There are pros and cons for either demographic: whilst being older may be ideal since not only you bypass age restrictions, you also have the capability on purchasing it with your own money without having to ask parents for that given that you have employment and recurring income. Gaming as a kid gives more time without having to dwell much on responsibilities that adults have to worry about but at the same time are held by school.
Ul’dah is still pretty cool, though.
I’ve recently finished ARR and only started to feel anything about Ul’dah after the 2.5 questline ending (Rauban is the coolest guy), but Coerthas and Dravania are certainly doing it for me. Gridania, Thanalan, and La Noscea just weren’t as fun to explore as properly ‘open’ landscapes to me
There is a lot of environmental storytelling in Thanalan that I really like. There is a staircase leading out of one of the exits from Ul’Dah called the “thousand steps of [name I can’t remember]”. The little zone name pops up and you kind of never think about it. It turns out that that place was where a previous royal was sentenced to walk up and down them until she died. Or the giant statues carved into the side of a cliff, etc. It’s always been one of my favorite areas.