Aging and Gaming

[Ruin Explorer]

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.

Literally it is, yeah - presbyopia - 100% of people who live long enough get it to some degree. I had great vision my whole life until 42 or so, and then my near eyesight got slowly worse and now I wear +1.0 reading glasses (which are like, sold at Poundland at least - and yes that is the British equivalent of Dollar Tree and yes it really is called Poundland, you can stop giggling at the back!).

I am a little concerned by the idea of slowing down mentally in my 50s and beyond but... my dad is 77 and that definitely hasn't happened for him at all (he is literally learning new stuff all the time, just passed some piano exams!).

I noticed a lot of people claim their reflexes and ability to play fast video games went in their late 30s (!!!) but frankly that hasn't happened for me - if anything I'm faster, infinitely more patient, largely immune to "getting mad" in games, and more capable of projecting my mind a few seconds into the future now, at 46, than I was at 36, 26, or 16. Indeed, I went back and played a couple of games I thought were "hard" when I was a teenager during the pandemic, and I was shocked by how extremely easy they were.

That said holy hell did I get slapped around at Smash Bros by my friend's kids (aged 10 and 7) - I've always been terrible at that though, in every iteration!

but I can tell better than ever when something is not for me

Yeah I find it much easier to see how a system is cool and cleverly designed, yet definitely not something I want to run and/or play now, even compared to ten or fifteen years ago.

 

[payn]

Literally it is, yeah - presbyopia - 100% of people who live long enough get it to some degree. I had great vision my whole life until 42 or so, and then my near eyesight got slowly worse and now I wear +1.0 reading glasses (which are like, sold at Poundland at least - and yes that is the British equivalent of Dollar Tree and yes it really is called Poundland, you can stop giggling at the back!).

Poundland thats funny on a number of levels.

I am a little concerned by the idea of slowing down mentally in my 50s and beyond but... my dad is 77 and that definitely hasn't happened for him at all (he is literally learning new stuff all the time, just passed some piano exams!).

I've found there is no common aging effects. My great gran lived on her own and was totally independent until she was 98. Occasionally, she would call you the wrong name, but would correct herself instantly after doing it. She was driving her tractor one day, and then got sick the next. A week later she passed away with most her faculties intact.

My gran on the other hand, passed in her early 70's. She had a lot of health issues including kidney transplant and cancer treatment. Until she really had issues with her health, she worked as a waitress. The family moved her into a single level home, made her quit her job, and the result is she went down hill rather fast. It was tough to see her mental state slip away.

Only thing I can tell is great gran kept busy. She occupied her body and mind, and had some good genes despite folks in the family hitting some health landmines. You stop being busy and you start going down hill it seems. Stay busy is my advice!

Yeah I find it much easier to see how a system is cool and cleverly designed, yet definitely not something I want to run and/or play now, even compared to ten or fifteen years ago.

I went through a phase, I dont think its uncommon, where I thought all RPGs had the same goal and were meant to do the same things. I am happy to report I have been busted of that notion. I also know what fits me. There was a time I wanted/needed experience so I signed up for whatever came my way. Im much more picky about what I play now.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

I went through a phase, I dont think its uncommon, where I thought all RPGs had the same goal and were meant to do the same things. I am happy to report I have been busted of that notion. I also know what fits me. There was a time I wanted/needed experience so I signed up for whatever came my way. Im much more picky about what I play now.

This came in 2 stages for me. First was just getting used to the new ways of thinking gaming. That took a hot minute. But I did the same, I joined up in a bunch of different games and tried it all. Bleh it was helpful but also not...

The second stage for me was to still play a bunch of different games, but to be more picky about WHO I play with. Seems that any given system or plot can be... meh.. if its the wrong mix of people.

 

[payn]

This came in 2 stages for me. First was just getting used to the new ways of thinking gaming. That took a hot minute. But I did the same, I joined up in a bunch of different games and tried it all. Bleh it was helpful but also not...

The second stage for me was to still play a bunch of different games, but to be more picky about WHO I play with. Seems that any given system or plot can be... meh.. if its the wrong mix of people.

Very true. During my play it all phase, I also wasn't too discerning with who I played with. I learned the folks matter a lot too.

 

[Queer Venger]

While I'm not that old (early 50s), I'm at the age where I now need reading glasses and my brain increasingly rebels at me trying to cram more TTRPG rules and lore into it. "Dag nab it, you still expect me to keep up with constantly changing law and technology and then come home and try to understand and compare the 4 or 5 different rule variants for channeling and casting in Warhammer Fantasy AND troubleshoot VTT modules! Why don't you get a proper hobby for someone your age. Walking. Fishing. Something like that!" "Shut up brain! Just be happy I dropped trying to run MAGE: The Ascension!"

I'm too lazy to look up the science on this; I swear I read an article on it sometime, somewhere; but I find that my recognition is better than it was in my youth, but my recall has gone to hell in a hand basket. Decades of experience being a geek and a bookworm are great for understanding new things I read and making connections, but boy do does it take a lot more time to create the grooves in the gray matter to be able to bring something to mind when I need it.

When I was young, I would read over rules a day or two before a game and run it and would run games in multiple systems. Today that feels like self elder abuse.

This is really the only major thing affecting my gaming that is 100% age related. I'm curious whether this will improve or get worse. Get worse, because I'll get older. But then once the kids are out of the house, and especially when I eventually retire, perhaps having less stress and less demands on my brain will improve things in this area.

Anyway, just musing. Would be interested on how gaming has changed for the better or worse for others getting up in years.

Take Prevagen! With Crown Royal!! LOL

 

[Morrus]

While I'm not that old (early 50s), I'm at the age where I now need reading glasses

The reading glasses thing is a thing. It happened to me about a year ago (it comes on fast!) and suddenly accessibility is a thing. Suddenly small text, white text on black, text on a busy background, no contrast between text and b/g (black on a brown b/g is particularly bad--all those parchment backgrounds? Illegible)--I can't read your book. So many times I"ve been at my local game club, took a pregen character sheet... and can't read a word of it. Too busy, too small, bad contrast. I'm sitting there asking people next to me to read my character sheet to me. There are thousands of books out there that people over 50 cannot read.

I learned an important lesson this past year. Accessibility matters. I'm embarrassed that, while I knew it, I only really knew it when it happened to me.

 

[Zaukrie]

10 pt font sucks and game companies should be ashamed for using it. seriously.

 

[Zaukrie]

10 pt font sucks and game companies should be ashamed for using it. seriously.

I've tried to use 11 and 12 pt in my products the last few times, but they are PDF so they can be made bigger......they layout gets tricky on statblocks! It is one reason I want them simplified, not filled with unneeded words (like "to hit" ....once you see 3-4 statblocks, you know that's "to hit").

 

[Starfox]

I'm 58, and I agree with the OP about feeling my age, if not as badly. I am lucky to have friends that introduce me to new TTRPGs that are rules-light and play more along what I want that the D&D 2014 I am playing now. So next year it will be Blades in the Dark for us. At the same time I am a huge nerd and retired (health) so I have the time to hack the game to the point I like it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

While I'm not that old (early 50s), I'm at the age where I now need reading glasses and my brain increasingly rebels at me trying to cram more TTRPG rules and lore into it. "Dag nab it, you still expect me to keep up with constantly changing law and technology and then come home and try to understand and compare the 4 or 5 different rule variants for channeling and casting in Warhammer Fantasy AND troubleshoot VTT modules! Why don't you get a proper hobby for someone your age. Walking. Fishing. Something like that!" "Shut up brain! Just be happy I dropped trying to run MAGE: The Ascension!"

I'm too lazy to look up the science on this; I swear I read an article on it sometime, somewhere; but I find that my recognition is better than it was in my youth, but my recall has gone to hell in a hand basket. Decades of experience being a geek and a bookworm are great for understanding new things I read and making connections, but boy do does it take a lot more time to create the grooves in the gray matter to be able to bring something to mind when I need it.

When I was young, I would read over rules a day or two before a game and run it and would run games in multiple systems. Today that feels like self elder abuse.

This is really the only major thing affecting my gaming that is 100% age related. I'm curious whether this will improve or get worse. Get worse, because I'll get older. But then once the kids are out of the house, and especially when I eventually retire, perhaps having less stress and less demands on my brain will improve things in this area.

Anyway, just musing. Would be interested on how gaming has changed for the better or worse for others getting up in years.

Late 40s here and definitely started to feel older physically and mentally in past several years. My memory has definitely changed with time. I used to soak up things like a sponge. Now it takes longer for me to absorb new things. Though I also found shifting my habits around social media to be helpful (when I read, I get away from my computer, turn off my phone and spend a dedicated period of time to the task----it makes a pretty big difference).

Other things that have helped: B vitamin supplements and D vitamin supplements, as well as a daily mens vitamin (I get my levels checked by my doctor); daily exercise (even if it is just 20 minutes, getting in some amount helps with the gray matter), and face to face conversations with friends