Gaming across the generation gap

[the Jester]

Yeah, when I was in my late 20's I ended up with three players who were young- I'm talking about starting off around 12 years old. This was in a group with about 6 other players.

They were a lil less mature than the other players, but man! -they werefun to play with!

In fact, almost ten years later, one of 'em still plays with us- the other two have long since moved away.

I say give the lad a chance.

 

[Psion]

One the best, possibly the very best player we had (sadly he moved away for work and family reasons) was 18 years of age. When he joined, I was the next youngest person in the game at 33. The rest of the players were in their 40s. Even though he looked absurdly young, none of us could believe it when this fellow told us his actual age -- his maturity, social skills and ability to pick up on subtleties in-game exceeded those of basically any other player we have recruited before or since, with maybe one exception.

Well, this fellow professes to have been a DM for his group who moved away, so I am hoping for the best.

That his expressed interest is in playing monster characters leaves me nervous, though.


I think I may be a bit more nervous about the prospect of toning things down in the game. Yeah, me. I'm conservative, but it's not like a skirt around any potential adult situations. I just don't feel like going into graphic detail about them. But bringing a minor into my home makes me want to re-evaluate some potential situations.

The fact that three of my remaining four players are sailors and the fourth is just as bad doesn't help the situation.

Yeah, I know, he probably hears worse every day in school. Not the point.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

I don't really enjoy having youngsters in my weekly game (though I run a game for my wife and kids occasionally).

I know it's a generalization, and doesn't apply to everyone (and certainly not to you, the reader or anyone you know and like) but young players tend to act really, really stupid.

I mean honestly. The games I run are not anything particularly difficult to grasp (they for the most part tend to be about as complex as R.E. Howard's Conan stories), but in my experience teenage players seem to share the following traits...

• An inability to create a character that doesn't emulate current urban/black/rap culture.
  
  I'm not sure why, but the sheer number of guys who seem to think that their Elf needs to be named "DaShawn" or "G-Money" or something akin, and speak in a "Whassup Dawg?" type patois is just beyond me. Fantasy, Western, Star Trek...no difference. Easily half of the youngsters I've gamed cannot seem to get their minds away from the notion of tyei characters being themselves, but "the Baddest Gangstas at the Mall"
  ​
• No ability to concentrate
  
  Another one that loses me a bit. There seems to be something in the mindset I'm describing that just will not allow the player to remember common things. The number of times I'm asked "What dice do I roll" when I ask for initiative, or "Who's that guy" when describing an NPC they are well-acquainted with doesn't even bear counting. It's a lot.​
• Juvenile sense of humor
  
  This one almost goes without saying, and is actually the least of my concerns. But when every single response to "what do you do this round?" is something like "I Fart at him", because somebody laughed at that once, a few weeks ago...it's time to stop asking.​
• Attention Whoring.
  
  ME! ME ! Lookit Meeeeeee!
  
  An all-too-common need to yell over other players, chatter endlessly when the spotlight isn't focused squarely on them and pout and sulk dramatically when things go agaisnt them.​

I just don't think that a juvenile perspective adds much of anything to my game. I have a waiting list for players, so "Fresh blood" can go hang for all I care.

If you are about to post "Say Billy, that has nothing to do with being young", I'm saying that in my experience, that these traits appear in the young more than anywhere else I've seen (I have yet to see any of my current group suggest playing a Gangsta Rap anything...much less a Gangsta Rap everything)

Sorry to quote a whole long post just to contribute a little, but I have seen the stuff you are talking about and it is borne out in my experiences with younger players. Actually though, in my experience, high school age players are MUCH MORE MATURE than college age players. I am not sure why this is, but in my example earlier in the thread, players 1 & 3 were great players in high school and their playing went downhill and their maturity level dropped radically when they got to the local college (living at home). When I needed fresh blood to replace these players, I tried the local gaming stores to no avail, then found players online at bulletin boards for just that purpose. My games are Greyhawk and not overly complex either.

Another thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post was that player 1 reverted to talking in "gangsta"style towards the last few months. He kept telling NPC's "This is how we roll." He cast Continual Flame on his gauntlets to add to the "bling." He also tried asking NPC's what level they were, how many hit points they had, etc. Before college, he was one of my better role-players and stayed in character a good bit. Then his degeneration as a contributing member of my game was sudden and complete.

DM

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

I have a 12 year old player (my son), three players that are in college (lower to mid 20s), and another player & myself as GM (mid 30s). We get along great and share the same sense of humor. For us, it really is player style.

 

[Land Outcast]

Hey people, I'm 16, and as far as my players (15,18,30, and 35 years old) have told me, I'm a decent DM and a quite good player, the've never complained about my DMing or gaming style, nor has ever (well, once or twice) been any kind of trouble or disruption with the adventure at my table.
About the ability to concentrate, you'd be surprised (some "horror" adventures have gone to such a point that a "miau" from one of my cats outside the room made the players jump), the chatter occurs before the game, we dispose of an hour to prepare characters, level them up, and waste all the iddle chat. And the characters' personality is seed to great rolplay, I didn't know some people had trouble with young players.

 

[fusangite]

Well, this fellow professes to have been a DM for his group who moved away, so I am hoping for the best.

That his expressed interest is in playing monster characters leaves me nervous, though.

Yeah. That's a potential red flag. I tend to meet all potential players I don't pull in from my circle of friends for about an hour over beer or coffee. And I tell them, pretty much flat out, that I'm meeting them to determine if they will be a fit for my game. My sense is that an hour with the guy in person, you will know one way or another whether he's suited to play a grownup game with grownup players.

I think I may be a bit more nervous about the prospect of toning things down in the game. Yeah, me. I'm conservative, but it's not like a skirt around any potential adult situations. I just don't feel like going into graphic detail about them. But bringing a minor into my home makes me want to re-evaluate some potential situations.

My feeling is that if he has the social and intellectual skills to play with you guys, he will be able to handle this stuff maturely. If he doesn't, then he shouldn't have been in the game anyway. Again, an hour over coffee should figure this whole thing out. But if this still worries you, consider a brief meeting with his parents just notifying him that your games are basically like an R-rated movie and you want to make sure you're not stepping on their toes.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Great reply fusangite! I whole heartedly agree. Player interviews are key if they are coming in cold. As for the R-rated stuff, be upfront. I personally would pass on your group due to personal beliefs. Why do I mention it, because I started playing with a group once and they did a few things that I thought were...ODD... So, I quit, had I known before what they were like (they liked my interview, I wish I had interviewed them a little more), I doubt I would have accepted the offer to play. And I doubt that your young player will know what to ask, regardless of how long he/she has been playing. (I know I didn't).

 

[Psion]

Oh, my games aren't even R-rated. But like too many of today's movies, I wonder if they stretch PG-13 to its limits.

 

[Gilladian]

I have to say that I think playing across the generation gap is a good thing. I play with my father and Mother (both over 70), my husband and I are in our 40's, my best friend who is in her late 30's and our newest player who is 17.

I've been gaming in another group with the 17 year old for about 2 years, and have known him since he was about 12. His grandmother is a friend of mine. He's very mature, and very eager to game in a "sensible, mature" group; he's tired of the 20 somethings at the game shop who can't keep a game together.

The 17 year old is more mature and reasonable than my father! Dad seems to think that he's in charge of everything, and gets pouty when people interrupt him (especially my mother). So we often have to make allowances for him, but not for the teen.

Gilladian

 

[iwatt]

(I have yet to see any of my current group suggest playing a Gangsta Rap anything...much less a Gangsta Rap everything)

But gangsta rap drow ninjas are the sweetest