Ageism in WoW: Too Old to Play?
Posted by 
Amatera on Friday, June 26, 2009 - 58 Comments Tags: PvP, World of Warcraft, age, ageism, maturity, mmo, old, playerbase, young
Amatera on Friday, June 26, 2009 - 58 Comments Tags: PvP, World of Warcraft, age, ageism, maturity, mmo, old, playerbase, young
Have you ever made fun of the Alliance for having to go to bed early, or being kicked off their computer by their mommy? Or dealt with someone who had a squeaky, barely pubescent voice on Ventrilo? Rejected someone from your guild for being under the age of 18? When I think of age discrimination in WoW, these are sort of my "go to" examples, but then I came across a post on the official forums that made me stop and scratch my chin. It was a badly-worded, not to mention obvious, attempt at trolling; something not worth recreating here. But it did turn the issue on its head and resulted in a heated firestorm all too typical of internet zeitgeists. Pulling from my dubious inspiration, I pose the question: are we too old to be playing this game?
From those of us who have just entered college to those of us who've earned tenure for teaching it so long, are we playing a game meant for tweens? For the zit-faced, brace-grinning stereotype that has represented the child-like "gamer" for decades?
Let me speak in simple terms: Most of the people I play with are in their mid-20s or older, some have wives or husbands, and just as many have kids. These are men and women with families and jobs and other obligations who nonetheless take a period of time out of their day to get online with a bunch of other yahoos from around the world to yak in guild chat or take on raid bosses.
The obvious answer, of course, is that you're never too old to play games. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that there are more people 18-and-older playing WoW than there are under. Though the research dates back to the game's launch period, Nick Yee's 2005 study posits that the average player age is 28.3, well above the legal standard of adulthood. And don't take online bloggers like Gaming Granny (50+, has probably played/tested more MMOs than you have) or Old Grandma Hardcore (73, mostly into console fare, but as into the hobby as they come) for granted.
Grandma Hardcore probably isn't the only retirement age gamer kicking your hairless tush out there.
They're the real deal and not to be trifled with! It goes to show that age is not the restriction, perception is.
Instead, there is another, deeper issue lurking just below the surface: why World of Warcraft? What power, what draw does it have on older generations of either lapsed gamers or those that have never touched a controller in their life?
WoW, for all of its hardcore playerbase, is probably one of the greatest casual gaming phenomenons this side of Nintendo's Wii. Now, that's being somewhat disingenuous, considering that some of the best and most experienced players I know are some of the ones I mentioned leading the family life, but let's face it: a good chunk of the game's 11.5 million+ subscribers fit snugly into the mold.
WarCraft has several things going for it. First, it's computer-based, which is instantly attractive to a population increasingly familiar with the way these machines work. Console gaming offers a more "closed" experience, but in doing so, divorces itself from overlapping with other daily activities like surfing the internet, typing e-mails, or doing grunt work at the office. It takes time to figure out the more complex aspects of WoW, but an active understanding of the keyboard and mouse makes easing into the control scheme a heck of a lot more managable.
In my travels around the internet, I've also found that older geeks, programmers, and technophiles tend to be hardcore computer gamers, sometimes at the total exclusion of their console bretheren.
Second, it's a replacement for a social life. It's a sad fact of reality that when you work as hard as most adults do, there's little time or desire to go and hang out with friends (assuming you actually have any you consider that close). Your WoW buddies, however, are always there. Both in- and out-of-game communication tools make it easy to hold conversations and the convenience of running a 5-man dungeon with a few pals often outweighs the effort needed to round up real-life acquaintances for a night on the town. World of Warcraft serves as a portal to a sort of social life not easily afforded to folks post-college.
And that's not even taking into consideration the latent competition aspects. After all, socializing is as much about contest as it is getting along. PvPing, or simply racing to the level cap with a friend, can be just as rewarding as playing a game of one-on-one basketball. For those adults unable to leave the house due to physical disabilities or family/spousal obligations, Warcraft can serve as a great substitute for scratching that competitive itch.
Third, it's a good distraction! With it's wealth of content and cheaper entry fee, WoW is a wonderful substitute for more traditional past-times like watching CBS' primetime lineup, and when you're not raiding, it doesn't make undue demands on your time. It's easy for people log on to chat or run a few dailies while they do house-chores or take care of the kids. And speaking of the younglings, playing Warcraft can be an excellent way to connect with your kids. That's right, questing together to replace tossing the ball back and forth in the front yard as the primary way for a dad to spend quality time with his son! Heard it here first!
When you add these three aspects to WoW's innate fun factor, it's not hard to see why more and more adults are turning to MMOs as a way to spend their free time. Ageism may be alive and well, but I believe there's absolutely nothing shameful in being an older player. There is nothing in the game's lore or content that suggests outright catering to a teen-specific crowd.
As for the younger people reading this? Showing just a little bit of respect can take you a long way with your gaming elders. After all, you don't magically become a mature adult on your 18th birthday, no matter what the government might think. In fact, I've played with many-a-married-couple who've stormed off and ragequit a guild for the silliest, most purile reasons. Certainly, age is only the basest of factors in determining who is capable of being a reasonable person!
Readers, do you agree or disagree? Have you ever encountered family members, co-workers, or other people your age that have questioned why you spend so much time playing "stupid computer games?" Ever caught lip from a younger player online? Or, quite simply, as an older individual, what about WoW has drawn you in so much? The discrimination works both ways, so younger players feel free to chime in with your own observations! But, let's try and keep it civil, OK?
From those of us who have just entered college to those of us who've earned tenure for teaching it so long, are we playing a game meant for tweens? For the zit-faced, brace-grinning stereotype that has represented the child-like "gamer" for decades?
Let me speak in simple terms: Most of the people I play with are in their mid-20s or older, some have wives or husbands, and just as many have kids. These are men and women with families and jobs and other obligations who nonetheless take a period of time out of their day to get online with a bunch of other yahoos from around the world to yak in guild chat or take on raid bosses.
The obvious answer, of course, is that you're never too old to play games. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that there are more people 18-and-older playing WoW than there are under. Though the research dates back to the game's launch period, Nick Yee's 2005 study posits that the average player age is 28.3, well above the legal standard of adulthood. And don't take online bloggers like Gaming Granny (50+, has probably played/tested more MMOs than you have) or Old Grandma Hardcore (73, mostly into console fare, but as into the hobby as they come) for granted.
Grandma Hardcore probably isn't the only retirement age gamer kicking your hairless tush out there.They're the real deal and not to be trifled with! It goes to show that age is not the restriction, perception is.
Instead, there is another, deeper issue lurking just below the surface: why World of Warcraft? What power, what draw does it have on older generations of either lapsed gamers or those that have never touched a controller in their life?
WoW, for all of its hardcore playerbase, is probably one of the greatest casual gaming phenomenons this side of Nintendo's Wii. Now, that's being somewhat disingenuous, considering that some of the best and most experienced players I know are some of the ones I mentioned leading the family life, but let's face it: a good chunk of the game's 11.5 million+ subscribers fit snugly into the mold.
WarCraft has several things going for it. First, it's computer-based, which is instantly attractive to a population increasingly familiar with the way these machines work. Console gaming offers a more "closed" experience, but in doing so, divorces itself from overlapping with other daily activities like surfing the internet, typing e-mails, or doing grunt work at the office. It takes time to figure out the more complex aspects of WoW, but an active understanding of the keyboard and mouse makes easing into the control scheme a heck of a lot more managable.
In my travels around the internet, I've also found that older geeks, programmers, and technophiles tend to be hardcore computer gamers, sometimes at the total exclusion of their console bretheren.
Second, it's a replacement for a social life. It's a sad fact of reality that when you work as hard as most adults do, there's little time or desire to go and hang out with friends (assuming you actually have any you consider that close). Your WoW buddies, however, are always there. Both in- and out-of-game communication tools make it easy to hold conversations and the convenience of running a 5-man dungeon with a few pals often outweighs the effort needed to round up real-life acquaintances for a night on the town. World of Warcraft serves as a portal to a sort of social life not easily afforded to folks post-college.
And that's not even taking into consideration the latent competition aspects. After all, socializing is as much about contest as it is getting along. PvPing, or simply racing to the level cap with a friend, can be just as rewarding as playing a game of one-on-one basketball. For those adults unable to leave the house due to physical disabilities or family/spousal obligations, Warcraft can serve as a great substitute for scratching that competitive itch.
Third, it's a good distraction! With it's wealth of content and cheaper entry fee, WoW is a wonderful substitute for more traditional past-times like watching CBS' primetime lineup, and when you're not raiding, it doesn't make undue demands on your time. It's easy for people log on to chat or run a few dailies while they do house-chores or take care of the kids. And speaking of the younglings, playing Warcraft can be an excellent way to connect with your kids. That's right, questing together to replace tossing the ball back and forth in the front yard as the primary way for a dad to spend quality time with his son! Heard it here first!
When you add these three aspects to WoW's innate fun factor, it's not hard to see why more and more adults are turning to MMOs as a way to spend their free time. Ageism may be alive and well, but I believe there's absolutely nothing shameful in being an older player. There is nothing in the game's lore or content that suggests outright catering to a teen-specific crowd.
As for the younger people reading this? Showing just a little bit of respect can take you a long way with your gaming elders. After all, you don't magically become a mature adult on your 18th birthday, no matter what the government might think. In fact, I've played with many-a-married-couple who've stormed off and ragequit a guild for the silliest, most purile reasons. Certainly, age is only the basest of factors in determining who is capable of being a reasonable person!
Readers, do you agree or disagree? Have you ever encountered family members, co-workers, or other people your age that have questioned why you spend so much time playing "stupid computer games?" Ever caught lip from a younger player online? Or, quite simply, as an older individual, what about WoW has drawn you in so much? The discrimination works both ways, so younger players feel free to chime in with your own observations! But, let's try and keep it civil, OK?
Reader Comments (58)
first :)
First
Second then`´-^-
your both idiots
yeh I asked an RL friend of mine "Do you see yourself playing WOW 20 years from now?" he said no, he said he'll either be playing a new VR system that's out by then or working as a game critic.
It all depends I guess, there comes a time when you're too busy for WOW that you end up not touching it anymore, Goggins come to mind :d
@ Lars & The man: :facepalm:
I believe your never to old to do anything as long as you don't endanger others. (for example, driving or performing a high risk job). I do believe, however, that you are to young for alot of things. And i'm speaking in a sence of maturity, not actual age restriction.
If you don't have the maturity necessary to behave yourself while interacting with others, then you can't expect to be taken serious.
Some kids that play wow are just to young to do it, they haven't lived long enough to properly behave themselfs socialy, and thats what an MMO is all about, social interaction. Some however have already developed enough social skills to be able to behave themselfs when interacting with others.
So to sum it up, when it comes to MMOs, i believe its all about how young your mind is, not your body.
I'm 26 and see this post as extremely condescending. It whines about the possibilities of ageism against older players and mocks and degrades younger ones, quite hypocritical. Younger people "give lip" to older ones yet older ones are magically more reasonable? An idiot is an idiot no matter the age, and many young people alive today are better human beings than those that were born before them.
You make the slightest of attempts to point out this fact but still make a post consisting mostly of ageism towards younger folks, especially your magnanimous allowance of youngsters to post in reply here but then demanding that they keep it civil when your post is pretty much screaming to be immaturely trolled off the interwebz.
I really don't think WoW should overtake a Dad spending
quality time with his son outside instead of in-game. It just
sounds wierd.
It is true that many older people play WoW, I feel that is because of the 15 dollar-a-month format. This game came out when I was about 13-14 and I didn't get to play until l was 18 because I didn't have a job to get the money to get a computer and have enough for the monthly fee. And in between that time I would play maple story. A free to play MMO, that population were kids because kids can't get credit cards to pay for 15 dollars a month so they decided to play a free MMO instead.
I feel that blizzard not only has the 15 dollar a month fee because they make a lot of money, but they also keep almost the entire population of runescape, free realms, Maple story, or some other high kid populated MMO, from coming into wow and harassing and discouraging the older/ mature players from playing Wow, Now when you do the math, Maple story, Runescape, and other free mmorpgs have more population, however because most of them are kids, they are always going to be on the prowl for the next MMO to play, so, instead of going for that audience that will become large and will be gone almost as quickly as it got popular.
blizzard has decided to go with a older, much more patient crowd who will stick to wow for a number of years, and let the population numbers grow steadily, to have a more guaranteed income. Even if the number are declining, which is a problem, Blizzard wants more chances to predict how the numbers are doing, and therefore will make more content to respond to dwindling numbers. Because making more content for rising numbers is just inefficient, and a waste of man hours/ money.
but I don't know I'm just making theories.
Oh, and this is a well written article, I think you are a great witter with good ideas that should try and influence other people who need inspiration badly, *cough* pixiestixy *cough*
well im 15 and i personally think no one is too young or old to play games, i mean its serious fun and who are we to say who plays and who doesn't ? i dont wanna be kicked out of a raid or guild just for been too old. if you wanna play the game you should play the game, no matter what anyone says.
Young and old is a state of mind not a date on the calendar. You are never too old to rock and roll, or to enjoy gaming.
"Ever caught lip from a younger player online?"
I define younger as anyone who lacks tact and class
minor relevant but slightly off topic rant incoming:
IT drives me up the WALL!, when I ask a question on trade and ppl take the time to respond with childish BS like 'fail'' or 'Nuub' or 'reroll' In the Fing time it takes to actually respond you could have just answered my freaking question. The golden rule people, try it just to see what happens. So if this happens to you, stay classy and attempt to reason with your 'fetal assailant' and remind them that you need a question answered then move on. Also, if someone asks a question in general or trade take the time to give them the correct information and not waste either one yours' time.
I'm 15 myself and have been kicked out of a guild because I was under 18. It had nothing to do with immaturity, because I was in the guild since charter-signing and one day after a bad PUG the Leader just decided to refuse anyone under 18. Because I was dumb enoug to point out that his MT (me) was jounger than that, he kicked me. A lot of members quitted to after that (He had made some bad calls earlier too) and we started a new guild.
I have never called anyone names, save for my RL friends and guildies who know I'm just kidding, have never caused real drama or did anything else that can be regarded as 'immature'. I do however am the clown of the guild, but nobody has ever made an complaint about it and if they would I would stop it.
Hey our house hold has all different age groups
30, 29, 9 (yes I know but he is great at farming mats), and 63. The rest of the family 13, 18, and 26 are the ages. Not to bad really.
I would venture to say why there are more players in the mid to late 20's range would be the age of Warcraft itself. I mean I am 25 and started with playing Warcraft 1 (1994) and have played every iteration since. Thus I have grown up with Warcraft.
I myself dont care if you are 9 or 90. If you want to play WoW then its a free country and I will be glad to play with you. And if too all the age haters please... grow up :P
Part of what draws me to WoW is the fact that when Warcraft first came out, I was a teenager. When Warcraft 2 and 3 came out, I also played them as a younger version of me. So when WoW came out it was reminicent of my younger self.
As well, WoW is so full of pop culture references (also proportionally from my youth) that I enjoy greatly.
And it's just great fun!
I'm 36. I can't get my parents interested in any games, nevermind WoW.
I tried bringing the Nintendo Wii to their house. They thought it looked fun and watch people move around. I even got them to try it a couple times, but then they were done.
I tried Rock Band 2 and even downloaded some Jimmy Buffet songs to get my mother interested, but she had no confidence in her own singing ability and quit after half a song.
It's unfortunate. I wish I could connect with them on some game. I've pretty much given up hope.
I've been playing wow for about a year, I'm pretty experienced. I'm also under the age of 18, my voice is pretty squeaky and I'm the progression raid leader for my guild which is currently in ulduar. I'm not gonna lie... At time, quite a few, I can be silly and immature, but it doesn't define who I am. And I never let it interfere with my position as an officer.
i grew up with games from the time i learnd that the A button was the Jump button( which was early in my gameing career). from the Super Nintendo, to N64, to Gamecube, to Xbox and now 360 and WoW. I learn'd how to behave on my own (parents were never around much) so I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of player, if i kill u alright, if u kill me, ok..it's all in the name of fun. To kick someone out of a guild or raid because of their age is wrong, tho' i'm silly when u get to know me doesnt mean that i can't be serious at times. if the grp wipes enough i foucus more, if we are doing well,i foucus still to keep it well... when i get major piss'd i sing to try and keep my cool....i plan on playing games for years and years to come.
Quality time with your children is quality time. I play with my 2 sons, 1 is 16 and the other is 7. My 7 yr old plays very well
so It is wrong to say anyone is "to young" or "to old " to play.
My sons and i enjoy playing wow together and as long as everyone is having a great time it does not matter what forum we do it in. Look at all the deadbeat dads that do nothing at all with there children, they are the ones who need some sort if talking to.
Bottom line: People should do what they enjoy, how they enjoy it and with whom they enjoy doing it with, regardless of age, gender, race etc.. as long as it falls under no one getting hurt and being legal. I have been in wow since day 1 and will stop playing when wow is done for good. I will however ALWAYS be a gamer and i'am 40 yrs old.
Do what you enjoy and dont let people get to you.
Hey...
What's the story about being first in post?Still don't understand what the fuss is that all about.
As for gaming age, we have to say that the 30's guys like me where some of the first game ever so this is a normal age to play WOW.
I only started at age 29 some 6 months ago.And it really is amazing.But since i played Chucky egg in the spectrum computer i was hooked in videogame.
But as opposed to this new generation i didn't live in a completely computorized generation.
I actually was more outside than inside.Gaming was like a raining time period.
So i believe social interaction cannot and will never be replaced by the real thing. Ok maybe it will but not for me.
I mostly play with people above 20's and one time found a 50 year old playing....and also a 13 year old kid (annoying guy hehe).
The game for all ages has to be WOW.
I didn't have this fun in a game since the spectrum days so i guess it's pretty huge deal.
Any more comments??
Well, I've been playing video games since I was about 7 or 8 at the latest, and wow for the last three or four years now. While I may be a little young...I still say i'm a bit of a veteran.
as time goes on the median age of players will just go up, we all grew up with video games being a more accepted part of society and part of life than people in their 50's.
First of all, good post.
And well, I'm 19 now (will be 20 in november), and what draws me to WoW is the fact that it is a game that you can really relax! Other games, such as Final Fantasy XI makes you feel stressed after some time playing. The other reason why I play this game, is that I play video games since the age of 4 (yep, four! My first console was an Atari, then a Fanton, then a Super Nes, Super Nintendo, N64, and so on...), and always were looking forward new RPGs. When the MMORPGS were growing, I tried everything, from MU Online to FFXI, and then I found WoW!
Now I'm in college, one of the best ones of my course (Law), and I still play WoW as I always played. I think that is what makes people of all ages come to WoW: It's "wideness".