WoW knows no age
by Eric Vice 
Oct 19th 2007 at 3:00PM
As I was driving home from lunch today, I was thinking about (brace yourself) last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy. You may wonder how I'm going to steer this toward World of Warcraft, but bear with me for a second. I was really excited when I heard that Edward Hermann was going to be making an appearance this season, and thought maybe he would be filling the role of the replacement for Isaiah Washington's departed Preston Burke character. (No, you haven't browsed to TV Squad by accident. Hang on. I'm getting to a point.) As fans of the show recently found out though, this was not the case. Mr. Hermann's character Dr. Norman Shales was not to be an experienced, wise cardiac surgeon He was to be an intern learning to be a doctor after spending thirty years of his life as a pharmacist.Last night as I watched Dr. Shales attempt to "relate" to the other interns and residents and attending physicians (who were all half his age) I suddenly realized that the reason I was enjoying this character so much (other than the fact I love Mr. Hermann's work) is that his role as Dr. Shales is really a metaphor of the experience of so many middle-aged and older players (including myself) in World of Warcraft.
I am fortunate to be in a fantastic mature guild where the median age is probably ten years higher than most, but I think I still rank among the top five oldest. Guild events aren't a big deal. The discomfort comes in interaction with folks -- who may be perfectly fine players -- who either can't believe somebody in their late thirties (or older) is playing World of Warcraft, or can't understand the way somebody in that age bracket thinks.
Even though I know I'm not the oldest World of Warcraft player in the world, I was encouraged (and amazed) to read this interview reposted on incgamers.com of an interview with an 80-year-old World of Warcraft player. (Be warned. The English is very, very rough because the interview is translated. I think "mad" is meant in a good way in it's frequent uses in the interview.) What's the oldest player you've seen in your guild or server? How do they contribute to your guild? How do you handle them differently?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Interviews
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John Oct 19th 2007 3:08PM
We have a guild officer that is early to mid 70's Thats age not lvl. It is a family guild, and he has his son and his grand son all play in the guild. I don't see any difference in play with him from any other accomplished WoW player. He is one of the best frost mages I have played with too.
Wildhammer Oct 19th 2007 3:20PM
I used to know a girl (in real life) who played with her Dad and grandmother. Her grandmother was seventy two and she played the best Arms Warrior I've ever seen.
Warrior in question also happened to be a Gnome... A female Gnome.... Guess what her hair customizations were? I bet you can get it on the first try. ^_^
Juliah Oct 19th 2007 3:23PM
I'm on the older end of my guild's spectrum -- I think the average age is about 13 - 15 years younger than I am (I'm 37). They're a truly nice and helpful bunch, and I very much enjoy spending time with them, wouldn't change, but I do sometimes "feel my age" around 'em. :)
Cody Oct 19th 2007 3:27PM
My uncle plays in my guild. I'm 34, he's 51.
Capitalgain Oct 19th 2007 3:27PM
The Henchmen on Dunemaul (alliance). Sixty two is our oldest. Thirty-six is our median age. I'm the youngest officer at 34. Lot's of parent/sibling and Husband/wife combos. Very laid back, mature raiding. Everyone has mana before attacking... silly stuff like that. Currently only up to 140 members (Alt-itis included). I've found that the guild chat is much cleaner. Less bragging, more playing.
Kyane Oct 19th 2007 3:31PM
I've been lucky enough to encounter a number of wonderful people in my play time. One I found was in her 50s and was one of the sweetest people I had ever met in our out of game. /purr
blackwolf675 Oct 19th 2007 3:33PM
I was in a guild for a while that had a husband and wife warrior team who were in their mid fifties. I remember being surprised but laughing it off as they were really nice people.
Too bad that the rest of the guild was a rats' nest of emo prima-dhramas, >=(
When I played Asheron's Call we befriended a guy at least 30yrs older than us and had a great time grouping together. Hubby and I still tell fond stories of Xai'do.
Dulcet Oct 19th 2007 3:51PM
My mother plays. She's 80. She's got two hunters (1 horde, 1 alliance) bank alts for each, prefers to solo, and almost quit the game once when someone called her a n00b. She's been a gamer since the early 1970s.
In my guild, I am in about the upper fifth age-wise, at 39. We have at least one grandfather/grandson combo.
meegeekai Oct 19th 2007 4:18PM
I am 53 and have been gaming for many years. It seems that I am always the oldest. It is very interesting to see the posts on players even longer in the tooth then I. Gives one hope, lol. There are a multitude of reasons I play, which I won't go into now. One of the surprising things about WoW is that age really does not come into play. Many of the games I played prior to WoW (BF,UT,CSS etc) seem to rely too much on real life hand/eye coordination. Folks in their 20's grew up with consoles, therefore in many games "bunny hopping" ability, although unrealistic, tends to give an advantage. WoW has to be played with thought, management skills (both economic and team oriented), and problem solving skills with along with certain level of maturity, regardless of age. This is what has really hooked me on the game. On a social level, you will always have some teenage frigtard that will jam you on your age, but that has only happened once to me. What is interesting is that in party or general chat I can usually peg an older player. The maturity shines through, regardless of L337 or not. Voice chat will bring an interesting change to the dynamic. Not that I "sound" old, but hearing someones voice does bring a new dimension to the game. Up until now, I have shied away from voice via TS or Vent.
Oldbear Oct 19th 2007 4:18PM
One of my guildies was 57 when he passed away. He had been playing since the first pencil & paper days... A "good-old-geek"...
kunukia Oct 19th 2007 4:19PM
I am the oldest person in my guild, at 56, but there are a couple others in my range...
Andvari Oct 19th 2007 4:38PM
My Guild, Followers of Mahal has Two great old guys. Doug and Denn, one is 66 the other is 64; they're a Blast to play with :)
Chelon Oct 19th 2007 4:27PM
I'm in my mid 50's and an empty nester. My two boys, who are video game nuts, are now tied up in professional schools. They are jealous that I have time to spend on WOW.
The look they give me when I say they play too much and should do their homework is priceless.
bennet Oct 19th 2007 4:42PM
I'm the oldest person in our guild at 45, but as the youngest are in their mid-20s and the bulk are in their 30s it hasn't been that big a deal. We had a few younger guys for a while but the guild couldn't really meet their needs - they'd be out partying with friends when we were playing, and we'd be out mowing our lawns when they were ready to group, and a guild with members you never see isn't, unfortunately, much of a guild for you...
blitzkrieg999 Oct 19th 2007 5:26PM
While I don't know anyone's specific age, Wake on Kilrogg has a lot of older players, many with kids. Our GM is a great example, he's married with 2 kids. Personally, I think the guild benefits from having many older players. It brings a more mature atmosphere to the guild, and lets us progress well without being 'hardcore' about it.
sannhollis Oct 19th 2007 5:53PM
In my guild (Fellow Sophisticates - US Hydraxis), I've found I'm one of the younger players at 20. My live-in boyfriend plays as well (28), and I know that even then, he's on the lower end of things. The few guildies I have RL stats for range in their late 30's to mid 40's, and the difference is amazing compared to guilds I've been in previously where the range was 15-25. Everyone is incredibly helpful, well-spoken, and thoughtful. A lot of time is taken to make everyone feel included and looked after. There's no one sitting on guild chat quoting South Park, as has been the case in other guilds. I, for one, would take a PUG of players in their 50s vs. a group in their teens. :)
Tarbh Oct 19th 2007 6:42PM
Got a tank in our guild who only says that he is between the ages of 15 and 80, (I guess he beats anyone to the punch before they try and rag on how old he sounds) never willing to give it away, he can tank, and he 'aint a pain in the ass, which makes him a good player. :)
It's a funny kind of thing, when ingame, all outside influences and factors become insignificant, because it boils down to being able to function in a group and preform ones task well. You could have a major political figure or a powerful executive take orders from a 15 year old and be all to happy to do so, kinda strange when you think about it.
Jack Oct 19th 2007 9:42PM
For me, age doesn't really matter in WoW. Older players can have a greater amount of maturity (and most often do) but not all younger players are obnoxious twerps. Level is the new age in World of Warcraft :)
awender Oct 20th 2007 6:38AM
A german language article about a grandpa (81) playing World of Warcraft.
He started playing, when his grandchild showed him the game. He played Settlers before in the previous century.
Now he has a high level Tauren hunter, approaching level 70. He has some alts, but concentrates on his hunter mainly. His whole family is very proud of him, except the wife, who thinks his husband went a little crazy about the game.
He is playing on a german language realm "Der Rat von Dalaran" (The Rat of Dalaran)
He finds playing with more than three in a party a little too stressing, so he mainly soloes the content. However he likes to talk and chat with fellow mates.
awender Oct 20th 2007 6:38AM
Oh yeah, and the link to the article:
http://wow.gamona.de/index.php?seite=pp&pid=336