Aging and Gaming

[Thomas Shey]

I'm 60 and don't see any decline. I'm still able to learn, understand and play new games regularly. Some people can't integrate new rule sets at my age. The brain is a muscle; keep exercising it, and all should be fine. (Let's not talk about the dreaded disease we should not name lest it manifests.)

I seem to have lost some of my multitasking capability (I'm now 68), but some other elements are hard to tease out: I've always had cruddy memory (as in, back when I was 15) so has it gotten worse? Sometimes I lose focus, but is it a standalone problem, or just a side effect of not having all the energy I once did?

It can be really hard to say.

 

[The Soloist]

I seem to have lost some of my multitasking capability (I'm now 68), but some other elements are hard to tease out: I've always had cruddy memory (as in, back when I was 15) so has it gotten worse? Sometimes I lose focus, but is it a standalone problem, or just a side effect of not having all the energy I once did?

It can be really hard to say.

The Internet, forums and social media are mentally draining. I've reduced my daily time. Sometimes I take 2-3 days off. I can feel the difference, even if I didn't get into a heated debate with someone on EnWorld.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The Internet, forums and social media are mentally draining. I've reduced my daily time. Sometimes I take 2-3 days off. I can feel the difference, even if I didn't get into a heated debate with someone on EnWorld.

I'm not sure that's a big difference (though it may impact the energy thing I talked about); I've been involved in arguing with people on mailing lists and things like USENET probably 30 years ago, so doing this on fora or Discord now aren't radically different.

 

[The Soloist]

I'm not sure that's a big difference (though it may impact the energy thing I talked about); I've been involved in arguing with people on mailing lists and things like USENET probably 30 years ago, so doing this on fora or Discord now aren't radically different.

Sure, but you are not getting younger. I used to do ten different things in a day, now I do half of that. Five of those things weren't necessary anyway. I call it wisdom.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Sure, but you are not getting younger. I used to do ten different things in a day, now I do half of that. Five of those things weren't necessary anyway. I call it wisdom.

Fair. I'd enlarge on it, but a nap is calling to me.

 

[MNblockhead]

Yep. Early 50s here and lots of things are catching up. Eye glasses, sleep woes, and so on. I worry about cognitive decline both for running and playing RPGs and making useful RPG stuff for other people. The hard part is how to even know it's happening. Are we good at knowing our own cognitive decline? I wouldn't think so.

Agreed, but in my case I think my actual, objective cognitive decline is less than my fear of it. Most cognitive issue seem to do more with me needing more sleep but having a lifetime bad habit of not getting enough. For most of my adult life I was able to get away with 5-6 hours a night. It is hard to change habits and get 8.

I guess as long as we find ways to have fun with our friends and loved ones, it doesn't matter too much in the end. So far I don't feel like any particular ruleset has gone beyond my capability to run, even if I do seek the lazy ways around it (have to stay on brand!).

I'll raise a drink to that!

I worry about a decline in the effectiveness of my writing as well but who knows. Hopefully I can write a decent blog post the day I fall over.

When I was in high school, I joined a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters with the official biography of Sigurd Olsen. The day before we headed out, we paid a visit to his widow and got to see his writing shack, which had been kept exactly as it was the day he died. There was a single sheet with a single line typed on it: "“A New Adventure is coming up and I’m sure it will be a good one.”

I also, hope that on the day I die, I'm still planning for new adventures.

The Internet, forums and social media are mentally draining. I've reduced my daily time. Sometimes I take 2-3 days off. I can feel the difference, even if I didn't get into a heated debate with someone on EnWorld.

I've cut out nearly also social media from my life. And the few I still engage with are forum type sites that I don't have any apps installed and now push alerts, so I have to purposefully log into them from a web browser. Huge quality of life improvement.

I'm not sure that's a big difference (though it may impact the energy thing I talked about); I've been involved in arguing with people on mailing lists and things like USENET probably 30 years ago, so doing this on fora or Discord now aren't radically different.

No, except that the push alerts and always connected devices that are always with you, make a huge difference. If you don't have them always running in the background constantly sending alerts, then they are similar.

 

[Thomas Shey]

No, except that the push alerts and always connected devices that are always with you, make a huge difference. If you don't have them always running in the background constantly sending alerts, then they are similar.

I don't have push alerts, and at least when I'm home I've pretty much been surgically attached to my computer for a long time (and I don't try to participate in online discussion on my mobile devices; I find the keyboards too annoying).

 

[GothmogIV]

I'm 56. The thing I've noticed most is that my verbal word recall when I am GMing a game is getting harder. I'm trying to describe a thing, and I'm like "...uh, it's a...uh...you know, a...uh." I also start things, forget that I started them, think of a great idea, go to start it, then realize I had already started it but forgotten. I am a voracious reader, and have been since I was a little kid, but if it weren't for Goodreads, I wouldn't remember almost any books that I've read. As above: "Wow, this looks good, I should read it...aaaannnnddd I already did."

With all of that said, we are all of a nature to grow old (and, as my grandfather used to say, consider the alternative!) Doing fun things together with others, reading, using your imagination, staying engaged, these are all behaviors that will help lead to healthier, happier aging, so I plan on playing RPGs for as long as I can.

If any are interested, here is something I have found incredibly helpful regarding healthy aging (and life in general): Lifestyle and Mental Health

 

[DragonLancer]

My verbal descriptives also goes out the window. I spend a lot of time thinking how to describe something and when the time comes it just comes out wrong a lot of the time. Definately an age thing.

 

[SteveC]

Thinking about this thread made me think about my life when I got started on Enworld. I live in the same city as Eric and heard about it right away, so I've been here forever. The thing was, I was an entirely different person back in those days. Edgy Internet warrior? Check!

So there aren't always bad things that come with aging and gaming. I may be a slower person, but I think I'm a better one. Of course I suspect there are some who might disagree with that!