Age should not matter!

[subrosian]

Start your own kids only guild and pwn all the old farts.

 

Y'know, its kind of funny, I kept expecting this to happen when I played pro MTG, because we came in as kids and dominated... but oddly enough the pro crowd keeps getting older while the new generation has been surprisingly weak by comparisson.

 

I think the "problem" is that the physical limitations of age are far, far less felt in gaming. A 50-year old gamer is not significantly slower in an MMO than a 15-year old. Its not "twitchy". You actually see something similar in cycling, its dominated by 30 year olds because technique, discipline and experience matter more than young muscle.

 

The current generation of 20 and 30 something gamers grew up playing MMOs, so we have a vast experiental advantage over younger gamers.

 

For the OP.

 

13-year olds are a liability for a few reasons. First of all, most players your age are bad. Don't take that personally, you might be good, but the stereotype of your age is that you are impatient and unlikely to take advice on improving your play.

 

The second issue with impatience is that young gamers tend to be annoying with regard to doing stuff. We all are older and do this as a hobby, so we might delay a PVP queue for someone to check the laundry, or raid late because someone has work.

 

The third issue is reliability. Sure older gamers miss raids, but they tend to know in advance and be prompt in getting it worked out. You never hear about older gamers just dropping off the face of the earth for a week because mom took the internet away.

 

And the final issue is that every 13-year old claims to be the exception which has made most of us jaded. You may really be a totally with it, calm, organized and pleasant person, but all the baddies who have come before you told us the same thing. So you don't get the benefit of the doubt unless we already know you, friend, family member, etc...

 

I know thats rough to hear and not totally fair, but if you work at your toon and relax and enjoy the game rather than try to force yourself on a guild, the guilds will come to you.

Edited March 12, 2012 by subrosian

[Cbrinegar]

My 7 year old loves playing and is in the same guild as me, now granted he doesnt raid, and i feel sorry for his op mates in WZ's but he plays solely for the social aspect of the game, he loves making "friends" ..now granted his friends dont understand why he follows them or invites them to groups ALL the time, but i try to explain to them that hes only 7, as far as GU talk, he doesnt see it ...morale of the story, just keep trying Edited March 12, 2012 by Cbrinegar

[JaxinRiens]

Few things on these from personal experience.

 

1) Learn to type proper English.

This is a given. But this goes for any age.

 

2) Never state your age.

This can lead to problems, people like to fill in the blanks for things they don't know from personal experience this can lead to problems. I have a deep voice, especially uncommon when I was 14-15. this lead to people assuming my age was closer to 40 than 15. which lead to some friendships being strained when it came time to tell the truth.

 

3) Claim you have a headset but no mic.

Thin, but doable. Better to claim you just don't like talking.

 

4) Use "my boss" or "my job" to excuse unavailability instead of "my mom."

Doable also until they give you the question "what do you do?"

 

5) Age 5 years.

Only real remedy.

Edited March 12, 2012 by JaxinRiens

[Lunazen]

I don't care how old you are. If someone asks your age, you don't have to tell them. You are your character in game. Any personal info you choose to share is a bonus. No one has the right to that info imo.

 

We've had all ages in our guilds. Some adults I thought were kids and vice versa. Age shouldn't matter as much as maturity.

[mystbladex]

That is why my guild and all guilds I have every been in raid at night, with me being on the west coast on a east coast server, during the middle of the week, and only on school nights!!!

 

Acutally fun and true story, we did have a kid that was really good, however, I think he was 15, anyways at the time we were not deep at all in Tanks and our off tank was really not a tank, a freshly converted tank thats never tanked much, so we were thin to start.

 

So the kid gets grounded for whatever reason and his parents turn off the internet for 2 weeks. Hence he kept us from making progress and just farmed what we could.

 

We could of kicked him found someone else, but we did not.

 

It is just the nature of the beast, so the times I do raid, I avoid 99% of that but sometimes a kid slips in and is probally playing when he should not be.

 

 

All that being said, if you are a kid and good at the game then I do not really care, but as a kid I know you can not promise that you will never --

 

1) get in trouble with your parents

2) grounded

3) parents lose job and do not pay the internet bill

4) parents do not want to pay the 15.00 a month anymore

5) can't raid today, gotta study or catch up on homework, a book report is due

 

 

It is countless the things a "kid" can keep them off the computer. I know because, (shock value) I was a kid once.

 

I remember being grounded from loggin on to Ultima Online but I was a wee lad at 16 with a AOL pay per Hour dial up service.

 

I have doubled my age since then and only to remember ohh what it was like if the time was reversed and I was playing SWTOR at 16

[Kungpaoshizi]

1) Learn to type proper English.

 

2) Never state your age.

 

3) Claim you have a headset but no mic.

 

4) Use "my boss" or "my job" to excuse unavailability instead of "my mom."

 

5) Age 5 years.

 

Not sure what the 5 years thing is about, but ya +1

 

Don't tell anyone your age, it does not help...

[Silthir]

Few things on these from personal experience.

 

1) Learn to type proper English.

This is a given. But this goes for any age.

 

He said that English isn't his native language, so he may play on a non-English server. Consider that before telling him he needs better English.

 

2) Never state your age.

This can lead to problems, people like to fill in the blanks for things they don't know from personal experience this can lead to problems. I have a deep voice, especially uncommon when I was 14-15. this lead to people assuming my age was closer to 40 than 15. which lead to some friendships being strained when it came time to tell the truth.

 

You never "had" to tell the truth about your age. Age is simply a number that should be irrelevant to MMOs. I'm 20, big woop. I know some 14 year olds who are good MMO players. Some are in my guild. I don't care, as long as they do their job right.

 

3) Claim you have a headset but no mic.

Thin, but doable. Better to claim you just don't like talking.

 

Personally, I fail to see the point of even needing a headset or a mic when most Guild Vents only allow a certain amount of players to use it. Unless you're a hard core raider/PVP then really you shouldn't be wasting space in Vent...

 

4) Use "my boss" or "my job" to excuse unavailability instead of "my mom."

Doable also until they give you the question "what do you do?"

 

Actually instead of saying "my boss" or "my job" you could just say you have some homework. College students play the game too, I'm one of them.

 

5) Age 5 years.

Only real remedy.

 

Not really, you can't fastforward your age. Though I'm sure a lot of people would like to. Besides when I was thirteen I met some other thirteen year olds that were far more mature than several 35-40 year olds my parents knew...

Edited March 12, 2012 by Silthir

[GodsRevenger]

no offence, but your post alone displays a level of immaturity that I would not want to deal with.

 

 

you don't see 20+ year olds hangin out with 13 year olds, same concept in game.

[Sinngin]

Start your own kids only guild and pwn all the old farts.

 

Haha! Great idea...

 

you can use my son too, he is 13 and is able to play the game better than I can!

[sith_lukas]

Age does not matter in my opinion, in a way.

If you act as a mature and respectful person.

But still with age comes experience in things like these, mostly.

You can still encounter 36 year-old "kid".

It's the way you act that's important, and lying is a part of that.

But opinions always differ, don't they?

[Ferkles]

Likewise I don't think that age shouldn't matter. I know age doesn't always equate to maturity, but frankly a developed adult has far less hormones raging about his system. Ever since a 14 year old rage disbanded his guild and deleted all his characters for a reroll (for a second time no less) just because he had a disagreement with someone, I've been wary of the young ones.

 

On a technical aside, motor skills improve with age until around 20, and begin to degrade around 30s or so. Also, you have a furthered education, so you're better conditioned to accepting information rather than arguing the damn toss, which 13 year-olds and around about are very bad with.

[Skodan]

LIE!!

 

anytime you have to get off, say its your wife/husband/child/job/etc.

 

there isnt a way for them to check it anyway

[Lunazen]

no offence, but your post alone displays a level of immaturity that I would not want to deal with.

 

 

you don't see 20+ year olds hangin out with 13 year olds, same concept in game.

 

 

 

How was his post immature?

 

 

Regarding your last statement, you don't often see a lot of 20 year olds hanging out with 40 year olds, but that happens in SWTOR all the time.

 

Bottom line OP, they don't need to know your age. If they ask and press and nag, leave the guild. Your personal information is not theirs to know.

[ScarletBlaze]

LIE!!

 

anytime you have to get off, say its your wife/husband/child/job/etc.

 

there isnt a way for them to check it anyway

 

Lies have a way of being found out and if you lie to a guild in the beginning and they find out (and 95% of the time they will) that is almost guaranteed a reason to be kicked from the guild.

 

I will kick someone out of the guild faster if they lie to me more so than on an age. If you can't be truthful in the beginning, there is no way I will trust you on any raids, etc.

[JaxinRiens]

He said that English isn't his native language, so he may play on a non-English server. Consider that before telling him he needs better English.

 

 

English is the common trade language of the world. I speak german, some french, and some japanese, In a global centric economy there exist no reason not to learn english.

 

You never "had" to tell the truth about your age. Age is simply a number that should be irrelevant to MMOs. I'm 20, big woop. I know some 14 year olds who are good MMO players. Some are in my guild. I don't care, as long as they do their job right.

Yes i did, as i said this led to issues. sometimes ingame friendships transcend the game or carry on to other games. its hard to be friends with someone if you are lying to them and a lie of omission is still a lie and can lead to a breach of trust. There is nothing wrong with being younger, there is everything wrong with lying.

 

 

 

Personally, I fail to see the point of even needing a headset or a mic when most Guild Vents only allow a certain amount of players to use it. Unless you're a hard core raider/PVP then really you shouldn't be wasting space in Vent...

 

Yeah you're right, because text based communication is so great for pvp, or raid strategies.... this tells me you are the type of player that i would never want in my guild and also leads me to believe that the "i'm 20 big woop " statement was infact a lie.

 

 

Actually instead of saying "my boss" or "my job" you could just say you have some homework. College students play the game too, I'm one of them.

What school? And what are you studying? ANY time you lie and have to layer it its a problem. The stigma also applies to college kids as well.

 

 

Not really, you can't fastforward your age. Though I'm sure a lot of people would like to. Besides when I was thirteen I met some other thirteen year olds that were far more mature than several 35-40 year olds my parents knew...

This wasn't about fast forwarding, this was about growing older in other words the only way you can truly fix the problem of "you are too young" is to in fact not be young.

 

My response is in yellow.

[PeterSith]

There are a lot of immature kiddie players out there who think they know it all but one day a planet will fall upon their heads.

[Txasbountyhunter]

I don't ever post on these forums, but I will this one time because this is an issue I also have a problem with.

 

I'm a teenager. I get why some people think that teenagers are snobby, whiny brats -- because A LOT of them are. But it's really frustrating when people stereotype you simply because of your age.

 

I applied to join a guild, and it was my first time ever applying to one. My application was well-written, legible, and (at least I thought) mature. I really wanted to be in this guild. However, when I mentioned my age, they completely shut me down. They told me it was because of my age. No other reason.

 

I get that many guilds want a good group of players with whom they can enjoy the game. They have a right to refuse to let certain people into their guild. However, I feel they should have a good reason for doing so. It's not exactly fair to reject someone solely on account of their age. Age does not always mean maturity.

 

From now on, I suppose I'll just wait until I find that right guild. If they don't want me in their group because I'm younger than them, then they're not the right guild for me. Just my two cents.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Txasbountyhunter

[Morphiritus]

But I'm sorry to say AGE does matter, Your in a different world than older people. Your jokes make no sense to older people. This FAIL stuff is just dumb. Make your own guild for age folks and get on with life.

Your post is the reason you don't get invited. your not mature enough to even see the issue.

[Tehdame]

A few comments (not directed at any person, but in general due to the responses in thread):

 

--Age usually linked to maturity....Most of the time.. "younger" kids will need roll on everything...or Leroy...or have trouble taking advice or commands during raids.

 

--Guilds are supposed to be "similiar" minded players enjoying a game together.

If you start teaming/raiding with a guild, and I'm sure the age limits can be overlooked if you can prove yourself.

 

--Sometimes it takes server hopping to find the right crowd of people to make your gaming experience enjoyable.

[Dirtysolutions]

Obvius troll post.

 

But I cant resist either =) If your 13, you aint welcome in the guild im in. Your to young, and youre not supposed to be exposed for some things yet. Also Im 32, and the guild, guys I play with are arund late 20´s to 30+ - We dont want p12¨s and your mom certainly dont want you to!

And since were responsible adults, you would be "ginv denied" by default.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Dirtysolutions

[Jellison]

Small children should not be allowed to play this game. I am not stating that you are a small child as I do not know you in real life and would not know your current maturity level off these forums.

 

I've seen far too many little boys have their lunch money taken by trolls.

[gunnerforever]

I have a question about this. I'm adolescent and don't have the low voice yet, is there some way I could use vent without letting on I'm young? I'm a really, really good player, I'm mature and I'm very well geared. I also top all the pvp leaderboards with at least 7 medals on my scoundrel, but I really don't want to get judged on my age. Like could a voice changer work? Edited March 15, 2012 by gunnerforever

[Jellison]

But I'm sorry to say AGE does matter, Your in a different world than older people. Your jokes make no sense to older people. This FAIL stuff is just dumb. Make your own guild for age folks and get on with life.

Your post is the reason you don't get invited. your not mature enough to even see the issue.

 

Oh, the irony xD

 

Calling others immature while waving his epeen around.

[Eutoxis]

OP, hope you find a good guild that accepts you as you are, likeminded folks who fit your style.

 

That said, here are a few reasons why I as a player would tend to avoid playing with minors:

 

1. Past experiences. I've spent unpleasant amounts of time listening to a former guild leader's son whining about loot that dropped in a world boss kill he wasn't there for. And whining about loot in general, so incessantly that I may have even talked over him in vent because I eventually muted him in my own vent. It was tedious hinting to him repeatedly to cool it and hearing the whoosh as all hints went straight over his head.

 

2. Personality. I am not a minor, and I don't live a life that's ESRB rated for kids or teens. My language is salty, even raunchy at times. I don't care to deal with whining parents or with Chris Hansen. Also, I am childless by choice and conviction. I don't pay BW to be a babysitter in any way, shape, or form.

 

3. I have learned to spell "should not" D-O-E-S. Maybe age "should not" matter... but it does. In ways that won't be clear to you until you're on the other end. I thought as you did when I was on your end of the equation. Now that I'm on my end, I can see how annoying I was.

 

Again, best of luck finding a good guild and good people to game with.

[Stjerneskaar]

My son is almost 12 and the idea of him playing this game or any MMO is horrifying. He's a child...I don't let him have unsupervised access to the internet, let alone a multiplayer game where he'd be exposed to general chat in Dromund Kaas or Coruscant. *shudder* Once he's out of the house, on his own and mature enough to pay his own bills and for his own internet he can do what he wants. While he's under my roof, his internet access is policed heavily by myself and my husband.

 

My point is, no matter how good of a player you may be, OP, the fact is, TOR is not really a suitable environment for children as a general rule. While you may find it unfair that you cannot find a guild due to your age, I find it perfectly understandable. Most responsible adults are not going to want to expose a child to the 'adult flavored' atmosphere of their guild or feel like they need to watch their language or be careful of what they say due to a child being present.

 

Maybe you should look for guilds that are family friendly and that welcome all ages.

 

While I commend you on being an excellent example of a parent dealing with a child's exposure to undesirable content on the Internet, I think it's a bit harsh to limit a mid-to-late teenager from participating in MMOs, seeing as that age group is probably the one that is most likely to be excited over playing community-based games.

 

I just got the impression from your post that your kid would have to be 18 before he'd be allowed a copy of SWTOR or say Guild Wars 2 or whatever else would be on the market at that time. It's also unlikely he would put up with it if he really wanted to play, and would just go ahead and get a copy without your knowledge, particularly games that require no monthly subs or credit card verification.

 

There's no real effective way to prevent, but you can educate and prepare.

 

I think the OP is actually pretty well-spoken for a 13 year old and seems to know how to put his point across without appearing immature despite his age.

 

My own personal take on this issue is there are guild types out there for many different styles of play. Some require a PG 13 atmosphere in chat, vent, and all guild dealings. Some are for hardcore raiders, others for casuals, and some for people with crass humour, some that indulge in heavy innuendo particularly when raid leader is smashed out of his mind, etc. Whatever it is, there's a guild out there just perfect for you, you just have to sift through the haystack until you find the needle. And when you do, they'll be accepting of you, particularly if you fit their criteria for member.