Age Range for Target Audience

[partyprash]

btw, this game, what kind of age is the target audience..

I would assume that this game would be appealing to the slightly older audience than most other online f2p MMORPG's.

so.. does the game take that into consideration? regarding difficulty of quests, types or quests, themes etc...

[LeoReborn]

Id say 12 - 20+

Look at some of the people on here, mostly in their teens.

[Jerry]

I agree with Kai. The range seems reasonable.

Yes I think that all those have been taken into consideration too

There will be quests of different levels and some might even be challenging for the most experienced.

[ninja neb]

I would of thought that the age range would not matter, as alot of people 16+ consider pokemon to be something from thier past, and would rather leave it there. But if you are asking for ages, 12+ sounds very reasonable to me.

[spirit]

Since none of you actually know anything about the quests, let me enlighten you.

The story is being made with veteran players in mind, so people like myself, say ages 18 - 23ish, however, we are also trying to keep it as much like a classic pokemon game as possible, and with that in mind, the target age needs to be several years younger.

So there in lies a problem, We are making the game for probably ages 10 - 16 approximately,  but also trying to appease the people who grew up on the first games. This means, that some of the quests may have a little more mature themes, but we will refrain from portraying them in a mature way, as much as possible; this is no easy task.

Think of it like this, many anime that come out of Japan, are for an older youth audience in their original forms, but when they come to North America, and are dubbed into English, often lose much of what made them so mature; they are still the same show, but made for kids (which is a mistake in my opinion).

To summarize, Declan and I are doing everything we can to make this game for new pokemon fans, while reminding the veterans why they loved the originals, and bringing a slightly older age mind set into the game sometimes. As it is right now, I think we are doing a good job of making it fun for both, without crossing any borders.

I hope that all made sense.

[ninja neb]

That actually sounds like a good idea. Making it as user freindly as possible while giving something to most age groups, while not losing the magic that drew us all into pokemon in the first place. Sounds tough to be honest, especially with such a limited work force.

[Level5Pidgey]

Since none of you actually know anything about the quests, let me enlighten you.

The story is being made with veteran players in mind, so people like myself, say ages 18 - 23ish, however, we are also trying to keep it as much like a classic pokemon game as possible, and with that in mind, the target age needs to be several years younger.

So there in lies a problem, We are making the game for probably ages 10 - 16 approximately,  but also trying to appease the people who grew up on the first games. This means, that some of the quests may have a little more mature themes, but we will refrain from portraying them in a mature way, as much as possible; this is no easy task.

Think of it like this, many anime that come out of Japan, are for an older youth audience in their original forms, but when they come to North America, and are dubbed into English, often lose much of what made them so mature; they are still the same show, but made for kids (which is a mistake in my opinion).

To summarize, Declan and I are doing everything we can to make this game for new pokemon fans, while reminding the veterans why they loved the originals, and bringing a slightly older age mind set into the game sometimes. As it is right now, I think we are doing a good job of making it fun for both, without crossing any borders.

I hope that all made sense.

This is pretty much the best description.
Pokemon brings in a range of ages, with a different starting point (Starting from Gen I, only playing Gen IV, or even starting totally new), and knowledge level for all players.

Best way to go about it is to try to cater for everyone.
My department (Gameplay Optimisation) tries to cater to players of all knowledge levels, both in making previously hidden mechanics of Pokemon a little more transparent to players, and as we balance Pokemon.
Balancing Pokemon tries to help newer, or more casual players to not be immediately at a disadvantage because they don't know which Pokemon are the strongest (or don't like them), and also tries to help bridge the gap between casual and competitive play in PVP.

I'm not saying that we're trying to make it so any player who makes a typically bad team (such as an all water team), or those who give their pokemon bad stats and movesets will be able to easily win against the most competitive players, they'll get owned as always.... but no longer will they be punished for liking a Pokemon that was previously weak.

[partyprash]

Round of applause for great explanation

its great to see that all of you are looking at this game with many different views and are making it appeal to a large variety of audience.
Difficult task, but u guys make it look easy

Gratz to the team and i wish you good luck !!

[Greenthumb]

I am in my late 20's and I still playing around on my Pokemon games.  It's a great past time and is something to do just to unwind and relax.  I think the advanced quests will be good for the older audience to keep them interested.  There are many people in the world that love to game and I don't think you can ever take that game loving out of them.  Thanks for developing something even more that myself and all others can enjoy together!

[JohnnyXtreme]

Both demographics will be happy with it, if I'm reading right. That's how all the Pokemon games have been, really.