Viewpoint At what point did you implement an age requirement?

[GammyWamzee]

So one thing I have been wondering recently, since I myself have been wondering when or why did you start implementing an age requirement?

What makes you bring up your age requirement?

How much of a difference have you noticed between younger and older roleplayers?

I myself implemented one when I realized a lot of my rp's dealt with mature topics. That either weren't being taken seriously by young members, or often made younger members uncomfortable.

 

[StarDeux]

i'm 27, and i've been roleplaying since i was 12/13 just for full context

i started implementing an age requirement around 24/25 mostly because i felt uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with a young teenager. i like to be friends with my rp partners, i want to talk with them about their day, and their lives, and doing that with someone who isn't even eighteen felt like a huge, huge yikes to me - and that's not even considering the fact that i don't really have that much in common with college kids these days yet alone high schoolers.

as for a difference, i get along better with people in my age bracket. more often than not we have a similar emotional maturity, communication is better, and the writing is greatly improved mostly because they've just had more experience writing.

i love that teengers are into this hobby, i think it's an awesome hobby to be in, and i hope they have a great time writing stories and making friends. i just don't need to be involved in that.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I’m unusual in that I had a age limit as a younger roleplayer and don’t have one as an older roleplayer.

For context I started roleplaying relatively late at about 18. So I was a young adult and actually most of the folks on the site I was on where around my age (16-20 being the main demographic for roleplayers).

So for me the age limit was less about content and more about copying the format I saw more experienced roleplayers use.

By the time I moved here I was in late twenties and I had stopped using the age limit. There are two main reasons for that ;;

1. I tend to not write romance, abuse, or trauma into my roleplays. So there isn’t really any content I would be uncomfortable talking to teens about.

2. Most of my fandoms are from when I was a teen, so they were popular before current teens were born. So some of it is just self selecting for people my age because I’m in older fandoms.

 

[Daisie]

I'm not sure that I'm the demographic for this thread considering I've never had a hard limit on age... and I don't really recruit partners, so much as adopt them lol.

But upon reading this thread, I don't think I'd be overly comfortable roleplaying with most teenagers anymore, despite having roleplayed since I was pretty little. This probably became the case when I, myself, stopped being a teenager. I had my first roleplay that prominently features emotional abuse, drug addiction, and suicidal ideation in 2019, and I haven't really turned away from the dark topics since then... so I haven't been interested in partners who may not have the maturity or interest for them.

So I don't really check ages, but if I feel like the topic isn't going to be handled in a mature manner, then I probably just won't RP with them, regardless of age.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Acute awareness of roleplay as a means to process and/or escape from trauma has made me leery of making age limits, especially since half the roleplays I've clicked on the whole time I've been on this site seems to be restricted for people under a certain age. I know I can''t be the only one to be in the position of being young and using roleplay to feel in the moment as though the drama in the roleplay was the only drama I needed to worry about. I also know I can't be the only one ever in the position of feeling like nobody is taking me seriously specifically because of my age, both on and offline.

Plus, my favorite roleplay to host is based in a high school, which would probably make it weird if I only allowed adults to join. It would be like setting a roleplay in Ireland and then saying "No Irish people may join."

 

[Edric Blight]

When I hit 19. At 18 I was comfortable RPing with 16 and 16 year olds but once I turned 19 I felt it was too big of an age gap. Now at my current age I won’t do anyone below the age of 18. I used to not have any age limit but I just feel uncomfortable talking to minors as an adult so I’d prefer not to interact with them.

 

[Commander Rabbit]

So, y'see, I was a cringy edgy boi back then. I handled topics, serious and otherwise, roughly. There was no mercy on the subject at hand.

I haven't put up an age requirement, but honestly? I might have the age requirement be 16+, because I at least knew some teenagers around that age while I was in high school wanting to be adventurous with the topics they wanted to explore in writing and play, and actually learn about them instead of throwing them around nilly-willy.

But honestly, I'm not really here to teach people, but if that's what ends up happening, I don't really care.

So much of what I've witnessed personally growing up was what I'm kinda going with, but I've also noticed this generation has a really mixed bag of how mature these kids are. It depends.

 

[Coco Adel]

I started implementing age requirements when I half ass started to have to parent my partners. I've had a partner who straight up told me they were on punishment but were sneaking onto the computer because their parents were asleep. I guess that's how I know I've matured because when I was a kid I would have found that bit of information absolutely hilarious but now I'm just like bro I am not about to be an accessory to you undermining your parents go to bed.

 

[Lorsh]

never put an age limit tbh

 

[Reanimated]

Once I turned 19, after that I just didn’t feel comfortable roleplaying with anyone under 18 tbh

 

[StuartAnderson]

I started unusually late lol. I was mid 20s and so I always had an age limit of 18+
A guy talking online to minors he doesn't know will never go well, particularly when I mostly write romance

 

[Solivagante]

Acute awareness of roleplay as a means to process and/or escape from trauma has made me leery of making age limits, especially since half the roleplays I've clicked on the whole time I've been on this site seems to be restricted for people under a certain age. I know I can''t be the only one to be in the position of being young and using roleplay to feel in the moment as though the drama in the roleplay was the only drama I needed to worry about.

I think this is a really interesting point because this is exactly why I'm not comfortable RPing with minors as someone over 30. I'm well aware that people, especially young people, use RP as a way to escape or process trauma, and that puts them in an inherently vulnerable position. I'm here to have fun and flex my creative muscles, and I would like to do that without taking on responsibility for someone else's emotional state when they're in a low spot.

Having been on both sides of that sort of quasi-parasocial relationship in the past, I just don't feel it's healthy for anyone involved. I will note that this extends beyond teenagers - I've seen interest checks from adults which ping my 'oh, you're processing something specific here' radar, and I choose not to engage for the same reason. Best wishes to anyone who is seeking RP for that purpose, but I know myself well enough to be aware that it would be bad for me to get involved.

With that said: this all applies to 1x1 RPs only. I personally have no issue with RPing with younger folks in group settings; I think the dynamics are much different.

 

[Cresion Breezes]

I barely ever do 1x1 and never liked to write romance so I never felt the need to implement one, like, the most "inappropriate" content I produced is probably a deez nuts joke.

 

[Natasha4E]

I used an age limit when I was over 35.

 

[Buttercup.]

Pretty much instantly. I want romance in basically every RP if I can help it and doing that with someone under the age of consent feels awfully iffy, even without getting into any fleshy details. Obviously people can lie about their age and if they're good at it there's no real way to tell, but if that happens I guess it's a victimless crime – I'm not gonna feel awfully iffy and they're not gonna be exposed to anything age-inappropriate anyway because I respect RPN rules.

 

[Kekse]

It has actually only been the last couple of years for me, despite now being in my early 30s. I chose not to put myself in a position where anyone could accuse me of inappropriate behavior with minors after all the garbage coming out online about influencers etc, so I simply choose to avoid interacting with them in a roleplay setting completely. It's not that I ever *would* be inappropriate; it's just easier to avoid any possibility of accusations.

 

[Jannah]

Early 20's I think. By that age I began to feel weird writing about mature topics with underage people.

 

[cdi]

As an ST, I can't say I've ever had a set rule other than "age-appropriate behavior is required for both the player and the character".

 

[GojiBean]

I've never bothered with age requirements.

The way I see it, if you're old enough to put together a coherent post and show enthusiasm in your participation, you're old enough to join me in an RP. My interest checks make it clear what you're going to be in for if you join. So, if you do join, you've formally acknowledged the unspoken terms of the RP and cleared me of any responsibility to parent you on the material therein.

Historically, over my 20+ years of role playing I've been fortunate enough to meet several minors (14-17, specifically) who were stronger and more well rounded writers than most 20-30 year olds I've met. Through their skill and dedication to the craft of story telling, most of them were actually able to teach me and help me improve my own writing.

As a result of these experiences I've come to trust a person's writing ability more than an arbitrary number that doesn't say anything about who they are or what they could bring to the table. Everything is relative, I suppose. And perhaps I've just been more fortunate in my encounters with minors than others who've had negative experiences with them. But, regardless...

If you can write, you can role play with me.

If you can't write for shit, I'm going to politely decline your participation.

Simple as that.

Cheers!

 

[Perpetual Zen]

Really late to this conversation. I really don't have an age requirement. Especially if I'm on a site like role play nation. I sort of expect them to do the weeding out for me and I just make sure I don't make anything above pg 13. I've written with all different ages and I mean we keep it strictly in character. I think age restrictions or at least acknowledgements happen say if a parent gets interested. Which I NEVER have a problem with. Parents, if you want to know what your offspring is writing. Please, feel free to be involved. That's the only time it really becomes a topic of discussion. BUT I have never really bumped into that problem