Does Adulthood Change the RPG Experience Much?

[I'm A Banana]

Things change over time. "Adulthood" is just one of those changes. Methinks it would go through the same process over ten years of stunted adolescence as well. Nothing stays the same, but I don't think it's age that causes the change in this case as much as it is all the things that go along with age that affect free time (job vs. school, income vs. parent's income, having family responsibilities, not having that childlike endurance, moving, different people entering and leaving your circle of friends, etc.)

 

[Aus_Snow]

I'd say yes, but with reservations.

People mature at different rates, and in various ways starting at different points along the way. For example.

 

[Agent Oracle]

I started playing when i was... i want to say 14? Anyhow, back then, there wasn't any big plot, just random adventuring and us having fun. Now, i have some serious roleplayers who criticize me if two of my NPC's talk alike.

 

[lukelightning]

My big change is that when I got older I stopped making clones of other heroes...no more Merlins or Wolverines.

 

[drothgery]

Hmm... I've always been legally an adult while playing tabletop RPGs (though I played console RPGs when I was younger); I didn't play D&D for the first time until the summer between high school and college. So I guess I could have said no on a technicality.

But do I play the same as an adult with a full time job playing after work as I did as a college student killing time on Sunday afternoons? Nope. My characters have varied more. I'm interested in rather more outside of D&D. I've got disposable income, and theirfore a sizeable collection of non-core rulebooks for D&D (and a few for d20 Modern and Star Wars).

 

[Treebore]

Adulthood? No.

Aging/maturity? Yes.

 

[Nomad4life]

I voted yes. When I was younger, our games were mostly of a hack & slash nature. The thrill of the game was in killing things and taking their stuff, and exploring exotic lands. I didn’t even have names for some of my earliest characters.

As an adult, the thrill of D&D is all about the story, and the decisions the characters make within it.

 

[Minicol]

If nothing else, your tastes and goals change.

Your inner munchkin shrinks progressively with age, and you get exposed to more character archetypes over time- more of which will appeal to you. If your current RPG doesn't allow a certain archetype, you may find yourself experimenting with systems that DO allow you to build that PC.

I could not say it better !
More role play / less fights and treasures as I get older.

 

[gizmo33]

The most significant factor for me is the amount of time and how much driving people have to do. We play fewer, longer sessions and people drive from farther away.

What we need is a city in the US that's known for roleplaying so I can move there when I retire - sort of how New Orleans is known for jazz. Of course gang-wars would probably erupt when 4th edition came out...

Your inner munchkin shrinks progressively with age,

You can take vitamins for that.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Yeah, its way different. In the early years it was pseudo-random dungeoneering...lots of "killing and taking" and large breasted women in chain mail bikinis.

Then we got older, more pretentious, and sought to amaze and enlighten one another with dazzling storytelling. "Dice...who needs em? We're grown up now." The chainmail bikinis became realistic, believable armor, and exploring dungeons became "silly".

Now we're even older, and we're out to amaze and enlighten one another with our dazzling dungeoneering and dice rolling. We've put the dungeons and the dragons back into Dungeons and Dragons...AND we're shamelessly back to the Amazons in chain mail bikinis!