Ten Ton Hamster

Children's MMOGs are starting to really rev up lately!

With the success of Club Penguin, Toontown and Webkinz (just to name a few games), other companies have been working to come out with online communities for children that are built around games and social content.

Gaming is obviously not free. There are three main ways to pay for gaming when it comes to children’s games.

Monthly Payments

Monthly payments are how the majority of adult games and many children’s games are processed. The fees vary from game to game. I’ve seen them range from $5.99 a month to $15.99 a month depending upon the game. Some games give you price breaks if your subscription covers more than a month at a time. Some games offer bi-annual breaks, while others charge a yearly subscription fee.

These charges will continue for as long as you want to play the game.

For that monthly subscription fee, the gamer gets access to the entire world, and to all of the items, quests, story lines and mini-games included in the game.

Purchase Items From a Store

These types of games involve buying an item from the store. For example, Webkinz works this way. Purchase a cute little fluffy Webkinz and you’ll also get a code included with your stuffed animal, which you enter online to open up an entire online gaming community to you, based around Webkinz.

If you choose to go this route, make sure to read all about the game first. Some games require you to purchase more items from the store in order to open up the entire gaming community. One game in particular works so that your item only opens up one additional mini-game, and an additional portion of the gaming world opens up to you as well.

Purchase Items Online for In Game Purposes

Some games will hook you in with the fact that they are free to download and have no monthly charges involved. As well all know, nothing in life is truly free. These manufacturers make some of their money by having additional in-game items available by purchasing them from their gaming site, normally through the use of PayPal.

So let’s say that you’ve downloaded the game, have been playing it for awhile, but then notice that other gamers have better gear and items than you do. Some games have it set up that the only way to get the better items is by purchasing them from their website. Pick your item, put the charge on your credit card, and you’ll receive the item in your inventory in game.

My opinion on these options is that there are two optimal ways to go when purchasing online games for your children. My preferences are for either monthly/yearly subscriptions, or the one time purchase of an item that opens up the entire virtual world to you.

In my opinion, the other options are like gaming black holes, where all you will do is spend more money to let your children keep up with the virtual Joneses. I have not let my son play any of these games because I am afraid it will lead to incessant whining from him about how he wants the elite items, can I buy them for him? Not to mention the clutter that will arise if you have to keep buying toys to fully enjoy the entire gaming world or play all of the available games within it.

A subscription-based game allows all of our children to explore the entire game and all that the virtual world has to offer, and it becomes a little bit less about who has what, who can access what areas, and makes for a more level playing field.

What are your thoughts on the different pay plans I’ve outlined above? We’d love to hear from our readers! Head on over to forums to discuss what you feel are the pros and cons of the different options we are given.

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