At the risk of repeating things that have already been said, I thought that I should at least speak up, as the leader of the Stormguard. As it has been said before, we have an 18+ age restriction. This means that you sign an agreement that you are 18 or older. I don't encourage people to lie, but it's been known to happen. There's not much I can do about it, but at the same time, it's not my job to police those who decide to lie about their age.
The age restriction in the Stormguard, as Jakky said, is from a purely legal standpoint. People can LOL about lawsuits and give hypotheticals all day long, but until you've been in my shoes and had a parent start throwing the fear of the law at you, you don't exactly understand how serious a mood it can put you in. Now, there are plenty of arguments from people saying that parents can't exactly sue you for running a guild and talking about adult content in front of their child. It's true --- they shouldn't be able to, since it's actually the parent's job to monitor the games their child is playing.
However: they can do a lot to make your life hell, even if they can't follow through with a full lawsuit. I've had it happen, and I never want it have it happen again. This is why we have an age restriction and agreement before you can join our guild.
It doesn't mean we ERP. I ban that kind of thing from guild chat. What people do in /tell and AIM are their own business. However, I don't ban posting erotic material on our member-locked forums, if it has to do with a plot.
As others have also said in previous postings: there's a certain amount of life-experience difference between the time you are in high-school and the time you begin making your way in the world. It has less to do with maturity than it has to do with understanding and connection of the individuals around you. I connect and enjoy playing with my 16 year old nephew just fine. I think he's very mature and I'd love to RP with him. However, he's in a different headspace than I am. He'd probably be pretty impatient with the fact that I usually have to start going to bed around 11 o'clock at night because I have to work in the morning. (Just an example.)
I completely respect role-players younger than 18. I think that they are the future of role-play, and I constantly learn from many of the ones I play with outside of Stormguard. However, as a guild leader, I have to protect my ass and protect the interests of my members. I can't wait to play with many of you at RPC functions and other events, but I hope you all understand that the age restriction is not there to keep you down or make a statement. It's there for very specific reasons.
The age restriction in the Stormguard, as Jakky said, is from a purely legal standpoint. People can LOL about lawsuits and give hypotheticals all day long, but until you've been in my shoes and had a parent start throwing the fear of the law at you, you don't exactly understand how serious a mood it can put you in. Now, there are plenty of arguments from people saying that parents can't exactly sue you for running a guild and talking about adult content in front of their child. It's true --- they shouldn't be able to, since it's actually the parent's job to monitor the games their child is playing.
However: they can do a lot to make your life hell, even if they can't follow through with a full lawsuit. I've had it happen, and I never want it have it happen again. This is why we have an age restriction and agreement before you can join our guild.
It doesn't mean we ERP. I ban that kind of thing from guild chat. What people do in /tell and AIM are their own business. However, I don't ban posting erotic material on our member-locked forums, if it has to do with a plot.
As others have also said in previous postings: there's a certain amount of life-experience difference between the time you are in high-school and the time you begin making your way in the world. It has less to do with maturity than it has to do with understanding and connection of the individuals around you. I connect and enjoy playing with my 16 year old nephew just fine. I think he's very mature and I'd love to RP with him. However, he's in a different headspace than I am. He'd probably be pretty impatient with the fact that I usually have to start going to bed around 11 o'clock at night because I have to work in the morning. (Just an example.)
I completely respect role-players younger than 18. I think that they are the future of role-play, and I constantly learn from many of the ones I play with outside of Stormguard. However, as a guild leader, I have to protect my ass and protect the interests of my members. I can't wait to play with many of you at RPC functions and other events, but I hope you all understand that the age restriction is not there to keep you down or make a statement. It's there for very specific reasons.
![[Image: 35648_e37732a9465a144b.png]](http://sigs.enjin.com/sig-ffxiv/35648_e37732a9465a144b.png)
