Am I nuts? I'm 55 years old and love EQ2 as a newbie...should I grow up?

There's a span of thirty years between the oldest and youngest in our guild, where average age is somewhere in the upper 30s, so you're definitely not alone.

I'm 40 and been playing mmorpg's for years, ( gemstone,eq1,daoc,wow,now eq2) it's cheaper and healther than sitting at a bar drinking on the weekends, I have always loved fantasy since I read the hobbit and played paper and pencil ad&d years ago, I say enjoy!and there are other 'middle aged' people doing the exact same as you.

Hi;
i will turn 63 this month and i started playing online games in 1996 with Meridian 59. (woohoo how many remember that game)
been playing ever since. EQ1, DAOC, WOW, EQ2, D&D Online; AO, LOTRO, plus others.
Played as many as 3 games at a time but i have now just settled on eq2 and lotro.
My advice:
never grow up, and do what makes you happy.
as an aside also never trust banks, the government or people who say they do.

I'm 50 (will ding 51 in a few weeks) and enjoy playing MMOGs. Not EQ2 at the moment, but I will find others. Yes you are nuts, and so am I. My advice is, enjoy being nuts and never grow up.

36 years old male here, been playing games since 1984, probably a few who might remember Frogger on VIC-20 here back then my dad even enjoyed playing Scramble a shot'em'up.
I started to play Ultima Online in 1997 but when I moved to Europa server late 1998 and joined the Severed Heads Orc clan I met wonderful people all over the world from all ages.
My dad is 63 and he is a hardcore Vietcong (first person shooter) player where he has made a name for himself now.
Never grow up, if growing up means you shouldn't do the things you enjoy.
Squeek!!

There's a lot of "not kids" in Norrath... check out EQ2Faces.com and you see that. Middle-aged, responsible, well-paid types with mortgages and RL stress NEED our get-a-ways!

Just freshly turned 34 here and have been gaming in one form or another since my parents bought me that first atari system that came with just breakout =). I plan to keep it up until I can't see the screen to play! Through online gaming I've met people from all over the world whom I otherwise would never have even known existed. Seriously, have a good friend in Finland now because of this game =).

26 here, and I welcome anyone over the age of 21. Frankly, if I'm not playing video games by the age of 55 I'd better be dead, no other excuse. Seriously though, I think that EQ2 attracts gamers of a much older and 'mature' quality than other MMO's. I've played EQ2 and WoW since launch, raided, hit endgame, got all the perks, etc, in both. But you know what kills WoW for me? All the STUPID 10 year olds that seem to have a chip on their shoulder and an (Oh come on I can't say E ****?!) bigger than the internet itself. though it was always fun to put those idiots in their place. Here in EQ2 it's nice, usually if the kids do end up here they're pretty mature as is, which is fine by me. Though there is a guildie who is 13 who commented that I at 26 was wierd cuz I was an 'old man who played video games.' Yea, he refuses to speak to me after I showed him his place..
I welcome people of all ages as long as they think they're mentally capabale and not a complete imbecile with something to prove. Egomaniac kids destroyed the WoW community, and I refuse to play their game anymore, though that doesn't mean much to me since I've loved EQ2 since launch and have never really quit the game, just taken breaks.

55 and enjoying EQ2 ? sounds perfectly reasonable to me . I have several post-retirement guildies , and they are not only wise and patient , but some of the most fun people in the game to play and chat with . One in particular , a dear friend, Vexed , is a man that makes everyone that meets him a beter person just for knowing him . Play on friend , play on . PS , There's no reason you cant play EQ2 and still properly beat your kids now and then , but skip worrying about such trivial things as the economy

SentiumHoru wrote:

Hi,
I saw your post....did'nt read any replys....but I can think ot 3 people off the top of my head on Splitpaw that are 55, 66, and 70. Your not nuts playing an MMo at your age! People of all ages play MMo's....nit just the Kids!! I love playing EQ2 mainly because the people I play with are 30++....so mature....(although I do wander sometimes )

Well I'll be 60 in a couple of weeks, and female...been playing fantsy games since D&D, vic-20 first computer, EQ1 was my start for MMOs and played other games, been with EQ2 since launch and this has been my favorite so far until recently...but I digress...yes people look at me funny when I mention I play....but it keeps my mind active and I like most of the people I've met. I know two 72yr old guys that I've played with several times....there are plenty of mature people in the game.
lol you should have heard the reaction I got at Gamestop from another customer when I picked up TSO just carrying on about ....you're a gamer?!! Hahahahahaha it was a scream...and other funny part is I don't look my age..people still guess me to be 35-45. (in my head I'm 23)

PARTY ON !!! Ye olde fartes !!! /big smile

Do what you enjoy. I wish I had more time to play but my Military training prevents that at the moment. Hopefully in some months, I'll be able to play as much or close to as much as I would like.

I grew up playing dungeons and dragons, I loved reading/watchng sci fi and fantasy. I remember playing D&D games on the Comm 64, thinking that was awsome. For me EQ2 is D&D on steroids! I can see myself in a old folks home still playing EQ2.
I will never grow up and my kids love it too! If only I could get my wife to enjoy EQ2 instead of guitar hero and the WII fit. :0)

My hubby and i are both 65 years old and have played this game for three years. We played Dark Ages of Camelot for 2 years before this. My personal motto is KILL, KILL, KILL!!!!!!! We both don't move the old fingers as fast as we should sometimes and die once in a while but what the heck. It is well worth it. Keep on playing

Well I only made it two pages through this post before I had to click reply. Every response I've read is essentially, "yes, play, if it makes you happy." Less than half of those pose the rhetorical question, "Why not?" And many have listed other, "lamer" things you could be doing with your time which make EQ2 sound like becoming an astronaut.
I fell head over heels for this video game genre when I was 13, that was 10 years ago. I've played every major MMORPG as well as many of the less popular ones. Many of my high school and college peers played. Some quit and swore to never give so much of their time to a game again, while others are more deeply addicted than ever. Now I've been back and forth, and here's why:
As much as I love EQ2 and other MMORPGS... it is one of the least fulfilling, enriching, or productive activities I could partake in. Not by much, in some cases, but that's the truth. And it's nearly pointless to acknowledge that EQ2 is a lot better than watching TV. Who cares? If watching TV is the next best thing you can come up with as something to spend your time doing then I've got even more exciting things to tell you about that EQ2. Compare EQ2 to learning a musical instrument or traveling or learning a language or developing a lucrative skill. I'm sorry, I love MMOs but if I based all my decisions on whether or not they're better for me than watching television I'd probably be eating Cheetos for dinner and would have never went to college.
"Well maybe it's not as rewarding for YOU but it is for ME so speak for yourself!" ... is a response I receive from time to time. Most of those people aren't being honest with themselves and/or have little variety or excitement in their life to compare it to. My real-life quest is being honest with myself, and although my life hasn't exactly been a thrill ride, I know what's good and what's damn good. I've experienced the discipline, not just time, required to train myself to play piano and practice shotokan, I've experienced the thrill of performing in the theatre, and I've met and dated some wonderful people. I've come to understand the perspective one gets from travel, and confidence from mastering a skill. I'm not bragging, I'm aware this isn't the most exciting stuff. The point is that the time EQ2 demands a possibly exorbitent amount of time if you wish to taste its sweetest fruits, and that time could be spent working towards so many better things.
So, original poster, just be honest with yourself. If EQ2 is really what you'd prefer to be doing more than anything else, well, you have the freedom and luxury in this day and age to play until your heart's content (or until you need to sleep for a few hours) : ) But please take my advise and stop and think before you wake up with 100 days played and realize what you'd rather have done with the time, it can happen so easily.

35 here and been playing since eq1 "Kunark" and have not missed a beat, i have also dabbled in a few other MMO's not to mention them here, but during that stint i never stopped playing EQ or EQ2. Now the only game i play is EQ2 besides the collection of games i have for the Xbox 360, Wii, DS & Gameboy that i own.. So we may grow old but we never really grow up, and why should we. I will always be a Kid at heart and will always play video games no matter what people say or think, thats their opinion and my dad always told me "Son, Opinions are like @$%&*les, Everyone has one."
So keep on Gaming and don't worry what other people say.
Glad to have you as a fellow Eq2 player.
Chubbylilbuddy Lv 74 Berserker
Kuzab Lv 34 Pally
Chubetta Lv 27 Fury
Crushbone Server.

momzplay2 wrote:

Wise man. But, he should be careful what he whishes for. I talked a girlfriend in to golfing and *poof* my 3x a week "guys day out" went bye bye.

An amusing ( I hope) anecdote:
I'm 53 and my mother is in her 80's. She was visiting for the holidays and stayed overnight. She has become accustomed to sleeping in her recliner at home, and my recliner is in the computer room. While she was sleeping there I was up at 2 a.m. finishing some quests when she woke up momentarily, took one look at me and literally yelled 'Go to bed!' The last time that happened was in the 60's when I would sneak down to the the stairway landing to watch Johnny Carson over my folks' shoulders. Therefore, I am still a kid breaking the rules by staying up way past my bedtime.

Im 18 years old and ive played every game SoE has made except that pirate game. I played EQ1 since kunark was new and beta tested EQ2 and vanguard, ive played SWG from the time it had a thriveing community and multiclass system, and ive played planetside since before BFRs and the bending. Heck ive even played matrix online, granted that was for a totall of 2 hours.
I have played MMOs for most of my life and I will continue to play them as long as people produce them and I can afford them.
now i think im crazy...