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World of Warcraft: New Children's Book in the Works

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that a children's book based on World of Warcraft is in the works. Called "Snowfight", the book will be available for preorder in the near future and fans will be able to purchase a copy at this year's Blizzcon (and after, of course).

When you consider that the games in the Warcraft franchise come with a PEGI 12 rating it's worth thinking about why Blizzard is producing content for a far younger audience than can (or should) be playing its game. One potential explanation is the cynical "indoctrination of the young with a view to future audience acquisition". Although subscriber figures are still healthy, the World of Warcraft player base is undeniably shrinking and it's easy to connect the dots. Get children conversant with the Alliance vs Horde dynamic and money will surely follow.

Read the full report at Wired.co.uk.

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Comments

  • ste2000ste2000 Member EpicPosts: 6,194

    Not surprised.

    I am surprised the Movie is still in pre-production though.

    There is the potential of being more succesful than Avatar (think about the sexy female elves.........)

  • BeadmanBeadman Member UncommonPosts: 154
    When I was in my teens I had younger siblings whom I wanted to bridge my interests with. I would watch movies with them that were of my ilk but were age appropriate for them. This is quite similar.
  • Ramonski7Ramonski7 Member UncommonPosts: 2,662

    I guess it's no difference than moms and dads wanting to share their love for the stuff they grew up enjoying with their little ones. This is the reason we have seen movies based on old toy IPs, cartoons and comic book heroes. It's the very reason I'm taking my family to go see Pacific Rim this Monday. I LOVED watching Godzilla movies when I was growing up.

     

    But will it really bring families closer together or segregate them in separate rooms all donning headsets and squabbling over loot drops? Don't mind that last bit, it's the pessimist in me raising it's little head.

    image
    "Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."

  • MachkeznhoMachkeznho Member UncommonPosts: 422

    bet it goes something like this,

    Once apon a time, a great blizzard swept the lands and made people rise to the challenge to survive but towards the end the storm grew weak and all was lost including your money.

     

    The end.

  • mCalvertmCalvert Member CommonPosts: 1,283
    You know, I never liked this game. But this has finally convinced me.
  • abnesherabnesher Member UncommonPosts: 112
    Originally posted by Datastar

    bet it goes something like this,

    Once apon a time, a great blizzard swept the lands and made people rise to the challenge to survive but towards the end the storm grew weak and all was lost including your money.

     

    The end.

    image

    ---------
    no sig

  • onlinenow25onlinenow25 Member UncommonPosts: 305

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

  • elockeelocke Member UncommonPosts: 4,335
    This is a great way for me to share what I like with my boys, both 7 and 8.  They've already got the WoW "bug" after getting WoW Megablocks this last Christmas.  They had this whole story going on on the dinner table one night with an orc figure and a goblin.  They even understood the difference between the 2 flags, representing factional warfare.  Was awesome.
  • AsamofAsamof Member UncommonPosts: 824
    aw, the art is so cute :)
  • elockeelocke Member UncommonPosts: 4,335
    Originally posted by onlinenow25

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

     

    Name one business that doesn't advertise in order to get you to think about their product and thereby buy it?  What do you think all of those commercials on TV are for?  Entertainment? ROFL!

  • ElRenmazuoElRenmazuo Member RarePosts: 5,361
    Originally posted by onlinenow25

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

    Marvel and DC have been doing this for years through comics, cartoons, movies, video games, graphic novels, toys, cloths...this is nothing new, its business.

  • Ramonski7Ramonski7 Member UncommonPosts: 2,662
    Originally posted by onlinenow25

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

    You obviously never watched Saturday morning cartoons. That race has started long before Blizzard's latest endeavor to throw their hat in the ring. Do you honestly think people who have been playing WoW for 9 years will start introducing it to their kids through this book? I have a feeling it has ALREADY been introduced and this will serve as nothing more than a feather in the cap.

     

    Example: My wife and I started playing WoW near the beginning. My kids were 11 and 7. They've ALWAYS watched me play video games ever since birth. So when we introduced them to WoW it was only because they were excited to have a chance to try out something mom and dad played. My wife and I took this oppurtunity of their interest and turn it into a learning experience about online activities.

    • Don't talk to anyone you do not know
    • Do not group with strangers as they often say bad things about players they deem as inept
    • Your play time is limited to playing with either your mom or me grouped with you
    • Don't type anything you do not feel comfortable repeating to us
    • Don't accept friend invites at all unless we know who they are personally (we had a RL friends and family guild of people we actually knew)
    • Never give out personal information to anyone as you do not know who's on the other end.
    You'd be surprised how educating your kids on these things with something they do like, helps build strong defensive skills when they are on their own when navigating the internet. To this day, at ages 20 and 15, my daughters don't post stupid crap on Facebook, understand you cannot trust everyone online and don't play WoW anymore. Well my oldest daughter and wife still play. So I guess 2 out of 4 ain't that bad...
     
    It's all about educating them and helping them understand that you can have fun, but be smart about it. And trust me my kids aren't angels, but I can rest assure knowing they aren't being half as stupid as most teens out there that don't even know what WoW is.

    image
    "Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."

  • RazeeksterRazeekster Member UncommonPosts: 2,591
    Gotta milk that big money cow.

    Smile

  • onlinenow25onlinenow25 Member UncommonPosts: 305
    Originally posted by Ramonski7
    Originally posted by onlinenow25

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

    You'd be surprised how educating your kids on these things with something they do like, helps build strong defensive skills when they are on their own when navigating the internet. To this day, at ages 20 and 15, my daughters don't post stupid crap on Facebook, understand you cannot trust everyone online and don't play WoW anymore. Well my oldest daughter and wife still play. So I guess 2 out of 4 ain't that bad...
     
    It's all about educating them and helping them understand that you can have fun, but be smart about it. And trust me my kids aren't angels, but I can rest assure knowing they aren't being half as stupid as most teens out there that don't even know what WoW is.

    I took out most of what I thought was unimportant bout your post concerning mine, and wanted to bold that what you did was good parenting, and it had nothing to do with Blizzard providing you with teachings on how to be a good parent.  What I highlight just shows your a good parent, or at least doing the best you can with what you know.  

     

    But is has nothing to do with what I pointed out.  Blizzard is trying to act as if creating a children's book on WoW is helpful to parenting and not just a cash grab. That is in no way shape or form helpful to parenting.  You should know this as being a decent parent (going off of what you just typed).

     

    Everyone else just seemed to white knight it up and not actually read my post.  It had nothing to do about what Blizzard is actually doing but the fact that they bold face Lie about why they are making the WoW children books.

  • BurninatorXBurninatorX Member Posts: 25

    Wait they're writing a book about WoW for children?

     

    ...So its just a book about WoW then?  ZING!!!

     
  • kage71kage71 Member UncommonPosts: 123
    Hmm first we have Blizzard totally destory the whole ideal on what MMos were all about and handed the massives a dumb down version. Now they want to branch out into kiddy books!!!! Lol omg this company has gone insane.
  • ElRenmazuoElRenmazuo Member RarePosts: 5,361
    Originally posted by onlinenow25
    Originally posted by Ramonski7
    Originally posted by onlinenow25

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

    You'd be surprised how educating your kids on these things with something they do like, helps build strong defensive skills when they are on their own when navigating the internet. To this day, at ages 20 and 15, my daughters don't post stupid crap on Facebook, understand you cannot trust everyone online and don't play WoW anymore. Well my oldest daughter and wife still play. So I guess 2 out of 4 ain't that bad...
     
    It's all about educating them and helping them understand that you can have fun, but be smart about it. And trust me my kids aren't angels, but I can rest assure knowing they aren't being half as stupid as most teens out there that don't even know what WoW is.

    I took out most of what I thought was unimportant bout your post concerning mine, and wanted to bold that what you did was good parenting, and it had nothing to do with Blizzard providing you with teachings on how to be a good parent.  What I highlight just shows your a good parent, or at least doing the best you can with what you know.  

     

    But is has nothing to do with what I pointed out.  Blizzard is trying to act as if creating a children's book on WoW is helpful to parenting and not just a cash grab. That is in no way shape or form helpful to parenting.  You should know this as being a decent parent (going off of what you just typed).

     

    Everyone else just seemed to white knight it up and not actually read my post.  It had nothing to do about what Blizzard is actually doing but the fact that they bold face Lie about why they are making the WoW children books.

    Of course its a cash grab, all businesses are in it for the money.  But who are you to say it isnt helpful? Theres prolly lots of parents who happen to be WoW fans and want to get their kids into the IP and at the same time try to get their kids interested into reading books.   Just because you dont see something as helpful doesnt mean it isnt to others even if its just in a small way.

  • Ramonski7Ramonski7 Member UncommonPosts: 2,662
    Originally posted by onlinenow25
    Originally posted by Ramonski7
    Originally posted by onlinenow25

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

    You'd be surprised how educating your kids on these things with something they do like, helps build strong defensive skills when they are on their own when navigating the internet. To this day, at ages 20 and 15, my daughters don't post stupid crap on Facebook, understand you cannot trust everyone online and don't play WoW anymore. Well my oldest daughter and wife still play. So I guess 2 out of 4 ain't that bad...
     
    It's all about educating them and helping them understand that you can have fun, but be smart about it. And trust me my kids aren't angels, but I can rest assure knowing they aren't being half as stupid as most teens out there that don't even know what WoW is.

    I took out most of what I thought was unimportant bout your post concerning mine, and wanted to bold that what you did was good parenting, and it had nothing to do with Blizzard providing you with teachings on how to be a good parent.  What I highlight just shows your a good parent, or at least doing the best you can with what you know.  

     

    But is has nothing to do with what I pointed out.  Blizzard is trying to act as if creating a children's book on WoW is helpful to parenting and not just a cash grab. That is in no way shape or form helpful to parenting.  You should know this as being a decent parent (going off of what you just typed).

     

    Everyone else just seemed to white knight it up and not actually read my post.  It had nothing to do about what Blizzard is actually doing but the fact that they bold face Lie about why they are making the WoW children books.

    Trust me, I don't think any parent hopes to find any real helpful parenting in the actual book. It's blatantly obvious this is a cash grab, just like most books at this level aimed at kids. The people who have been playing WoW for 9 years have been exposing their children to it for 9 freakin years! That's why I included that spiel in my first paragraph:

    You obviously never watched Saturday morning cartoons. That race has started long before Blizzard's latest endeavor to throw their hat in the ring. Do you honestly think people who have been playing WoW for 9 years will start introducing it to their kids through this book? I have a feeling it has ALREADY been introduced and this will serve as nothing more than a feather in the cap.

    But if you need further proof just follow this link and scroll down. Make sure you read the comments and look at all those pics the parents have posted. Here

     

     

    image
    "Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."

  • SereliskSerelisk Member Posts: 836
    Originally posted by onlinenow25

    Did any of you read the article at all?  The first quote I read about the reason behind this screams of some psychologist exploiting peoples addiction.

    ""Parents will be buying the books, so it feels more like a way of helping parents of young children, who may have been playing for the whole life of their child, to connect WoW to their family lives -- to keep them emotionally engaged with the game world," games expert Daniel Nye Griffiths told Wired.co.uk."

     

    In what world is making money off of parents helping them? Because they had a kid and are still addicted to the game so need their fix through a child story book?

     

    But the orange is the true kicker.  They want everyone and their kids to be emotionally engaged with the game world regardless if they are playing it or not.  This is nothing more than another money grab plus way to get people addicted to playing WoW.  They don't want people just playing the game at this point, they want their customers thinking of nothing else other than their game.

    Sounds like standard business practices to me... seriously, lol, your use of language in this post casts an over-dramatization of what's happening. Just because something is a way to make more money does not mean it is a money grab...

  • AselliaAsellia Member UncommonPosts: 174

    The Dr. Seuss Killer!

     

    (Harr Harr)

     

    In all seriousness though, I'm unsure how I feel about this; I have no kids, so I guess I'm kind of indifferent. Though, it does seem a bit sleazy.

  • MukeMuke Member RarePosts: 2,614
    In the book, are there now toddlers fighting each other about who screwed up and who stole the loot in raids?

    "going into arguments with idiots is a lost cause, it requires you to stoop down to their level and you can't win"

  • sumo0sumo0 Member UncommonPosts: 115
    Originally posted by Muke

    In the book, are there now toddlers fighting each other about who screwed up and who stole the loot in raids?

     

    Interesting question.
    But the even more interesting question is if Leeroy Jenkins will be in the book.

    But ultimately this is just another stupid thing from a company to sell to gullible fools.
  • expressoexpresso Member UncommonPosts: 2,218

    I have not read the comments but I feel it's full of the usually Blizzard haters.... am I right.

    On topic you got to follow the money, ANY OTHER developer would not sure why Blizzard always getting the shitty end of stick.  hey ho on with life.

  • CoolitCoolit Member UncommonPosts: 661

    Got to get them interested early before they consider other more up to date and better looking mmo's, it's actually a pretty good strategy. Wonder if they will count them as subscribers too, lol.

  • expressoexpresso Member UncommonPosts: 2,218
    Originally posted by Coolit

    Got to get them interested early before they consider other more up to date and better looking mmo's, it's actually a pretty good strategy. Wonder if they will count them as subscribers too, lol.

    Glad you didn't assume a new and more graphically impressive MMO =  a better MMO.  And Yes if someone is paying the $15 per month for the subscription they will be counted, if they're playing a trial account or let their sub expire they wont be counted, as it's always been.

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