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Parental Controls

Overview

The parental controls feature is located both on the World of Warcraft homepage and also found in the account management page. The parental controls feature, as the name suggests, allows a parent to moderate a childs time on the game. However, it is used for other purposes as well, such as:

  1. Some people activate the parental controls for themselves when they know they need to cut down on playing time and this feature helps keep track of time and manage yourself.
  2. People use this as an extra security. They can set it to lock while at work or asleep so when they are away, if somebody managed to hack their account, they wouldn't even be able to play anyway.

World of Warcraft's parental controls were designed to provide parents and guardians with easy-to-use tools for creating play schedules for their children. With these tools, parents and guardians can easily manage their child's access to World of Warcraft from any PC with an internet connection. No World of Warcraft after 8:30 on weeknights? Or, no more than three hours of playtime on the weekends? Our parental controls system enables parents and guardians to set start and stop times for any day of the week — access to the game outside of those set schedules will automatically be prevented. We've also provided a number of pre-set schedules, such as "weekends only" and "after school and weekends," to make things even easier.

The parental controls schedule is displayed on the parental controls page within the account management section of www.WorldofWarcraft.com. Every day of the week is broken up into 30-minute segments, and each segment can be set to "able to play" or "unable to play." As mentioned above, players cannot log in during a scheduled break, and if a player is already in the game when a scheduled break is set to begin, the game will automatically disconnect the player.

In-game voice chat usage can also be managed via the parental controls system. Parents and guardians who are worried about their children talking with strangers online can choose one of three voice chat settings: "Listen and Speak," "Listen Only," and "Voice Chat Off."

FAQ

What are Parental Controls?

The Parental Control feature allows a secondary login point from which the parent or guardian of a minor is able to control login time down to 30 minute intervals.

How does the Parental Control system work?

First, a Parental Control Password must be created and sent to a separate email address that the minor does not have access to. You must have access to the original account name and password to do so. If you do not have access to the account in question please contact Billing and Account Services for assistance. From there, a Play Schedule can be created for the purpose of setting when the World of Warcraft account is accessible and when it is not. Any time you wish to submit and save a change to the Play Schedule, you must enter the Parental Control Password.

What is a Parental Control Password?

The Parental Control Password is used to set and modify a Parental Control Schedule. It is created during the initial setup process. If an account owner does not want anyone else to modify the Parental Control Schedule, he or she should not share the Parental Control Password with others.

What if I forget my password and can't change the Parental Controls anymore?

If you forget your Parental Control Password, you can have it reset by clicking the "Reset Password" button on the Parental Control page accessible through your Account Management. You must have access to the original account name and password to do so. If you do not have access to the account in question please contact Billing and Account Services for assistance. The reset button will send a confirmation email to the registered Parental Control Email address along with a newly generated password.

How do I create an actual schedule?

When you reach the Play Scheduler, you will see the days of the week presented in half-hour blocks. Blocks in green denote when your account is accessible, while blocks in red note when the account is inaccessible. The schedule initially defaults to all green. To make certain hours inaccessible, simply click on the block you want to limit. This will change it from green to red and prevent anyone from logging in to the account during that time. Clicking on the half-hour time block again will change it back to green. Alternatively, you can set the entire schedule to be off-limits, turning all the time blocks to red, and then manually select the hours you want to open up for access.

What if I have trouble setting up a Play Schedule?

If you are having technical difficulties setting up your Parental Control Password please contact Billing and Account Services for assistance. If you are having difficulty coming up with a schedule, we have provided some Preset Schedules for your consideration.

I don't want to click on every half-hour to set a Play Schedule. Do you have preset Play Schedules that I can choose from?

Yes, if you do not wish to manually set a Play Schedule, you can choose from a number of Preset Schedules. These Preset Schedules are highlighted on the Play Scheduler screen. What sort of Preset Schedules do you have available for choosing?

There are several Preset Schedules to choose from. Some will limit access to your World of Warcraft account to evenings, weekends, after-school times, or a combination of those choices. You may also select to include an automatic half-hour break at regular intervals. How long after I submit a Play Schedule must I wait before it goes into effect?

After you submit your schedule, it can take up to 30 minutes for it to take effect. Note that if a player is logged in during a timeslot that has now been restricted, he or she will be automatically logged out when the schedule goes into effect.

Can you set different Play Schedules for different characters on the same account?

No, the Parental Control features works for all the characters on the account. That is, only one Play Schedule can be created for an account, and that schedule applies to all characters on that account.

How can I confirm what my current time zone is?

If you need help figuring out your time zone, there are different sites around the Web that have a list of time zones based on location. One such site is located at www.timeanddate.com.

Why aren't these controls in the game itself?

We group all account-related functionality together under the account settings on your Account Management page. Keeping Parental Controls in this central location also makes it easier for account owners to control Play Schedules without having to log into the game every time they wish to make a change.

How do I activate Parental Controls?

If you are the Parent or Guardian of a minor and you are interested in activating this feature, please initiate activation online by following these steps:

- Sign into Account Management using the current normal password. - Click the "Parental Controls" link in the top right. - Enter the answer to the Secret Question to verify the account (this must match precisely!) - Enter your email address and password. This information should be secure and different from what is listed on the normal account.


If you do not remember or cannot provide any part of the information above, because of security concerns, you will need to contact the Billing and Account Services department via telephone for assistance in this matter.

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