The word "mature" has a lot of contradictory meanings; I take it you mean "something older people would play", as opposed to "rated M for mature". Statistically, if older people play computer games at all, it's likely to be simple things like card games. But I don't think that's what you're looking for.
^^^What is THAT line of bullsh** about? Listen punk (with all DUE respect)...today's games would not even EXIST had it not been for the "old timer" gaming pioneers of yesteryear. I was playing games before you were a twinkle in Mommy and Daddy's eye, and I HATE card games, unless you're talkin' poker (not ONLINE, the real deal...no pun intended). Furthermore....where are these "statistics" you speak of?
I'm not sure why you cite WoW, as it doesn't fit the criteria you lay out at all. If you want a mature community, a considerable emphasis on crafting, and difficult content that isn't a zergfest, try A Tale in the Desert. One could argue that it's pvp, but that's in the sense that political elections are pvp. It's not twitch-based at all. It's a weird game, with no combat (that contributes to it having a mature community), but fits the criteria you list pretty well.
No, that doesn't fit his criteria at ALL. First of all, it's PvP but has no combat. Where did he say THAT? You're assuming we "old people" don't like combat?? Secondly, it's not all that popular, which means he is coming from a game that has millions of players and is a thriving "world" full of people every day. Sure, some are high school age, but a damn LOT of them are 30 and OLDER. There's a couple in my old guild that played DAILY and they were in their 60s. So...hello....do a bit of research. WoW's "community" is greatly improved when you're in a guild of ADULTS and you turn off general and trade chat. The reason people think only 12 year olds play WoW is because they are the little idiots that never STFU in chat. So the older people that play are never HEARD as much, which gives a very misleading impression about the ages of people that play. The PC gaming industry is not owned by the youth of today. If you'll have a look at even the developers for most of these games...they're in their 30s and 40s. Yeah...they're some of those people that grew UP with gaming. It wasn't passed down to them from the previous generation. They're the generations that STARTED it. That's right, as of NOW....you teenagers are playing games that people the age of your PARENTS worked on. Isn't it ironic? I'm sure someday you all will grow up and make games that YOUR kids and their kids will play. But the way it stands right now....gaming is pretty much the financial property of the "middle-aged" folks. LOL
Now I'm sure I'll get several...."dude, chill the f**k out, man...he was only jokin'" comments. But since I know you younguns LOVE being slammed for YOUR age, I thought I'd just oblige. /smirk
As far as suggestions for games with a decidedly "older" more "mature" population....I too would have to suggest LotRO and EQ2....EVE (only if being inside a spacecraft 24/7 floats your boat, because you have no mobile avatar at this point in that game, and it leaves things feeling a bit sterile). I'm making the judgement call from what you (OP) wrote, that you'd like to HAVE a large community, just a large more MATURE community. That only leaves a few options. This year's been a bit sparse on the MMO scene.
The word "mature" has a lot of contradictory meanings; I take it you mean "something older people would play", as opposed to "rated M for mature". Statistically, if older people play computer games at all, it's likely to be simple things like card games. But I don't think that's what you're looking for.
^^^What is THAT line of bullsh** about? Listen punk (with all DUE respect)...today's games would not even EXIST had it not been for the "old timer" gaming pioneers of yesteryear. I was playing games before you were a twinkle in Mommy and Daddy's eye, and I HATE card games, unless you're talkin' poker. Furthermore....where are these "statistics" you speak of?
I'm not sure why you cite WoW, as it doesn't fit the criteria you lay out at all. If you want a mature community, a considerable emphasis on crafting, and difficult content that isn't a zergfest, try A Tale in the Desert. One could argue that it's pvp, but that's in the sense that political elections are pvp. It's not twitch-based at all. It's a weird game, with no combat (that contributes to it having a mature community), but fits the criteria you list pretty well.
No, that doesn't fit his criteria at ALL. First of all, it's PvP but has no combat. Where did he say THAT? You're assuming we "old people" don't like combat?? Secondly, it's not all that popular, which means he is coming from a game that has millions of players and is a thriving "world" full of people every day. Sure, some are high school age, but a damn LOT of them are 30 and OLDER. There's a couple in my old guild that played DAILY and they were in their 60s. So...hello....do a bit of research. WoW's "community" is greatly improved when you're in a guild of ADULTS and you turn off general and trade chat. The PC gaming industry is not owned by the youth of today. If you'll have a look at even the developers for most of these games...they're in their 30s and 40s. Yeah...they're some of those people that grew UP with gaming. It wasn't passed down to them from the previous generation. They're the generations that STARTED it. That's right, as of NOW....you teenagers are playing games that people the age of your PARENTS worked on. Isn't it ironic? I'm sure someday you all will grow up and make games that YOUR kids and their kids will play. But the way it stands right now....gaming is pretty much the financial property of the "middle-aged" folks. LOL
Now I'm sure I'll get several...."dude, chill the f**k out, man...he was only jokin'" comments. But since I know you younguns LOVE being slammed for YOUR age, I thought I'd just oblige. /smirk
As far as suggestions for games with a decidedly "older" more "mature" population....I too would have to suggest LotRO and EQ2....EVE (only if being inside a spacecraft 24/7 floats your boat, because you have no mobile avatar at this poitn in that game, and it leaves things feeling a bit sterile). I'm making the judgement call from what you (OP) wrote, that you'd like to HAVE a large community, just a large more MATURE community. That only leaves a few options. This year's been a bit sparse on the MMO scene.
you will be able to walk around in stations around March with the release of the new free expansion and have mobile avatars, so HA! just burst your bubble. lol j/k
"Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force" The Original Jedi Code
Your best bets community & maturity wise are the following. 1) LOTRO, 2) Ryzom, 3) EQ2, 4) CoX (City of Heroes), 5) Vanguard, 6) DAOC. While I may of missed a couple shinning stars the majority of today's MMO's have dreadful communities. most of the above have good guilds (or SG's CoX) and offer decent crafting especially Vanguard.
I'm sorry but you're mistaken.
Stagnation and disinterest might make a community appear more mature, but the reality is the players are less involved and less inspired to interact with each other. So while you think the communities of these other games are more mature, they are merely dulled. There's an unmistakable sense of life and activity in WoW that has is reminiscent only of games like EQ1 and UO in their hey-day.
Nothing else out there at the moment offers that community experience. Yet this fact is ignored by people who for entirely irrational reasons choose to label the millions of people that play WoW as a single immature entity.
This is simply wrong, and anyone who might consider themselves capable of reasoned debate, playing the devil's advocate would understand that there is no genetic trait in people to gravitate towards certain kinds of MMORPGs. The so-called maturity you are witnessing is the dilution of the human condition through poor game design.
SOE and Turbine are not established game developers, they're companies with enough resources to build these games... but only Blizzard among the many game developers are actually *true* games developers. And until Bethesda and Bioware come on board, Blizzard remain the only veteran game developer to enter the MMORPG space and it's no coincidence that WoW is the most successful by a gigantic margain.
(Guildwars doesn't count in this discussion because it's not an MMORPG as it's own developers have stated, but I digress...)
I contest that these communities are not more mature in any way shape or form, but are wholly inferior to WoW which has a greater sense of excitement and a more brilliant expression of a sense of community.
Take the OP, he's 50 years old, he's looking for games that cater for a more mature audience.. but he's been playing WoW for years... and there are many others like him. Unfortunately for him, there is no other game that can hope to compare with the experience WoW can offer.
Some of you will be compelled to disagree strongly. If you're going to do so apply some logic to your counterarguments, and if I don't reply to your replies it's because what you've written isn't worth replying to. That said, I look forward to seeing what more enlightened folks have to say, because I'm amused by the fact that self-proclaimed mature gamers think that they are somehow intellectually superior to the multi-faceted communities that WoW has to offer.
It's a game played by millions, many of those people exactly like yourselves and I. You are not above them, more mature than them or less so. You ARE one of them you have just aligned yourself to this ridiculous belief that a game determines how mature you are.
And why do people associate crafting with maturity? This is one of those utterly bizzare things I see 'veterans' do between sessions of bemoaning the state of MMORPGS today and anticipating the next MMORPG release. I can sift through trolls throwing jealous balls of dirt at WoW all day, but what truly astounds me is how seemingly intelligent people can get caught up in this anti-WoW sentiment and allow it to cloud their judgement.
*Gets step ladder to assist Recant down from his high horse*
You must feel better after regurgitating all of that rhetoric, it had to have been causing you brain cramps.
You could have summarized your entire post with a simple, "I like WOW and if you don't like it or say anything bad about it, you're stupid." But then that would have conflicted with your little theme that WOW has a mature community, wouldn't it?
As for a logical counterpoint... simple... to each his own. Some people don't like WOW and want to play something else. If you think there is not a HUGE level of immatuity in WOW then you evidently have never been witness to a "Barrens Chat : Chuck Norris style".
Your point about WOW being so popular is without dispute. However, you failed to address the fact that approximately 80% (not sure of the latest figures, so friggen shoot me if I over shoot my estimation) is from China. What does that prove you ask? Blizzard has an awesome Marketing department and tapped the largest population before anyone else did. Just good business and I give credit where it is due. Another point, statistically speaking, with the large population you will have a higher probability of running into "immaturity". While speaking of numbers, I am also reminded of a quote I heard somewhere and will alter to fit the WOW topic: "Can 11 million people be wrong?" Answer: "Yes and very frequently"
From reading your post, it's obvious you are intelligent enough to articulate your thoughts with a well written post, but I mean... d**n man. Don't take things so personally. I also think you misinterpreted his meaning of maturity as lack of intelligence. I actually think he was pointing toward the "Leet speak" "KEWL DOODES" and the drivel that spews from the gaping holes under their noses and not saying that people who play WOW are not intelligent.
In summation... Play what you friggen want and let others play what they want. Does that make them wrong and you right or vice versa? No, it just makes both of you... happy.
As far as suggestions for games with a decidedly "older" more "mature" population....I too would have to suggest LotRO and EQ2....EVE (only if being inside a spacecraft 24/7 floats your boat, because you have no mobile avatar at this poitn in that game, and it leaves things feeling a bit sterile). I'm making the judgement call from what you (OP) wrote, that you'd like to HAVE a large community, just a large more MATURE community. That only leaves a few options. This year's been a bit sparse on the MMO scene.
you will be able to walk around in stations around March with the release of the new free expansion and have mobile avatars, so HA! just burst your bubble. lol j/k
Yeah, I have to admit, when ambulation is in game...I will probably have to come back. I haven't been playing for a while now, and I was very close to getting my Hulk. I don't know if the whole "space thing" is for everyone though. There is something about that style that feels a bit sterile and less "warm" than other MMOs. But...the community in EVE is definitely decent.
HAHA ofc WoW have most 12y olds coz IT has Most Players. Still i havent talked with any1 in WoW who was 12yo EXEPT my own brother when i let him try the game. in 3 years. ive seen 15y olds. but still 80% ppl i play with r 18+ . its just y if u act mature or immature. But i sure agree in wow thers only immature text mainly. When thats a problem for u then well BB. I would like some more mature text in game tho but well what can i do... i like the game. When iam in pug grps some morons makes me fucking mad at times tho : D OTHER mmos i have tryed doesnt rly requaire talking so much .... so those r boring as hell coz feel like Single players.
Over and out...
can anyone translate this into english for me? I dont have my phonics hooked up.
Ok, here goes...
LOL ofc WoW n00bs 1337. Meesa bombad player makin' 15s the 18+ . ur teh suxxorz l2p. Hugga mugga hugga mugga Maxwell House. BB pug grps : D requaire(?) coz bleh.
Over and out...
Thanks! now i get it. He basically said he has never seen any imeture people under 18 playing WoW.
I am what you would call a "mature" gamer who has been playing WoW for several years. I played UO, EQ1 and Asheron's Call before that. I do remember life before Pong...I think. Are there any robust PVE games other than WOW that would interest an older player? I love PvE and difficult end game content that require stratgey over boring zergfests. I don't care for PvP since at my age my twitch skills are lol!. I like crafting, if craftable items are actually of value, and theorycrafting. Most of all, I am looking for a game with a mature community and with stable guilds interested in progression. Any hope of there being anything out there besides WoW?
I recommend EQ2, then LOTRO.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
In summation... Play what you friggen want and let others play what they want. Does that make them wrong and you right or vice versa? No, it just makes both of you... happy.
As far as suggestions for games with a decidedly "older" more "mature" population....I too would have to suggest LotRO and EQ2....EVE (only if being inside a spacecraft 24/7 floats your boat, because you have no mobile avatar at this poitn in that game, and it leaves things feeling a bit sterile). I'm making the judgement call from what you (OP) wrote, that you'd like to HAVE a large community, just a large more MATURE community. That only leaves a few options. This year's been a bit sparse on the MMO scene.
you will be able to walk around in stations around March with the release of the new free expansion and have mobile avatars, so HA! just burst your bubble. lol j/k
Yeah, I have to admit, when ambulation is in game...I will probably have to come back. I haven't been playing for a while now, and I was very close to getting my Hulk. I don't know if the whole "space thing" is for everyone though. There is something about that style that feels a bit sterile and less "warm" than other MMOs. But...the community in EVE is definitely decent.
i havent played EVE in a while it wasnt really my thing never felt like i had to log in for longer than 20 mins if we werent at war
"Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force" The Original Jedi Code
I've played WoW, and was appalled by the general "childish" community on a daily basis for the 3 months I was there. I have played LOTRO for 2 1/2 years now and the mature community on my server is nowhere near dulled or disinterested...stagnation indeed pfft. Ah well, prolific prose and preposterous posturing does not make ones own opinions more logical or correct, it is merely an attempt to use a facade of intellectualism to make them appear so. All that not withstanding, I stand by my previous post.
With 12 million subscribers, WoW definitely has more mature subscribers than other games people are calling off have in their entire population. It's just all in the luck of the draw when choosing servers. For instance, I play on Gilneas and haven't had to ignore hardly anyone in the 4 months I've played on it. The majority of PUG's I get into are with skilled adults, who are also mature about things.
On the other hand, I started an alt on the new Borean Tundra server and I've ignored more people in a day than I'd care to admit to. I ignored quite a few on Landroval when I recently resubbed to LOTRO and even had to turn off the /ooc chat. People were arguing over dumb crap most of the time, plus they were spending a lot of time bashing other games, in particular WoW. Not very mature behavior in my opinion.
Even on the immature WoW server I rolled my alt on, I still have more mature friends and guildies that I see on a daily basis than I see in months playing other games. So while the size of WoW attracts more asshats, it also attracts more adults as well. Something to think on.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
According to a recent John Smedley interview, the average age of SOE customers is 33. That's indisputably "adult" although whether it's "mature" you'd have to decide for yourself. I play EQ2 on the Test server, where i would estimate the average age is well into the 40s. I'm 50 and there are plenty of players there older than me.
EQ2, Vanguard, LotRO, EQ1 all have pleasant, polite, articulate players as the norm, I would say, although all of them also have plenty of immature, aggressive or ignorant jerks, as does every part of the online world.
One big surprise is the current open beta for F2P MMO Runes of Magic. I play on one of the European servers and expected that the combination of "free" and "beta" would result in general chat full of repetetive questions and smack talk about other games. Instead, it has generally amiable, good-natured and even interesting chat. It's apparenty a WoW clone ( I wouldn't know, WoW being one of the rare MMOs I haven't played), so it might be worth a try for someone wanting a more laid-back WoW-like experience.
I'll just add a few that havn't been mentioned yet;
Lineage 2 - P2P long running game with well establishied guilds and mature players, Pve,PvP,etc.. also crafting.
Anarchy Online -F2P,P2P long running game well established guilds and mature players, PVE,PVP has crafting.
Ryzom - F2P, freindly community Pve,PvP,etc.. also crafting.
Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) - P2P friendly comunity with well established guilds and mature players, also a lot of families play as well. PVE & GvE (mainly), no real PvP( is some and it's fun(only in taverns and pubs) nor crafting also not a point and click game, but the main reason I put this on the list is the community, does have twitch combat, it's alot of fun, but can become very swore on the hands after a while.
I'm 43 years old and my first computer was a C-64, the first game I bought for it was, " The Hobbit" on data casette, my second was, "Elite" also on data casette, I think I classify as a mature player .
The best community by far is in Vanguard. It's the most helpfull, I have ever seen in any game. It's not very large though. EQ2 also has a very mature and helpfull community, but most of them are in higher levels. EVE has a mature community since its played by older players. They are not as nice crowd though, since eve is mostly a pvp game.
If old means 16-25 ... then yes EVE is played by old people... ive only met one person in EVE over 25,and ive being playing for a long time.Seriosly dont bash communitys wich you have no clue about,ofc Vanguard has the best community,2 people playing it and them both being nice...
Well, mature gamers are spread over most games but the one where I seen most is in EQ2. The games seen most kids in are Wow and Guildwars, but it might not be a coincident that they also have most players. I think you should try EQ2, it have very good crafting and great dungeons, the solo play is not so good however but that makes most paople group after the first few levels. And the PvP is bad too. It have a free trial of course.
The free trial is a joke. You don't even get to change from basic classes into primary classes and are limited to a very small island for play. As for Mature, age doesn't matter. I have met people who claim to be in their 20's and 30's who still have that gankfest/zergfest mentality. Mature is, imo, a player who is interested in more than how many noobs he's ganked in the last 24 hours or someone interested in seeing the game live past 6 months, which is when most of the immature gankfest/fragfest players become bored with the game and leave.
Well, Lotro is my guess. It was bollocks at the beginning but grown quite nicely and they say it's nice over there. I wouldn't know myself though as I don't play it.
I enjoyed my time in City of Heroes and I kinda have the itch to reinstall it now. It's a good game with a good community. Plus it's fun to be a superhero.
I'm currently subscribed to Anarchy Online. The community there is quite close-knit and it's a little slow nowadays at the lower end. It's still alive though but that's from a tl7(endgame) perspective.
I'm in my mid-30's so yeah, I'm a mature gamer allthough I don't act that way sometimes
I am what you would call a "mature" gamer who has been playing WoW for several years. I played UO, EQ1 and Asheron's Call before that. I do remember life before Pong...I think. Are there any robust PVE games other than WOW that would interest an older player? I love PvE and difficult end game content that require stratgey over boring zergfests. I don't care for PvP since at my age my twitch skills are lol!. I like crafting, if craftable items are actually of value, and theorycrafting. Most of all, I am looking for a game with a mature community and with stable guilds interested in progression. Any hope of there being anything out there besides WoW?
I've been playing Lord of the Rings Online lately, that seems to have a much more mature community, if by mature you mean "nobody shouting stuff like DIRGE in public chat" anyway.
I'm enjoying the game a lot more than wow anyway. the pve is more interesting, as the story and the imersive world really help there. PVP is completely optional, but sometimes fun for a bit, even though I'm useless at it.
I'd say it's at least worth trying some time anyway.
------------------------------ Currently playing: Rift
former player of: DAoC, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, SWG (pre-NGE), WoW, Warhammer online, LotR:O
Your best bets community & maturity wise are the following. 1) LOTRO, 2) Ryzom, 3) EQ2, 4) CoX (City of Heroes), 5) Vanguard, 6) DAOC. While I may of missed a couple shinning stars the majority of today's MMO's have dreadful communities. most of the above have good guilds (or SG's CoX) and offer decent crafting especially Vanguard.
I'm sorry but you're mistaken.
Stagnation and disinterest might make a community appear more mature, but the reality is the players are less involved and less inspired to interact with each other. So while you think the communities of these other games are more mature, they are merely dulled. There's an unmistakable sense of life and activity in WoW that has is reminiscent only of games like EQ1 and UO in their hey-day.
Nothing else out there at the moment offers that community experience. Yet this fact is ignored by people who for entirely irrational reasons choose to label the millions of people that play WoW as a single immature entity.
This is simply wrong, and anyone who might consider themselves capable of reasoned debate, playing the devil's advocate would understand that there is no genetic trait in people to gravitate towards certain kinds of MMORPGs. The so-called maturity you are witnessing is the dilution of the human condition through poor game design.
SOE and Turbine are not established game developers, they're companies with enough resources to build these games... but only Blizzard among the many game developers are actually *true* games developers. And until Bethesda and Bioware come on board, Blizzard remain the only veteran game developer to enter the MMORPG space and it's no coincidence that WoW is the most successful by a gigantic margain.
(Guildwars doesn't count in this discussion because it's not an MMORPG as it's own developers have stated, but I digress...)
I contest that these communities are not more mature in any way shape or form, but are wholly inferior to WoW which has a greater sense of excitement and a more brilliant expression of a sense of community.
Take the OP, he's 50 years old, he's looking for games that cater for a more mature audience.. but he's been playing WoW for years... and there are many others like him. Unfortunately for him, there is no other game that can hope to compare with the experience WoW can offer.
Some of you will be compelled to disagree strongly. If you're going to do so apply some logic to your counterarguments, and if I don't reply to your replies it's because what you've written isn't worth replying to. That said, I look forward to seeing what more enlightened folks have to say, because I'm amused by the fact that self-proclaimed mature gamers think that they are somehow intellectually superior to the multi-faceted communities that WoW has to offer.
It's a game played by millions, many of those people exactly like yourselves and I. You are not above them, more mature than them or less so. You ARE one of them you have just aligned yourself to this ridiculous belief that a game determines how mature you are.
And why do people associate crafting with maturity? This is one of those utterly bizzare things I see 'veterans' do between sessions of bemoaning the state of MMORPGS today and anticipating the next MMORPG release. I can sift through trolls throwing jealous balls of dirt at WoW all day, but what truly astounds me is how seemingly intelligent people can get caught up in this anti-WoW sentiment and allow it to cloud their judgement.
I played WoW too, I won't judge the game per se as it's off topic but the community and how Blizzard deals (doesn't actually) with it, Lord gracious...
I remember the last time I logged on just before my sub's end, first thing I met was a dude riding a polar bear and the bear was wearing googles and had a murloc sitting on its head waving a small Blizzard flag. How retarded is that... He rode around erratically, certainly proud to show everyone his monstrous mount. Then PMed me begging for money...
Then I was with both my characters in Stormwind and Undercity and here you go again: gold spam every 3 minutes, bad spelling, broken sentences, sms texts, abbreviations, nonsense, improper use of channels, insults, sex topics, Chuck Norris jokes, moms jokes, threats, caps lock, etc etc etc
Don't say you have a good experience with WoW's community or you just interacted as few as possible, ignored massively people and kept only to chosen friends to avoid bad apples. It's more like large rotten orchards in WoW. But you can't just avoid the terrible chats and what's the point of a mmorpg without random communication?
Talking about reports I'm still pissed off that Blizzard don't hire GMs or they are invisible, or generating automatic bullshit answers 3 hours after a question in my ingame mailbox even after emergency questions like people hacking the guild chat, and don't monitor channels because obviously according to their own rules, someone is misbehaving every 2 minutes in capital cities. They make like a billion dollars a year or more, why can't they state once and for all that people must behave in channels and implement their own rules? Can you imagine any school's playground where kids would behave worse than there?
As for RP dedicated servers, they are a joke, I was there 3 weeks with a better playerbase sure, but retards lacking attention still abusing regularly channels, not respecting RP basics, and other players telling them to shut up, no GM intervening and forcing the implementation of their own (fuzzy) RP rules.
I'm not saying you can't meet nice people, I did, but it was still a painful experience with all the retards and hooligans on the loose, so Recant keep believing in your wonderful bustling mature community (it's actually more a "playerbase" than a "community"), I know what I've seen and read there, and I'm back from hell.
I'm approaching 30 this year, and I've mosty been playing WoW over the last four years. There have been a couple of reasons for this: most of my friends play it, my partner plays it and some family members play it. That's not to say I've not played other MMOs - I started out on Horizons: Empire of Istaria and have tried LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, AoC and others on the way. As others have already mentioned, WoW depends heavily on the people you're playing with much more than the actual game content.
Lately though, my MMO gaming has consisted of treating a game as a single player RPG with an IRC chatbox that gets largely ignored. I guess that's why my online time has decreased and the time I'm spending in games like Fable II, Fallout 3 or even Chrono Trigger on the DS has increased. Whether it's being jaded with the whole high-fantasy setting or just bored with the mechanic, I'm not sure. Suffice it to say though, I'm watching some games currently in development with keen interest. Aion and SW:TOR are both on my watchlist at the moment.
So there you have it - still playing WoW, all be it reduced. Catching up on some traditional style RPGs and waiting for something shiny and new to meet my needs.
Player of games, smither of words, former of opinions, and masher of keys. WildStar Columnist Currently playing: WildStar, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Vain Glory.
According to a recent John Smedley interview, the average age of SOE customers is 33. That's indisputably "adult" although whether it's "mature" you'd have to decide for yourself. I play EQ2 on the Test server, where i would estimate the average age is well into the 40s. I'm 50 and there are plenty of players there older than me. EQ2, Vanguard, LotRO, EQ1 all have pleasant, polite, articulate players as the norm, I would say, although all of them also have plenty of immature, aggressive or ignorant jerks, as does every part of the online world. One big surprise is the current open beta for F2P MMO Runes of Magic. I play on one of the European servers and expected that the combination of "free" and "beta" would result in general chat full of repetetive questions and smack talk about other games. Instead, it has generally amiable, good-natured and even interesting chat. It's apparenty a WoW clone ( I wouldn't know, WoW being one of the rare MMOs I haven't played), so it might be worth a try for someone wanting a more laid-back WoW-like experience.
I know my guild in EQ has at least 3 doctors, 2 lawyers, and 10 or more retired military (which includes myself, one of the guild leaders, and half the officers).
I also play EQ2 with my family for a more relaxed enviroment and enjoy Vanguard. WoW, I cannot stand, though my youngest daughter enjoys it.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. Benjamin Franklin
I am what you would call a "mature" gamer who has been playing WoW for several years. I played UO, EQ1 and Asheron's Call before that. I do remember life before Pong...I think. Are there any robust PVE games other than WOW that would interest an older player? I love PvE and difficult end game content that require stratgey over boring zergfests. I don't care for PvP since at my age my twitch skills are lol!. I like crafting, if craftable items are actually of value, and theorycrafting. Most of all, I am looking for a game with a mature community and with stable guilds interested in progression. Any hope of there being anything out there besides WoW?
Try, Vanguard, it has challenging game content and the most robust tradeskill sub-game I have ever seen.
The downside is a small community, but they are friendly, mature, and willing to help new players.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. Benjamin Franklin
Would agree on EQ2 , Vanguard or LotR.. all are fun and good people.. some said CoX < CoH/CoV> me and wife did this for about 6 months, was great fun and great people too. then left.. but was good times..
According to a recent John Smedley interview, the average age of SOE customers is 33. That's indisputably "adult" although whether it's "mature" you'd have to decide for yourself. I play EQ2 on the Test server, where i would estimate the average age is well into the 40s. I'm 50 and there are plenty of players there older than me. EQ2, Vanguard, LotRO, EQ1 all have pleasant, polite, articulate players as the norm, I would say, although all of them also have plenty of immature, aggressive or ignorant jerks, as does every part of the online world. One big surprise is the current open beta for F2P MMO Runes of Magic. I play on one of the European servers and expected that the combination of "free" and "beta" would result in general chat full of repetetive questions and smack talk about other games. Instead, it has generally amiable, good-natured and even interesting chat. It's apparenty a WoW clone ( I wouldn't know, WoW being one of the rare MMOs I haven't played), so it might be worth a try for someone wanting a more laid-back WoW-like experience.
EQ2 Test ftw
in my experience, i would say EQ2, Vanguard, maybe LOTRO, i've heard Eve is 'matture' and in the 11million people you are able to find a mature guild or 14
as someone else said... with the amount of trials available, dabble until you find the community that sticks for you and find what you like.....
"We aren't going to ... Period. End of statement."
My experience with MMOs is that the LARGER the population.....the more jerks can be found. The smaller the MMO, the nicer the people. Apparently asshats aren't as attracted to games that they don't have a LARGE audience in for their "asshattery," pure and simple.
My experience with MMOs is that the LARGER the population.....the more jerks can be found. The smaller the MMO, the nicer the people. Apparently asshats aren't as attracted to games that they don't have a LARGE audience in for their "asshattery," pure and simple.
Doesn't help that in larger populations they have a tendancy to group together to cause gleefull agony to anyone that enters within the range of their chat box. But I do agree without an audience there is nothing left to do but play the game, and that is not why these people are here.
"Horse eating... a fire hydrant... the hell?" - Dan
Comments
Now I'm sure I'll get several...."dude, chill the f**k out, man...he was only jokin'" comments. But since I know you younguns LOVE being slammed for YOUR age, I thought I'd just oblige. /smirk
As far as suggestions for games with a decidedly "older" more "mature" population....I too would have to suggest LotRO and EQ2....EVE (only if being inside a spacecraft 24/7 floats your boat, because you have no mobile avatar at this point in that game, and it leaves things feeling a bit sterile). I'm making the judgement call from what you (OP) wrote, that you'd like to HAVE a large community, just a large more MATURE community. That only leaves a few options. This year's been a bit sparse on the MMO scene.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Now I'm sure I'll get several...."dude, chill the f**k out, man...he was only jokin'" comments. But since I know you younguns LOVE being slammed for YOUR age, I thought I'd just oblige. /smirk
As far as suggestions for games with a decidedly "older" more "mature" population....I too would have to suggest LotRO and EQ2....EVE (only if being inside a spacecraft 24/7 floats your boat, because you have no mobile avatar at this poitn in that game, and it leaves things feeling a bit sterile). I'm making the judgement call from what you (OP) wrote, that you'd like to HAVE a large community, just a large more MATURE community. That only leaves a few options. This year's been a bit sparse on the MMO scene.
you will be able to walk around in stations around March with the release of the new free expansion and have mobile avatars, so HA! just burst your bubble. lol j/k
"Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force"
The Original Jedi Code
I'm sorry but you're mistaken.
Stagnation and disinterest might make a community appear more mature, but the reality is the players are less involved and less inspired to interact with each other. So while you think the communities of these other games are more mature, they are merely dulled. There's an unmistakable sense of life and activity in WoW that has is reminiscent only of games like EQ1 and UO in their hey-day.
Nothing else out there at the moment offers that community experience. Yet this fact is ignored by people who for entirely irrational reasons choose to label the millions of people that play WoW as a single immature entity.
This is simply wrong, and anyone who might consider themselves capable of reasoned debate, playing the devil's advocate would understand that there is no genetic trait in people to gravitate towards certain kinds of MMORPGs. The so-called maturity you are witnessing is the dilution of the human condition through poor game design.
SOE and Turbine are not established game developers, they're companies with enough resources to build these games... but only Blizzard among the many game developers are actually *true* games developers. And until Bethesda and Bioware come on board, Blizzard remain the only veteran game developer to enter the MMORPG space and it's no coincidence that WoW is the most successful by a gigantic margain.
(Guildwars doesn't count in this discussion because it's not an MMORPG as it's own developers have stated, but I digress...)
I contest that these communities are not more mature in any way shape or form, but are wholly inferior to WoW which has a greater sense of excitement and a more brilliant expression of a sense of community.
Take the OP, he's 50 years old, he's looking for games that cater for a more mature audience.. but he's been playing WoW for years... and there are many others like him. Unfortunately for him, there is no other game that can hope to compare with the experience WoW can offer.
Some of you will be compelled to disagree strongly. If you're going to do so apply some logic to your counterarguments, and if I don't reply to your replies it's because what you've written isn't worth replying to. That said, I look forward to seeing what more enlightened folks have to say, because I'm amused by the fact that self-proclaimed mature gamers think that they are somehow intellectually superior to the multi-faceted communities that WoW has to offer.
It's a game played by millions, many of those people exactly like yourselves and I. You are not above them, more mature than them or less so. You ARE one of them you have just aligned yourself to this ridiculous belief that a game determines how mature you are.
And why do people associate crafting with maturity? This is one of those utterly bizzare things I see 'veterans' do between sessions of bemoaning the state of MMORPGS today and anticipating the next MMORPG release. I can sift through trolls throwing jealous balls of dirt at WoW all day, but what truly astounds me is how seemingly intelligent people can get caught up in this anti-WoW sentiment and allow it to cloud their judgement.
*Gets step ladder to assist Recant down from his high horse*
You must feel better after regurgitating all of that rhetoric, it had to have been causing you brain cramps.
You could have summarized your entire post with a simple, "I like WOW and if you don't like it or say anything bad about it, you're stupid." But then that would have conflicted with your little theme that WOW has a mature community, wouldn't it?
As for a logical counterpoint... simple... to each his own. Some people don't like WOW and want to play something else. If you think there is not a HUGE level of immatuity in WOW then you evidently have never been witness to a "Barrens Chat : Chuck Norris style".
Your point about WOW being so popular is without dispute. However, you failed to address the fact that approximately 80% (not sure of the latest figures, so friggen shoot me if I over shoot my estimation) is from China. What does that prove you ask? Blizzard has an awesome Marketing department and tapped the largest population before anyone else did. Just good business and I give credit where it is due. Another point, statistically speaking, with the large population you will have a higher probability of running into "immaturity". While speaking of numbers, I am also reminded of a quote I heard somewhere and will alter to fit the WOW topic: "Can 11 million people be wrong?" Answer: "Yes and very frequently"
From reading your post, it's obvious you are intelligent enough to articulate your thoughts with a well written post, but I mean... d**n man. Don't take things so personally. I also think you misinterpreted his meaning of maturity as lack of intelligence. I actually think he was pointing toward the "Leet speak" "KEWL DOODES" and the drivel that spews from the gaping holes under their noses and not saying that people who play WOW are not intelligent.
In summation... Play what you friggen want and let others play what they want. Does that make them wrong and you right or vice versa? No, it just makes both of you... happy.
you will be able to walk around in stations around March with the release of the new free expansion and have mobile avatars, so HA! just burst your bubble. lol j/k
Yeah, I have to admit, when ambulation is in game...I will probably have to come back.
I haven't been playing for a while now, and I was very close to getting my Hulk. 
I don't know if the whole "space thing" is for everyone though. There is something about that style that feels a bit sterile and less "warm" than other MMOs. But...the community in EVE is definitely decent.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
can anyone translate this into english for me? I dont have my phonics hooked up.
Ok, here goes...
LOL ofc WoW n00bs 1337. Meesa bombad player makin' 15s the 18+ . ur teh suxxorz l2p
. Hugga mugga hugga mugga Maxwell House. BB pug grps : D requaire(?) coz bleh.
Over and out...
Thanks! now i get it. He basically said he has never seen any imeture people under 18 playing WoW.
!?!
I recommend EQ2, then LOTRO.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
QFT
Could not have said it better myself.
you will be able to walk around in stations around March with the release of the new free expansion and have mobile avatars, so HA! just burst your bubble. lol j/k
Yeah, I have to admit, when ambulation is in game...I will probably have to come back.
I haven't been playing for a while now, and I was very close to getting my Hulk. 
I don't know if the whole "space thing" is for everyone though. There is something about that style that feels a bit sterile and less "warm" than other MMOs. But...the community in EVE is definitely decent.
i havent played EVE in a while it wasnt really my thing never felt like i had to log in for longer than 20 mins if we werent at war
"Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force"
The Original Jedi Code
With 12 million subscribers, WoW definitely has more mature subscribers than other games people are calling off have in their entire population. It's just all in the luck of the draw when choosing servers. For instance, I play on Gilneas and haven't had to ignore hardly anyone in the 4 months I've played on it. The majority of PUG's I get into are with skilled adults, who are also mature about things.
On the other hand, I started an alt on the new Borean Tundra server and I've ignored more people in a day than I'd care to admit to. I ignored quite a few on Landroval when I recently resubbed to LOTRO and even had to turn off the /ooc chat. People were arguing over dumb crap most of the time, plus they were spending a lot of time bashing other games, in particular WoW. Not very mature behavior in my opinion.
Even on the immature WoW server I rolled my alt on, I still have more mature friends and guildies that I see on a daily basis than I see in months playing other games. So while the size of WoW attracts more asshats, it also attracts more adults as well. Something to think on.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
According to a recent John Smedley interview, the average age of SOE customers is 33. That's indisputably "adult" although whether it's "mature" you'd have to decide for yourself. I play EQ2 on the Test server, where i would estimate the average age is well into the 40s. I'm 50 and there are plenty of players there older than me.
EQ2, Vanguard, LotRO, EQ1 all have pleasant, polite, articulate players as the norm, I would say, although all of them also have plenty of immature, aggressive or ignorant jerks, as does every part of the online world.
One big surprise is the current open beta for F2P MMO Runes of Magic. I play on one of the European servers and expected that the combination of "free" and "beta" would result in general chat full of repetetive questions and smack talk about other games. Instead, it has generally amiable, good-natured and even interesting chat. It's apparenty a WoW clone ( I wouldn't know, WoW being one of the rare MMOs I haven't played), so it might be worth a try for someone wanting a more laid-back WoW-like experience.
I'll just add a few that havn't been mentioned yet;
Lineage 2 - P2P long running game with well establishied guilds and mature players, Pve,PvP,etc.. also crafting.
Anarchy Online -F2P,P2P long running game well established guilds and mature players, PVE,PVP has crafting.
Ryzom - F2P, freindly community Pve,PvP,etc.. also crafting.
Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) - P2P friendly comunity with well established guilds and mature players, also a lot of families play as well. PVE & GvE (mainly), no real PvP( is some and it's fun(only in taverns and pubs) nor crafting also not a point and click game, but the main reason I put this on the list is the community, does have twitch combat, it's alot of fun, but can become very swore on the hands after a while.
I'm 43 years old and my first computer was a C-64, the first game I bought for it was, " The Hobbit" on data casette, my second was, "Elite" also on data casette, I think I classify as a mature player
.
If old means 16-25 ... then yes EVE is played by old people... ive only met one person in EVE over 25,and ive being playing for a long time.Seriosly dont bash communitys wich you have no clue about,ofc Vanguard has the best community,2 people playing it and them both being nice...
The free trial is a joke. You don't even get to change from basic classes into primary classes and are limited to a very small island for play. As for Mature, age doesn't matter. I have met people who claim to be in their 20's and 30's who still have that gankfest/zergfest mentality. Mature is, imo, a player who is interested in more than how many noobs he's ganked in the last 24 hours or someone interested in seeing the game live past 6 months, which is when most of the immature gankfest/fragfest players become bored with the game and leave.
Well, Lotro is my guess. It was bollocks at the beginning but grown quite nicely and they say it's nice over there. I wouldn't know myself though as I don't play it.
I enjoyed my time in City of Heroes and I kinda have the itch to reinstall it now. It's a good game with a good community. Plus it's fun to be a superhero.
I'm currently subscribed to Anarchy Online. The community there is quite close-knit and it's a little slow nowadays at the lower end. It's still alive though but that's from a tl7(endgame) perspective.
I'm in my mid-30's so yeah, I'm a mature gamer allthough I don't act that way sometimes
---
Grammar nazi's. This one is for you.
I'd say LOTRO from the ones I've tried. EVE does too, but also has some huge wankers.
WoW even does if you find the right guild, but there the tards standout a ton.
I've been playing Lord of the Rings Online lately, that seems to have a much more mature community, if by mature you mean "nobody shouting stuff like DIRGE in public chat" anyway.
I'm enjoying the game a lot more than wow anyway. the pve is more interesting, as the story and the imersive world really help there. PVP is completely optional, but sometimes fun for a bit, even though I'm useless at it.
I'd say it's at least worth trying some time anyway.
------------------------------
Currently playing: Rift
former player of: DAoC, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, SWG (pre-NGE), WoW, Warhammer online, LotR:O
Use a chat filter that excludes messages containing words like plz, Chuck, boost, Dirge etc, It works extremely well!
I'm sorry but you're mistaken.
Stagnation and disinterest might make a community appear more mature, but the reality is the players are less involved and less inspired to interact with each other. So while you think the communities of these other games are more mature, they are merely dulled. There's an unmistakable sense of life and activity in WoW that has is reminiscent only of games like EQ1 and UO in their hey-day.
Nothing else out there at the moment offers that community experience. Yet this fact is ignored by people who for entirely irrational reasons choose to label the millions of people that play WoW as a single immature entity.
This is simply wrong, and anyone who might consider themselves capable of reasoned debate, playing the devil's advocate would understand that there is no genetic trait in people to gravitate towards certain kinds of MMORPGs. The so-called maturity you are witnessing is the dilution of the human condition through poor game design.
SOE and Turbine are not established game developers, they're companies with enough resources to build these games... but only Blizzard among the many game developers are actually *true* games developers. And until Bethesda and Bioware come on board, Blizzard remain the only veteran game developer to enter the MMORPG space and it's no coincidence that WoW is the most successful by a gigantic margain.
(Guildwars doesn't count in this discussion because it's not an MMORPG as it's own developers have stated, but I digress...)
I contest that these communities are not more mature in any way shape or form, but are wholly inferior to WoW which has a greater sense of excitement and a more brilliant expression of a sense of community.
Take the OP, he's 50 years old, he's looking for games that cater for a more mature audience.. but he's been playing WoW for years... and there are many others like him. Unfortunately for him, there is no other game that can hope to compare with the experience WoW can offer.
Some of you will be compelled to disagree strongly. If you're going to do so apply some logic to your counterarguments, and if I don't reply to your replies it's because what you've written isn't worth replying to. That said, I look forward to seeing what more enlightened folks have to say, because I'm amused by the fact that self-proclaimed mature gamers think that they are somehow intellectually superior to the multi-faceted communities that WoW has to offer.
It's a game played by millions, many of those people exactly like yourselves and I. You are not above them, more mature than them or less so. You ARE one of them you have just aligned yourself to this ridiculous belief that a game determines how mature you are.
And why do people associate crafting with maturity? This is one of those utterly bizzare things I see 'veterans' do between sessions of bemoaning the state of MMORPGS today and anticipating the next MMORPG release. I can sift through trolls throwing jealous balls of dirt at WoW all day, but what truly astounds me is how seemingly intelligent people can get caught up in this anti-WoW sentiment and allow it to cloud their judgement.
I played WoW too, I won't judge the game per se as it's off topic but the community and how Blizzard deals (doesn't actually) with it, Lord gracious...
I remember the last time I logged on just before my sub's end, first thing I met was a dude riding a polar bear and the bear was wearing googles and had a murloc sitting on its head waving a small Blizzard flag. How retarded is that... He rode around erratically, certainly proud to show everyone his monstrous mount. Then PMed me begging for money...
Then I was with both my characters in Stormwind and Undercity and here you go again: gold spam every 3 minutes, bad spelling, broken sentences, sms texts, abbreviations, nonsense, improper use of channels, insults, sex topics, Chuck Norris jokes, moms jokes, threats, caps lock, etc etc etc
Don't say you have a good experience with WoW's community or you just interacted as few as possible, ignored massively people and kept only to chosen friends to avoid bad apples. It's more like large rotten orchards in WoW. But you can't just avoid the terrible chats and what's the point of a mmorpg without random communication?
Talking about reports I'm still pissed off that Blizzard don't hire GMs or they are invisible, or generating automatic bullshit answers 3 hours after a question in my ingame mailbox even after emergency questions like people hacking the guild chat, and don't monitor channels because obviously according to their own rules, someone is misbehaving every 2 minutes in capital cities. They make like a billion dollars a year or more, why can't they state once and for all that people must behave in channels and implement their own rules? Can you imagine any school's playground where kids would behave worse than there?
As for RP dedicated servers, they are a joke, I was there 3 weeks with a better playerbase sure, but retards lacking attention still abusing regularly channels, not respecting RP basics, and other players telling them to shut up, no GM intervening and forcing the implementation of their own (fuzzy) RP rules.
I'm not saying you can't meet nice people, I did, but it was still a painful experience with all the retards and hooligans on the loose, so Recant keep believing in your wonderful bustling mature community (it's actually more a "playerbase" than a "community"), I know what I've seen and read there, and I'm back from hell.
I'm approaching 30 this year, and I've mosty been playing WoW over the last four years. There have been a couple of reasons for this: most of my friends play it, my partner plays it and some family members play it. That's not to say I've not played other MMOs - I started out on Horizons: Empire of Istaria and have tried LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, AoC and others on the way. As others have already mentioned, WoW depends heavily on the people you're playing with much more than the actual game content.
Lately though, my MMO gaming has consisted of treating a game as a single player RPG with an IRC chatbox that gets largely ignored. I guess that's why my online time has decreased and the time I'm spending in games like Fable II, Fallout 3 or even Chrono Trigger on the DS has increased. Whether it's being jaded with the whole high-fantasy setting or just bored with the mechanic, I'm not sure. Suffice it to say though, I'm watching some games currently in development with keen interest. Aion and SW:TOR are both on my watchlist at the moment.
So there you have it - still playing WoW, all be it reduced. Catching up on some traditional style RPGs and waiting for something shiny and new to meet my needs.
Currently playing: WildStar, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Vain Glory.
I know my guild in EQ has at least 3 doctors, 2 lawyers, and 10 or more retired military (which includes myself, one of the guild leaders, and half the officers).
I also play EQ2 with my family for a more relaxed enviroment and enjoy Vanguard. WoW, I cannot stand, though my youngest daughter enjoys it.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
Try, Vanguard, it has challenging game content and the most robust tradeskill sub-game I have ever seen.
The downside is a small community, but they are friendly, mature, and willing to help new players.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
Would agree on EQ2 , Vanguard or LotR.. all are fun and good people.. some said CoX < CoH/CoV> me and wife did this for about 6 months, was great fun and great people too. then left.. but was good times..
EQ2 Test ftw
in my experience, i would say EQ2, Vanguard, maybe LOTRO, i've heard Eve is 'matture' and in the 11million people you are able to find a mature guild or 14
as someone else said... with the amount of trials available, dabble until you find the community that sticks for you
and find what you like.....
"We aren't going to ... Period. End of statement."
ya. ok. whatever.
but what do i know, i'm only a vanbois i'm told.
My experience with MMOs is that the LARGER the population.....the more jerks can be found. The smaller the MMO, the nicer the people. Apparently asshats aren't as attracted to games that they don't have a LARGE audience in for their "asshattery," pure and simple.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Doesn't help that in larger populations they have a tendancy to group together to cause gleefull agony to anyone that enters within the range of their chat box. But I do agree without an audience there is nothing left to do but play the game, and that is not why these people are here.
"Horse eating... a fire hydrant... the hell?" - Dan