghetti Thompson Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm torn. In the last several years of online foruming I have encountered (on other games) underaged players who really did not sound or type like 11 year olds, and they were surprisingly mature for their age. I like talking to them and don't mind being there when they need to rant and complain, but I can see this being dangerous to them because I'm still a stranger to them.

    @Sororia Rose: I don't know, depends on the site. I know a few sites that will just outright permanently ban you and keep you banned even though you're of age. Why keep you banned? Because they have no absolute way of confirming you're the minimum age. I'd check with the site on what their stance is.

    EDIT: Didn't read Rose's question properly, edited accordingly.
    Posted 11 years ago by Saphy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • How are you dangerous to them? If you're not actually a predator / stalker, I see no way that you're dangerous to them.

    My kids aren't old enough to be online at all now, but when they are, I hope they have the sense (and am constantly trying to develop that sense) to discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate relationships.

    Being in appropriate relationships is a GREAT way to develop that sense-- then they know when someone is being unusual.

    Having the only people who will talk them BE predator/stalkers is, OTOH, a recipe for trouble.

    --Me
    Posted 11 years ago by SchWM Subscriber! | Permalink
  • SchWM - the rules are in place as much to protect US as it is the younger players. I have come across players saying, 'my 6 year old sits on my lap and plays with me, how is that wrong...? they only ever play with me and they can't read anyway'. but what happens when that child gets a little older and then can't understand why all of a sudden they can't play this game that they've been 'playing with mum' anymore?

    Personally, one of the reasons i like glitch is because I don't have to worry about the fragile sensibilities of children
    Posted 11 years ago by Arietty Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If I can't tell a player is a kid, great, I won't ever wonder, and they're probably smart enough to be here and fit in. However, breaking the rule is their business, which I'd never encourage. It's not that it's such a terrible sin, but I'm a grown up and I want to play Glitch without worrying about being a bad influence on children. There are some topics you should not discuss with children who are complete strangers. There are some things you can say to an adult, but should never say to a child. I don't want to be wondering 'how old is that player?'

    The danger here is not a danger of abuse, but a danger of giving information to an unknown child for which the child is not prepared. Of confusing that child with a discussion that an adult would be able to handle, but a child might not. Let's remember that no matter how smart we are, we all still have to go through puberty and internal growth. At 29, my sensibilities, attitude and general knowledge of life is absolutely superior to that which I had at 12, even if I was a pretty intelligent kid. 

    To be honest, if it were up to me, I'd make the age limit much higher. 16, maybe even 18. 
    Posted 11 years ago by Cefeida Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Those are good points about the protection of adults.

    If you're a minor (under 18), don't tell me so if you try to talk to me because I will cut off communication if I find out.
    Posted 11 years ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm sure I'm going to come off rude, but I am getting rathered bothered by sudden appearance of children on here.

    It's rather obvious you're a child when you go onto the Trade Channel and just post "hi". I don't know if this is the same person with different accounts, but this has happened at least 15+ times today. 

    But also, that's a great point... there is a risk to us adults if children play on Glitch. I guess the safest way to approach this is to block the players if you're uncertain; although I wish there was a better way to prevent them from playing on Glitch to begin with. Even if you know a child is playing, I don't think you can report unless they state their age. 
    Posted 11 years ago by Fawnie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Also....yes it is posted in the ToS...but if you let them know blatantly right when they sign up, this actually will make the problem worse. Because then they will know what age they have to say they are, and are not as likely to slip up, at least not right away. And yes, they do tend to beg, be impatient, whine,and they don't hold conversations.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lyrical DejaVu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Also i posted on this topic before and went into length about why.....so ill repost my statement...

    Ok....theres a few different points to this. First the ToS does have the age requirement, and partially this is for the mature themed game content, partially to protect from suing and adult conversations, and also its a game aimed at adults, and its a way to block trolls. There are MANY games aimed at kids, they do not need to be in EVERY game. Also the children who have been found and reported do get their accounts deleted, the ToS is enforced here on some sites it is not. Children tend to be beggars, they are impatient and don't want to know or bother to learn how to make or find items, generally Glitchen don't mind helping but begging and demanding does not go over well, to say the least. This game takes patience, to learn everything, to make everything, etc. impatient ppl and instant-gratification seekers... kids included get frustrated and don't tend to stay by default, which actually helps the game base overall because those that stay here don't mind taking the time and steps to do things.  Also I have been playing games for years, often I'll try one for about a month, see if i like it, theres very few games that stay on my keep list, so i've seen a lot of different MMO and RPG communities. In those that allow children with no regulation, I've been harassed, stalked in-game, swore  at non stop with no context or point to it, hit on, sexual harrassing comments, and the like.  In any game that I've admitted to being adult or female its 100% worse. For the adult part it was essentially , adults aren't allowed to play games, why are you here, GTFO, etc. Female is sex harrassing comments constantly. And its not occasional its CONSTANT.Last point, those that do all of this, typically ARE 12 yr old trying to show they are big and bad, but regardless in those games that dont regulate kids you DO end up with an aggressive community, and thats the last thing we need here. And yes it does help that there is no combat here as well.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lyrical DejaVu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've run into at least three children while I was playing earlier tonight! Their spelling and general attitude gave them all away. I tried to be helpful at first since they were all brand new players, (telling them how to use the "hi" system, that they can keep and sell items they collect instead of just throwing them on the ground, etc.) but all I got in response was "lol"s and a bunch of misspelled ramblings.
    Posted 11 years ago by Imberis Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There have been a LOT of new players this weekend because of some ads that TS ran, and with that comes a fair share of youngsters.  I had one payer admit to me that she is 8!  (I did report her).  A few others were definitely in the "very suspect" class for their inability to write a coherent thought or stand still for 30 seconds.  

    With Glitch growing again (YAY to that, for sure) we are going to be facing an increasing number of under-age players.  As noted above, the immature ones are not likely to stay long as this is not a game of immediate reward and short attention spans are not well suited.  

    But they will stomp through Ur and trample our gardens and steal street piggies before they go.  The grownups amongst us will just have to clean up after them, much like we do for kids in real life :)
    Posted 11 years ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It was pretty bad in Global this morning. I think the website and tutorial need to make it much clearer that this game is intended for an adult audience.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lucille Ball Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If it was up to me, I would make the game 19 & older...why, because some part of the game/badges require that we drink alcohol beverages get drunk..etc Also some of the topics that are talked about in Global are sometimes for  very mature audiences.

    I came across a  12 yrs old tonight on Global when the subject of discussion from some people was about boobs and penis.
    Posted 11 years ago by Jeasilver Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just pointing out.....the offices for TS are in the US and Canada....so I'm going to presume, they go by the laws of both. With that in mind, US legal adult age is 18, Canada is 19, yes i realize lots of players are from ...well...everywhere.....but legally I'm sure they go by what those two countries laws say. I know most of the playerbase is adults, and due to content, and the whole myriad of reasons, we've said in this and other posts, I'd prefer it was 18+ as well.  I don't exspect it to change....but i do think it would set our minds at ease a lot more than currently. It does help that this game takes patience....and kids don't really have that,  in a way...thier behavior is a failsafe(for us),  they dont stay or get kicked out because of it.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lyrical DejaVu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • With all of this combined talk of how horrible other (younger) gaming communities are, and how rude and bully-filled they are, as well as this new-to-me talk about upping the age limit even more than it is now, I'm getting a disturbing feeling that you've all decided that rather than let children + young adults learn by experience that begging and harassing gets them nowhere, they should be shunned and forced to only have access to the aforementioned beg-ry bully-ey generally unpleasant atmospheres.

    Seems a bit selfish. It's more than easy to ignore people who are annoying you, you know. There's a block function just for that purpose.

    And as a note, to me it is absolutely ridiculous that you guys think the age should be pushed back to or past the age of majority. Why not put it to 21, since that's when US citizens can drink, and this game has tons of alcohol? Probably because that would be terribly unfair to 20 year olds, right? Because really, what's the difference between a 20 year old and a 21 year old or a 19 year old?

    As a side note, I'm 21 myself, and have been living on my own, paying my bills, and just being a generally upstanding citizen for exactly 4 years today. Was I too irresponsible 2.5 or 3 years ago to manage playing an online game that "grownups" play? Probably not. Neither are the people that some are proposing to exclude. If you don't want 17 years olds around you (or up to 20 year olds if you're American) go to an establishment licensed to only allow those of legal drinking age. Or, you know, have some Sufficiently-Aged-For-Your-Tastes friends over for dinner.

    Lyrical, Canada's age of majority varies by province from 18 to 19. It's not the same in each one :) BC's is 19 though, and that is where HQ is.
    Posted 11 years ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I believe most players here are referring to children as in minors, as in 12 years or younger (I am aware that this is not a technical or legal definition, I am using it colloquially). Individuals who are too young to positively engage with the older folks, and behave remarkably aggressively at times. There is a difference between allowing young people to join a community, and having to deal with their tantrums when they're told they're too young for the game. And they are, or they wouldn't be throwing a fit in the first place.
    Posted 11 years ago by Xiri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ok, didnt know it varied by province....the areas i've been to were always 19, so i was presuming. 16,17,aren't so much the problem in the equation...maturity wise, playstyle wise. Its the young teens. I was really going with 18 because its the legal age for consent, the age ones considered being an adult etc. And theres a bit of a grey area arguement, a 12 yr old can pass for a 14 yr old online mentally, easy, and passing for an older teen is harder, but defining what and where the cutoff should be, is of course tricky. 18 being an official age defining your an adult ....would set more ppls minds at ease with the content part of the arguement.....it really wouldnt be much of a concern if at all. Really i think just a few years would make a big difference in this. 16 yr olds are quite a bit more mature than 14 yr olds, and a lot more mature than 12 yr olds. If the minimum age was 16, i do think most of this contention about age, would be greatly diminished.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lyrical DejaVu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There's also been some trolls, that I imagine might be the same person. One girl in particular, I went to her home, and said "I'm sorry Global was treating you badly", and she laughed and said she's really not 13 or whatever, that she's 19, and she just wanted to get attention and make friends...? 

    I just block and report suspicious people like that. Unfortunately there's no golden age verification out there otherwise I'm sure all sites would be using it :[
    Posted 11 years ago by Kurtie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The most effective age-catch I've seen was when Gaia Online asked their users to confirm their birth-dates. Those who said they were under 13 were banned until they came of age. I thought it was pretty funny, tbh. Anyway, that could work here if it were done every few months or so, but it would be tedious. As has been mentioned already, I think it's pretty likely that the youngins won't persist with this kind of game - Glitch is about doing stuff, not begging, and that won't hold their interest in the long term. It's too much like hard work.
    Posted 11 years ago by Xiri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Lyrical, I get where you're coming from, but if you're using the term "consent" in the same way it is generally understood to mean (legally speaking, "age of consent" means "age of consent to sexual activity") then you're basing your argument off of flawed premises.
    The age of that kind of consent was actually 14 in Canada until about 2006-2007. The age of consent here is now 16. You can be younger if both partners are very close in age.
    The primary (which I use to mean "most common") age of consent in the USA is also actually 16, with 30 states accepting that as their age of consent, a clear majority of them.

    I also don't see it as a problem that 12 year olds can mentally pass as 14 or 15 here. This is not TeenChat, I have yet to hear of predators in this site. I don't feel like we need to protect those ages of kids from pretty much any subject matter I've ever seen here, and I've seen some "adult themes" being discussed. a 12 year old isn't a child any more (sorry, parents. It's true!), and honestly no child that has their own email address and clearly unsupervised access to the internet (because a supervisor would have seen the age limit! and the hooch! and the hoes!) is really a child any more either. Not for long, anyways. You've all seen your spam boxes. Kids with emails get those spams too. And they read them at least once.
    Someone who cannot handle this environment will be unlikely to be able to consistently keep their age to themselves, and will work themselves out of the system by giving it away.

    I like the age limit, and the enforcement of at least pretending to be mature enough to handle this site. I don't support abolishing it. I don't support raising the limit. It's a fairly accurate estimate of when at least a small portion of kids will be mature enough to contribute here politely. Some will be able to before that age, and they almost definitely do right now and get away with it, and that's fine. Signing up for a game a year or two before they're supposed to is quite possibly the tamest trouble a 12 year old can get in to.
    You don't want to know what kind of trouble an 8th grader (13) gets into today, if you don't already!(note: if you're concerned about them hearing dick jokes, then you have no idea what being young is like now)
    For the love of everything good in the world, let them sneak on to video games! Give them a better addiction than the ones I've seen them take up!

    Wow! I just got really dramatic there! Sorry! I can't stop exclaiming, though! I take this pretty seriously because "kids" need safe spaces and this could be a great one. It already is one, imo. I don't mean safe from dick jokes, I mean safe from mean people. It's easy here to accomplish that most of the time.

    ------

    Xiri, the problem with that is that some paranoid adults give just-slightly-wrong birthdates, because date of birth is an identity-verifying question at, say, the Tax Authority in many places, almost every bank, credit card customer service, etc.
    My birthday is always off by a minimum of one day, in different directions. I take care not to alter what would be considered my "demographic" by only changing the day or month, not the year, but...I have no idea what birthday each site has on file for me. So they would have to warn me or lose me, and I think warning me would ruin the purpose, wouldn't it?
    Posted 11 years ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It wasn't a test to see if the birthday you signed up with was the same as the one you said you had when they asked a second time. It was a test to see if, upon answering honestly, you were violating their TOS. There's a difference between getting a day or two wrong and getting four or five years wrong.
    Posted 11 years ago by Xiri Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I know i said age of consent earlier.....but i wasn't meaning it in its official context, and it varies greatly by country anyway. What i meant was more along the lines of, that "tends to be" when one is self aware to the point in order to process and objectively process many different types of content. So as to not even worry about comprehension.  But im not really worried about it, the way it is currently anyway, if they are under 14 it is enforced. Also...i said it...others have said it....this game takes patience, young teens and children arent going to stay, they tend to get bored or frustrated. Instant gratification types....again....children or not.....arent going to stay either. It appeals to ppl who dont mind taking the time and steps to make things, like the humor, like being social, amongst a host of other things. And a bit of an aside.....rules are rules, and they should be enforced(ANY of the ToS)...children under 14 shouldnt be here, if you know report them, plain an simple, and its not something you should make exceptions on.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lyrical DejaVu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Biohazard - I have no desire to be responsible for providing a 'safe' space for children to play in. If they want to do that, there are many, many, many games out there for children to play that are moderated the hell out of.  Please don't get all grumpy about this, I myself left home at 16 and fully understand about being responsible enough to pay the bills. The thing is, now I'm a 38 year old woman and not interested in playing online with children - which surprisingly enough, is one of the many and varied reasons I play glitch.

    I shouldn't have to put up with the begging instant gratification types either. Yes I can block them, but if no one speaks up (because we've all blocked them) they persist in thinking it's acceptable behaviour which kind of ruins your argument...
    Posted 11 years ago by Arietty Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think the current ToS is pretty much as good as it can get. 
    Anyone who thinks it should be restricted to 18 must have no idea of what young teens do, see and think nowadays (I'm 53 and have 3 kids; I know). 

    I think what counts is the limit of 'already known', and by 14 they know, even if they aren't yet ready to handle what they know. Which makes parental guidance adequate.  

    For those who get in anyway, (which as said, means they have an email, which also means they are internet savvy, and have seen things that we mortals, etc.....) I really don't see beer, butts or hoes as a problem, nor the occasional chat in global about boobs. 
    The real danger is the amount of horrible humans they could meet online, and this is a wondrous place of few and far between.  With so many adults here monitoring and defending their playground, I don't think any real damage will be done. 
    Posted 11 years ago by Zira Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Arietty-- are you going out of your way to read people's posts backwards? 

    @Biohazard-- HEAR HEAR!

    --Me, also a late 30-year-old
    Posted 11 years ago by SchWM Subscriber! | Permalink
  • kids today know all this stuff. I've heard eight year olds use the F word
    Posted 11 years ago by Ultra-Dynamic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Knowing an comprehending is quite different.  I knew many things before i was fully capable of grasping what they meant. For instance, reading at a college level,  in Middle School, even though you do comprehend much of what you read 5% will fly over your head completely, and 5% you just won't be able to grasp. Just because you know of sex and swear words, doesnt mean you understand why things are appropriate or not.  If they are old enough to comprehend, its unlikely they are 12 anyway. As for teens, maturity does vary quite a bit. But i do think that the current age is fine, it IS enforced.  Impatient types, teens or not arent going to stay, trolls arent going to stay....as soon as they are blocked by most. There are a few safeguards here. I dont like the idea of young kids here, content being the first issue. And as nice as this community is....it still isnt for those under 14.  I dont know how many games all of you have played, what types or categories or....or what experiences you may have had, i just know too many places have been ruined by not enforcing the rules. And yes there are some really bad game communities out there. And by being lacking of enforcing the rules,  i can say this, Glitch wont be immune to trolls, it will get infested with them, if they are breaking ToS,  just report....period.
    Posted 11 years ago by Lyrical DejaVu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • yeah i guess you're right... its just if they can bypass the guidelines here they will have in other places to. I guess if you cant grasp the stuff it doesnt matter, and if you can you will have already learnt it from somewhere else. Still I really want this game to be filled with mature people who can be part of the community. So I'm sort of going both ways.
    Posted 11 years ago by Ultra-Dynamic Subscriber! | Permalink
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