Am I too old/is this a kids game?

First off, I'll say the answer is "no".

That said, while there can be some people who are younger than you are that get on your nerves, I have known several people who are in the "older" category who have caused me frustrations as they would put a solid amount of effort into causing problems. Just because someone young was annoying doesn't mean they are the only type of person who will ever do something like that.

As much as I would love to play with only cool laid back people, when you play with a large amount of people you will get every type of person from young to old and constantly frustrating to (possibly) a great friend. If someone is getting on my nerves, I tend to find it pretty easy to not pay attention to them and just do my own thing - once the dungeon is over it's quite likely I will never see them again so I won't let them get me worked up.

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First off, I'll say the answer is "no".

That said, while there can be some people who are younger than you are that get on your nerves, I have known several people who are in the "older" category who have caused me frustrations as they would put a solid amount of effort into causing problems. Just because someone young was annoying doesn't mean they are the only type of person who will ever do something like that.

As much as I would love to play with only cool laid back people, when you play with a large amount of people you will get every type of person from young to old and constantly frustrating to (possibly) a great friend. If someone is getting on my nerves, I tend to find it pretty easy to not pay attention to them and just do my own thing - once the dungeon is over it's quite likely I will never see them again so I won't let them get me worked up.

Mr. Borny (that's what I call him -- well actually this was my first time, but I hope it catches on), hit the nail on the head.

I want to add something though, in my personal experiences since playing the game (counting only the vanilla WoW launch), I can't tell you how many times I've been guilded/grouped with young (12-17 - give or take) players who I would've never known how old they were due to their behavior. More often (again mostly speaking from personal experiences) the worst players I've encountered in terms of behavior were older (25-40 - give or take).

Additionally, on the dozen plus realms that I've played on extensively, so often in trade/general, players who type in a manner that seemingly lacks maturity, and/or is designed to cause others maximum frustration (trolling) -- are often immediately accused of being young.

Sadly, I feel more often than not it's an adult -- and this particular conclusion is based on my personal in-game experience, my role at blizzard, the research I've done over the last eight years, etc...

In short, I feel very strongly that poor behavior (all types) has little to do with age, but rather the person. I also feel this is true both in-game and in real life....err sorry (RL). :p

PS Mr. Borny -- spread the word....

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You're such a nerd, lol. It's kind of endearing.

Thanks? lol :D

But, yes -- I have always been a nerd/geek and always will be. On a random sidenote, it's actually pretty exciting to me to think that our generation upon reaching (65-80, etc...) will be the first generation of old folk who are comprised of nerds who grew up on games, cartoons, comics, etc...

Out of curiosity though, what about my post was raised my nerd flag?

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But if I get into a group and the tank is ungemmed/unenchanted, I leave. I don't care if you're going to replace your blue ilevel 187 gear in 2 days. It costs 2 gold to put gems in your gear, even if they're green gems. It costs 20-35 gold to enchant ALL of your gear. You don't need the top level enchants. 3 lesser cosmic essence and 3 dust for 22 stam to boots. 6 gold really isn't a lot, especially when you're the tank.

Yeah, 26k HP is fine for a heroic. But if you aren't willing to spend 2 gold on green (or even blue!) gems, you aren't worth my time.

I agree with you to a point. If anyone in a pug heroic or raid has no gems/enchants on half or more of their gear, it's a point of frustration -- (though I will still attempt to run with the group unless there are issues.

Going back to "I agree with you to a point" -- if it's a couple items, I don't sweat it, because there are some valid reasons -- such as they have guild members/friends who are going to hook them up but haven't logged into the game yet, or they are closing in on purchasing an epic gem/enchant, etc...

Again though, it's pretty obvious that if a vast majority of a player's items aren't enchanted or gemmed with even low-end (inexpensive!) gems/enchants that the player is just being, "lazy", or worse....

In the defense of those who fall under little to no gems/enchants -- I make it a point to try and realize that there still exists many level 80 players who are still new to the game.

It's not hard to hit level 80.

My mom has 5 characters 70 to 80, and the last game she played before World of Warcraft was Pacman on the Atari 2600...

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The flag was your first line and the last line.

I'm not sure if "nerd" is the right word, I just found it amusing that we have the same sense of humor - i.e. "that's what I call him -- well actually this was my first time, but I hope it catches on". I say that crap all the time, haha.

Don't worry, it's not a bad thing! Hell, is "nerd" even used as an insult these days?

Naw, I never took it as a bad thing, and even if you did mean/ I felt you meant offense, that wouldn't have phased me at all -- over my eight years at Blizzard, I've endured much, much MUCH worse, and I've never been one to get emotional/hurt over how I'm treated-- despite what some have thought (i.e bus shock).

Actually, when I first joined the community team mid 2004 (approximately six months later), I was very upset at the reaction (mass (MASS) flames) in a particular situation -- but it was exclusively due to what was genuinely good intentions backfiring -- and my feelings of frustrations towards myself.

Though that experience taught me quite a bit.

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Hey, you!

Go to bed!

P.S. You still owe me a hug! >=(

Uhm, you go to bed -- I'm 30 I go to bed when I wanna!!!!!!!!! :P

And ya -- hug, pffffff. Last time we ran into each other with other members of the community team -- you ignored me...

HURTFUL!!!!

...

..

.

.!

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You ignored ME.

/grumble

/goes to bed all sad and stuff

lol -- first we both know you're not going to bed yet...

Second, no way -- I tried to chat and you became all "elitist"... :p

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And I might go to bed. My antibiotics are making me sleepy. QQ

Haha, "And I MIGHT go to bed" :P

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Well, we both know I SHOULD.

And I WOULD if you would stop replying to my posts and giving me a reason to keep refreshing my browser. SEE, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!

Night. =P

Goodnight. :D

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Huh. See, this is why I like Blizzard and their games. You can actually speak with a real person who works on the game. About being nerds.

How cool is that?

Yes, you absolutely can --but to be clear -- while my team works extremely close with the World of Warcraft designers, we don't actually work on the game in terms of design. Though, we have impacted design decisions countless times based on feedback provided by players, as well as offering up our own thoughts/suggestions/ideas that's based on our years of wow experience.

Most of the community team has been playing since beta, some internal (or friends and family) alpha, and a couple of us, pre-alpha, or earlier.

As much as we're often accused of making responses that aren't completely honest, which comes with the territory -- what I love most about our team is that we actually take great pride in always posting comments that is exactly how we feel.

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Huh. See, this is why I like Blizzard and their games. You can actually speak with a real person who works on the game. About being nerds.

How cool is that?

~EDIT~ Oh dear, I should probably actually address the topic too.
I'd agree with age not really being a defining factor. I started playing at 16 or so, and because of my demeanor and attitude, my entire guild assumed I was in my 20s. Jerks will be jerks, regardless of how old they are, I think. Don't let a few jerks' opinions get to you.

Good points.

Some food for thought for anyone reading this thread. It's so easy when someone is behaving like a jerk, to just pass judgement that they are a jerk. or even worse a "bad" person. The fact is though, I think it's important to realize that just because someone is behaving "like a jerk", it doesn't mean they are a jerk.

They may really not understand, or be at a place in their life -- for whatever reason (again -- nothing to do with age) where they grasp that negative behaviors can and often will be hurtful to someone, even if it's not directed at them specifically.

And this goes well beyond the game, or the internet.

For example -- I walk into a store, and someone is just awful to me for no reason -- I immediately assume the possibility exists that they could be having a horrible day, or even that for tragic reasons --the worst day of their life.

The fact is, it's so easy to making sweeping snapshot judgements about people who we interact with for 1-10 minutes.

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Ya Eyonix is still alive. When do whelplings grow up though?

Hopefully never! This avatar was one that I chose and love (and continue to love).

I also love the clock tower behind me. :D

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Well... my avatar is pretty cool too! I have redness behind me.

Your avatar is very cool. My favorite avatars are pretty much any level 80 troll avatar, but I'm a biased. Trolls are my favorite race in the entire game.

I especially love the troll female mage avatar (see the post directly above you).

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Can you drop hints at what the Darkspear tribe will be doing in Cataclysm! :D

Oh, ya I could...but I won't. :D

A for effort though!! :P

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...yeah, I don't get it. O_o

Well, its from the Matrix (which you probably know). As to what it was intended to mean in regards to its use in this thread -- the only thing that came to mind was that it was poking fun at my communication failure...

It made me laugh out loud immediately, and then as I began to ponder its potential meaning more I quickly stopped myself as I realized its actually far more funny never knowing.

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OP - yes you are too old to be playing this game. I'm 42, also too old. I play with my rl friends who are actually older than me. This IS a kids game and you are too old to be playing it. However, like my friends and I, you enjoy it, so you play. No big deal. I enjoy watching Wacky Races with my 6 year old. Yes, I'm too old to be watching Wacky Races, and I don't go into work and ask people, "Hey, did you catch Wacky Races on Boomerang last night?", but I do enjoy it. Simple fact is, you enjoy something that is geared towards teenagers. But that's ok.

I couldn't disagree with you more, and I genuinely mean that with absolutely no disrespect.

I'm not sure what experiences you've had in the game where you would state it's a kid's game, but there are numerous aspects to the game, that go well beyond the physical game -- one example being the social aspect.

The design aspects, especially as far as how our game systems function are actually quite complex, and ever-changing. If you want to get even the smallest idea of what I'm talking about -- see how long it takes you to really get a grasp on the math (and other variables) behind how we budget our items and under what circumstances item budgets can change -- and also why we budget them the way we do.

Or attempt to learn about spell-coefficients, and why they exist, and differ from spell to spell.

The fact is, if you enjoy (love) something, and for purposes of this thread -- I will focus only on the various avanues of entertainment (video games, music, television, movies, etc...), age should have no impact on said passion.

Moving on though, you stated that you watch Wacky Races with your 6-year old, and that you're too old to be watching it -- (and while you stated that you do enjoy it), I would gather you're just being a good parent and watching a show that your child enjoys.

I mean, would you continue to watch it if your child was no longer intrerested in this show? Perhaps, but I doubt it -- and actually if you did that would be actually be pretty cool, imo. :D

With that being said, the comment that struck me as most odd (and again I mean no offense).

"...and I don't go into work and ask people, "Hey, did you catch Wacky Races on Boomerang last night?".

Well, this I agree with but not for the same reasons you're indicating (age). I have many areas of knowledge/education, and many hobbies/passions.

I'm not going to begin discussing things with co-workers, family or friends that I know they'd have no interest in, and couldn't connect with.

Anyway, all this is food for thought.

To the OP -- life is short, do what makes you happy, and as ong as you're not neglecting the things in life that matter most (i.e loved ones) -- there isn't a problem. :D