...I can't change the appearance of my avatar. Is there a place for that?
This is answered (and in the next paragraph will be a discussion of the age range) in the below edit of a discussion we had in game today:
"Amethyst" is an in game moderator that can usually be found in the metaplace hub and "chooseareality" is a developer.
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BobRichmond: have a question - can and how do we change our avatars
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Amethyst: Bob - Easy! Click on The New You.
Amethyst: Any world that has a New You shop in it can change your appearance
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There is a New You shop in the Metaplace hub.
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BobRichmond: oh a nothing question (sic)
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BobRichmond: l game be 18+ when it goes live or just for beta
Amethyst: It's actually 13+ and will remain that way.
Amethyst: We already allow folks 13-18, so there won't be a change.
Amethyst: We will expect people to rate worlds that shouldn't be viewed by minors as Mature, that's all.
Amethyst:
BobRichmond: tos says 18+ so it will be changed
Amethyst: Correct.
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chooseareality: I am pretty sure that is all tied to the NDA and how you can't really enforce one for a minor most likely
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chooseareality: just me guessing though
Amethyst: the 13+ limit is due to COPPA.
chooseareality: yep
MsVikki: COPPA?
Amethyst: Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
Amethyst:
http://www.coppa.org/coppa.htm
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Amethyst: Basically, it says we can't store info about people under the age of 13 - which includes membership info.
Amethyst: So we can't legally allow kids under 13 to sign up.
Amethyst: It's for their protection.
chooseareality: so how does wizard 101 get around it
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Amethyst: They probably take the precautions needed to ensure they'll be totally safe and not exposed to people they oughtn't be.
BobRichmond: wizard101 stores the info under their parent account
Amethyst: That as well.
Amethyst: You can as a parent make an account for your child.
chooseareality: ok that makes sense a loophole
Amethyst: The child just can't register themselves.
AnjelusX: Webkinz is like that, chat interaction is for the most part limited by select phrases only
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chooseareality: oh I love the chat restriction system in wizard 101
chooseareality: I don't fear letting my 11 year old play it
Amethyst:
chooseareality: she doesn't know that yet though, since I am showing it to her when she is over this weekend
Amethyst: Metaplace isn't really designed for young kids though, so that's why we're not providing an official way to have kids sign up yet. The main reason is that we don't want them to be exposed to people they should not be, but can't really police the kids account the way a kids only site could.
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