Topic

Renamed: Food For Thought -- Age?

Did you miss me??  I'm back with the internet finally.  And I have some Food For Thought about Age.

So people always say age is just a number, and while there may be the occasional person who is advanced or matured well beyond their age, typically humans are at similar developmental stages at certain ages of their lives.  As seen by a post by Misha I believe, we have quite a range of ages in this game.

One thing that makes this game so unique is the relaxed style of play.  When I played World of Warcraft there was also quite a range of ages, but in that game age was no where near as important as skill.  This game is based so heavily on a social aspect and so I wonder what your thoughts are about how varying ages impact the game.

The thing that made me start thinking about this is when I was sending out/leaving out invites for everyone to one of the EoT parties and noticed that several of the older players were ones who had a pretty negative response, and I thought maybe its because we are at different stages in our lives possibly.  I still love to do the crazy partying while some people prefer a more calm version or have "been there done that".  Or perhaps old people are just always crabby :)

Anyways, anyone notice any other instances where it seems like age impacted the game in some way?

Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Honestly, I think it is all just broad generalizations. Im the online world, I have never seen and strong pattern in age and behavior.
    Posted 16 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Really?  I have definitely noticed a difference with interactions of younger players, and I'm sure some of the players older than me have the same thoughts about me at times too
    Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm not so old (depending on how you view age - in my mid 30's), and crabby. 
    But I try (don't always succeed)  not to let a game or anything in it get me crabby.  
    I figure there's enough stuff in the real world that makes me crabby, I don't want my escape from reality making me crabbier, otherwise it's not much of an escape.   
    I don't really pay much attention to age in Glitch. Unless someone makes a point of telling me their age, gender or colour, they're not things that have ever interested me in the gaming worlds. If I was looking for a date, then sure, I'd want to know all kinds of things, but in a game... not so much. 
    You could be 12, you could be 92, doesn't matter to me in the slightest. 
    I think anyone at any age can have any personality. That's the beauty of the online gaming world to me, it's made up of personalities rather than age groups.
    Posted 16 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm middle aged, and always crabby...however, I know Brib Annie, (who is much more mature age wise than me - sorry to dime you out, my dear), is the sweetest, nicest, happiest and most positive player I know...and I think she's a party animal too... ;)

    I'm just rather anti-social...which, yes, is odd to be playing a 'social' game...but I come here for my small group of friends that I enjoy spending time with virtually...while I may have a lot on my friends list, I only regularly socialize with 10 or less in game...

    I think it might be more about maturity than age in how we play the game...and more about RL experiences than age that affect how we interact.
    Posted 16 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The youngest in my friends list is 10 years old, but I hardly notice anything different in her gameplay. She is a polite houseguest and every time we meet she asks if I need anything. But our conversations are very different from the ones I have with my older Glitchy friends, because, well, she's a child. I'm just glad her English isn't that good and she didn't notice the names of my piggies.... "Captain Hammer" & "the hammer is his penis" :)
    Posted 16 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think you're attributing personality to perceived age. I could turn around and state that I've never had any of those crabby old people steal items from my feet while I was sorting through my bags; perhaps it's a young persons gig to take your items then curse at you when you ask for them back. Come to think of it I've never seen any of those crabby old people dismantling projects at Plexus either while I've seen several instances of young folk taking whatever they want whenever they feel like it.

    Old people are crabby while young people are thieving hooligans with no manners. Both are generalizations. If you're crabby I'll lift you up and hopefully make you feel better. If you are unsure of what to do I'll be patient and try to share the knowledge I've gained with you. But I won't lump you into any sort of preconceived notion of how you will act based solely upon your age.
    Posted 16 months ago by malo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Of course not all young people are going to steal and not all old people are crabby, but there would be no such thing as Psychology, Child Development, or Human Development (all are major courses of study at my college) if there weren't a MAJOR trend in how people at certain ages behave.

    Just in the past 5 years of my life I have noticed a huge difference in my maturity levels, and I still have a way to go.  One of the girls I was living with last year was 3 years younger than me and my other roomies, and just those 3 years made a major major difference in how she behaved compared with us who were a little older.

    I think that not every player will fit a mold, but like I said there are major developmental peaks in a lifetime that people tend to go through (ex: terrible twos, teenage rebellion, etc) and since this game is highly based on community and social aspects I feel it could have an impact that I have noticed on several occasions, but its not been a major aspect of the game, just a little sidenote
    Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think what malo means is that you perceive the ill-behaved, name-calling players as young and the crabby ones as old. I know I do.
    Posted 16 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think you guys are missing the point I am trying to make.  It's less to do with particular behaviors (name calling or crabbiness or thievery) and more to do with just a lack of world experience both in the real world and in the game world as well.

    There is bound to be differences between people who have 50 years of experiences to base their actions on and people who only have 15 years of experiences
    Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just as Colbert doesn't see race, I don't see age in online games. I generally group people into three categories online: people I like, people I don't know, and people I don't like. I've met online gamers who were in their early teens that were hilarious and fun, and I've met 50 year old greifers (ended up kicking him from the guild). Part of the greatness of online interaction is that everyone is anonymous, and starts out on equal footing. Where they go from there (a helper, a loner, a jerk) is up to them, it doesn't matter what the age is.
    Posted 16 months ago by Skwid Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Do you know, I have no idea how old other players are in the game...  however some people are born middle aged and some others are always in touch with their inner child. Also, some people are polite and well mannered and some people aren't, I honestly don't think age has much to do with it.
    Posted 16 months ago by Momo McGlitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you, Victoria. It's true. I think we all can be guilty of buying into stereotypes at times. I have a problem with over-generalization.

    Re: age/maturity:

    It's not the age so much as what happens to you as an individual at a certain age. Abuse and trauma will arrest your development at the age when those events happen. You will be stuck and will not mature beyond that point. We recognize fifteen stages of emotional abuse, alone. Factor in whether you have had a shame-based or guilt-based upbringing, sexual abuse, death of loved ones, physical abuse, et al, and you can see that we all are subject to some sort of issues which need to be addressed if we are to achieve what Erickson labeled as our "integrity" stage of development.

     
    Posted 16 months ago by malo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have two questions:

    1. How does one define "older"?  I know my benchmark for it keeps mysteriously getting higher...can't understand why it does that...:P

    2. How can you tell the age of the person behind the avatar, I mean unless they announce it to you or you read/overhear it somewhere?  I have had several players be very surprised at my actual age, and I have made a similar mistake many times with other players...
    Posted 16 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nanookie, I had the same thought about gender. Somehow I perceive players as male/female, based on their name or their opinions. And sometimes I'm very wrong... Reminds me of how silly it is.
    Posted 16 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nanookie: older just means older than me (I just turned 24).  Also, Misha had a forum where people were listing their age, so I know some peoples ages based on that, although I forget most people.

    Victoria: I agree about gender!!  It's been so hard to determine gender of Glitches because the Glitches themselves are pretty a sexual and sometimes its hard to tell but also the Glitch usernames sometimes throw me off
    Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "There is bound to be differences between people who have 50 years of experiences to base their actions on and people who only have 15 years of experiences."

    Okay. Sure.

    In broad generalizations, a younger person has a excitement and enthusiasm over everything. Everything is fresh and new to them. They don't know something has been done 1000 times before so aren't cynical about them. There enthusiasm can be infectious. They also take things more personally. When they present an idea or activity or whatever that they think is AWESOME, they desire the approval of others. And if they don't get it (by being either ignored or told brusquely that someone isn't interested), they react strongly. Also often lack the skills to communicate their feelings/thoughts in a clear manner that does not become personal.

    And older person has seen more and is less easily impressed. When they do see a new idea, they appreciate it even more. They are less likely to care what others think of them and just want to live the way they want to live. Are more likely to live and let live. Can be hard to change their opinions. They can often express their feelings clearly and honestly and, sometimes brutally, and then just walk away. That can seem like a holier than thou attitude, and sometimes it is, but is often just that they don't feel a need to waste their time.

    But I don't see where these "observations" gets on in a social online game. Yes, the study of patterns in age groups is important... but for dealing with large groups. For one-on-one interactions, it is much less important. Actually it should be important at all. MAYBE, as a way of developing more empathy and understanding the point of view of another individual. "Ah. Yes. I get where they are coming from. They're 21 and just figuring out who they are." "Ah. Yes. I get where they are coming from. They're 61 and are more set in their ways." But it is person's actions and ability to communicate that I find important in an online medium.

    Because we strip away all the superficial things here (age, sex, race, looks, even physical mannerisms and the pitch of their voice), we are left with four things:
    • The name they choose.
    • How they design and dress their avatar.
    • How they interact with other and their actions.
    • How clearly they communicate.

    The first two only affect me for a short period. (I'll be honest, I have a dislike of non-capitized names or random capitalization, but that's my thing and only affects me for a second.) The third is most important. The fourth is because someone who is often misunderstood is hard to interact with over any length of time.
    Posted 16 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think part of the fun when talking to people online is finding out how old they are after you've talked to them for a while. a lot (not saying all) of people make age judgements online. I assume everyone I meet is around my age, and go from there.

    Having said that, I agree with malo and momo. it's not so much age as personality and upbringing. You may have been taught to be polite and courteous, and are so at the age of 12. You might have been given too much freedom as a child and immaturity stayed well into your adult years. I also think maturity depends on mood: sometimes you want to be compassionate and friendly, other times you are in a bad mood and snap at people, and other times you want to be silly.

    I told myself after that one thread I would stay away from posting my thoughts on serious subjects, but I don't think you are trying to be controversial; I understand where you are coming from. I'm just saying that age is rarely an issue.
    Posted 16 months ago by bored no more Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Lord Bacon-o:  The reason I was mentioning it is because we are all existing in a world that is user-editable.  So this can cause a lot of problems between people who may be more self-involved or players who take into consideration the overall picture more or players who just prefer to be completely self sufficient or players who want to be fast paced.  I think age plays a big role in these aspects of the game.  Your experiences determine so much of who you are (nature vs nurture). 

    I know a lot more than just age impacts this, but as someone who is a psych minor and very interested in childhood development it is interesting to think about for me and see overall trends if they are occurring.
    Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • bored: I'm not trying to make a serious subject or a debate, I'm just interested to hear if people think age affects gameplay at all.

    DISCLAIMER:  this thread is intended to just be open to hearing other peoples ideas, not anything serious and certainly not a debate about "generalizations" or "stereotypes". 
    Posted 16 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ah.
    Then I go back to my original point: Not a lot. It has more to do with folks experiences with other games and, yes, life... but less to to with the length of life. That has been my observation.
    Posted 16 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes, I too am more for it's about the individual personality.

    Sure you can sometimes tell if someone is either very young or quite mature from some things they might say or refer to.  Funny thing is, since I have been playing Glitch, given that it has a much broader age demograph than some other games I've played, I am finding myself relating far more easily to people of all ages as opposed to a particular age bracket. To that I say, it's a testament to the game and the people in it ;-)
    Posted 16 months ago by ♥joby♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like that the game doesn't necessarily reveal who the RL player is. A few conversations I had with younger players in another game ended up with surprise (on both sides) when after several minutes chat, the conversation swung round to school and homework and I had to confess my homework days were over! Really I find it's only when favourite teachers and grandchildren crop up in conversation that the ages of the players are revealed. 

    I enjoy mixing things up a little, on the age and gender front. I don't hide my gender but it's fun to run around with a hairy chest. I found the censor bar a wee bit embarrassing to wear though, whether that's my age, my upbringing or nationality to blame I don't know!
    Posted 16 months ago by Momo McGlitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • As a former psychology major and computer programmer, I'm fascinated by the changes to "identity" that the internet has wrought. As a middle-aged woman, I remember when our identities were much less fragmented, changing primarily with the company we kept. 

    Those of us who "live" in cyberspace may have numerous identities, depending on the game community, forum community, etc. This can allow us to present ourselves in several, distinctly different ways; this capacity may also reward us with the experience of broader personal and creative expression. At the core, we are who we are, and I believe that as trust is built within an online community, we tend to show this core self in our interactions. My grandmother, in her mid-nineties, told me, "It's the strangest thing. I still feel like I did when I was just 18." 

    In our online lives, we are given the capacity to be perceived as who we are, without the pre-judgement that our exterior trappings might elicit. This can empower those of us who are normally shy, or it can disguise those who have ill intent. This extra layer of "shielding" can ultimately free us, or confuse the course of conversations, depending on our ability to communicate.

    I am middle-aged, and yet I'm still my enthusiastic, excited self who lives to develop my sense of wonder above most else. Life experiences have both grown me and taken their toll, but in an instant I can still become giddy, silly, excited, caught up in joy and love of community. I'm generally less cynical, more tolerant, and less judgmental than young people I know. Little of any of this has to do with my age, but with who I am. This is the self I hope my online friends will know, and I wish not to be bound by perceptions of my physical age.
    Posted 16 months ago by Widdershins Subscriber! | Permalink
  • hear hear widdershins!
    Posted 16 months ago by Momo McGlitch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @widdershins, super, thoughful post! ;-)
    Posted 16 months ago by ♥joby♥ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you go by behavior there are many "mature" players at Glitch even though in years some of them are fairly young.  We also have "children" who are getting up in age.  One of the interesting aspects about the internet is that sometimes you can observe the "true ages" of people - LOL!

    I have discovered that one or two people I thought were much older are, in fact, teens.  This was a pleasant surprise!  OTOH, one or two that I suspected might be in their early teens are, in fact, a good bit older.

    I have had very few problems with anyone no matter their virtual or real age.  Very "young" folks seldom last long in an MMO or on a social network so if you are bothered just ignore and wait.  They will either leave or begin to ignore you too.

    I got "old" a year or two ago.  I am of a "mature" physical age though my mental and emotional ages vary greatly.  Physically I just feel "old".  Sometimes it shows, sometimes not.  I am old enough to let most things roll off my back, been there, done that.  I have few "new" experiences on the Web or in "Real" life.  I am sensitive to some things and, I admit, have been hurt emotionally on occasion.  That is my more immature side showing because I do know better than to let things get to me like that (my mature side).

    I am having a wonderful time here.  I have never been a social person.  I was the only child of an Air Force noncom (career for 30 yrs.!) and a Southern Belle.  We moved a few times and traveled a good bit so I had little socialization.  I have never been a "party person", don't really know what to do at a party, but I do enjoy them here.  There is something about an Avatar that allows me to try and do new things, things I'd never do in RL.  I am having a wonderful time because of that and I thank you all for helping me show all of my Ages a good time!
    Posted 16 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hooray for being back with the internets!

    I don't know if it's really an age thing, or an experience thing. Yeah, on average an older person will have more experience with life in general than a younger person, but I've known 15-year-olds who were "older" than people twice (or even three times, gah) their age simply by virtue of the life each of them had lived thus far.

    Vaguely related example: I was 19 and working at Starbucks, paying my own way, doing my own thing since my soph-junior year of HS. My manager was 34, still lived at home, her mom cleaned her room and did laundry for her. Vastly different lives, vastly different experiences. (When she asked me if I'd ever "let a boy kiss (me) on a first date", it was all I could do not to stick my head into a sink of dishes so I could laugh underwater hysterically.)

    I can't think of any specific instances in-game where I could identify age as a contributing factor. And I don't really think it matters too much... I mean, if you're generally a jerk, you're generally a jerk, and if you're generally nice, you're generally nice, whether you're 17 or 70.

    I'm curmudgeonly, but I like to squee over squeeful things. I act stupid, I act serious, and it doesn't always "make sense" when I do either. I am not a number! I am a free man!
    Posted 16 months ago by Jennyanydots Subscriber! | Permalink
  • you're a man!?
    *plotzes*
    Posted 16 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
    “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
    “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master that’s all.”
    Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. “They’ve a temper, some of them—particularly verbs, they’re the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That’s what I say!”
    Posted 16 months ago by Jennyanydots Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 for the best use of Lewis Carroll I've seen in a long time
    Posted 16 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • <3 you, Jennymannydots.
    Posted 16 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1, ditto what his lordship said.
    Posted 16 months ago by Arii Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I guess I don't think about people's ages that much. Well-behaved people are sometimes in their teens or in their sixties. Jerks can be kids or grown-ups who should know better. I've never been able to predict how someone was going to act just from knowing his/her age, nor have I ever been able to guess someone's age purely on actions.

    As for generalizations... IN THE REAL WORLD, as I've gotten older (though I'm not old!!), stuff rolls off my back more, and I have observed this in others. HOWEVER, ONLINE, I've found that no matter how old I or anyone else gets, when someone is wrong on the internet, we all act the same!

    My thought food!
    Posted 16 months ago by Heyoheya Subscriber! | Permalink