Well, if you\'re gonna do age, just make it simple...
Firstly, nobody wants to play a game where they inevitably die. A person wants to be able to keep playing for as long as they enjoy the game.
Second, as cool as it would be to see characters age naturally, computers just aren\'t to the point yet where we can realistically do that sort of thing without spending a lot of resources on a rather minor game feature.
Third, in a years time one person could have invested a months worth of gametime, while another person could have invested 11 months worth. It doesn\'t seem fair that the person who has been playing for only a months worth of time would be as old as the person that played for 11 months worth.
So here\'s a simple solution:
Add one more texture to each race to compliment the variety they already have - a texture showing them with wrinkles and grey hair.
At level 1, you\'re considered to be somewhere around 18 years old. Rather than aging with time, we could age with levels. Therefore, you would turn 19 at level 2, 20 at level 3, ect. This way, you would have to be level 62 before you reach the age of 80.
Now, most people don\'t look much older until they reach about 30 years old or more. So, from levels 10-60, a gradual change could be made.
To start out both the young and old textures would be on the character, the young would be at 99% opacity, and the old at 1%. As levels are gained, the young texture would drop slowly and the old would raise, until level 60 or so, when the young one is removed completely.
This would only affect the hair color and wrinkles on the face, but that should be a decent trade off.
... of course, each race would have to be calculated differently based on their lifespans.