A 9 Year Old's Trading Perspective

[Goofy05]

Another suggestion for anyone not familiar with the value of items: Find a staff member or Community Leader. I am a CL. I rarely trade, but I know a fair number of players who are quite skilled at trading and would be more than willing to help another future trader learn.

Here's another suggestion from a former newbie (that would be me, 9 months ago): Only buy what you really want. Save your credits. When I first started I bought a space suit and a Mickey Sorcerer hat. I had absolutely nothing in my guest room for the first 3 months I played. I had no magic, other than the free Kellogg's magic from the codes here. Was I upset because other people had Inferno? No. Invisibility? No. Teleportation? No. I concentrated on learning my way around and playing the games. I was terrible at the games, and I still am! LOL But, I know how to earn credits now. So I do what I can and save for anything new coming out. It takes time and perserverence. I think all VMK'ers need to learn that you can't have everything...and especially, you can't have everything free.

 

[robynbird]

Personally I'm glad Bat Magic is so expensive, it bumps up the rarity. As far as kids playing, it could be that some young children would have a hard time grasping the concept of these trades, and rarities, and worth of items. It's a thing you really only learn after time, and sometimes something may seem like not worth much to you (green flips for example lol) but you learn eventually that it's one of the most rare items on vmk.
It's probably better for kids to learn themselves about bad trades and item worth; of course if trading away a valuable item would make them really really upset then I'm sure your no trading rules imposed are better than that. I'm not a parent so I don't really know what would be the best choice for your kids, it depends on the particular kids anyway. Wow, long and oh so rambly...

 

[AmberDaze]

I had no magic, other than the free Kellogg's magic from the codes here. Was I upset because other people had Inferno? No. Invisibility? No. Teleportation? No. I concentrated on learning my way around and playing the games.... LOL But, I know how to earn credits now. So I do what I can and save for anything new coming out. It takes time and perserverence.

This is exactly how I was when I first started almost 5 ms ago. I wondered how everyone managed to make all those credits -- now I know how . Still don't have any other magic besides the 3 free ones and a bat magic, but that's ok. From this point on I will hopefully be able to buy anything new and cool that comes out...times 2

 

[Bellboy]

I'm not a parent so I don't really know what would be the best choice for your kids, it depends on the particular kids anyway.

It's not about our kid's. It seems to me that the kids with parent interaction of some level do well here. I have two kids. My five year old totally digs it, and understood how hard we had to work for an HOUR every evening for TWO WEEKS to earn the money to buy two bat magics.

It is the kids without parents that use VMK that I am typing/threading/interneting/boarding (what do you call this?) about.

I absolutley hate to stereotype, but of course I will. It's the same kids that sit in front the tv when most of us (I hope most) play with our kids. (Variations do apply. See disclamer. Stereotype not valid in all states. Only one per household. Can't hold me to it.)

That sounded so negative. It wasn't meant to be. Purely a concept.

 

[MaliaMichelle]

As I former Neopetsholic I can say, I prefer VMK's way of stocking and selling things compared to Neopets.

You won't want to reach past this point if you have never played neopets, and probably even if you had...

They may have changed it, but used to, you had to keep refreshing the window to see if they added stock. Then you had to buy the items as quickly as possible, while hopefully knowing the value of the item in the shop wizard (and shops). It would be so frustrating to buy something for 900 only to find out the indiv. shops sold it for 650, but oh so wonderful to buy something for 900 and find out it sells for 1800. And getting paintbrushes, etc, could be so hard. My son wanted a paintbrush for so long. We are still trying to complet the lab ray map, etc. I don't play anymore, I should check out my inventory, bet some of my stuff had became rare, not to mention all the neopoints I had in the stock market. Anyways, my point is, with VMK at least we know the price of the item won't change usually, and that the item should stay in the store Fri-Sun. The rereleasing of items, to me, makes it more interesting.

 

[Bellboy]

Bellboy,

I would be willing to help her out some. I am not on as much as I used to be though. But if we meet up, I can add her to my friends list and she could message me if she wasn't sure about a trade. I have other "friends" that do that also.

Or she could always message me here on Dis. I am not saying I know everything about VMK, but I know enough I could either help her, or find an answer for her in most cases.

Thanks alot. I have been working with her alot, and two of her friends. But it's really tough. These girls are really hard to get through too.

I have already done this with my two kids. I wish it was a little easier for them. I see the things they dont understand, and I go, duhh. I get it, my son got it because I was there. She won't get it until she stumbles through it a few more times (maybe).

Examples:
They want, want, want. That girls dress, cool tiara, that magic, etc
---(How does a newbee 9yo who types like a snail find this out without a parent/guide)

They do the NPC $$ thing fine, but can not play pirates, fireworks, or Haunted to save minnie from pete. They can get lucky at Jungle Cruise, but these 9 year old girls really dont see any fun in sitting in a boat taking pictures. (Eww a snake, maybe if it were simba). They are doing it though

By the time she formulates a question that they dictionary accepts, the person she was talking too has moved on.

I appreciate the gesture!! I am finding myself helping more of the kids. The dictionary thing is killing me though.

 

[silvrstrfx]

I think the release of Bat Magic was really unfair to small kids and actually promoted rather unhealthy behavior for children, in my opinion. I don't have kids so I can't speak as a parent, but 10,000 credits for an item is A LOT. I remember being really shocked but knew I could afford a few because I spend a lot of time playing VMK and am really good at Mansion. But mainly because I spend a lot of time playing. The last week I spent at least 5 hours each day frantically storing credits to stock up for Bat Magic.

Now for kids who are younger, I doubt their parents allow them online that long. And for young teens, if they are anything like I was, spend more time with their friends/at school/at activities than sitting on their bottoms at home. And while I know a lot of kids are great at games, some aren't and have to take a while to accumulate points. I know this is the generation of doing everything online, but I don't think encouraging kids to sit around for hours every day on the computer to store up enough money to get a virtual item is good. Talk about helping childhood obesity! Not to mention unrealistic... we have real life things to do! I think VMK is a terrific game and fun for everyone, but kids shouldn't have to spend a good portion of their waking hours playing insanely to get one item.

 

[lovethattink]

My son loves to trade in vmk. He seems to know the value of things. If he isn't sure, he has several DIS or friends who trade that he'll ask what they think about the trade. Along the way he's gotten burnt a number of times and that's how he's learned. In the beginning he asked me all the time if he could trade this for that. He still asks occasionally for big trades. I just try to remind him that it's all not real. It's virtual belongings.