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16:44, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Age requirements?

Posted by Jessi
Jessi
member, 19 posts
Gamer girls for the win!
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 16:49
  • msg #1

Age requirements?

My daughter is 11 years old and interested in running a game here on RPoL.  I have looked around and searched in the FAQ and Terms of Use and I can't find anything anywhere saying that you have to be a certain age to make an account and participate in games.

Am I missing something, or can I help guide her through her baby steps on GMing here on this site?
Merevel
member, 661 posts
Gaming :-)
Very unlucky
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 16:57
  • msg #2

Re: Age requirements?

I am not sure about other countries, but according to the US COPPA law children under the age of 13 are not permitted to have accounts on the internet. In fact that is why on kongregate if someone is found to be under 13 they are banned.
Jessi
member, 20 posts
Gamer girls for the win!
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 16:59
  • msg #3

Re: Age requirements?

In reply to Merevel (msg # 2):

Thank you for your reply!

I'm in Sweden so... but I guess since the site itself is based in the US it follows their rules.

She'll just have to wait :)
SWolfe
member, 23 posts
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:01
  • msg #4

Re: Age requirements?

Actually, COPPA permits a child under 13 to have an account -- but there are so many rules and requirements that most sites probably prefer not to bother.
art42
member, 79 posts
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:03
  • msg #5

Re: Age requirements?

COPPA is not a complete ban, it just puts restrictions on what information can be collected. This site might not be able to handle some of the parental consent requirements. That would definitely be a question for jase or one of the mods.
This message was last edited by the user at 17:03, Tue 12 Aug 2014.
Merevel
member, 662 posts
Gaming :-)
Very unlucky
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:04
  • msg #6

Re: Age requirements?

Ah, Kongregate must ban just to be safe under the laws. Ok, sorry for my misunderstanding. Yeah, I would ask a moderator or Jase about it. They would know better then I do.
Evil Empryss
member, 1122 posts
Because knowing
is half the battle!
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:05
  • msg #7

Re: Age requirements?

No worries, RPOL is in Australia, not the US. :-)
Jessi
member, 21 posts
Gamer girls for the win!
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:07
  • msg #8

Re: Age requirements?

Well, hmm.  How can I ask Jase directly?  Or will the moderators call his attention to the question now that it's been asked?
This message was last edited by the user at 17:08, Tue 12 Aug 2014.
Evil Empryss
member, 1123 posts
Because knowing
is half the battle!
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:10
  • msg #9

Re: Age requirements?

You send an rmail to the moderators. You can find the link for rmail in the top right of the screen. Email is in the bottom right.
bigbadron
moderator, 14605 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:18

Re: Age requirements?

In reply to Evil Empryss (msg # 7):

Not quite.  RPoL is based in Australia, but the server is in the USA.

To answer the original question: we recommend that children under 13 should not be given access to the site.
cruinne
moderator, 6508 posts
what DO you do with
a drunken sailor?
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:20

Re: Age requirements?

We generally advise you don't let children younger than 13 use RPoL.  We don't have a policy against it right now, but that could change since once we put in age checking (as described by jase in the other thread on subscriptions), it becomes difficult for us with having to get parental consent to even store a month-year birthdate, or to even store IP addresses (as I read COPPA) of users we know are younger than 13.

Beyond that concern, the main sticking points with young children having RPoL accounts (in the past) has been that parents (perhaps righfully) want to be able to:
  • create the account for the child;
  • register the child's account to an email address they own;
  • know their child's password; and/or
  • log into and check their child's account.

But on RPoL we do not permit any of these behaviors, no matter the reason.
This message was last edited by the user at 17:23, Tue 12 Aug 2014.
Jessi
member, 22 posts
Gamer girls for the win!
Tue 12 Aug 2014
at 17:23
  • msg #12

Re: Age requirements?

Thank you for the official standpoints!
speed99
member, 14 posts
Sat 16 Aug 2014
at 16:13
  • msg #13

Re: Age requirements?

I live in sweden too and I have heard its 13+!
otghand
member, 310 posts
Sat 16 Aug 2014
at 16:59
  • msg #14

Re: Age requirements?

I should think this a problem for any user under the age of majority since in many jurisdictions a parent or guardian has a legal right to any information regarding their child.

How would RPOL handle such?

cruinne:
][*] create the account for the child;
[*] register the child's account to an email address they own;
[*] know their child's password; and/or
[*] log into and check their child's account.[/list]
But on RPoL we do not permit any of these behaviors, no matter the reason.

bigbadron
moderator, 14622 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Sat 16 Aug 2014
at 17:09

Re: Age requirements?

As noted above, we do not permit any of those things.

We would lock the account as soon as we discovered that somebody other than the account holder had access to it, until we had a chance to have a talk with the account holder.  Just as we would if we found somebody else accessing the account of an adult user.
This message was last edited by the user at 17:21, Sat 16 Aug 2014.
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