Breakfast Topic: Grandma Loves Her World of Warcraft

by David Nelson Nov 9th 2006 at 8:00AM

When I play World of Warcraft, I usually assume every player is somewhere between 16 and 35 years old. Some a little older than me, and some a little younger.

However, tonight I discovered that one of my regular instance partners over the past couple of weeks is not only a little older, she is A LOT older. In fact, she is a 61 year old grandmother. She said her and husband started mudding way back when, and just kept with the hobby and eventually transitioned into Everquest, then into WoW. Oh, and she is also a phenomenal rogue.

I am always shocked when I see older folks playing WoW, but I really shouldn't be. As the tech savvy crowd gets older, we can expect more and more older players. Heck, I hope I am playing World of Starcraft 4 in my retirement village in 50 years.

Have any of you guys run across someone a little older in WoW? What's the oldest player you have met? Do you see yourself playing MMORPGs when you are 60? Or will you have retired your keyboard?

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)

steve Nov 9th 2006 10:51AM

I'm a 40 year old technology executive with a 60 in a raiding guild currently working on Blackwing Lair. The person who got me into WoW was a 50 year old. If you'd told me a year ago that I'd spend 20+ hours a week playing WoW on top of my 50-60 hour standard work week, I would have thought you were crazy.

Krianna Nov 9th 2006 11:05AM

Heh... one of my guilds has an averge age of 35-40. Myself, my boyfriend and one of the founders are the younger group that draws it down that low......

Dr. McGillicutty Nov 9th 2006 12:24PM

Old Folks on Patrol on Spinebreaker is made of primarily that - old folks. There are a couple of us younger geeks that keep the age average down, but most everyone in the guild is a little longer in the tooth. They're not exactly 60 years old, but still.

lizardkng Nov 9th 2006 11:23AM

c'mon fellas get on the ball :P

BC release date announced like a whole hour ago!!

1/16/2006

lizardkng Nov 9th 2006 11:24AM

lol

2007

Wartoad Nov 9th 2006 11:32AM

I'm 40 and for a long time was the youngest person in my guild.(of 55+ players) Fortunately a noob joined who's 37 and stole that title. He's on parole until we decide if he's mature enought to roll with us. Kids.

Mekias Nov 9th 2006 5:52PM

I'm currently 34. I think MMORPGs initially had a real stigma to them. We were seen as dorks and geeks. With movies and books like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, fantasy is not quite as looked down on now as it used to be. With that and advances in technology, more and more people are open to playing these types of games. Warcraft, in particular, is excellent for new players. It's easy to start but difficult to master...providing entertainment for everyone.

Depending on time constraints and other interests, I could see myself playing video games well into my retirement.

Kahja Nov 9th 2006 11:38AM

We've got a couple of the "older" folks in my guild and within our small alliance of guilds...

Our former GM's mother is our resident warlock with the young age of 50 something.

UncleVinny Nov 9th 2006 11:47AM

I'm 37, and although I occasionally kick myself for wasting time playing this silly game, it reassures me to hear about even older people who love it as much as I do. (Or more....high warlord?!?!)

My guild has a fair number of people my age, as well as the usual chunk of early 20s folks. We have a lot of married couples who play together, many of whom have kids or even newborns. People are really understanding about AFKs for nighttime kisses and bottles.

Sylythn Nov 9th 2006 12:00PM

40 hours a week where you don't have to be at work and can stay at home playing WoW...it's what every one of us dreams of!! (well ok, maybe not all of us)...but damn, I'd love to be retired and free to play games whenever I darn well please. I never thought of it this way before - now I'm looking forward to getting old! ...only 40 years to go :(

Druid dude Nov 9th 2006 12:25PM

43 here. Best rogue in a guild I used to be in was 48, but he was a mafia dude. Long story, and I hope I don't end up at the bottom of a river now.

Frostfall Nov 9th 2006 12:39PM

My mother plays Wow and she's 67 years old. She has 3 60s and 50 million lower level alts. (I'm only slightly exagerating about the number of alts)

All of my family plays in fact. Mom, my fiancee, myself and both of my children. (At least I know *exactly* where the kids are at night. In a group with the rest of us.)

Spacey Nov 9th 2006 12:42PM

I'm 36 years old, turning 37 on next December, and find it always great when I meet still older people playing games like WoW. One thing that really pisses me off is when people look at me with a "you're too old to play this". Does age matters? Is anyone ever too old to have fun? Nah, let's all be gaming grampas and grannies ;D

mk2tmr2 Nov 9th 2006 12:44PM

Our guild has a mother/son combo. The age/gender thing is really enhanced on Vent. It's one thing to text-chat in game with people older/younger than you — but when you can actually hear the voice the difference is even more noticable.

For what it's worth - they're two of the most active and enthusiastic members of our guild, as well. I think they feed off each other's energy.

I can only imagine that it's a great bonding opportunity, as well. I definitely see myself playing MMORPG's with my kids when I have them.

Mat Nov 9th 2006 12:52PM

What I want to know is how the OP found out her age?

Me thinks there was a little bit of A/S/L action goin' on up in that chat window.

:D

Windshadow Nov 9th 2006 1:07PM

As others have said you should not assume the readers of this Blog are all young!
I have thought it might be fun to have a guild of pensioners (if we could find some way to be sure we are all who we say we are) perhaps using the AARP age of 55 (mostly since that would let me in at 58 ;) )
the model would be the Silver Horde from the Discworld of course
http://www.paulkidby.com/images/greetings/silverhorde.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Hero-Discworld-Fable/dp/0060507772
but the folks at WoW design HQ wil need to provide us with the needed char designs!

Cheers
Windy

Karl Nov 9th 2006 2:13PM

I kinda think it's funny that you never considered that there would be people older than 35 playing WoW! My guilds average age is 40+. We have 3 generations of one family playing (Grandparents, Mom, and 2 kids) as well as various uncles and friends from work. Most of us started playing computer games back when they first started coming out. One of my RL friends is in the guild and I remember going over to his house to play "The Bard's Tale" and "Ultima 3" on his Commodore 64 (which I bought off him when he got his fancy Amiga). Heck, I used to play computer games on a TRS-80 with a cassette tape drive! There are a LOT of us that grew up WITH the computer gaming industry!

warforge Nov 9th 2006 2:28PM

Not a WoW player but a FFXI online guy...My friends dad lvl 75 Redmage (which is a very difficult path pre last expansion vs WoW leveling.)

His dad is like age 62 and is one of the most famous players on Valefor server of FFXI online. Cause he drops what he is doing to help anyone...and has been on that server for 3 years now just about.

I find way older players the most enjoyable to play with that is for sure.

I am not surprised with the posts here about ages playing. It's pretty cool actually.

WoW Insider Show

Subscribe via iTunes for our latest show.

Hot Topics

Upcoming Events

Event	Date
Call to Arms: Isle of Conquest	5/14 - 5/16
Call to Arms: Alterac Valley	5/17 - 5/20
Call to Arms: The Battle for Gilneas	5/21 - 5/23
Call to Arms: Warsong Gulch	5/24 - 5/27
Call to Arms: Twin Peaks	5/28 - 5/30
Call to Arms: Strand of the Ancients	5/31 - 6/3
Darkmoon Faire	6/2 - 6/9
Call to Arms: Silvershard Mines	6/4 - 6/6
Call to Arms: Temple of Kotmogu	6/11 - 6/13
Call to Arms: Arathi Basin	6/18 - 6/20
Midsummer Fire Festival	6/21 - 7/5
Call to Arms: Eye of the Storm	6/25 - 6/27