Posted By: Conner on 09/19/07 at 12:20 AM
I feel for you, but without the regular influx of those younger players, muds really would end up dying off completely. So, as challenging as it can be to maintain good role play with the younger crowd at times, grin and bear it if you love this hobby and want to see it continue to thrive. If it's any consolation, some of us are old enough that *you* qualify as part of that younger set too. ;)

Bah Posted By: Fizban on 09/25/07 at 03:04 PM

[quote]I don't want to stereotype anyone, but just by interacting with someone in a mud (I'm into RPIs), I can tell if they're just a teen.[/quote] That's just not fair. I've never seen anyone guess me to be a teenager based on my spelling, not even when I first began mudding at the age of 9. It seems most people I know on MUDs usually place me at 23-27 unless they've specifically been told that I'm only 18

Posted By: Conner on 09/25/07 at 08:26 PM

I hate to say it, for several reasons including that it's you in this case.. but you're by far the exception, Fizban, rather than the rule. *shrug* The truth is, in most cases, Violette's dead on here. You usually can tell the age of the person, especially with teens, from the way they "speak" and act pretty readily and fairly accurately. Now, spelling and grammar are not always nearly as good indicators of their age, certainly not so much as they serve as indicators of their education level, particularly when tied in with their vocabulary usage.

	Posted By: Ssolvarain on 09/25/07 at 10:39 PM
Conner is in his 40s, by my guess.

	Posted By: Conner on 09/26/07 at 01:41 AM
*L* That's the influence of my kids showing through, but you're not that far off either, I'm actually in my late 30s since I'll be turning 37 this November.

Posted By: Ssolvarain on 09/27/07 at 01:06 AM

One foot in the grave already, old man! *cackle* I cheated, anyways. Used your picture! The style of "speech" gives away a persons maturity level, usually. I tend to troll forums and act like a moron in general, but I can add something significant to almost any conversation where I'm familiar with the topic. Philosophy can be a good one. But... speech patterns also make it much easier to pick out who's who. Words used, punctuation, trademark typos and more.

Posted By: Conner on 09/27/07 at 02:18 AM

Yup, that'd be me.. Have cane, will travel. ;) Yes, we can all, at times, be less mature than we really are, and age isn't always a true indicator of maturity either, but it's the ones always act/speak young that you can bet really are young. ;) Yeah, those signature typos can really do it.. I know I have a really bad habit that can be seen all over the web of typing yuo instead of you.. comes from typing slower than I'm thinking, I suppose, but the result is, there's a signature typo for you. ;D

Posted By: Molly O'hara on 10/01/07 at 09:43 AM

Hey, Connor, you stole Osiris' line! :-P Or maybe you just stole his cane? In any case, the old bugger is bound to come after you with a vengeance, if he ever returns to TMC. Anyhow, I'd say it's more a question of brains than age. I'm getting on a bit in years myself, actually excepting my second kid now, but the people I particularly enjoy talking to on my Mud aren't necessarily of my age. Over the years a lot of them have been teenagers, but obviously very smart teenagers. Regrettably the ones that are stupid and lazy and use expressions like 'C U l8r' remain stupid and lazy even when they grow up. And a lot of the worst Drama Queens I've come across are women well over 30.

	Posted By: Ssolvarain on 10/04/07 at 04:24 PM
Those middle-aged housewives certainly are full of drama. Not that I'd know, or anything.

Posted By: Conner on 10/08/07 at 04:19 AM

*L* Actually, I'd like to see Osiris again around here, things get quiet when he's not piping up. ;) But even setting that aside, nah, I really do have a cane that I bought a few years ago to prove that I'm that old. ;) Congrats on the expected child, you should talk to Dragona sometime, she loves to get excited about pregnancies even when they're not her own. *L* I know what you mean about some folks being bright enough to outshine their age and others being too lazy/stupid to ever grow up, but I have to disagree on the drama queens, the worst cases I've met were invariably guys. *snicker*

Well over 30 Posted By: Zeta Thompson on 01/07/08 at 03:22 AM

Molly said: And a lot of the worst Drama Queens I've come across are women well over 30. Hey I resemble that remark and then some! Actually, one of my favorite rp buddies was younger when we started rping and over the last 6 or 7 years it has been fun watching his style solidify and his rp improve. For me it is not so much typos, spelling or even IC speech patterns, it is complexity of plot. Face it, us old birds are kind of jaded. We have read, played or written ourselves most of the classic storylines. They cease to thrill us as the they do a newer player who has never experienced them before. The other key is how they play evil. Is it hit them over the head type or subtle? That comes with practice and life experience I am sad to say. But to be fair it is the wonder and excitement of newer players with old plotlines that keeps me going. Watching a younger player go from rping with 133t and 2 line replies to writing whole paragraphs to set a scene, describe action and keep the story from failing by reaction on the fly to chaotic elements intorduced by other players keeps it fun. So don't fear the younger players. Help them develop so that as Connor pointed out the MUDs stay alive.

	Heh Posted By: Arond on 01/16/08 at 02:26 PM
Pretty sure that just about anything game related will draw in a younger crowd. Hell, look at all of the 14-16 year olds that are making the next "WoW killer MMO".

	Posted By: Conner on 01/16/08 at 11:18 PM
Must we?

Why, when I was your age... Posted By: Desharei on 01/22/08 at 04:05 PM

We used to walk 40 miles, uphill both ways, with no shoes in 12 feet of snow, to the nearest computer. There was only one text game; it was called Adventure. There was only one graphics game; it was called Donkey Kong and was written in Basic. Not Visual Basic, just plain old ordinary Basic. Visual Basic hadn't been invented yet. The guys from Infocom hadn't written Zork yet. And roleplaying was something you did in the back yard, using two over-turned patio chairs with a blanket draped over it, and a feather tucked behind your ear, and you were the indian chief protecting your tee pee from the evil cowboy coming to invade. P.S. - I'm 46. I win.

	Doh, it wasn't Donkey Kong Posted By: Desharei on 01/22/08 at 04:08 PM
It was some Gorilla thing. King Kong or some such; it was all ascii drawings and this gorilla jumped on buildings from left to right and you had to control him so he wouldn't fall off one and land on his head :)

	My real age Posted By: Osiris on 01/31/08 at 04:30 PM
I was 25 when I started mudding, which made me feel old compared to the average player, possibly the same way you are feeling at 27. That was around 12 years ago so yeah right now I am truly 37, which... given the amount of time I've spent online translates into about 600 years old in mud years.

	Posted By: Conner on 02/02/08 at 03:42 AM
Gee, Osiris, sounds like you and I have far more in common than I had thought. I also started playing muds about 12 years ago ...and I'm now 37 as well, I have no idea what my time online over those years translates to in mud age, but it's certainly higher than my real life life expectancy. ;)

	Posted By: Drey on 02/04/08 at 02:15 PM
Turned 38 a couple weeks back, began when I was 19 or 20. I've never had the feeling of "left out" though.

	Posted By: Synorel on 02/06/08 at 04:45 PM
I'm just about 25, and have to say I havent really played a MUD in almost 5 years now. Mainly I just have fun on a couple I know people on, and work on my own projects. -Syn

Age Doesn't Matter Posted By: Owori on 05/27/08 at 08:45 AM

You're right, but don't let the age thing get to you. It's just like you said, it's the level of maturity that matters in Role-playing. You said that the RPI you found is great, and THEN you found out that you're one of the very few older people. I am 21, and I can see my own maturation over the period of time that I've been mudding. Try to just encourage the younger people as best you can, watching people develop positively can be a very rewarding experience!

	Posted By: Conner on 05/27/08 at 02:18 PM
Well stated, Owori, and you've made a very good point, if this mud was great except for the fact that she's figured out that she's in the minority (age wise) then she's letting that age become an issue that it doesn't need to be. If anything, knowing that others are doing well enough that you didn't realize they were all younger at first says great things about their RP efforts.

	Posted By: Slackjaw on 06/20/08 at 01:27 PM
Im 25 and Im starting my own mud that needs dedicated players like that. I do feel a bit old too, but I know a lot of gamers that are as ol, or older than me. They just dont game on muds.

Posted By: Fizban on 07/06/08 at 11:13 AM

25's really not even old compared to most mudders (well, not in some genres anymore, that might by ancient in comparison to the ages on many of the anime themed muds). The oldest mudder I know of personally (who I've actually met, not just have heard rumors of existing) is a female who I believe is 69 (she was 67 when I initially met her but that was some time ago so not 100% sure on current age). The majority of, successful, administrators and programmers I know are in their 30's.