10
« on: February 21, 2017, 01:41:22 am »
I too joined when I was 12. And let me tell you, I wasn't the most mature 12 year old. Considering I'm about 15 now, and feeling right at home, I believe early teen years and onwards would be the optimal age group. Although it's great that a younger user's first online game may happen to be Feralheart, as it is one of the better communities for games like these, there's still bound to be some hooligans that are going to be harsh with them or expose them to too much early on. At 12, I was still in my "derpy" phase, but still had my own personal thoughts and cautions for the most part, but I'd been an internet user for a couple of years by then between Minecraft and the good 'ol Webkinz and Club Penguin days.
So to get to the point, finally, I believe it boils down to maturity. I happen to know some 11 year olds who handle situations better than some 17 year olds I know, so I think that it's completely situational.
However, though I am pretty comfortable with the fact that a 20+ age group exists (I mean, someone has to keep all us youngsters in line), it can be off-putting to have some older (40/50/etc.) non-staffers. There's nothing wrong about an older demographic enjoying games like these, but it could be hard to filter out anyone with more malicious intents, as is the unfortunate truth with the internet. But I suppose I'm a tad skeptical on the issue due to my own observations of these issues.