[B0rsuk]

From thematic point of view: God Mountain is not an academy. It's a place where higher caste of sorcerers lives. They are said to have blood of a dead god in their veins. It's pretty clear they're there because they were born there, not because they earned their place in God Mountain.
In short: no reason for old age.

As for old age being not so bad, I think I read somewhere that it gets worse depending on how far are you behind the max age. 60/40 is pretty far.

From balance point of view: mages seem to be all Machaka has, and they're not spectacular. Good at best. Why nerf them ?