Aging and Gaming

[Thomas Shey]

I'm considerably older (67 to be specific), and while I won't say I absorb rules as easily as I once did, if I find I'm genuinely interested, I can still do it; I'm also better off if they're derivatives of rules I'm already familiar with (for example, I found Eclipse Phase 2e relatively easy because its either a BRP derivative or parallel development; on the other hand even though its interesting, Heroes and Hardships is more of a struggle).

In either case, I still fish in those kind of ponds because most simple systems just, well, don't interest me.

 

[Omak Darkleaf]

I’ll be fifty-five next month. I started with Holmes’ Basic in 1980, switched to AD&D a year later, and migrated to 2e slowly.( I was in college during the transition and had scant scratch for D&D books; I agree that a huge advantage to gaming as an old dude is being able to buy the books I want when I want them.) I didn’t get into 2e until ‘95, and I only played that for a few years before I moved across the country and left my gaming group behind. I did not find another until I moved back home, and I didn’t play D&D for the twenty years in between.

Learning 5e at fifty was strange—especially without the bridges of 3.x and 4e to ease the transition. I should have approached learning 5e from the ground up, as if I were learning an entirely new game. Instead, I kept falling back on the inaccurate replica of the AD&D rule books in my head and patching it piecemeal with new rules as I learned them. Knowing AD&D hampered my learning because of all of the assumptions I had about the game that had changed—and my opinions on how things ought to be. (Get off my lawn, attunement!)

My attention span has decreased when it comes to studying rule books, but I spend a lot more time reading lore than I once did (because I can now afford all the splatbooks I couldn’t in the long ago times). The less said about my eyesight and my evil bifocals, the better. I misremember rules more often than I once did, but I still remember them better than the average person I game with, so it’s not as frustrating as it could be. I’m also convinced that gaming keeps the mind sharper than it would be otherwise, so there’s that.

Gaming sessions don’t last as long as they once did. The guys I grew up playing with would go from evening till dawn. The games that I play now run for four hours, tops, but I now play in five campaigns per week, so I’m coming out ahead.

All told, I am in my personal Golden Age of D&D. I play with cool people from all over the world; I have shelves and cabinets and a cloud drive filled with D&D books; and I have regained an outlet for creativity that was missing from my life for far too long. I also have a kid who’s just the right age to learn D&D and who is actually interested in doing so. So, yeah, my fifties have so far been great for gaming and it only looks to get better.

 

[aramis erak]

Are you against playing online? Makes it much easier to play when not near a population center with a lot of gamers and finding games other than D&D.

I have an online group. Doesn't scratch the same itch as FTF.

 

[HorusZA]

Mid-50s here, been playing since '83.
I've found it easier to read and absorb rules as the years have gone by. There are very few new mechanics out there so it's easy to classify them in my head: Ah, good 'ol percentile roll-under, dice-pool with rerolls vs static target numbers by dice, this one you add up dice, Roll + stat + skill vs target number, etc.
I still play complex boardgames (ASL, SFB, etc.) which I think helps keeping my "rules mind" sharp.
For RPG's I favour elegant designs these days that marry rules to setting in clever ways.
One odd thing I notices about myself which may be age-related: while I have a lot of RPGs in PDF I only feel like I "own" it when I get a print copy. I will happily read books on my iPad but won't run a game unless there is a dead-tree version on the table. Weird...

 

[delericho]

The thing that sucks most about being an older gamer is looking back at all the things I should have done when I was younger.

 

[GothmogIV]

Brother, I hear you: I am going to be 56 on my next birthday, and I am astonished by how challenging it has been to recall rules. Granted, I am bouncing around between numerous systems (5e, Star Trek Adventures, Dragonbane, DCC, etc.) and numerous worlds, but this used to be so easy! The thing that frustrates me the most is when I am describing something to my players and I can't recall a word. "Suddenly, you see a....ah...erm...uh..." Makes me insane.

 

[GMMichael]

The thing that frustrates me the most is when I am describing something to my players and I can't recall a word. "Suddenly, you see a....ah...erm...uh..." Makes me insane.

"Gazebo" is the word you're looking for.

I gave you a Sad Face (tm) because I now know why we'll never see another Song of Ice and Fire.

 

[payn]

Have you thought of gifting him a dice tower this X-mas?

I've never really gotten into dice towers. I just love the feeling of rolling dice too much. But they do help keeping dice on the table.

For the love of God get one lined in felt or made of cardboard. Story time...

So, we were playing Battletech and this dude had a real cheap ask plastic dice tower. It was so noisy it just bugged everybody. The owner seemed oblivious to this as well. Finally, I was having a really bad day and the guy was being super obnoxious with his tower. I broke and slapped it across the room and it smashed to pieces. There was a moment of silence and shock only to be broken by a slow clap that worked up to thunderous applause. Apparently, this thing was driving everyone nuts and nobody ever talked about it. The owner actually took it pretty well since it was clear everybody hated it.

 

[payn]

Im 45 and seem to be in prime shape. I grok new systems quickly, and have really good recall. My eye sight is going which is strange I had eyes like an eagle most of my life. Guess thats just part of getting old.

I have been settling into a groove when it comes to gaming. I am finding my tastes are refined as to experience. I wouldn't say im closed off to new systems and games, but I can tell better than ever when something is not for me. I know what I like, and what I really like. Also, what I dont.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

The thing that sucks most about being an older gamer is looking back at all the things I should have done when I was younger.

This hit me too. There are a few games out there that make me feel so derp for how I ran or played games 30 years ago.

The game that both made roleplaying triple extra fun again AND improved every aspect of my personal ability to GM and be player is =

Apocalypse World.

This game has some magic sauce that just makes everything better, not matter what system. And by that I mean =

- Themed GM (MC) "Moves"

- Building trust with players by being their Biggest Fan such that successes with complications are always fun for everyone.


Why?

GM Moves =
These got me out of "my own head" and from being so repetitive or shallow. Nothing gets everyone's mind going more and the game plot elevated to higher levels than responding to a players roll with "Reveal and Unwelcome Truth". holy smokes that move has legs!

"Sure you killed the guard, but as you slip past, his helmet falls off and you see its your sister's husband, now dead. She no longer has a provider for her family...but you get inside..." O. o = sometimes letting the player succeed can be more brutal than a failed action.


Success with complications =
This took a bit to master, but once you grok it, its the biggest relief and plot-helper in the world. I no longer have to agonize over challenge ratings, weasel my NPCs into better stats or actions just to make them a challenge, I no longer need to contrive minor combats or traps or whatever for hours on end. Now the game triggers all of that for me; all I need to focus on is how to make it fun and entertaining. (and not take away their success, because that kills game pacing dead).

"Yeah, you shot your way past the stormtroopers, and made it through the closing door to the control room. But now you stand before a dizzy array of buttons, screens and gauges. Without a droid, this could take hours to figure out... and your droid is back on the ship because you thought that would make it easier to blast your way past the troopers. How are you gonna help little beep-boop droid past the gauntlet you just ran, and now stirred up like a hornets nest?" (insert fun sub-scene of being droid derping its way to your character, with panicked comms shouts and censored beep-boops...)


It's not that I would never have thought of such fun and dynamic responses 30 years ago, but Apocalypse World's lessons make is soooo much easier!!!

#youneedtoplaymorepbta

there are other systems too that helped...