pray tell....how would a dev make a game that would draw in the "mature" crowd? i am 34 and i never seen a developer cater to the "mature" crowd as opposed to the "kiddie" crowd....and i been playing games since the atari 2600. Age and maturity never go hand in hand, and the player base is what determines maturity.

Take for example LOTRO, EQ2, EQ1....all themepark games which have a mostly mature playerbase. These games are not much different than say WoW. But you can definitely see the difference in the players. Can you tell me why? No....its an intangible factor which lends to the gravitation of certain players. THe mechanics are all the same in the above listed games, and there is no reason why one would be more mature than others.

Now like others have listed...EVE has one of the most mature playerbases out there. Because it requires determination and a little brainpower to survive. EVE is an anomoly in sandboxes, because you go to the other end of the spectrum, say DFO or mortal online, similar in freedom and complexity, and you have the opposite end of the spectrum. Again, you couldnt really say why since the mechanics are similar, its just another intangible factor.

And if you look closely...the OP setup this thread to be an advertisement for his favorite game....well done in disguising it.

Its simple, older people are incredibly hard to please.

A kid is easily impressed by a game, fancy graphics, their imagination will do half their work for them.

For an older person thats just not the case, they need more because they've already seen everything and lack imagination.

Originally posted by miagisan

pray tell....how would a dev make a game that would draw in the "mature" crowd? i am 34 and i never seen a developer cater to the "mature" crowd as opposed to the "kiddie" crowd....and i been playing games since the atari 2600. Age and maturity never go hand in hand, and the player base is what determines maturity.

 

Take for example LOTRO, EQ2, EQ1....all themepark games which have a mostly mature playerbase. These games are not much different than say WoW. But you can definitely see the difference in the players. Can you tell me why? No....its an intangible factor which lends to the gravitation of certain players. THe mechanics are all the same in the above listed games, and there is no reason why one would be more mature than others.

Now like others have listed...EVE has one of the most mature playerbases out there. Because it requires determination and a little brainpower to survive. EVE is an anomoly in sandboxes, because you go to the other end of the spectrum, say DFO or mortal online, similar in freedom and complexity, and you have the opposite end of the spectrum. Again, you couldnt really say why since the mechanics are similar, its just another intangible factor.

 

Well imho there are diffrences between games you choosed and why one have more mature and others more inmature players.

WoW while it has similar mechanics to Lotro and EQ 1&2 , it is very diffrent in many aspects.

WoW is a game that gear progression is very very fast, f.e. like new armor set can totally outclass previous one, while diffrences in Loro ,EQ 1&2 are not that big.

Second thing WoW allows and support more add-ons than any other game , making f.e. PvP bar,timer and add-on fest.

Amount of automatization that is in WoW totally outweight Lotro and EQ even though they also support alot of add-ons.

Then there are things like dps , agroo ,heal meters that measure everything in numbers, I don't remember EQ , but in Lotro there is dps meter just recently and it is I think impossible or hard to use it ilike others see what your dps is.

In WoW there is live feed on dps/heal amount , + things like gear score , etc   -> all of this create features that enchance "I have bigger numbers so I am better than lower number noobz" attitude , just because it is officialy supported and avabile to all.   

Not to mention things like cross server auto-searching lfg instant teleport lfg tools , it is also in Lotro and EQ but not with that amijnt of automatization. Also heirlooms , and alot of similar things that can speed up already increadible fast levelling to idiotically fast pace , totally trivializing open world content and making it far more meaningless than in very easy Lotro / EQ 2.

So I would NOT watch if game has holy-trinity , quest hubs ,etc mechanics , but more importantly are other things I described above.

More e-peen measurement tools , more streamlining and convenient things and more emphasis on making guild only social area while disencouraging social interaction between random people and propably biggest gear treadmill focus from all themepark AAA games - that is what making WoW attractive place for many immature people.

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EVE versus DFO/MO

This is simple. 

EVE even though PvP is very important part of a game , provides ALOT of other diffrent content and just way how to play it.

You can have viable gameplay beign , manufacturer , trader , mission runner , miner  + you HAVE relatively safe no-PvP sanctuary in Hi-Sec (yea you can get killed there but let's face it much much rarer than in low / null sec).

DFO and MO are almost purely PVP games , all that is not PVP is made weakly there , or is bugged.  No safe heavens , etc

Those games just don't offer much beside PVP.    This was even more true at those game release. Now it is bit better , but it is far too late.

That's why EVE and DFO/MO have very diffrent communities , even though that in theory they have similar "construction" but in practice it is diffrent.

--------------------------------

For game to attract more mature playerbase and less immature e-peen , ganker , flexer ,etc crowd - game ABSOLUTELY HAVE to provide viable and satisfiying non-combat gamplay + it cannot have things like gear score and dps rankings ,etc

cause it create elitism and "you're noob" immature attudes .

So don't think themepark vs. sandobx or holy trinity vs. non-class or twitch vs static combat , but what type of gameplay possibilities it offer and emphasise.

Originally posted by sagil

I'm not talking about pron or anything.  I believe Age of Conan has a 18+ rating but it's not a mmorpg you can label as a good and stable (living for years) mmorpg.

I am playing WoW now and then since it's the only stable mmorpg out there. Kids and drug users are putting down people as if it was apartheid and also are unfriendly at times. They also ask for money or ninja stuff (sure, some mature people do it too, but they obviously have no life at all).

I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. Because they know how to treat others, that pron and sexy girls ain't that much of a big deal to brag about or even comment on and that there are no reasons to make people small in games.

 

Thank you for reading this and I'm sorry if I offended someone, I am just trying to find a suitable game to play.

 

join a guild with mature members; problem solved

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Originally posted by Adamantine
Oh, and besides, the most immature guild I ever was in was one that had an age 25 requirement. I left because one of the officers kept insulting me for for fun.

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Comic Book Guy exists, true story!

I think most of hte older 'immature' gamers must surely fall into that stereotype.

Heh don't always blame the kids, I've seen kids in MMOs act way more mature and respectful than their elders.

At the end of the day it just comes down to the person.

Ignore the douches and group/friend with the good folks. Simple as that.

I'm 33!!   The beauty  of being old is that we have been growing up for so long that we have actually earned the right to act like children again! 

I'M rather fond of being immature, its like re-living my childhood all over again but with muscles a big willy and a hairy face !!! let the good times roll hahaha. oh yea!!! I've even had sex too.

Originally posted by sagil

I'm not talking about pron or anything.  I believe Age of Conan has a 18+ rating but it's not a mmorpg you can label as a good and stable (living for years) mmorpg.

I am playing WoW now and then since it's the only stable mmorpg out there. Kids and drug users are putting down people as if it was apartheid and also are unfriendly at times. They also ask for money or ninja stuff (sure, some mature people do it too, but they obviously have no life at all).

I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. Because they know how to treat others, that pron and sexy girls ain't that much of a big deal to brag about or even comment on and that there are no reasons to make people small in games.

 

Thank you for reading this and I'm sorry if I offended someone, I am just trying to find a suitable game to play.

 

WOW  sux and has more nob heads than any other game out there!! FACT! 

I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I put kids on my topic because they are going through puberty and most of them act weird until they become an adult (it really depends on the adults too, so it's not the fault of the kid). 

There are adults that are immature, but face it: how many times have you seen or been bullied at school because person in question was overweight or had glasses?

Also, drug users are easy to spot. They stay online 3 days in a row and never log out.

Originally posted by Agoden

Its simple, older people are incredibly hard to please.

A kid is easily impressed by a game, fancy graphics, their imagination will do half their work for them.

 

For an older person thats just not the case, they need more because they've already seen everything and lack imagination.

I would have to agree with this 99.9% !

Originally posted by Agoden

Its simple, older people are incredibly hard to please.

A kid is easily impressed by a game, fancy graphics, their imagination will do half their work for them.

 

For an older person thats just not the case, they need more because they've already seen everything and lack imagination.

I agree that it's harder to please the mature market. Although, imagination is endless.

I am a guy that loves nice graphics too. I can't stand watching odd animations.

Someone posted this picture earlier in the Guild Wars 2 section and I thought it would fit this thread well.

Originally posted by Quirhid

Someone posted this picture earlier in the Guild Wars 2 section and I thought it would fit this thread well.

Okay, if we're generalising here I might as well do it back. I'm 23 years old and I prefer to play with oldies in not modern clothes than pokemon kids. But I do love kids, just my future own. :) Haha. Kidding. I like kids but I don't want to play with kids online.

There in Alpha testing now just keep tuned in.

WOW screwed the market up. They made it so funding for MMOs only went to games that tried to appeal to everyone, like WoW. In doing so, they alienated all the people who dont want a game for everyone. What they dont see is tha tthe number of people looking for more than WOW is bigger than the number of people playing WoW.