Aging and Gaming

[Committed Hero]

For me, the reality is that my time is limited and the pool of players I have to try new stuff is small. I was lucky to play/run 6 different games this year, and they were all games I had played before.

 

[Garrga]

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 experience at how to redeem bet9ja bonus 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.

In terms of age, well i think that also have some problems related with my eyes, as i guess i need some glasses. Also i might find that my reaction is slower than it was. And maybe i need more time to get through all of these manuals and rules As for experience, well i think i might still have as much fun as i had befor, when i was younger

 

[dragoner]

I'm 57 and the game I made has big fonts, and is relatively rules light, so it tracks. I bought the new PHB just to check it out, though tbh probably something like Shadowdark is more my speed. Other new games are fine, I just don't see what they add, the ones I play tell the stories I want to tell.

 

[dvar]

I agree about jumping rules around - I'm about 40 and I just cant take it anymore. At this point I think I already know what ruleset I like and do the rulings I need. VTT is not my scene as well. As someone said on the thread "i'd sooner boot up diablo and just play that".

 

[Hand of Evil]

64 now - I look at my collection of game books and wonder where I can sell them for retirement.

 

[MNblockhead]

64 now - I look at my collection of game books and wonder where I can sell them for retirement.

Done with gaming or just wanting to prune the collection and focus on the one or few games you really like?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Done with gaming or just wanting to prune the collection and focus on the one or few games you really like?

Not done, just look at them all and think I should prone

 

[Longspeak]

I turned 57 a few months back. But aside from a few months in the late 90s where I tried to "Grow up and be responsible" (My wife made me stop that, said it was painful how miserable I was), I've gamed since I was 12.

Prior to me stroke in July, I was running five games a week. People said I was a freak, but it's all I lived for; it was easy to throw myself into it. The stroke halted that for a while, but I'm back to three games a week. My groups tell me to take it easy, but getting to play is how I keep it easy.

I never had a major issue with accessibility before. Reading glasses that I update every year or so, too much glare on screens. But... since the stroke it's been harder to hold a book. I do all me game reading in PDFs at my 27" monitor these days.

I too find I have a harder time getting into new rulesets. Up to last year, I was still buying them... Just not reading them so much. It was all I could do to learn Roll20, and that only happened as a 'screw you' to a whippersnapper in the group who called me a neanderthal because I waxed nostalgic about IRC.

 

[Piperken]

64 now - I look at my collection of game books and wonder where I can sell them for retirement.

If you end up not selling but still wish to prune, consider donating unneeded volumes to your closest public library. Nearly all public libraries have a section devoted to role playing games these days, and librarians are more aware of their existence. Just the other day I found a copy of Andrew Kolb's Oz RPG setting book, that was featured on a shelf!

 

[pablomaz]

- We learned the lessons of Metcalf and got good at running the new stuff

Would you mind elaborating?