MUVE success and failure

We are studying MUVEs (multi user virtual environments) in my current course. I have tried 2: Tapped In (for educators), which is great, and then from the other side Club Penguin, which my 9 yr old can navigate perfectly, and I can't. She even kept giving me tours and ditching me as though we were playing hide and seek. I can see that it would be a great social environment , wonderful for socialization skills, and wonderful for getting children accustomed to the kind of environment that might be used for some education in the future. (The games were very fun.too, even though I was an abysmal failure at them). I have a better understanding of the lure and abilities of virtual environments having gotten onto this one.