Aging and Gaming

[MNblockhead]

Thanks @Joshua Randall for that excellent write up. When reading thing like this that both make intuitive sense and are backed up by research, but where certain points don't seem to correlate to my personal experience, I like to dig in and think about that.

For example, the presentation you linked to and summarized, pertains to technology. I don't think I fit into what is being described, but I also think that has a lot to do with my work being heavily technology focused. I'm used to constantly having to learn new technology. It is rare for me to find someone younger using some computing technology that I'm not as or more comfortable with, outside of highly specialized technology outside of my field.

Also, I find some new technologies transcend this, largely due to the leaps the industry has made in UX research and design. For example, I found the iPad to be a game changer in that elderly relatives who did grow up with and never used computers could pick it up and use it almost immediately. So could a toddler. And everyone in between. I think self-driving cars will be another example. Once they reach an acceptable level or maturity and safety, it will be life changing for older people who can no longer drive, especially in rural and even suburban areas. I realize a lot of this is because their if far less you have to learn, and far less ability and effort is required, to use such technology.

Getting back to gaming, I think part of the reason it feels like much more effort for me to absorb new game systems is that I wend a long period, two and half decades, not playing TTRPGs. Constant engagement with a media, technology, or hobby seems like it will push how long those black lines are for individuals. I realize that the chart you included deals with very large cohorts ("generations") and that the "constant engagers" are probably outliers. It motivate me to look into research on how constant engagement with certain areas of learning delay or slow down the process of cognitive rigidity in those areas. It would make sense that vocabulary is often cited, because we engage in language our whole lives. But I suspect whatever is going on in terms of vocabulary can apply to other areas of learning as well.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I may have oversold or badly explained the "technology generations" chart. It is not meant to say that you can't learn new tech outside your generation; of course you can. It is more meant to say your familiarity with tech outside your generation will inevitably degrade over time. But....

All research like this is applicable to broad groups of people, not necessarily to an individual.

Although if there are too many exceptions then the "broadly applicable" piece breaks down, the research gets reconsidered, and someone publishes something disagreeing with Jeff Johnson (or whomever he cited), and we learn more....

I do agree that some modern technology is better designed than stuff in the past. Although we seem to be backsliding and I could rant about that as a UX-er... but anyway.

If you find this stuff intriguing then I highly, highly recommend Johnson's book Designing with the Mind in Mind. It is written at a layman level, and although its intended audience is technologists and UX designers, it is by no means overly technical nor esoteric. You will learn lots of stuff about how the human mind perceives and thinks, and why that is relevant to "design", broadly considered. Plus you'll be a big hit at cocktail parties where you can "well actually..." people.

He also has another book that is good, Designing User Interfaces for an Aging Population, but that one is much more specific and less easy to read (IMO).

Of course, Johnson's books and presentations don't talk about RPGs. However. He's in San Francisco so he has to have run into gamers. I would love if he, or someone, would write about RPGs.

In fact I will swear an iron vow, right now, that if I ever go for a Ph.D., I'll do my dissertation on design of RPGs. Not in the game mechanical sense, but the... "design" sense.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeah, I didn't comment because its rare this sort of thing is really trying to universalize. I was a little slow doing the mobile phone thing, but part of that was my life situation made it only marginally useful to me; when it became necessary during the pandemic, I didn't resist. I was on top of computers pretty early (had my first one I want to say in 1982) and appreciated tablets as soon as they became good reading tools.

But I'm not necessarily typical, either.

 

[clearstream]

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.

Most likely your "crystallized ability" (your knowledge) will be stable for awhile longer -- or even continue to improve -- while your attention, processing, visuo-spatial, short and working memory will decline. Fortunately, your store of strategies mean that your brain doesn't need to work as hard to do things it already knows how to do. I can't recall if plasticity declines specifically, although if you stop taxing your brain by learning new things it will be less often engaged. Depending on your specific lifepath, you may have more or less grey matter than average (players of visually high intensity videogames evidenced a reduction in grey matter in clinical trials in Japan.)

In the long run, it's been robustly evidenced that all humans will decline to dementia. The only question is whether you're lucky enough to die first. Which means it's all about delaying the inevitable as long as possible. A good diet, exercise, and social activity are all contributors to delaying decline. Avoiding stress is also a factor IIRC.

 

[Velderan]

Yeah, I've relearned the magic of physical books. I've also gone back to taking notes in meetings on paper note pads. It seems to help. For reading, I find the paperwhite kindles are almost as good. But only for reading. Horrible to use for reference materials and rule books.

This is the reason if I am going to read an entire book, I buy the physical release and only use PDFs for during play to quickly search for a term. I'll sometimes buy a PDF to skim to see if the book interests me enough to buy the physical release, but I try my best to not read books for any length of time on my iPad.

Pre-pandemic I worked in an office and while my job is very technical, so I spent a lot of my day in meetings where I would leave my laptop at my desk and take a notebook and pen into the meeting to take notes. My eyesight was still great, having had PRK done about 15 years ago. My job shifted to remote during the pandemic, my employer closed a lot of our physical office locations to cut costs, and now I spend all day staring at a screen attending those same meetings. My gaming group also has remained remote, so more screen time both running and prepping games. And I'm 45, so there's likely some presbyopia factored in as @Ruin Explorer pointed out so my eyesight isn't what it was a few years ago and reading glasses are a thing again. There's definitely some books I've tried to read in the last few years that I just can't because of the print. AD&D 1e DMG, I'm looking at you.

 

[Joshua Randall]

FWIW, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines suggest a minimum of 12 points (about 16 px) for body text. Minimum.

14 points is even better.

But with paper as expensive as it is, I can understand why publishers try to keep page count lower….

 

[The Soloist]

Hearing loss can be problematic as you get older and hearing aids are very expensive. I've needed a pair for several years but kept putting it off because of Covid. I stopped GMing online because of the bad sound quality and players had to repeat what they were saying often. I kept participating as a player.

Now I have hearing aids and will resume GMing when my turn comes.

I've read that Apple's latest AirPods now include an app that can double as a hearing aid. I'll have to check that out in 5 years when my hearing aids need to be replaced. $200 instead of $5000+ is a big difference.

 

[MNblockhead]

If you find this stuff intriguing then I highly, highly recommend Johnson's book Designing with the Mind in Mind. It is written at a layman level, and although its intended audience is technologists and UX designers, it is by no means overly technical nor esoteric. You will learn lots of stuff about how the human mind perceives and thinks, and why that is relevant to "design", broadly considered. Plus you'll be a big hit at cocktail parties where you can "well actually..." people.

He also has another book that is good, Designing User Interfaces for an Aging Population, but that one is much more specific and less easy to read (IMO).

Thanks, I put Designing with Mind in Mind on my book-buy list.

Of course, Johnson's books and presentations don't talk about RPGs. However. He's in San Francisco so he has to have run into gamers. I would love if he, or someone, would write about RPGs.

In fact I will swear an iron vow, right now, that if I ever go for a Ph.D., I'll do my dissertation on design of RPGs. Not in the game mechanical sense, but the... "design" sense.

I look forward to your dissertation (and enjoy you trying to defend it against the denizens of ENworld--the only dissertation committee on this topic that matters. ;-)

 

[PrunellaUK]

As a 61 year-old I'm only a handful of years away from retirement now. My first roleplaying experience was 42 years ago. It occurs to me that I'm going to be part of one of the first generations of retired pensioners to have a solid roleplaying background. The other day a friend and I joked about a care home catering exclusively for ftf roleplayers, which is a pipe dream. However, I'm genuinely interested to see how roleplaying will be a part of the lives of us oldies by the end of this decade, and what communities - online or otherwise - evolve to support it.

 

[Joshua Randall]

My friends and I have been joking about playing RPGs in the retirement home for years. (I'm 51, so a ways off, unless I start making a lot more money really quickly.)

I'm actually curious what people play in retirement homes now, who aren't TTRPG-ers. It is still the stereotypical bridge and gin rummy? Or are there retirees playing Settlers of Catan and ... whatever card game was popular 20 years ago, I guess.