Membership What's my age again?

[Huskerdust 625]

I think for me and the people I know, we used to pretty much only play people in their 20s and now we play characters of all ages. It's more about telling the story with a well rounded cast that all have their own subplots (hence why our NPCs tend to become PCs quickly) and less about just playing a single romantic thread with two or three characters. Now we've got entire families on board, from parents to younger children. 

 

[Rivfader 76]

• Do you think that older players tend to play older characters?

Yeah, I do think so, but I also see a bunch of younger roleplayers playing older characters as well so I don't think you can necessarily say an older character will always be played by someone of a similar age. I agree that it does seem to depend on the setting.

• Is it strange when adult players prefer playing teenagers or children?

Not really imo. The whole point of writing (I think) is to explore the unknown/things you aren't able to experience in the present so I can see why an adult might want to try writing from the point of view of a teenager or child. It can be a fun challenge.

• In your experience, are certain age groups more common in different genres?

Yes. Characters are definitely younger (18 - 35) in roleplays set in RL settings that I've seen and particularly any site that has a very romance-orientated plot or community. Whereas in my experience, fantasy and historical roleplays seem to attract writers who like to play large ranges of age, especially older characters. Maybe it's because there's this appeal to playing a seasoned warrior/veteran or a grizzled old wizard rather than your average 60 something year old joe.

• Has your RP group aged up with you?

Eh, kind of? But also not really. I mean, when I was roleplaying from age 10 to 15 I was writing with people in that age range, but then I moved into forum roleplay and basically 90% of roleplayers were 18 or older. I'm an adult now but a lot of writers are still older than me. OOC age doesn't really bother me.

• In what ways have you witnessed the demographics of RPers and characters alike shift since you joined the hobby?

Personally, I haven't noticed much in this regard, lol.

[Indy 23]

• Do you think that older players tend to play older characters?

Not at all. I started when I was 14 and I was always playing older characters, 30+ at least, have done characters in their 60s. If anything, I'm going to catch up with them in five years time at this point. It depends on the person and what they prefer. Who someone is (age/gender) doesn't really dictate what sort of characters they make, in my experience.

• Is it strange when adult players prefer playing teenagers or children?

Yes and no. From a writers perspective, it makes sense that people connect with younger characters just like I connect with older characters. It's when the characters aren't played realistically where it gets weird for me. When someone exaggerates a childish feature to wild proportions where it seems the character ceases to be a character and more of a joke/wish fulfillment thing.

• In your experience, are certain age groups more common in different genres?

I can't really answer this question. I've been with the same RP group for a decade and whenever I joined somewhere new without them other people's age didn't really come up. I do remember being the younger person in the genres I picked at first, but now I'm the same age as people, usually.

• Has your RP group aged up with you?

YES. Annoyingly I'm still the youngest. And they make fun of me for it.

• In what ways have you witnessed the demographics of RPers and characters alike shift since you joined the hobby?

Mostly seems like everyone's getting older, aging with me. I don't find kids anymore like I used to when I myself was a kid. But the character demographic has stayed the same: varying ages, but normally not younger than 20.

[Panda 3]

• Do you think that older players tend to play older characters?

no, I think the content they RP becomes more mature, not necessarily the age of their characters. 

• Is it strange when adult players prefer playing teenagers or children?

no I don’t think so. Unless someone is obviously doing it just for the sex, I think people honestly love character development at all age ranges. 

• In your experience, are certain age groups more common in different genres?

yes, 11-17 more common in HP same for Pokémon sites. Supernatural tends to be more adult. 

• Has your RP group aged up with you?

I have Rpers I have rped with for over 15 years. We have made new characters. I haven’t been on a role play site that lasted long enough for me to RP someone aging from 1st to 7th in hp. 

• In what ways have you witnessed the demographics of RPers and characters alike shift since you joined the hobby?

i see a lot more rapid fire. When I started, I was in elementary school and I had more free time. As an adult, I see people with less time, but still wanting to complete plots, so it becomes rapid fire more and more often.