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[SALT] Age in the Playerbase

Sir ArmaMalum·7/7/2014, 4:08:18 PM·6 votes·858 views

Hello and welcome to the continuation of my series of Sir ArmaMalum's Let's Talk. If this is your first time, welcome! The idea here is for me to present and outline a certain topic, complete with my own bit at the end, for the sole intent of talking about it. Whether it be with me or another replier. I tend to stick to out of game subjects like ethics, behavior and other such things but that doesn't mean I'm avoiding things like gameplay and balance, feel free to ask for that next time!

#####BTW, you can vote on the next post's topic in the poll below.

Quick Guidelines on replies:

  • Be constructive
  • Ask questions!
  • Talk!

http://i.imgur.com/kvyyBNu.png Age in the Playerbase

Quick! How old was your last random player?

If you're like most people, myself included, you probably didn't think about it too much. Maybe not at all. Of course, now that I mentioned it, you're probably making a few guesses. Let me take a guess myself: around your age, possibly younger?

How many players did you run into that you could see being older than you? Probably not much. I'll get to why that is a little later.

Anyway, back on this section, League is the largest MMO game when it comes to a regular active playerbase. Not only is it massive geographically, but it's also done another amazing, lesser seen thing. It's broken the normal social stigma that most MMO's carry. Whether it's because of it's pro-scene, competitive nature, high streamer presence, free-to-play nature or simple massive numbers it's very hard to find a reason to dismiss LoL. As such, there are a lot of different people with varying tolerances and upraising that enjoy the game just as much as everyone else. Nowhere is this more apparent than if the age difference between players is big enough, because an older person will have a much different reaction to things like stress, criticism, and even jokes than a much younger player. I won't bring out the 'maturity' card, because I've seen immature adults an mature kids, but either way age can play a very large but unnoticed role in how interactions between players unfold.

For example, what happens if a forty year old starts getting talked down to by a 11 year old? That brings us to the next section....

http://i.imgur.com/21Tl23L.jpg?1 Perception of Age

The perception of age is simply not how old you actually are, but how old someone else sees you. In this case how you see random people, and how random people see you. The driving force behind the perception of random individuals is a trait called generalization, meaning the experience and characteristics of what you feel has been the majority of your experiences with something you will then subconsciously assign to everyone in that area until shown otherwise. Look at the data in the next section to see what I mean.

####Why does this matter?

Well, quite simply, there's not a lot of small talk in League chat. So there aren't many opportunities to shed a generalized perception of someone. And if the difference between the person and your generalized view is large enough, it can create very real mis-interpretations and problems. Especially in a high stress environment like a ranked game.

For example, the aforementioned 11 year old talks about how their top lane "Is feeding like a scrub. Look at this kid.", naturally the 40 year old won't take this well. If the older player is particularly vulgar, they may leave that 11 year old in a daze that he/she really shouldn't be exposed to. What happened here? What if the same situation happened when both players were instead the same age?

While this is an assumption and should be treated as such, the 11-year old was likely not thinking about how the person in top was as an actually person (This is called dehumanization, and a new possible topic for later), but as a username. Therefore he will normally fall back onto his generalized view of a random player and talk to them like he would with his friends or even himself, which in this case is not a good idea. And that's the issue, not even age itself, but the perception of age.

Just to prove a point, reply in a comment below with a guess of MY age, I'll post later telling you exactly when I was born, but for now let's see where the average League forum browser puts their perception of my age shall we?
(Hint: I am between 15 and 35 years old)

http://i.imgur.com/AufmQWZ.png An Age 'Barrier'

Unlike the summoner spell of the same name, this barrier is on at all times, but is only seen a few times. Honestly, it actually rarely comes up in a game, as the singular experience of the game itself usually gives a nice anchor point to bridge the gap in ages. So in this section I'm going to actually talk about the forums, because this where it can be seen better.

I could give you a book’s worth of discussion on different generations having different reactions to the same issues and topics based on the events and environment of their upbringing, but I already type a lot, so let’s just agree a 30 some year old will approach a problem or topic from a different venue than a teenager. Not to mention someone who is older will have access to more experience and base-line knowledge than the one they are conversing with. Sometimes, this can be a good thing, because just because someone is 13 doesn’t mean they won’t have a good point on a subject. But it will naturally put the younger user at a disadvantage, and one both parties may not be aware of. This difference in experience and values can easily create discrepancies between things as simple as the use of a word to things as nuanced as mutual respect.

Essentially, a large enough age difference can actually impede proper communication and relaying of ideas, and this impediment can be mis-interpreted very easily, because you don’t know it’s there!

http://i.imgur.com/zYyEeRh.gif?1

######That is literally my first home-made gif, and yes I know, it's awful. But I'm working on it! XD

So just in case you missed both posts, I went around both in GD and the CB and even Leddit to get demographic data myself because I wasn't able to find specific data on the League playerbase that had already been recorded. If you would like to see other sources of more official organizations you can look in my preparation post.

Please keep in mind the sources of both of these surveys, they both are more accurate representations of League forum goers and Leddit users respectively, and can only be used as an inaccurate and bias representation of the League playerbase, but it was all I could get so...meh.

The average actual player probably falls under a higher age based off of the trends of the video game industry as a whole, and Riot's latest public release of data gave a broad range of 16-30 years old for 80% of players.

http://i.imgur.com/rulN4pc.png?1

Raw Data

Forums: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/180cvSbXj4RDyb5QdmZFzU6O3QUphCy3GdtAjM_YKVpk/viewanalytics?usp=form_confirm

Leddit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Hx4W701GWDy4yfYoGErdBJpG9yX3Pnl6HPf5H6sXFmQ/viewanalytics?usp=form_confirm

######These are still partially ongoing so they may have a small bits of inconsistency.

http://i.imgur.com/WmgxVcp.png The Question(s)

So, did the results surprise you? If so, what age did you think was the average forum poster before?

  • What age do you think your normal random league player is?

  • Will this discussion change your outlook? Why or why not?

  • What other problems can you think of that could be created by age differences?

  • What instances, looking back, can you think of where age discrepancies may have played a part?

  • Only if you feel comfortable of course, shout out your own age! And then shout out how long you’ve been playing League, because, come on, that’s the only age we really care about amiright?

  • Talk! Seriously, this can be a huge topic if we get this going, ask me questions, ask other people questions, point out mistakes in my argument (I’m not perfect guys :P) and why they are so. Shout out your own opinion on the matter, ESPECIALLY if it differs from my own!

http://i.imgur.com/3GGZn7r.png My $0.02

I honestly don’t have too much to add on a personal level. I was actually surprised at the amount of 11-15 year olds on the forums, and also a tiny bit worried on that regard (mainly with the 11-13 year olds) but hey that’s not my problem so I’m not going to judge. I usually don’t think about someones age when I play with them or talk with them, I just focus on trying to communicate with them the best I can, and I;ve found (through trial and error) that treating everyone with as much respect as possible and trying my absolute best to keep a level and neutral tone can be the best catalyst for relaying ideas and opinions. Of course, I’m only human so I;ve broken that from time to time. There have been times when I beleive I’m talking with someone much younger than myself in which case I don’t get smug or uppity, I try my best to be instructional. Yes, I default to a teacher, as lame as that sounds :P

Overall your age doesn’t change much, and I’ll still listen to you no matter what, but my main concern with this entry was the awareness some people may not have, ala perception of age.

And don’t foget, try to guess my age in a reply below!

###Previous: Casual vs. Serious, Where and When?

###Next: Dehumanization of the Playerbase

###All Topics

#####Don't forget! You can visit my All Topics post above and suggest as many topics as you'd like, if I think I can do it justice I'll happily put it up in the next poll!

33 Comments

Caoil7/8/2014, 4:32:02 PM3 votes

I like to think I can accurately (within 3 years) guess a players age in-game simply by the way they play and their participation in chat. Younger gamers (11-13) tend to play more egocentrically, and that is why the younger players make up a large portion of low bronze. Obviously there are some younger players who play amazingly well, and there are also older players who play completely egocentrically. Ive also found through playing tournaments and watching tournament streams that older players participate less in the chat. I think it would be interesting for you to do a SALT on egocentric vs. allocentric (self vs. team focused) playstyle and the age and rank of the players in that playstyle. It would be tough to do a self-reported study though because people cant accurately categorize themselves that way.

As for your age, I`d guess 22-23 and in college/university. I'm 21 and study neuroscience, so I really like some of the psychology and number crunching behind your SALTs. :)

Tulare7/7/2014, 5:59:00 PM1 votes

I guessed that the average age of players would be 21-25 - college students - and the results were surprising to me. I'm 33 and I've come to expect that most of the other players in online games will be younger than me. I was surprised to see how many players are so much younger, though. I don't think it's much of a stretch to guess that half of LoL players are 15 years younger than I am.

Since I was assuming that most other players were younger but still adults, that definitely led me to expect a certain standard of behaviour. I can't really say that I know what to do with this new information yet.

It looks like less than 20% are in the 26+ category. That illuminates some of the things I've heard other players say. For example, somebody criticizing a friend of mine, saying that somebody with kids (even if they're supposed to be sleeping) has no business playing ranked.

Dragon Fang Shot7/7/2014, 6:01:24 PM1 votes

Everyone tends to think that gamers are teenagers/college students. It's an idea that's been planted in the minds of the people, mainly by the mainstream media. And it shows when people behave immaturely. No matter what someone's actual age is, immaturity will instantly make someone appear really young. The opposite is true about having maturity. But people can be immature in one game and act completely mature in the next one.

I find that other people's attitudes can easily affect others in League. It usually starts off with one flaming and then evolves into an entire team that bashes on each other. It happened to me in a game I played yesterday, where one early gank gone wrong caused the jungler to point their finger at me. I was playing with friends who backed me up in the situation, but I did get mad at the player. They maintained that attitude throughout the game and we ended up losing because the jungler wouldn't stop blaming me for everything that happened.

Alternatively, about a week ago I was going on a rampage through the jungle. One good game with coordination from my team led to another, and then another. But we did run into a roadblock. I queued up with three people who were from the first game I played, and we got a random fifth person. That player refused to play support, and decided to hover over Nami until there was a few seconds left on the clock and switched to Draven. In game, my first gank bot turned into a kill for me on Nasus, which prompted Draven to blame me for stealing the kill so he couldn't gain an advantage. I shrugged it off and continued playing normally. I ended up dominating that game, while Draven still did well. The overall positive attitude of our team won the game for us, and changed the toxic player's attitude as well.

The point is, maturity is a bigger factor in this than age. I had no idea what the people I was playing with age's were. They could have been teenagers acting mature or a parent with a full-time job acting like a teenager. As the saying goes, age is but a number.

MackleDoge7/7/2014, 5:33:45 PM1 votes

I'm guessing you're 22.

Honestly, this topic for me is mainly just an interesting small talk point, kind of like the weather or how bad the neighborhood mail man is. The data is pretty interesting, I can't say I'm particularly pleased with the amount of children under 16 playing the game and on the forums. I recognize that its a generalization and those are generally unfair but I have a hard time believing (due to my experiences going through that age gap and in games online over 10 years) that the players within that age group are particularly respectful or have enough general life knowledge and experience to appropriately balance their time on this game with the importance of their responsibilities in real life. I think we can all acknowledge that such a statement isn't accurate for all the players within that age group, but I don't think anyone can say that they haven't had a game with someone that speaks or behaves in such a manner that you immediately think of a petulant child throwing a tantrum. And don't even get me started with some of the flat out ridiculous and nigh on unbelievable posts or comments that telegraph "I'm a little kid that has no idea what I'm talking about or what any of these words mean". See that far too often.

Overall though, I think that having a few age demographics is good for community health because it provides varying perspectives and that allows for learning, albeit in different aspects, for each of the age demographics.

MrBuffington7/7/2014, 6:39:42 PM1 votes

I think you're in college, so I'm going to guess 22. If I hadn't known that, I would have guessed a bit older, maybe 24.

I think there's a general perception that video games are for children. Basically I think the stereotype is that an average videogame player, especially for online games, is between 13-22, and is Male. What I find interesting about your post is your comment that older gamers can be less mature than younger gamers (something I've experienced before), and I'm wondering if, since the general age range (or general percieved age range) is ~13-18 or so, if this perpetuates this immaturity (or percieved immaturity) in gamers as a whole. Basically, do gamers act or behave immaturely because that's who the gamer peer group is/is percieved to be, or are they innately immature? Sort of a chicken or egg question, based on the assumption that gamers are immature, but I thought it was interesting :P.

Remlap12237/8/2014, 1:22:33 AM1 votes

Honestly, I don't care about age. People know that online games are notoriously unregulated (not for lack of trying). The lack of maturity may cause me to draw conclusions that they're just a sad high school student wanting attention by trolling, but that's age discrimination and a stereotype. As long as you're cool, I don't care if you're 5, 15, or 50.

Angry Monster7/7/2014, 6:22:21 PM1 votes

I am sorta shocked by the whole teenage demographic. I wonder how this translates into the actual player pool.

I feel like that poll does not reflect the age of actual player base(and pray to). Considering the lack of moderation it does not surprise me that bored kids are massing to the forums in general.

Sadly I am 33. And i have been playing since season 1. (What ever year that was.)

you are 23?

The data could of been more interesting if it was broken down even further. 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, 21+. These lower ages tend to have mentality changes. Or at least as modern society we think it does.

I choose MOBA its personal, though i have no clue what that would be.