- Jul 20, 2019
- 8,781
- 17,173
L&P does give the ages of Ellie and Dylan here. And since they have known Julia and Sam since kindergarten, it can be assumed they are of the same age. And since Zac is on the same soccer team as Dylan, it can be assumed he's the same age.I think it's a fair point. The reason I think the apostles are getting so much attention is that Sophia went so much further with them than she has with any of the other...kids of questionable age. Even Julia didn't get nearly that far. I think it has forced all of us to reexamine the game and our own boundaries, and that's good. The challenge now isn't to shy away but to really ask if this game is acceptable.
If L&P came out and gave the following ages for the teenagers as:
Ellie: 18 going on 19
Julia: 18 going on 19
Dylan: 17 going on 18
Sam: 17 going on 18
Zach: 17 going on 18
Apostles: 16 going on 17 (though I know there's three or four of them, so they can't all be the same age)
I could live with that, though the Apostles would still represent a major issue. For Dylan, Sam, and Zach, it would be good if we got a flurry of birthdays. But I also think that they've been written age appropriately, as in they strike me as 17 years old. The Apostles are written to be clearly younger, so just simply saying they're 16 won't be enough; they need to look and act the part.
Again, L&P could put this all to bed easily by directly addressing their ages in-game. He could address it by adding the Apostles sex ed classes to DOL, therefore showing that he has nothing to hide. Maybe it isn't his intention to have under age kids, maybe the presentation of Julia and Dylan early on was not reflective of what he wanted, but as his abilities have improved he has been able to adjust their looks to reflect a more appropriate age. If he doesn't address this issue, if he continues to allow people to believe what they want to believe, then that will tell me all I need to know. If that's the case then there really is no choice but to put the game down and run a magnet over the hard drive.
Ellie can be assumed to be 18 since she has tattoos. She would be unable to get them without parental consent otherwise, because in that same scene Sophia we know didn't give permission.
Whereas Ava's boys are clearly and intentionally below that age. If they were 18 but looked younger that would be one thing, but Ava makes the specific point of them being younger because they are home schooled