I'd say you'll be fine in any game where you do plenty of farming. Because farming is pretty routine and it is easy to stop at any time. I spent ages playing FFXI when my daughter was a baby and it's certainly been no child care disater. Your baby can sit with you and you can talk, at the same time you don't lose your mind from baby boredom. Ryzom is another good game for farming.
It gets much more difficult when they're walking. You pretty much have to leave your playing time to their sleeping time. Make the most of the first 6 to 9 months.
BTW people who think you are going to spend every minute when a baby is awake talking to them etc. haven't had kids. You need some stimuli for yourself or you'll just go crazy.
Seriously i have 3 kids age 3 and under so i feel your pain. Atlantica is great though, since it allows you to auto-move to npc's and quests. Also, the game allows you to go back and forth between WASD movement and point and click without going into a menu to change it.(point and click for when you don't have both hands free) it works too, because you don't have to group all the time.
If you don't like this game though look for games with these features
Point and Click movement- (already explained why)
Solo Content- (a group won't always appreciate your constant breaks)
oh and avoid open pvp game...nothing more frustrating than getting ganked while changing a diaper
One casual game I've not seen recommeneded it the City of Heroes/Villains. Sidekick will allow you to group up with friends who outlevel you, instance missions that if baby requires attention that you can escape a mob and hang out.
A mission can take around 5 to 10 min to do.
your arguement is so persuasive, so filled with knowledge and insight. You back up your argument very articulately, with suggestions of improvements and raising examples to glorify your position....oh wait, you didn't
I know that sounds silly, but my lady is having a kid and i'm probably going to have to drop a lot of games but i'm looking for something I can do to where i could stop for a moment if i had to, i guess getting into warhammer is out of the question, too much pvp attention and if i stopped i'd make my team lose XD, so it'd have to be a PVE game. iw as thinking EQ2. I played it a bit and enjoyed it.
I would suggest AoC as its so boring you wont mind having to log out for long periods. Or not logging in for long periods.
I agree with the posters who said City of Heroes is a great game for parents as we have more than a few couples and even whole families in my guild on Freedom. In CoH many of the older player oriented SG's (guilds) know how real life works.... They don't mind if you go AFK for 10-15 min to cook or clean the kid (just move your mouse so you don't time out). They also don't get mad because you log out in the middle of a mission. The only time you might catch a bit of grief is if you join a TF (Task Force) and leave,
TF's can take a few hours to do (think raiding) and many require almost as many players to finish as it did to start. CoH is also a fairly laid back community not that we don't have our share of A-holes but they generally get shunned and ignored quickly. CoH is also solo friendly and with the new Issue 13 update you will be able to make a Hero Pact and level your character even when you are too busy to play. That way you can keep up with the rest of your SG.
If you look around they have free trials and if you are intrested send me your email address and i can send you an invite code to the game.
My son's about 7 months, so I feel your pain. As soon as he's asleep all I wanna do is have a few mins for myself and what better way to kill time then an mmo.
If all else fails there are other free non-mmo's to play that only require a few mins at a time of your attention, but I should warn you, they aren't exactly high intensity fun, but hell you take what you can get.
I know that sounds silly, but my lady is having a kid and i'm probably going to have to drop a lot of games but i'm looking for something I can do to where i could stop for a moment if i had to, i guess getting into warhammer is out of the question, too much pvp attention and if i stopped i'd make my team lose XD, so it'd have to be a PVE game. iw as thinking EQ2. I played it a bit and enjoyed it.
Congratulations.
First off ignore the people who say "you can't play games with a newborn around", myself and the wife have 3 children, the youngest being 1 yr old now, while my wife was pregnant we played Lord of the Rings Online, we weren't into raiding so hours of our lives weren't spent in the game in a lump sum, this continued until about 6 months ago when we got bored with the game.
Basically any game such as WoW (hate it personally but to each their own), LotRo or any other game similar to these should suit you, if your new to Star Wars Galaxies i'd say give that a try, i myself hate it these days due to the NGE a couple of years ago, but new players who don't know what it changed from may like it (Eu Chimeara server i hear is very populated and has some good community spirit about it)..
Hope this helps out m8 and again.. congratulations
I'm sure there are a couple of games like that. Personaly I would suggest ragnarok online. There are many areas with non agressive monsters and lots of places where you can party without risking getting killed for afking 10 mins.
If you want to continue leveling while afk you can make an alchemist and let your pet level you, is what I did this last college quarter since I didnt have any free time and he when from lv 90 to 96. All you need to do is feed your pet every 40 mins or so. Not to much time consuming, like 5 seconds should do.
It is also one of the fastes games to log off and go to the character screen I played. Then when you are ready to play again just click enter and back to the game.
If you decide to check it out get the Valkyrie download so you can play the free official server.
I know that sounds silly, but my lady is having a kid and i'm probably going to have to drop a lot of games but i'm looking for something I can do to where i could stop for a moment if i had to, i guess getting into warhammer is out of the question, too much pvp attention and if i stopped i'd make my team lose XD, so it'd have to be a PVE game. iw as thinking EQ2. I played it a bit and enjoyed it.
Congratulations.
First off ignore the people who say "you can't play games with a newborn around", ...
Hope this helps out m8 and again.. congratulations
Yeah. I read the posts saying stuff like "the most important thing is the child..." and just thought 'sheesh'.
You need something you can walk away from at a moment's notice and that does not require earphones.
So that kinda puts any kind of game where you a part of a group (and they are relying on you) out.
Anything with a death penalty is also out - since you will be AFK often and at short notice.
Preferably, you need stuff you can play with a mouse only - and that really limits your options.
I would suggest browser based games (free ones) like pardus, nexus-war and urban dead (but they are not very inspiring)
WoW.
Wizard 101 is very casual too (and you can let the baby watch!)
I know that sounds silly, but my lady is having a kid and i'm probably going to have to drop a lot of games but i'm looking for something I can do to where i could stop for a moment if i had to, i guess getting into warhammer is out of the question, too much pvp attention and if i stopped i'd make my team lose XD, so it'd have to be a PVE game. iw as thinking EQ2. I played it a bit and enjoyed it.
WoW is a decent choice if you haven't played it before. The best part of WoW is leveling, as the real grind starts at max level. You could just take it slow and enjoy the process, though. My recommendation if you have a kid. 1-80 should give you a few months of play if you're casual. Why do I say WoW?
Well, leveling can be done entirely solo if you need to, but there's still group content at any level. You can do a quest or two with just a short amount of time if need be. It doesn't matter if you die while playing WoW, which is important if managing a baby. You just incur a minor repair cost, without losing any XP. However, once you hit max level and do the instances once or twice, it becomes straight grind. PvE at 80: either farm the same instances over and over for drops or farm rep. PvP at 80: Do the same 5 BG's, 1 world PvP zone, and handful of arena maps a few hundred times.
If you hit 80 and get bored, you could just let your account lapse and play EQ2, though. Alterantely, you can do the same thing with EQ2. They're both very similar early on. Personally, I think the leveling process in WoW is more fun, especially if you pick a class that you find fun.
Thanks for all the advice guys. And i'm not a single parent. It was a surprise to me and my girlfriend and in the future we will be getting married and we are very happy together and have been for over a year now. She will be changing all the diapers. rawr.
I'll take a look at a lot of the suggestions you guys made.
Contrary to most of the other responses to this thread, I don't necessarily think it's a bad choice to continue to play (limited) amounts of video games while having a new baby. I have two daughters. Before my oldest was born I was always very heavily into mmos.
First thing you must realize is that your online play is going to be more solo based, than group oriented. For the simple reason that, if your child is awake and needs a diaper change or anything like that, you're going to be holding your raid or party up. Most people don't appreciate that, and it's understandable. I think the game that I had the most ease playing while having a newborn was Guild Wars simply because everything can be done with mouse if need be, and it still doesnt slow you down ALL that much. I also played WoW for a little while during my oldest's first year, and that ended up being more of a headache than fun.
I am in no way saying "play video games as much as you were before, don't worry about the kid". I just feel that all parents need a form of venting or relief from stress. Some people like to go for walks, some like to play an instrument, some like to play mmos. Just don't let it turn into something thats taking more than an hour a day. And please do not encourage your child to walk numbly as you play video games(the reason I would play guild wars one handed was because I would hold her if she was napping on some instances.) Keep in mind, little kids do sleep A LOT and if you have the spare time to play video games, try to do it during that period of the day.
Comments
I'd say you'll be fine in any game where you do plenty of farming. Because farming is pretty routine and it is easy to stop at any time. I spent ages playing FFXI when my daughter was a baby and it's certainly been no child care disater. Your baby can sit with you and you can talk, at the same time you don't lose your mind from baby boredom. Ryzom is another good game for farming.
It gets much more difficult when they're walking. You pretty much have to leave your playing time to their sleeping time. Make the most of the first 6 to 9 months.
BTW people who think you are going to spend every minute when a baby is awake talking to them etc. haven't had kids. You need some stimuli for yourself or you'll just go crazy.
Check out Atlantica
Seriously i have 3 kids age 3 and under so i feel your pain. Atlantica is great though, since it allows you to auto-move to npc's and quests. Also, the game allows you to go back and forth between WASD movement and point and click without going into a menu to change it.(point and click for when you don't have both hands free) it works too, because you don't have to group all the time.
If you don't like this game though look for games with these features
Point and Click movement- (already explained why)
Solo Content- (a group won't always appreciate your constant breaks)
oh and avoid open pvp game...nothing more frustrating than getting ganked while changing a diaper
One casual game I've not seen recommeneded it the City of Heroes/Villains. Sidekick will allow you to group up with friends who outlevel you, instance missions that if baby requires attention that you can escape a mob and hang out.
A mission can take around 5 to 10 min to do.
your arguement is so persuasive, so filled with knowledge and insight. You back up your argument very articulately, with suggestions of improvements and raising examples to glorify your position....oh wait, you didn't
I would suggest AoC as its so boring you wont mind having to log out for long periods. Or not logging in for long periods.
-Lum
LoL @ -Lum
I agree with the posters who said City of Heroes is a great game for parents as we have more than a few couples and even whole families in my guild on Freedom. In CoH many of the older player oriented SG's (guilds) know how real life works.... They don't mind if you go AFK for 10-15 min to cook or clean the kid (just move your mouse so you don't time out). They also don't get mad because you log out in the middle of a mission. The only time you might catch a bit of grief is if you join a TF (Task Force) and leave,
TF's can take a few hours to do (think raiding) and many require almost as many players to finish as it did to start. CoH is also a fairly laid back community not that we don't have our share of A-holes but they generally get shunned and ignored quickly. CoH is also solo friendly and with the new Issue 13 update you will be able to make a Hero Pact and level your character even when you are too busy to play. That way you can keep up with the rest of your SG.
If you look around they have free trials and if you are intrested send me your email address and i can send you an invite code to the game.
play EVE lol
My son's about 7 months, so I feel your pain. As soon as he's asleep all I wanna do is have a few mins for myself and what better way to kill time then an mmo.
If all else fails there are other free non-mmo's to play that only require a few mins at a time of your attention, but I should warn you, they aren't exactly high intensity fun, but hell you take what you can get.
Try bite fight for example ( http://s8.bitefight.org/c.php?uid=141104), but there are crap loads just like it. Gotta go, baby calling.
City of Heroes/Villains.
It's an awesome game. Between one mission (or mob) and the next you can tend to your baby as I've seencountless moms and dads right there, in CoX.
Congratulations.
First off ignore the people who say "you can't play games with a newborn around", myself and the wife have 3 children, the youngest being 1 yr old now, while my wife was pregnant we played Lord of the Rings Online, we weren't into raiding so hours of our lives weren't spent in the game in a lump sum, this continued until about 6 months ago when we got bored with the game.
Basically any game such as WoW (hate it personally but to each their own), LotRo or any other game similar to these should suit you, if your new to Star Wars Galaxies i'd say give that a try, i myself hate it these days due to the NGE a couple of years ago, but new players who don't know what it changed from may like it (Eu Chimeara server i hear is very populated and has some good community spirit about it)..
Hope this helps out m8 and again.. congratulations
I'm sure there are a couple of games like that. Personaly I would suggest ragnarok online. There are many areas with non agressive monsters and lots of places where you can party without risking getting killed for afking 10 mins.
If you want to continue leveling while afk you can make an alchemist and let your pet level you, is what I did this last college quarter since I didnt have any free time and he when from lv 90 to 96. All you need to do is feed your pet every 40 mins or so. Not to much time consuming, like 5 seconds should do.
It is also one of the fastes games to log off and go to the character screen I played. Then when you are ready to play again just click enter and back to the game.
If you decide to check it out get the Valkyrie download so you can play the free official server.
Congratulations.
First off ignore the people who say "you can't play games with a newborn around", ...
Hope this helps out m8 and again.. congratulations
Yeah. I read the posts saying stuff like "the most important thing is the child..." and just thought 'sheesh'.
You need something you can walk away from at a moment's notice and that does not require earphones.
So that kinda puts any kind of game where you a part of a group (and they are relying on you) out.
Anything with a death penalty is also out - since you will be AFK often and at short notice.
Preferably, you need stuff you can play with a mouse only - and that really limits your options.
I would suggest browser based games (free ones) like pardus, nexus-war and urban dead (but they are not very inspiring)
WoW.
Wizard 101 is very casual too (and you can let the baby watch!)
Congrats.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
WoW is a decent choice if you haven't played it before. The best part of WoW is leveling, as the real grind starts at max level. You could just take it slow and enjoy the process, though. My recommendation if you have a kid. 1-80 should give you a few months of play if you're casual. Why do I say WoW?
Well, leveling can be done entirely solo if you need to, but there's still group content at any level. You can do a quest or two with just a short amount of time if need be. It doesn't matter if you die while playing WoW, which is important if managing a baby. You just incur a minor repair cost, without losing any XP. However, once you hit max level and do the instances once or twice, it becomes straight grind. PvE at 80: either farm the same instances over and over for drops or farm rep. PvP at 80: Do the same 5 BG's, 1 world PvP zone, and handful of arena maps a few hundred times.
If you hit 80 and get bored, you could just let your account lapse and play EQ2, though. Alterantely, you can do the same thing with EQ2. They're both very similar early on. Personally, I think the leveling process in WoW is more fun, especially if you pick a class that you find fun.
Thanks for all the advice guys. And i'm not a single parent. It was a surprise to me and my girlfriend and in the future we will be getting married and we are very happy together and have been for over a year now. She will be changing all the diapers. rawr.
I'll take a look at a lot of the suggestions you guys made.
Current MMO: WoW/GW2
Contrary to most of the other responses to this thread, I don't necessarily think it's a bad choice to continue to play (limited) amounts of video games while having a new baby. I have two daughters. Before my oldest was born I was always very heavily into mmos.
First thing you must realize is that your online play is going to be more solo based, than group oriented. For the simple reason that, if your child is awake and needs a diaper change or anything like that, you're going to be holding your raid or party up. Most people don't appreciate that, and it's understandable. I think the game that I had the most ease playing while having a newborn was Guild Wars simply because everything can be done with mouse if need be, and it still doesnt slow you down ALL that much. I also played WoW for a little while during my oldest's first year, and that ended up being more of a headache than fun.
I am in no way saying "play video games as much as you were before, don't worry about the kid". I just feel that all parents need a form of venting or relief from stress. Some people like to go for walks, some like to play an instrument, some like to play mmos. Just don't let it turn into something thats taking more than an hour a day. And please do not encourage your child to walk numbly as you play video games(the reason I would play guild wars one handed was because I would hold her if she was napping on some instances.) Keep in mind, little kids do sleep A LOT and if you have the spare time to play video games, try to do it during that period of the day.