The Young vs. the Old in MMORPGs

August 6, 2007 · Filed Under General, Blogging, Musings, MMOments, Online

While blog hopping in www.mmorpg.com, I came upon a post by Bardoc entitled the “Kids vs. the Grown Ups“. Since I also blog there, I decided to look into it.

It was an interesting post. So Interesting that it prompted me to write my own version based on Bardoc’s insights.

First, let’s see what he wrote.

“If your (sic) younger the older members seem to act like they are owed something. That they need you to do it their way or when they want you to. For the older members it looks like the young members don’t have any respect for or ownership in the guild. They are simply there to get their loot.”

Bardoc’s insights are quite common in the guilds today. Guilds formed by older players are usually organized with a common goal which must be shared by everyone. Even if you generally CANNOT immediately see age when chatting with a guildmate or potential member, you will be able to see it through the players’ ATTITUDE.

No offense to the younger crowd, but some of them are whiners and really have their own agenda. I’m not trying to stereotype all young players but in my experience, I have also seen old and supposedly “wise” elder gamers act like crybabies and whine more than Luke Skywalker.

In Bardoc’s case, they immediately kicked out the 3 members who were troublemakers. He further states that “The older players need to remind themselves that a big part of a healthy community is providing feedback and mentorship to new and younger members. They also need to recognize when their own thinking can be the problem. The younger players need to be able to choose a mentor and seek out an elder to help them. They need to take ownership of learning and getting the mentors they need.”

In Ragnarok alone, I have seen some of the successful guilds such as the Alliance conglomeration and Armada led by older players like the legendary makmak641 who has gone out of his own way to shell out his own money for meetings, EBs and parties. “Kuya Mak”, as he is known to most of his members, seldom asks anything in return. His love for the game and for his members is staggering. I have never seen someone so dedicated and helpful. His belief in the game and caring attitude for the guild are mirrored by the likes of Leic, Milton, Winston, Master Diwa and more like-minded souls. Even Ninja, formerly of Iris, has the same vision for their guild. There are other guilds in pRO and our other games like RF, and now, Perfect World. Apologies for not being able to mention them due to space constraints.

That’s why mentoring and developing future leaders is important. I have personally spoken to some leaders and they agree that this is the right thing to do.

Passing the torch to the next generation of players/leaders is a challenge to all of us. Not all younger players are “jologs”, mind you. Some are even more mature and have the same ideals as our current crop of leaders.

The challenge then, is not to promote a “Young vs. the Old” in all our Philippine Online Games, but to find and nurture them in order for the future of MMORPGs to be a brighter one.

GM T

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Comments

4 Responses to “The Young vs. the Old in MMORPGs”

SniperAngel on August 7th, 2007 1:16 am

Very profound GM T. *applauds*
While there is this stigma that games are just for the youth, having veteran gamers around gives a deeper perspective in the game. Experience is the best teacher, and even though being a Pro doesn’t necessarily come along with age, it still counts as a factor.

At my age [21] I had my ambitions to be a good guildmaster of my own guild someday, as I go on with my online career experience molds me and enhances my being, my overall character. So I guess that is not so ambitious as a goal. Since I learn from it, and grow along with it.
Blackwolf on August 7th, 2007 10:20 pm

The real issue is humility. Young and old players lack it in general. A truly well-grounded player is humble, yet confident in her abilities. If one has self-confidence and security in one’s own abilities, age won’t matter.
GM T on August 8th, 2007 12:09 am

agree. well said
Player Feedback | gmtristan.com on September 5th, 2007 11:40 pm

[…] - Players, especially the leaders, have passion and dedication for the game and they want improvements for the […]