Annoying Kids

[omgitsduane]

I don't know if this seems harsh but all the under ten players, whether its just a kid thing or not I'm not sure, but they will squabble over the most useless of things.

20 minutes of who is better, an ork or a space marine - to all of us over 10, its obvious space marines are better, but only in a 1v1 circumstance, armor saves do little against 40 attacks.

Or when one gets owned by a full squad of orks today, the other starts taunting him, which is retaliated by "yeah? but you lost your leman russ!" and they continue on for 5 minutes or more.

Is it literally just a "kid" thing that they can't grasp that there is always a bigger picture, and losing one squad doesn't mean the games over, every battle has casualties and thats the biggest part of war - its won with blood "your's or your enemies" to quote the rule book somewhere.

[kithre]

To be honest, most "kids" below the age of 10 don;t really have the mental maturity to understand that games are for playing rather than winging. I don;t really game with 10 yr olds, but I feel that the rules and time required are beyond teh concentration span of most, who will be after a quick "bang for buck". There will be exceptions. Its the ones aged 13-14 who behave in teh same way I worry about..

[Dr. Paris]

This thread is probably not going to go anywhere good....


12~15 is fine with me as long as they get that I'm an adult are respectful. By that I mean they're polite, realize I have a life too, etc. If they don't, our game is done. If they do, it's usually a fun game as kids that age don't really know a whole lot of strategy yet. So I usually talk them through some ideas and it usually become a fun game. (It should be noted I like teaching as well)

16~18 is where I run into issues. Some guys just aren't that smart, don't have manners, and merge the two in horrible ways.

College and up you run into wonderful things like immaturity, hygiene, poor sportsmanship, arguing over roles adults shouldn't, the list goes on....

[Canew]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Maturity is not necessarily linked to how many years you've been on the planet. I've seen 12-year-olds behave better than their opponents who were each older than I am. I'll spare those of you who have heard this story, as I've told it a couple times in the forums. PM me if you want to hear it again.

I mean, every store has its "Muppets" as one GW employee quietly put it once while we listened to a group of kids making loud noises in the back of the store during a game, but at a recent game I attended another player at another table got into a heated argument with his opponent, and proceeded to punctuate his moves with bursts of loud exclamations, one or two of which made me jump. BTW, this guy was NOT a child (at least physically, anyway).

[Koss]

Originally Posted by kithre

To be honest, most "kids" below the age of 10 don;t really have the mental maturity to understand that games are for playing rather than winging.

Some 40 year olds dont really have the mental maturity to understand that games are for playing rather than winning. Although I believe that this stems not from actual age but factors such as lack of real world experiance, living with ones mother, and lack of relations with the females.

[Montyhaul]

Games are for winning.

If you think otherwise, then you're a just big *stupidhead*.

[amphibious]

im 14 and i started playing when i was 10 and back then it was a very hard game for me

[thechaplain]

I find it ironic that there is a thread whinging about kids whinging because they're kids. What's our excuse?

Dr. Paris, I agree completely - they should show us respect. Of course, as long as they are doing that then it is your obligation to do exactly the same. I played a game against an 11 year old boy and his SMurfs recently, because he liked the look of my Guardsmen and wanted to play against them. He asked very politely and he was very nice and easy-going throughout the game. This is more than I can say for many "adults". Ordinarily I'd have let him win - but as he wanted to see what the Guard were capeable of, I rolled him - he still left the store with a massive smile on his face, though. Why? Because I spoke to him and treated him in the same manner that I would someone my own age. Throughout the game, if he made a bad decision or got a rule wrong, I just pointed it out and suggested what I would do - sometimes he listened and sometimes he didn't - but he always thanked me for the advice. I was so impressed by this young man that at the end of the game - it was me who went round the table to him to shake his hand and congratulate him on a game well played.

You spend your childhood being told that you have to earn respect and that the best way to earn it is to give it. Well that rule still applies - whether you're 14 or 40. So if you just sit and take the piss out of some kids badly painted Space Marines, or his misinterpretation of a rule - then A) expect them to react badly and B ) don't cry about it - because frankly, it's deserved. If you want the respect of these kids try talking to them like equals.

Of course - there are some who aren't interested. Who will react badly no matter what you do or how much respect you show them. They will become the adults that behave that way. It's nothing to do with age and everything to do with attitude.

So please - don't lump people into categories like "child" and "adult". If you're willing to generalise like that then I know which category you belong in. Think about it.

[omgitsduane]

We don't have any adults in the store that do react badly like the younger players though, and there is a 15/16 year old or so boy that knows more about this game already than I could learn in a lifetime, he just created and played a game with eldar, to "give them a try" without having to look at the codex because hes memorised everything, he is amazing and he knows how I feel about him.

Sure there are younger players there that DON'T yell every sentence and over-react and argue about every possible decision, but the ones that do drive me bonkers when I'm there.

Although I was never tought (is that how you spell it?) to respect people, I do it because I wouldn't like people talking me down, and treating me like an idiot, it's just common sense I believe.

When I was a kid I barely spoke a word, the last way I could imagine to spend my days is to stand there yelling at other kids because he plays orks and I don't play orks, so I disagree with why he choose that army, we all have our reasons don't we?

I choose chaos because I like the power of marines, but I never like the good guy, unless hes sort of evil, like batman to give one example that everyone will know.


And I do acknoledge that there are older players that do go out of their way to make everyone uncomfortable, I myself have never run into it, and I do my best to try and help everyone in the best way that I can but there are always exceptions to the general public.

[Canew]

Originally Posted by thechaplain

I find it ironic that there is a thread whinging about kids whinging because they're kids. What's our excuse?

Dr. Paris, I agree completely - they should show us respect. Of course, as long as they are doing that then it is your obligation to do exactly the same. I played a game against an 11 year old boy and his SMurfs recently, because he liked the look of my Guardsmen and wanted to play against them. He asked very politely and he was very nice and easy-going throughout the game. This is more than I can say for many "adults". Ordinarily I'd have let him win - but as he wanted to see what the Guard were capeable of, I rolled him - he still left the store with a massive smile on his face, though. Why? Because I spoke to him and treated him in the same manner that I would someone my own age. Throughout the game, if he made a bad decision or got a rule wrong, I just pointed it out and suggested what I would do - sometimes he listened and sometimes he didn't - but he always thanked me for the advice. I was so impressed by this young man that at the end of the game - it was me who went round the table to him to shake his hand and congratulate him on a game well played.

You spend your childhood being told that you have to earn respect and that the best way to earn it is to give it. Well that rule still applies - whether you're 14 or 40. So if you just sit and take the piss out of some kids badly painted Space Marines, or his misinterpretation of a rule - then A) expect them to react badly and B ) don't cry about it - because frankly, it's deserved. If you want the respect of these kids try talking to them like equals.

Of course - there are some who aren't interested. Who will react badly no matter what you do or how much respect you show them. They will become the adults that behave that way. It's nothing to do with age and everything to do with attitude.

So please - don't lump people into categories like "child" and "adult". If you're willing to generalise like that then I know which category you belong in. Think about it.

Wow. I totally agree, and thanks for reminding us all that on some occasions we can be a component of the problem, if we're not careful.

Course, there are some people who don't react well to kindness or maturity, like two (adult) morons I saw at a mega-battle once who exhibited behavior I would have expected from someone a sixth their age. Yep, I said a SIXTH their age. Did you do the math? Yep, it was that bad.

Still, I kept my cool, which I might tack on to thechaplain's advice (if he doesn't mind). By all means, treat everyone with respect, whether they respond in kind or not. Never, never lose your cool. Yeah, it means you gotta bite down on some nasty comments or uncurl your fingers from time to time, but you'll be a better person in the end for it.