-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
The shift in gaming as we get older
- Thread starter der_kluge
- Start date
Certainly adults with jobs and families don't have the bountiful free time we all had as kids, but the biggest shift in gaming that I've seen is a shift away from simplistic encounters and toward complex scenarios, where the enemy responds to what he thinks the party may do, etc.der_kluge said:
Try playing Keep on the Borderlands that way, and it's entirely different from the "what's in this room?" experience from your youth.
Emirikol
Adventurer
der_kluge said:
Curtis:
I've experienced this first-hand ever since "real-life" set in after college at age 27.
My words of advice to all you kids out there:
1. Stay in college forever (but get a good degree)
2. Delay having kids
3. Delay marriage (but get a nice chic to settle down with)
4. GAME WHILE YOU CAN
jh
ha-gieden
First Post
Three members of our regular gaming group have had babies in the last 8 months. Since each of these members are married to another member, that means six of us are passing around babies as often as dice at each session. We also have a two year old and a six year old running around causing havoc, and occasionally, the gaming must pause while a parent utters one of those priceless gems such as, "Big boys wear pants."
Nonetheless, our intrepid party continues.
We are primarily in the mid-twenties to mid-thirties range, meaning we are in the prime baby-having years. Most of us are married. This means more planning.
We spend more time planning the games, because the addition of spouses (and one teenager) means a very large group. We plan meals, as none of us care to go overly long without munching something, and typical gaming fare usually is not enough. We plan ways to entertain the two little boys so that the adults can have fun playing their own games. We pack diapers.
The results of all this planning are games that tend to have longer, more drawn out story arcs. Also, the characters provide their own motivations have their own goals, so if the DM doesn't have a lot planned, the characters kind of "hook" themselves onto a new adventure. The DM just has to keep up. Luckily, our DM's have played long enough to be able to do that, and do it well.
We have found that we have to split our gaming sessions up. The biggest group, the one with *all* the kiddos, meets every other week, so that we have more time for planning. A smaller group meets on the "off" weekends, and runs for 2-3 hours. The smaller group alternates between two campaigns, run in two different systems by two different DM's, once again, so that the DM's have more time for planning.
So for us, that's the only real difference: a sharp rise in the amount of time spent planning.
Nonetheless, our intrepid party continues.
We are primarily in the mid-twenties to mid-thirties range, meaning we are in the prime baby-having years. Most of us are married. This means more planning.
We spend more time planning the games, because the addition of spouses (and one teenager) means a very large group. We plan meals, as none of us care to go overly long without munching something, and typical gaming fare usually is not enough. We plan ways to entertain the two little boys so that the adults can have fun playing their own games. We pack diapers.
The results of all this planning are games that tend to have longer, more drawn out story arcs. Also, the characters provide their own motivations have their own goals, so if the DM doesn't have a lot planned, the characters kind of "hook" themselves onto a new adventure. The DM just has to keep up. Luckily, our DM's have played long enough to be able to do that, and do it well.
We have found that we have to split our gaming sessions up. The biggest group, the one with *all* the kiddos, meets every other week, so that we have more time for planning. A smaller group meets on the "off" weekends, and runs for 2-3 hours. The smaller group alternates between two campaigns, run in two different systems by two different DM's, once again, so that the DM's have more time for planning.
So for us, that's the only real difference: a sharp rise in the amount of time spent planning.
Corinth
First Post
For characters, it certainly is so. For players, not so much, but I still hate wasting time with unnecessary talk. Good games are like good board meetings: tightly focused, with a set agenda, and everyone on the same page following competent leadership. It's rather uncanny how successful D&D adventuring companies resemble winning sports teams, businesses and military units.Mallus said:
When I was younger, I was all for the "let's ROLEplay as opposed to ROLLplay" and jumped on the long, overarching plot bandwagon.
I'm older and I really, really don't have time to deal with faux-acting anymore. Sure, roleplay is fun and all, but when it comes down to it, I just want to have a merry old time. This usually means shorter, yet still coherent campaigns--many of them enjoyably episodic. I like it. Its short, to the point, and usually involves either a) Noir-ish, cutthroat intrigue or b) lots and lots of hacking and treasure-grabbing.
To me, overarching campaigns ultimately put a nice cover on a) and b). That doesn't change the fact that a) and b) are its constituent components.
This is not to say I don't run or play in games that involve character depth and development. Rather, I've adapted. I don't have time to goof off with the massive super-metaplot. Why not just retain all the banter and character interactions of a long campaign into a dozen short ones? This has been the model I've been using for the last several years: a series of short, stand-alone campaigns involving the same players and NPCs; everyone knows one another, has a history, BUT they aren't confined to a Major Quest.
Occasionally, I'll do a one-shot where various groups of players will do a team-up; this serves as a short-lived "long" campaign. Well enough. It worked for Super Sentai, it works for me.
I'm older and I really, really don't have time to deal with faux-acting anymore. Sure, roleplay is fun and all, but when it comes down to it, I just want to have a merry old time. This usually means shorter, yet still coherent campaigns--many of them enjoyably episodic. I like it. Its short, to the point, and usually involves either a) Noir-ish, cutthroat intrigue or b) lots and lots of hacking and treasure-grabbing.
To me, overarching campaigns ultimately put a nice cover on a) and b). That doesn't change the fact that a) and b) are its constituent components.
This is not to say I don't run or play in games that involve character depth and development. Rather, I've adapted. I don't have time to goof off with the massive super-metaplot. Why not just retain all the banter and character interactions of a long campaign into a dozen short ones? This has been the model I've been using for the last several years: a series of short, stand-alone campaigns involving the same players and NPCs; everyone knows one another, has a history, BUT they aren't confined to a Major Quest.
Occasionally, I'll do a one-shot where various groups of players will do a team-up; this serves as a short-lived "long" campaign. Well enough. It worked for Super Sentai, it works for me.
robberbaron
First Post
I think it's a fair comment that, as I've got older, I have become less satisfied with mission/downtime/mission/downtime/repeat campaigns, even though that is exactly what my own campaign has been of late (because I have not been able to come up with a decent plot arc, yet!). Then again, I have also become less accepting of linear 'video game' plotlines.
I want an overarching plot that the players glimpse now and then, but don't truly understand for most of the time. I want twists and turns. I want, I want, I want (holds breath until turns blue), though i will play pretty much anything pretty much anytime.
I want an overarching plot that the players glimpse now and then, but don't truly understand for most of the time. I want twists and turns. I want, I want, I want (holds breath until turns blue), though i will play pretty much anything pretty much anytime.
Similar Threads
