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Is 25+ always a safe bet?
Sindar_Ethir
Member Posts: 13
The typical guild recruitment slogan, "Looking for mature players with patience, and like to help others." We've all probably been in guilds that actually stood behind their town cry for more players, and other guilds that were complete chaos.
The question is; Does the 25+ (plus or minus) age group really claim all the mature players we end up looking for?
I'd say it's generally true. Oddly enough on the WoW server I currently play on, there is a 12 year old (and sounds like it on vent) who I enjoy playing with more than most. Of a guild with more than 70+ active members, our average age is 27. But I still feel surrounded by greedy loot-hungry freaks that cause more drama than a wednesday afternoon CBS show.
I think the truth might be that the type of gamers we're looking for end up being spread out in the 10-60 age group, meaning we might not want to restrict ourselves by asking for players over a certain age.
What do you think? I'd like to get the opinion of a 12 year old, and a 40 year old. We're all in this together, wether we like it or not.
Comments
I am 43.
I am female.
I play online games.
I am.
But to get to the point of your thread topic...
Maturity and age are not the same thing.
I've been a guild leader, guild officer, and guild member in various games... and all my guilds had a "matuirty" statement for recruitment.
I've met a 10 year old player who was the most generous, self-effacing, honorable player I've had the joy of encountering in games...
and I've also played with people my age and older who are greedy, manipulative and act like spoiled little brats.
Maturity and age are not the same thing.
What I did, in the guilds I've been an officer in, or leader of, was to consider maturity level first. I took the time to get to know recruits, and encouraged others in the guild to do the same, so that we could feel confident of who we were getting... and, if after joining, the person fell short of the criteria we set forth, that player would be warned 3 times, then removed from the guild...
If you have standards you want met for your guild members, then you have to be willing to back it up.
Just my thoughts...
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I'd say a safer bet is 30.
While there are 12 year old kids that act like 28 year olds, and 50 year old men/women that act like 5 year olds...generally speaking, it's safe to say that age is a fairly strong determinant as to reliability and general personality. The key thing, in my opinion, is that people who have been around the block a few time understand concepts like consequence, trust, representation, and integrity.
I can't picture how the people my age I see everyday will act when they are 30ish or so. Nutz
Well spoken. I don't usually see the differences from 25 to 30, but nonetheless you bring up a good generalization. Maybe I should just throw a wig on and create a guild of all females, I don't think I've met annoying women yet.... Stupid ones... just not annoying.
I am 16
when I played CoH/CoV my two best friends (who I played with everyday) were over 30 and both had children of their own (they both also knew each other in real life as well). We were very good friends, and even moved on to different games with each other (went from CoH/CoV to Eq1).
I have yet to encounter another person my age in an MMO that acts mature enough to befriend a mature 30+ year old. Im not saying there aren't any more out there, I just have'nt met them.
I am very tired of the sterotypes people of my age receive, but I guess it is for good reason.
I also have encountered a few 18-20 year olds, who acted like they were 12 (no offence to those who are 12, but it is only natural for you to act immature, afterall, you are only 12).
As for me I'm a 19 yr old MMORPG player who plays Silk Road Online, and Call of Duty.
I'm also part of a clan called Warrior Nation, the largest gaming clan in the world with a active roster of 1.3k+ members.
This is by far the most mature bunch of gamers I've met, ranging from the ages of 13 to adults in their 40's and 50's.
I think leadership and setting a good example from the start is part of the problem. If everyone else is acting like a team ( I don't want to say adult because it's not really an age thing ) it's easier to keep new people from being the greedy loot whores. I think most people join a guild because they want to be involved in the guild and play together. You'll still get people who from time to time start some drama but that's going to happen any time you get a group of people together to do anything. As for the ones who just want to use people to get what they want... get rid of them.
Age matters less then attitude.
Recruit on attitude, know what you recruit, and you'll end up with an 'elite' guild of closeknit guys.
Of course, it also depends what game you play. Some do tend to encourage grouping up more then others (and I dont mean NPC content requiring multiple players to defeat with that)
It's partly a matter of the game's culture itself. WoW is so large that it's bound to have good players, and it's bound to have an unbelievable number of idiots from across the board.
Niche games are best, but the trouble is that one that's any good just gets too many people from outside the niche, particularly powergamers and lootmongers. Find a less populated game, and age tends to matter more. Perhaps it's just less competitive in the smaller games, no need to worry about being first to endgame, because there's only a few social groups and they'll all advance at their own pace.
The only way to gather a group of mature players in a large game is to hand-pick them, and have a guildmaster who's an outright SOB about letting people in. It's a pity when your friend isn't let in because he's a jerk, but let in one jerk, another slips in behind him, and another, and so on. Of course, this can lead to tyranny by the guildmaster. Any group is bound to fall apart sometime, and if it grows too fast, it can get messy.
In the end, age only matters a little. Even the most mature of younger gamers show their age sometimes, and it can grate on some nerves. Older teens are prone to drama, like it or not. College students can be easygoing and likable, or overcompetitive jerks who can't ever relax. Beyond that, there's older gamers who just want to have fun, or the overgrown kids in momma's basement who power trip on a virtual guild until their world falls apart and they have to form another.
One of the best guilds I ever made had an 11 year old, a guy whose kids were my age, college students, high school students, and post-college younger adults. What mattered was respect for each other, having fun, and the most materialistic ones acted that way with other friends of the like, hanging out with the guild for more relaxed times.
I think maturity can be closely tied to a level of responsibility. A parent who acts like a parent is not going to be immature in a game more than likely. It is also pretty reliable to assume that most people over the age of 30 are parents. I'm going on 26 and I have a 4yr old in school. Most would consider my age 30+ if they never met me, but talked to me over the phone or online.
But as many other people have already said, you can't tie maturity to an age. An easy indicator of maturity in a game or even intelligence is how they type. Do they type like they are using their language properly or are they using the latest MMO jargon.
Something else that has nothing to do with maturity, but is an annoying trait in gamers is selfishness. Games that cater to the individual instead of a group attracts selfish people. The people may be mature, but if they are selfish, it will feel like your playing with an elementary school kid, except that you can never teach the person to not be selfish.
/agree
I'm not sure where I classify WoW in your statement. There certainly is a lot of selfish people, but the game certainly allows you to care more about the group/raid/guild you play with a lot at the same time.
Ive been a guild leader , guild officer, and a guild member in various games that have recruiting age requirments. Started playing with UO and D2 when I was 21....now Im 29. Like an above poster said....Ive met some of the most kind and giving players to be 16 and under. But I have also witnessed some of the most childish behavior from those under 18....which is fitting since they would happen to be childeren. Likewise I have met some highly childish and immature adults as well. The ages can range from 18....some of the most rude due to thinking they know everything...yet know very little to the 30+ crowd where you can still find greedy arrogant manipulative pricks.
In all the guilds I have been around , I found it isnt so much the age that brings maturity...its the atmosphere. You can have a few or so kids in your guild under 18...under 16 for that matter....and they will act mature in the right setting. If you get a guild based with nothing but a 16 year old setting where the adult is the minority...they are more apt to act immature and childish such as there friends. Overall, I think its the atmosphere the guild leader sets which will ultimately decide how its members will act. And of course you still have to screen applications for recruitment by talkling with said recruit to see if they are truely going to be a good fit. And my last line of defense in any game I lead.....the probationary period, where every member has to agree to accept you or you wont get in. If you can make it through that...generally I have myself a good player.
I'm 35, and nearly everyone I play with in game these days is somewhere between 28 and 40 or so. I haven't purposely searched for a guild with people around my own age. It just happened.
In my experience, there can be young people (teens or so) who just want to get along and be helpful, and who don't ask for much in return, and there can be older people that just can't seem to not cause drama wherever they go. I've seen some astoundingly bad behavior from older players (like posting screenshots of conversations in tells (whispers) on the guild message boards to make someone else look bad) and I've seen some really wonderful teens who are just trying to be good players and good friends. If you are looking for quality players and quality people, you can't go by age.
I prefer the company of older players because we have more in common IRL, so we have more to talk about. (And I know this is where some people start screaming to leave real life out of the games, but we don't all play for the same reasons or in the same way... I like chatting. Sue me.)
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This is where I draw the line: __________________.
I prefer to have a 'you must be a mature person to join our guild... if you are not we will de-tag you'.
Has worked in every guild, outfit, clan, unit, pick your term, that I have ever been involved with. Those that restrict by age are generally just older immature people instead of younger ones. I've been on the 'net since '88 and in that time I've learned that there are 12 year olds that are more mature than most adults and there are some adults that are more immature than my 3 year old son.
Age != Maturity... not by a long shot.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
Like Haunt, I took a lot of time getting to know recruits and seeing how well they integrated with the Guild I ran. One of my most mature, sensitive and supporting members was an 18 year old (just; he actually joined us when he was 17) from the west coast, US. I tell any recruit that the waiting period is as much for their benefit as it is ours; when they finally join our ranks I want it to be a decision they are sure on and they fully understand what they are getting.
In general the only players who have caused trouble are those for who we waived the "wait and see" period for because they were already rl friends/SO's of guild members.
I don't think age really comes into it, I prefer a more casual guild. I thought that being in a guild with an average age of say 30 it would be pretty casual, but it ended up hardcore as a few people in my guild were very very competitive and had big egos. So next time I look for a guild I tend not to go too much on age, but more on how competitive they are. As someone who just wants to play the game for what it is typically isn't hardcore. There's more to picking a guild then whether everyone else is old and/or mature. Also if you get different groups of friends forming a guild cliques tend to form and favouritism. Man with all the politics of some guilds no wander most people prefer to solo hehe.
No annoying animated GIF here!
I'm 23, so by no means "old". At least I like to think so
The first person to reply to this thread hit the mark though. Age and maturity are independent. In a general sense, yes older people on average are going to be more mature but certainly not all or most. You can also find the young teenagers that are ahead of their peers and acting like adults.
Leaders/officers of guilds just have to be willing to kick out the disruptive players after a warning or two that they are being childish. If they just get pissed off more at that, then it's clear proof they are not mature and shouldn't be around.
I don't want to change the topic of the thread, but I don't think most people prefer to solo. In my opinion, most people just want acceptance into something larger than themselves. Solo is just a means to pass time while their other friends are occupied.
Most people really do not want to solo more than group. Most people would LOVE to find a good group once in a while. What "most" people do NOT want is to be forced into groups with complete asshats. In the olden days, before these kiddie MMOs it was easy... When an asshat appeared, you just called out his name, and everyone, pretty much every single person around, put that person up on the ignore list directly, and kicked him out of groups. People started to behave in pure self defence, because otherwise they would have to delete their character and start a new one. Groups were a joy more often than not, people really tried to work together, and a ninja seldom did it more than once or twice... ever.
Since this new generation appeared in MMOs and especially those that play on their mothers credit card, and the cost for the game does not mean a darn thing, that is thing of the past and today groups are more often a pure hassle and good way to get a headache than not.
Hence.. the constant cry for more solo content. If people played MMOs like it was supposed to.. cooperate play, instead of playing it to disrupt and annoy as many as possible in the safety behind your keyboard like good little 8 year olds, this group of "most people" would have been down to "some people"
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force"
Wanna know what the most immature agegroup is? Play Runescape and time how long it takes before someone calls you a 'n00b'...
as others have said, age has little to do with maturity, in online games. People who are old enough to know better sometimes feel free to act greedy, selfish, or in general like jerks in an online game. Also some of us drink while playing
You can usually tell a lot about someone in a few minutes, not always of course but enough to know if you want to give them a shot. Just don't be afraid to invite, and don't feel bad if you need to /banish someone.
My only exception to this is if I'm using a voice comm program, then I'd have an age restriction. No offense to any present, but kids/teenagers talk.. ALOT.
I knwo the above is a sweeping generalization, but i always have the most fun with people in the age group of 12-17.
Or Silkroad Online for that matter. I find it amusing that someone who is probably playing a video game from an internet cafe in Asia or Eastern Europe calls anybody else a noob, but that's how it works.