NCSoft Announces PlaySmart MMO Program

Major MMO publisher NCSoft (Guild Wars, City Of Heroes) has announced the creation of PlaySmart, a public service program promoting personal safety and data security when playing online games. According to the company, the scheme targets personal safety including tips for families who play online games, and data security covering issues such as data loss or online scams. The set of guidelines will be placed on a card in all of NCsoft’s retail game packs as well as being available on NCsoft’s game portal, PlayNC.com. Some of the tips to be given out as part of PlaySmart include the following: For personal safety: Parents should review a game’s ratings to ensure they are age appropriate for children. -Parents should monitor or even play computer games with their children. -Parents should be aware of the social interaction their children have in games, including chat -features and email exchanges. For data security: -Never give out your credit card information to anyone. -Never give out personal information such as name or address to anyone after you have signed up for an online game subscription. -Do not give out passwords or account information to friends so they may play on your account. NCsoft commented that it has "chosen to proactively develop a program, which if followed, may help to make playing online games a more positive experience for individuals and families by helping to reduce risk factors". It is unclear whether the program might be designed to be adapted by any rival MMO companies, however. The guidelines are being developed by NCsoft in accordance with industry standards made available at such sources as the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). NCsoft will also organize a panel of experts, including security and behavioral authorities to create, review and update the PlaySmart guidelines each year. Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America, commented of the announcement: “PlaySmart is an effort to educate our customers about these issues and offer simple guidelines to help mitigate problems inherent in interacting online."