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I thought you were in your twenties, Oz.
One of the things I like about this game is the mix of all sorts of people at all stages of life. "Being someone else" is all fine and dandy, but cool people still really jump out.
I don't know if there are 2 age groups - maybe more like 5?
- Too young to be playing and doing it without their parents permission
- Playing with parents permission or old enough to handle it
- Young enough to want to play, old enough to deal with the consequences
- Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway
and finally ...
- Old enough to be your momma
I think I've moved from stage 4 to stage 5 this year. Scary!
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No doubt! LOL My birthday is coming up, and it won't be long, not this year but soon I'll have to start doing all the fun stuff that women have to do at 35, especially when there's instance of cancer in the family, which there is in mine *cringes*
But seriously, I have to admit that I've had such extremely negative experiences with young teens that I am extremely reticent when I meet one in game that I know is under age, but the only time I am totally against them is when rooming in a house. I will not roomie in a house that has young teens (under 14), at all. Not necessarily because of their maturity or lack thereof, but just because I am grown and sometimes in game things slip and you pop off with something obscenity wise, and yes I do know that most if not all teens have heard it before, but I have personal issues with doing it when I know kids are around....in RL as well as in game. Let somebody else influence them with it....I don't want it to be me.
On the other hand, as far as just being friends with them, that I have no problem with at all if they are anywhere near mature enough to handle a basic intelligent conversation and show maturity not to throw a tantrum when something doesn't go their way.
I would also never report somebody in-game for being underage solely, unless they were being a general nuisance on top of it, OR if there is a situation where I see an adult trying to take advantage of them in any way. In that instance I will most definitely step in and report both of them.....the adult for doing that and the kid to get them out of the game even if just long enough for their parents to send that letter to EA, but in the process that potential pedophile will have lost interest when that sim never shows back up and will have found a new target. I know the popular opinion is that its not up to us to babysit somebody else's kids, but if I stand by and let a kid be harmed, whether in real life or in game I'm gonna have to answer for that at the end of my life and I just rather not have to because there is no justification for allowing an innocent child to get hurt if there's something you can do to prevent it.
Really you should not stand aside and let an adult get taken advantage of either if you know for sure what is going on, but that adult would be more equipped to take care of his/herself and report the person attempting to mess with them themselves, so the only time you really should have to intervene in that case is if the person is obviously operating with some kind of diminished mental capacity. If that is the case then they fall under the same case of innocence the way children do.
