40 year old man wants to join my game

[Temmogen]

So, despite the completely ripped off title (see: 14 year old girl wants to join my game) I'm completely serious. A 40 year old man wants to join my game.



(I met him at a Timmy Ho's in real life, and he's frankly more than a bit of a weirdo) but can anyone explain why I keep getting hits from mid 30 to 40 year old guys looking for game? Are people really that desperate?

,
--N

I'm 39, I game with a friend who's 40, another who is 30, my little brother who is 23, and the DM for our game is 26...Dood...seriously. Some times people jsut want to play the game.
Of course if he really is more than a little wierd, then don't play with him. I can't deal with wierdos either...most of them are really creepy.

 

[MerricB]

In the past few weeks, we've had a 21st birthday party for one player and a 41st birthday party for another player in my Savage Tide group.

Cheers!

 

[diaglo]

Aging fart checking in. You'd be surprised at how many of us there are out there.

And how willing we are to lend a hand to you young'uns.

quoted for grognardly tr00f.

heck, i'm willing to teach OD&D(1974) for free.

 

[Piratecat]

I'm 40, and I've run games for people as young as 8 and as old as 60 or so. When it comes to gaming, age doesn't matter a bit.

If someone is a weirdo, or a jerk, or arrogant, or a bad player, or just plain odd -- that's a pretty good reason to exclude them. But just on the basis of age? Nah.

 

[mhensley]

Wow. I'm 42 and I play in a group at UT where pretty much everyone else is half my age. I would try to find an older group to game with but it's a good group and we all have a good time so why take a chance trying to find something else that might not be as fun?

 

[Rothe]

If you get the weirdo vibe trust your instincts; never trust anyone over 30.


(But being over 40 you shouldn't trust me either. )

 

[WayneLigon]

but can anyone explain why I keep getting hits from mid 30 to 40 year old guys looking for game? Are people really that desperate?

For the most part: Yes! I'm 45 and since moves and one death, I'm the oldest gamer in the normal circle I hang around with. Most of the people I game with are in their mid thirties, but we have a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old at the table as well. The pick-up games I've done at the gaming store usually featured players much younger than myself and in some ways I prefered it that way. They don't have a lot of preconceived ideas about how the game should be played and are more willing to try new games or new campaign styles.

Now if they'd just quit playing their devil music, I'd be fine.

 

[Graybeard]

the age range in my group is from 19 to 46. We have one guy in his early 20's, a woman in her late 20's, 3 guys in their 30's, and finally, myself at 46. Two of the guys I met through an ad looking for gamers, another was a coworker, the woman was also a coworker, and the other two are younger brothers. We have had other group members off and on over the years. Some were kicked out, others left because they moved away or due to other outside influences.

Don't judge any potential player because of age. On the other hand, if you met the person and didn't feel like they would be a good fit with your group, that's fine. Play styles differ and we have let a few gamers leave the group because of that.

 

[CharlesRyan]

One of the cool truisms about gaming is that almost nobody leaves the hobby because they stop liking it. They leave because their lifestyle changes (they leave school, get married, get a demanding job, have children, or something along those lines) in a way that no longer supports the time-and-social-gathering-intensive activity that is gaming.

Or, their friends leave for those reasons, and they no longer have a viable gaming group.

So the short answer to your questions is, yes, sometimes older gamers are a little desperate to find a gaming group. (Though "desperate" might be a slightly harsh characterization.)

Maybe that's more reason--not less--to consider including an older player in your group.

[As a GM with a group ranging in age from 25 - 42, count my voice among those saying age differences aren't that big a deal in an RPG. (And as a grown-up, count my voice among those saying that age differences just aren't that big a deal in general once you're past college-age or so.)]

 

[AnonymousOne]

Now if they'd just quit playing their devil music, I'd be fine.

Fires Progressive Death Metal up on his iTunes.

Our campaign is all college students here. age is 19-21.

We were going to have a professor with a ton of experience in the tabletop and RPG scene join us, but alas he's in Estonia this year on Sabbatical.