RP shout ads are obstructive to chat and gameplay

[LianaThorne]

ERP aside, why would that be a good thing? I can totally understand not wanting to play with 14-year-olds over a certain age (too much difference), but in this case it's not the "minor" that's the problem, but the age group. There's not much difference between a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old (to tell the truth, the arbitrary limit makes me laugh a little: in my country, 18 is the age of majority). It's an ostracization without any real meaning, other than the desire to protect oneself against certain accusations.

But no, I don't find it at all unhealthy to integrate a younger player into an RP group as long as it's healthy. If the age difference, and therefore the mentality that goes with it, doesn't pose a problem for those involved, it can, on the contrary, provide a framework that is beneficial. Precisely because the adult is aware of the limits to be adopted, and that these will sometimes be crossed less than in a group of teenagers who tend to test the limits of what is acceptable. I'll take just one example from WOW: in my guild at the time, there was a very young 15-year-old player. A typical teenager, a little nervous, in crisis, and very aggressive. Personally, I avoid this type of player in general (I don't have the patience for it), but our guild leader kindly set limits for him, and from what I've seen, this helped turn him into a more respectful player.

Personally, when I was in my early 20s, I didn't find that I had much in common with anyone not in their 20s. Now that I'm in my 30s, I won't really attempt to be friends or further with anyone under the age of 25 because I've found that again, we don't have much in common and are at different stages in life. I don't see any real reason to pursue a online friendship or group that involves teenagers at my age nor do I think it's at all appropriate for a 30+ year old person to want to seek friendship from teenagers lol. It's weird, idk what to tell you. Might be a bit better when they're in the lower range of their 20s to be friendly with an 18 year old but def not their 30s lol.

[TBerry]

The RP FC I'm in is as Goodie-Two-Shoes/Do-Gooders as it can get, even for a reformed criminal like my character, and generally all of them are wholesome and diverse characters.
Yet, the age of entry is still 18+ simply because of the themes the characters may be confronted with: Depression, alcoholism, losing eyes or body parts, death, organized crime such as drug cartels, slavers, etc.

There are also several seedy venues and characters on EU, aside from generally "safe venues":
A tavern that is considered a meeting place for poachers and other criminals, a black market, of sorts, there was an event which was a trial for attempted murder a year or so ago which several people attended, a play with a chance of getting pick-pocketed, several always open, NPC run venues that can be used for whatever (except ERP, mostly).

The difference is, most of these people understand that Eorzea isn't a place made only of sunshine and rainbows.

My point is:
It is a fundamental problem in approach and lack of respect.

[Merrigan]

Personally, when I was in my early 20s, I didn't find that I had much in common with anyone not in their 20s. Now that I'm in my 30s, I won't really attempt to be friends or further with anyone under the age of 25 because I've found that again, we don't have much in common and are at different stages in life. I don't see any real reason to pursue a online friendship or group that involves teenagers at my age nor do I think it's at all appropriate for a 30+ year old person to want to seek friendship from teenagers lol. It's weird, idk what to tell you. Might be a bit better when they're in the lower range of their 20s to be friendly with an 18 year old but def not their 30s lol.

But we're not even talking about friendship? Just interractions here: being part of the same guild, doing "normal" RP, and so on.

There's also a difference between forming bonds (bonds that aren't limited to friendship, by the way) because you have a common interest and specifically seeking a friendship with someone much younger. In the first case, I don't think it's so disturbing: people follow a common pattern as they mature, but sometimes there are exceptions to the rule; and in the case of 'niche' hobbies (stamp collecting, for example), there are so few enthusiasts that it's always nice to meet some. On the other hand, yes: if an adult aged 30+ told me he wanted to form a friendship with a teenager and said that age was a criterion, I'd find that very strange, as you say. In fact I'd certainly report the individual in question.

[Bonoki]

Sometimes I find it a bit amusing when I interact with RPers. Most of the ones I have spoken to will always say stuff like, "I am an RP vet, I have been RPing for 15 - 20 years". And when you put the math together you find out they started when they were like 12 or 13. But then you look around at all these 18+ only places and it makes me wonder how a 13-year-old can begin in an RP hobby when everyone is so adamant about age. I bring this up because it's not just a one or two-time occurrence, I do meet a lot of people who claim they started at a young age. It makes you realize how times have changed.

[TBerry]

Sometimes I find it a bit amusing when I interact with RPers. Most of the ones I have spoken to will always say stuff like, "I am an RP vet, I have been RPing for 15 - 20 years". And when you put the math together you find out they started when they were like 12 or 13. But then you look around at all these 18+ only places and it makes me wonder how a 13-year-old can begin in an RP hobby when everyone is so adamant about age. I bring this up because it's not just a one or two-time occurrence, I do meet a lot of people who claim they started at a young age. It makes you realize how times have changed.

I am not a vet, by any means. It's just that people seem to think they need to sanitize everything nowadays, completely forgetting about the source material. Yes, you can have "safe" RP, but this world isn't a safe place.

[Merrigan]

Sometimes I find it a bit amusing when I interact with RPers. Most of the ones I have spoken to will always say stuff like, "I am an RP vet, I have been RPing for 15 - 20 years". And when you put the math together you find out they started when they were like 12 or 13. But then you look around at all these 18+ only places and it makes me wonder how a 13-year-old can begin in an RP hobby when everyone is so adamant about age. I bring this up because it's not just a one or two-time occurrence, I do meet a lot of people who claim they started at a young age. It makes you realize how times have changed.

Yes, times have changed. Again, I have more experience with RP IRL, but when I started I must have been around 14. The others were adults except for one 16-year-old boy... And there were never any problems. They all had a very healthy relationship with us, more brotherly than anything else.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this particular group allowed me to indulge in much healthier activities than I could have done with people my own age.

Edit : and dang, this message brought back some awsome memories.

[strawberrycake]

Sometimes I find it a bit amusing when I interact with RPers. Most of the ones I have spoken to will always say stuff like, "I am an RP vet, I have been RPing for 15 - 20 years". And when you put the math together you find out they started when they were like 12 or 13. But then you look around at all these 18+ only places and it makes me wonder how a 13-year-old can begin in an RP hobby when everyone is so adamant about age. I bring this up because it's not just a one or two-time occurrence, I do meet a lot of people who claim they started at a young age. It makes you realize how times have changed.

SUrprisingly a lot of these communities were niche, when I think about a lot of the teens and adults that were around there were boundaries they would never overstep and the baseline respect was there. Even in WoW for me a lot of the guilds were always maintained by people who made sure IF there were any kids in the guild, that the adults kept certain topics in private.

Now a days a lot of people sadly didn;t grow up in these types of enviornments or think it's ok to just say horrid stuff to people and it's ok. And when you compare the sexual aspect and nature of things from back then to now, it's not like It wasn;t there, again the adults made sure people were kept in check and stayed in their lane if they were weird, or self regulated as a community, and for the people who did ERP and were normal, kept to themselves and made sure everything was with people 18+/21+.

It's easy to say that theres no longer overarching people in these communities watching out for others, a lot of how we did stuff as kids just doesn't happen anymore.

[Padudu]

ERP aside, why would that be a good thing? I can totally understand not wanting to play with 14-year-olds over a certain age (too much difference), but in this case it's not the "minor" that's the problem, but the age group. There's not much difference between a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old (to tell the truth, the arbitrary limit makes me laugh a little: in my country, 18 is the age of majority). It's an ostracization without any real meaning, other than the desire to protect oneself against certain accusations.

But no, I don't find it at all unhealthy to integrate a younger player into an RP group as long as it's healthy. If the age difference, and therefore the mentality that goes with it, doesn't pose a problem for those involved, it can, on the contrary, provide a framework that is beneficial. Precisely because the adult is aware of the limits to be adopted, and that these will sometimes be crossed less than in a group of teenagers who tend to test the limits of what is acceptable. I'll take just one example from WOW: in my guild at the time, there was a very young 15-year-old player. A typical teenager, a little nervous, in crisis, and very aggressive. Personally, I avoid this type of player in general (I don't have the patience for it), but our guild leader kindly set limits for him, and from what I've seen, this helped turn him into a more respectful player.

Why wouldn't it be a good thing lol, what business does a 25+ year old have with a teen other than playing the game? Ofc like, it's not always avoidable. There might be teens in FCs, parties, events (RP or otherwise) and talking to them on a base level is fine. I've ran events for different games that had minors in it and for the most part people were cool with it and talked to them with respect. Personally, with how FFXIV RP is, people blur the lines FAR too much between friendships, relationships, ect ect. I'm 27, I just don't find it comfortable to RP with a 16 year old, it's weird. Boundaries are ofc fine to teach, but it's not my responsibility beyond being courteous.

[VirusOnline]

Why wouldn't it be a good thing lol, what business does a 25+ year old have with a teen other than playing the game? Ofc like, it's not always avoidable. There might be teens in FCs, parties, events (RP or otherwise) and talking to them on a base level is fine. I've ran events for different games that had minors in it and for the most part people were cool with it and talked to them with respect. Personally, with how FFXIV RP is, people blur the lines FAR too much between friendships, relationships, ect ect. I'm 27, I just don't find it comfortable to RP with a 16 year old, it's weird. Boundaries are ofc fine to teach, but it's not my responsibility beyond being courteous.

I echo this a bit, being in the same age group as you as well.

I guess in my point of view, younger people tend not to have mental maturity or the experience of maturity or just in general life experience. As a result, this vastly excludes what you can talk to them about. IE I can't talk to a teen about the realisation of the future most of us hold (working for life, the politics in society, etc lol) and be able to expect empathetic commiseration of that nor a complex conversation of that commiseration.

I don't RP in any capacity, but for adults I assume this idea is translated to RP in that there is a limitation of range (light rp vs. heavy, vocabulary, quality, unique voice, all those RP elements akin to storytelling). I'd imagine it's like reading a YA novel and being forced to stay within the confines of those ratings, because they are a teen. It's limiting and boring and doesn't allow for the natural transmutation of adult elements (mental issues, financial hardship, etc.) into the RP world. I don't even feel comfortable cursing around teens lol, just how I am.

[Merrigan]

I don't RP in any capacity, but for adults I assume this idea is translated to RP in that there is a limitation of range (light rp vs. heavy, vocabulary, quality, unique voice, all those RP elements akin to storytelling). I'd imagine it's like reading a YA novel and being forced to stay within the confines of those ratings, because they are a teen. It's limiting and boring and doesn't allow for the natural transmutation of adult elements (mental issues, financial hardship, etc.) into the RP world. I don't even feel comfortable cursing around teens lol, just how I am.

I just have a question for both of you : Do you forbid teenagers to read classic books? Because the majority of classic works deal with similar themes, so if it's a question of sparing them from themes deemed too "hard"... In that case, there's a lot of media that shouldn't be consumed.

... FFXIV included, even if it's very light most of the time. In view of your answers, I honestly wonder whether you're defending this protection of teenagers because we're talking about RP, an activity that can suffer from potential prejudices, or whether you're defending this point of view regardless of the medium concerned.