Gaming advice needed please - I know nothing!

[Izzy]

First of all I'm mid forties and don't play games so go easy on me please 

 

My son is 9 and I'm noticing the peer pressure he's now under to keep up with the latest games. He's done Minecraft and Roadblox? but now it's all about something called Fortnite apparently? 

 

The wife is paranoid about all the on-line chat stuff so doesn't want him playing against other people but she's O.K. if it's just him and we keep an eye on him. He's got an old Amazon Kindle but apparently you can't get Fortnite on that?

 

I tried downloading it from the App store but it says our i-pad is not compatible FFS! It's old so I guess that also needs upgrading 

 

We've got a PS3 but apparently you can't get Fortnite on that either so we're now talking about having to upgrade that too!  

 

So the question is, do I get a PS4 or PS4 pro? or whatever the latest X-Box is?

 

I've no idea what's better so would appreciate your wisdom and advice please gamers 

[Costock_Fox]

Get a new child.

[Izzy]

Just now, Costock_Fox said:

Get a new child.

Knew I'd get some serious advice of you you cvnt 

[Stadt]

You can limit chat settings so it's only friends that you can chat to and plenty of other safeguarding settings - you'd just have to read into them. A PS4 or Xbox one would be fine, the PS4 pro isn't that much better than the standard and your lad wouldn't notice the difference.

 

It's another £50 a year though for a 'Playstation Plus' subscription which you need to be able to play online so with friends and access network features etc

Edited 19 March 2018 by Wookie

[Costock_Fox]

Just now, Izzy Muzzett said:

Knew I'd get some serious advice of you you cvnt 

 I would hate to disappoint.

 

In all seriousness I have no idea what the game is but if it’s a choice between PS4 and PS4 Pro then I would probably go for the normal PS4 as I think the main difference is 4K gaming. I may be wrong though.

[Izzy]

1 minute ago, Wookie said:

You can limit chat settings so it's only friends that you can chat to and plenty of other safeguarding settings - you'd just have to read into them. A PS4 or Xbox one would be fine, the PS4 pro isn't that much better than the standard and your lad wouldn't notice the difference.

 

It's another £50 a year though for a 'Playstation Plus' subscription which you need to be able to play online so with friends and access network features etc

Cool. Thanks mate 

[Stadt]

Just now, Izzy Muzzett said:

Cool. Thanks mate 

@Beliall is probably your man here as well as he has a PS4 and some of those kid things

[Izzy]

Just now, Wookie said:

@Beliall is probably your man here as well as he has a PS4 and some of those kid things

Thing is, @Beliall is just a piss taking fvcker like @Costock_Fox so I'll probably get no sense out of him either   

[Beliall]

15 minutes ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

First of all I'm mid forties and don't play games so go easy on me please 

 

My son is 9 and I'm noticing the peer pressure he's now under to keep up with the latest games. He's done Minecraft and Roadblox? but now it's all about something called Fortnite apparently? 

 

The wife is paranoid about all the on-line chat stuff so doesn't want him playing against other people but she's O.K. if it's just him and we keep an eye on him. He's got an old Amazon Kindle but apparently you can't get Fortnite on that?

 

I tried downloading it from the App store but it says our i-pad is not compatible FFS! It's old so I guess that also needs upgrading 

 

We've got a PS3 but apparently you can't get Fortnite on that either so we're now talking about having to upgrade that too!  

 

So the question is, do I get a PS4 or PS4 pro? or whatever the latest X-Box is?

 

I've no idea what's better so would appreciate your wisdom and advice please gamers 

getting a new kid is solid advice, you can get good money oversea and sort yourself out another nice holiday. however, if you insist on keeping him for spares, i would recommend a normal PS4, PS4 pro is nice but unless you are giving him a 4k tv and a sense of appreciation never seen in young kids, it would be a waste of extra cash. i would suggest you buy new though, would set you back about £200 ii think, also im not sure you need PS plus to play forshite online,, but you will for other games. 

[Izzy]

1 minute ago, Beliall said:

getting a new kid is solid advice, you can get good money oversea and sort yourself out another nice holiday. however, if you insist on keeping him for spares, i would recommend a normal PS4, PS4 pro is nice but unless you are giving him a 4k tv and a sense of appreciation never seen in young kids, it would be a waste of extra cash. i would suggest you buy new though, would set you back about £200 ii think, also im not sure you need PS plus to play forshite online,, but you will for other games. 

A nice blend of piss take and solid advice there mate - thanks 

[Beliall]

II didn't answer about the online chat thing. Its a difficult thing to supervise 100% of the time, for a long time we didnt allow it at all, but we now have an understanding that they they dont talk to adults, if they are on mic and hear someone who isnt a child, they mute them, and i regularry check in and ask how they are getting oon in the game to find out who they aare playing with. the easiest way i found to handle it was tell to to ask before they add them as friends, and it puts my mind at ease when i know they are playing with "noobkiller2008" rather than a random @Izzy Muzzett

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Like others have mentioned a PS4 is your best bet, a PS4 Pro is worth it for the reasons mentioned above. I don't play Fortnite but I believe it's free to play, IE you don't pay for the disk, it's just a download from the PS4 store which is a piece of cake to use.

 

What I would say as a word of warning for free to play games is be very careful of so called "micro transactions", which is where the developers make their money. Basically you can pay real money for in game items that are deliberately made very hard to obtain via in game methods. On the face of it they don't seem all that expensive but if you leave it unchecked they rack up quickly and you could end up with a massive bill! 

[Izzy]

40 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Like others have mentioned a PS4 is your best bet, a PS4 Pro is worth it for the reasons mentioned above. I don't play Fortnite but I believe it's free to play, IE you don't pay for the disk, it's just a download from the PS4 store which is a piece of cake to use.

 

What I would say as a word of warning for free to play games is be very careful of so called "micro transactions", which is where the developers make their money. Basically you can pay real money for in game items that are deliberately made very hard to obtain via in game methods. On the face of it they don't seem all that expensive but if you leave it unchecked they rack up quickly and you could end up with a massive bill! 

Cheers Sol 

 

I know I'm delaying the inevitable by trying to hold out from replacing our PS3, Kindle & i-pad but I'm a tight arse so I looked at other options 

 

Apparently you can download this Fortnite game for 'free' on PC or Mac? The wife has a desktop Mac so I just downloaded it (took ages) but it seems O.K. 

 

I had to create an account and all that shit but I can't believe my lad can just play this game for nothing now? I see there are upgrades at £35, £70 etc. but if he can play the basic version for nowt on the Mac then I reckon I've had a right result!

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

9 minutes ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

Cheers Sol 

 

I know I'm delaying the inevitable by trying to hold out from replacing our PS3, Kindle & i-pad but I'm a tight arse so I looked at other options 

 

Apparently you can download this Fortnite game for 'free' on PC or Mac? The wife has a desktop Mac so I just downloaded it (took ages) but it seems O.K. 

 

I had to create an account and all that shit but I can't believe my lad can just play this game for nothing now? I see there are upgrades at £35, £70 etc. but if he can play the basic version for nowt on the Mac then I reckon I've had a right result!

 

The great thing about Fortnite is there is absolutely no need to pay for in-game stuff, it won't help you win it's just for added customisation (character clothes etc.), the game will always be free to play

[kingcarr21]

Fortnite is brilliant. I reckon you will end up hooked on it also.

 

I have a PS4 which for me is the better console as it just has better exclusive games. As mentioned above the Battle Royale mode of Fortnite is free (which is what everyone plays).

 

Now there are things called V Bucks in fortnite that you can buy which allows you to buy costumes, dance moves etc. But aslong as you don't save any bank details onto the PS4 there is no way your child could do micro transactions anyway. You can set up parental controls for further security. You can buy Playstation Network cards (like I tunes cards) as birthday presents etc if your child wanted to buy anything in game.

 

I dont have the PS4 pro. If you have the disposable income then go for it but its not a necessity. The normal PS4 is absolutely fine.

 

I have played many games of Fortnite and I haven't really had any bad experiences with regards to the in game chat through headphones. You can only hear players in your own team anyway. So if he plays with friends he will be fine. It's something to keep an eye on but i'm sure he's probably heard worse in the playground .

[Izzy]

1 minute ago, Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo said:

 

The great thing about Fortnite is there is absolutely no need to pay for in-game stuff, it won't help you win it's just for added customisation (character clothes etc.), the game will always be free to play

 

1 minute ago, kingcarr21 said:

Fortnite is brilliant. I reckon you will end up hooked on it also.

 

I have a PS4 which for me is the better console as it just has better exclusive games. As mentioned above the Battle Royale mode of Fortnite is free (which is what everyone plays).

 

Now there are things called V Bucks in fortnite that you can buy which allows you to buy costumes, dance moves etc. But aslong as you don't save any bank details onto the PS4 there is no way your child could do micro transactions anyway. You can set up parental controls for further security. You can buy Playstation Network cards (like I tunes cards) as birthday presents etc if your child wanted to buy anything in game.

 

I dont have the PS4 pro. If you have the disposable income then go for it but its not a necessity. The normal PS4 is absolutely fine.

 

I have played many games of Fortnite and I haven't really had any bad experiences with regards to the in game chat through headphones. You can only hear players in your own team anyway. So if he plays with friends he will be fine. It's something to keep an eye on but i'm sure he's probably heard worse in the playground .

This is all great advice and really helpful, cheers fellas - much appreciated 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

9 minutes ago, Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo said:

 

The great thing about Fortnite is there is absolutely no need to pay for in-game stuff, it won't help you win it's just for added customisation (character clothes etc.), the game will always be free to play

Yeah your progress or ability to win isn't blocked if you don't pay for better stuff but it can make it easier. I play at lot of War Thunder and the grind to get top tier vehicles in that is insane so sometime I stick some cash in, also it is nice to put some money into the ongoing development of a F2P instead of just free-loading  

[kingcarr21]

53 minutes ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

Cheers Sol 

 

I know I'm delaying the inevitable by trying to hold out from replacing our PS3, Kindle & i-pad but I'm a tight arse so I looked at other options 

 

Apparently you can download this Fortnite game for 'free' on PC or Mac? The wife has a desktop Mac so I just downloaded it (took ages) but it seems O.K. 

 

I had to create an account and all that shit but I can't believe my lad can just play this game for nothing now? I see there are upgrades at £35, £70 etc. but if he can play the basic version for nowt on the Mac then I reckon I've had a right result!

Echoing what shabadoo has just said. The in game stuff literally gives no advantages when in game. It is purely for things like outfits and dance moves.

 

Every 3 months or so a Battle Pass comes out. Its approx. £8. You don't have to buy it but it does make the game more fun with extra challenges and extra items. You buy it with V bucks (about £8 worth) Then when you play you can earn V bucks through the battle pass. If you save them then when the new battle pass comes out you can use the V bucks you saved up or just spend £8 again.

 

Everyone thinks the same thing I reckon, for a game that is free to play you don't mind spending the £8 every 3 months on the battle pass. Its very clever from the developers as there is no in game advantage when spending money so you don't feel cheated but rather than thinking 'oh great look at all these people spending money to get better, I wont spend money' you instead think ' the game is free so I don't mind spending money on the battle pass for some outfits'. They must make a fortune and at the same time not get hounded from people about micro transactions.

 

They really have hit an absolute gold mine.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

55 minutes ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

 

This is all great advice and really helpful, cheers fellas - much appreciated 

No worries, just make sure you give it a go yourself, it's the best new game I've played in years but really addictive

 

It's also worth noting that the Fortnite community tends to be a lot more wholesome than other shooters. If you do well in Call of Duty, people send you messages about how they banged your mum or they're going to report/kill/SWAT you etc. If you do well in Fortnite, people spectate you as they want to learn how you play.

 

I don't know whether it's because it's slapstick violence or just the general fun vibe of the game, but there's no aggression, and I'm never annoyed if I do badly like in other shooting games, I just think "I won't make that mistake next time"

[Samilktray]

Get whatever console most of his pals have

[Beliall]

6 hours ago, Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo said:

No worries, just make sure you give it a go yourself, it's the best new game I've played in years but really addictive

 

It's also worth noting that the Fortnite community tends to be a lot more wholesome than other shooters. If you do well in Call of Duty, people send you messages about how they banged your mum or they're going to report/kill/SWAT you etc. If you do well in Fortnite, people spectate you as they want to learn how you play.

 

I don't know whether it's because it's slapstick violence or just the general fun vibe of the game, but there's no aggression, and I'm never annoyed if I do badly like in other shooting games, I just think "I won't make that mistake next time"

you never played against my ragey son then

[Finnegan]

Izzy, just chiming in to repeat what a few others have said because it can't be stressed enough: under no circumstances is anything he claims you MUST buy him in Fortnite - or most other games - essential. He will lie to you because that's what children do and he will cry and throw tantrums because some of his mates will have conned their parents out of cash for aesthetic items in the game. Take our word for it when we say - do not bother.

 

This is a great opportunity to drum the value of money in to him.

 

The gaming industry is plagued by things called "microtransactions." Basically, mini sales within the game, usually just to buy cosmetic items that are designed to appeal to children who will rinse the cash out of their gullible parents. It's an absolutely shocking business model but it's profitable and so it's slowly taking over the gaming industry and it's ****ing evil. You are exactly the sort of person it's designed to exploit and your kid - who, lets be honest, is way too young to be playing a shooting game on the internet* - is exactly the little walking wallet they're banking on.

 

The OH's little nephew is the same age and he's caused wars in their household scamming his grandparents and even his sister out of cash to buy things in Fortnite and GTA and a bunch of other games he probably shouldn't even be on since he got xbox live at Christmas. He's a right little ****er n'all, he told my OH that he "had to have £20 for GTA otherwise he couldn't keep playing it" - he just wanted to buy some in-game dollars so he could have a bigger in-game house like his mates, it's ****ing carnage.

 

 

 

 

*I'm well aware all his little mates are going to be on it and you've pretty much got to either let him play or be isolated, I don't mean it as a criticism of you - I don't have kids but I remember being one and not a lot has changed, lets be honest. The technology has just improved. I'd have wanted to be on xbox live at his age as well, although my parents were mean as **** and would rather I have been bullied in school than let me on.

[Beliall]

3 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

Izzy, just chiming in to repeat what a few others have said because it can't be stressed enough: under no circumstances is anything he claims you MUST buy him in Fortnite - or most other games - essential. He will lie to you because that's what children do and he will cry and throw tantrums because some of his mates will have conned their parents out of cash for aesthetic items in the game. Take our word for it when we say - do not bother.

 

This is a great opportunity to drum the value of money in to him.

 

The gaming industry is plagued by things called "microtransactions." Basically, mini sales within the game, usually just to buy cosmetic items that are designed to appeal to children who will rinse the cash out of their gullible parents. It's an absolutely shocking business model but it's profitable and so it's slowly taking over the gaming industry and it's ****ing evil. You are exactly the sort of person it's designed to exploit and your kid - who, lets be honest, is way too young to be playing a shooting game on the internet* - is exactly the little walking wallet they're banking on.

 

The OH's little nephew is the same age and he's caused wars in their household scamming his grandparents and even his sister out of cash to buy things in Fortnite and GTA and a bunch of other games he probably shouldn't even be on since he got xbox live at Christmas. He's a right little ****er n'all, he told my OH that he "had to have £20 for GTA otherwise he couldn't keep playing it" - he just wanted to buy some in-game dollars so he could have a bigger in-game house like his mates, it's ****ing carnage.

 

 

 

 

*I'm well aware all his little mates are going to be on it and you've pretty much got to either let him play or be isolated, I don't mean it as a criticism of you - I don't have kids but I remember being one and not a lot has changed, lets be honest. The technology has just improved. I'd have wanted to be on xbox live at his age as well, although my parents were mean as **** and would rather I have been bullied in school than let me on.

@Finneganis not wrong, solid advice there, but a battle pass is a brilliant incentive for good behaviour and encouraging helping out, i used to get a fiver a week to clean me dads car,  now i bribe the boy with a battle pass and threaten to withold next months if he doesnt' buck his ideas up  

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

Izzy, just chiming in to repeat what a few others have said because it can't be stressed enough: under no circumstances is anything he claims you MUST buy him in Fortnite - or most other games - essential. He will lie to you because that's what children do and he will cry and throw tantrums because some of his mates will have conned their parents out of cash for aesthetic items in the game. Take our word for it when we say - do not bother.

 

This is a great opportunity to drum the value of money in to him.

 

The gaming industry is plagued by things called "microtransactions." Basically, mini sales within the game, usually just to buy cosmetic items that are designed to appeal to children who will rinse the cash out of their gullible parents. It's an absolutely shocking business model but it's profitable and so it's slowly taking over the gaming industry and it's ****ing evil. You are exactly the sort of person it's designed to exploit and your kid - who, lets be honest, is way too young to be playing a shooting game on the internet* - is exactly the little walking wallet they're banking on.

 

The OH's little nephew is the same age and he's caused wars in their household scamming his grandparents and even his sister out of cash to buy things in Fortnite and GTA and a bunch of other games he probably shouldn't even be on since he got xbox live at Christmas. He's a right little ****er n'all, he told my OH that he "had to have £20 for GTA otherwise he couldn't keep playing it" - he just wanted to buy some in-game dollars so he could have a bigger in-game house like his mates, it's ****ing carnage.

 

 

 

 

*I'm well aware all his little mates are going to be on it and you've pretty much got to either let him play or be isolated, I don't mean it as a criticism of you - I don't have kids but I remember being one and not a lot has changed, lets be honest. The technology has just improved. I'd have wanted to be on xbox live at his age as well, although my parents were mean as **** and would rather I have been bullied in school than let me on.

6

Quoted in bold for the most exacting emphasis.

 

Microtransactions are predatory capitalism at its worst, so be aware.

[Legend_in_blue]

PS+ is currently 25% off for a years subscription.  Worth considering.