I know this is an old post (9 months) and for some reason its received recent activity, but I want to chime in here.
Now, I've been a gamer from 10 years old on, and i'm pushing 40 now. It's been both fascinating and humbling watching the Video Game industry grow up with all of us. The most fascinating part of this observation has been the advent, maturing, and then standardization of the Online Gaming market; and I've been there through it all. I've Ultma Online and Everquest; EQ from the begining (and got out after House of Thule) and been one of those stuck up guys in a high-end raiding guild that will not give you the time of day. I've played Runescape for just as long, knowing the joy of putting on a max cape after years of gains, leaving for months to a year, and then having so much work to do simply to equip it again.
I bring the above points up, because I’ve been where the OP was when they posted this; many times. I game with friends too, fall under their influence, and in-kind influence them. The pressure of great life-long gamer friends or online followers, is that when they move on to other game, we often feel we must as well to keep them happy or at least content.
The root underline issues addressed but unspoken here in this post, is that in reality age has very little, to almost nothing, to do with how one reacts and behavior related to group gaming or gaming exposition (YouTube and such); it all has to do with maturity. The maturity you possess and the maturity that others convey to you with their opinions. (The true irony of that statement comes when you are playing Minecraft next to someone playing a game like say Skyrim and then they knock Minecraft; even though they too love the game and have hundreds of hours into their own world(s) and online play time on servers.)
This is one of those life lessons I really wish someone could have told me at a younger age, even if I wouldn’t have listened to it back then. If your maturity level is very deviated from those around you or those you value as in followers, you are going to naturally have these types of dilemmas. Remain true to yourself and if it truly bothers you, talk with your friends or poll you followers; get feedback and give feedback. Communication is a paramount portion of maturity.
Wow, that was a lot longer then what it was in my head; but, I hope this helps someone one day.
