How do I meet "mature" gamers?

[Thornir Alekeg]

I too am trying to find a couple of new players to rebuild a group. I was thinking about the looking at the FLGS until I went there this weekend to pick up the Midnight Campaign Setting (which I am hoping to use with this group). I walked in a quickly realized why there are so many people who think all gamers are the sterotypical freaks...they really do exist and seem to congregate at the FLGS.

An aside...do you think it would help the game become more popular if in the next edition of D&D they printed a page or two about proper hygiene for players? It seems there are a decent number of gamers out there who do not understand the proper use of showers and deodorant...

 

[billd91]

Verona, eh? I'll be out that way tonight to play with my 30-something group. You caught my eye with that Lori comment -- I was like, "Hey, Pegasus Games has a Lori!"

Well that's kind of funny, 'cos I'll be heading into Madison tonight to play with my 30-something gamers. Although this particular groups has also just had an influx of younger kids like a 20 y.o. girlfriend and a 19 y.o. son of one of the other gamers back for the summer from college.

 

[hellbender]

I find this quite an interesting thread as I am usually in the same boat regarding finding gamers, but I do want to interject and backup Lokishadow: age is not always a yardstick for maturity. I am nearly 35 (in a couple of weeks) and I remember gaming over the years and being in my early mid-20's and gaming with older gamers all the time. I gamed with some people in their 30's then who were petty, immature, and powergamed as well. Not every older gamer was by a longshot. I honestly believe that a lot of gaming lies in the philosophy of the gamer, there are gamers in their '20's who have had enough life experience and are mature enough to be excellent role-players. Do not underestimate younger gamers in your search for a mature group.

hellbender

 

[Kalendraf]

Avoid FLGS & Colleges

I met all of my current players at work or thru friends of co-workers. I'm 36 and the players in the two groups I DM for range in age from late 20's to mid 50's, with most of them in their early 30's.

When I first moved to this city (Rochester, MN) in the fall of 1996, I didn't know anyone that gamed, but after asking around, I found 3 other people in my dept that were interested in playing D&D, and they knew other people that were interested. Within a matter of months I had a group of 6 players playing a monthly campaign. Eventually, there was enough interest from other people that I began running a 2nd weekly game which has now become the "main" campaign that I DM.

All of the folks I game with are professionals and are mature. Rather than post at the obvious locales such as FLGS or colleges, try to network with folks at a local business that may have a high geek density such as a company that does computer or engineering related work. Or if the company is large enough, try to get in contact with folks in their IT dept. Most of the mature folks I know that game are either engineers, programmers or IT specialists. Many of us grew up playing games (rpgs, computer games, etc) and still do.

On the downside, scheduling issues may be a problem for many of the mature gamers you're looking for. But that's a different issue, and one you can hopefully resolve after finding potential gamers.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I don't know how much of a possibility it is where you live Vindicator, but I've found the RPGA's living campaigns a rather good way to meet other gamers. They are a good way to meet a good number of gamers, some of whom are decent folks, some of whom are incredible role-players, and a few of whom I wouldn't care to meet again. But, since each game is a one-shot with continuing characters, I don't have to continue playing with the people I wouldn't care to meet again. It makes a nice pre-screening process. (I met the group I currently game with at RPGA events at conventions).

And it's also a nice way of getting games in when circumstances preclude a regular gaming group.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Good Thread!

Hi, first time posting on the ENWorld boards, though I've lurked about for a month or three. This thread definitely sparked my curiousity and spurred some thoughts about a "generation" gap between gamers in their mid-late 30s/early 40s and the younger gaming crowd.

A little about myself first...I'm 25 years old, and have the creeping feeling that I fall into this sort of "generational cusp." What I mean is, that I number among the last group of Americans to spend a significant part of their early formative years without VCRs, cable, PCs, Internet, and 8-bit and upwards gaming consoles. I learned to read when I was three/four years old by looking through my older brother's Monster Manual looking for dinosaurs, finding them, and then learning words like "sea hag," "flesh golem," and "markoth."

I'm wondering if this gaming generation gap is a product of formulative introductions to sword and sorcery? One on side you have folks (like me) who
were influenced by books (Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Lord Dunsany, L. Sprague DeCamp, and H.P. Lovecraft, among others), older films (Ray Harryhausen films, especially the Sinbad "trilogy" for me, Excalibur, Dragonslayer, Conan the Barbarian, Clash of the Titans, the 1st Heavy Metal film, 50s sci-fi, and 30s/40s swashbuckling, Italian sword and sandal flicks), and limited T.V. (namely the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, He-Man, and Thundarr the Barbarian). I also cut my teeth on the old red box, the older "blue cover," and 1E modules. On the other half you have a generation raised on anime (funny thing...being half-Japanese, I've been around anime my whole life...I don't see the big deal either for or against...it's just *there* to me), Final Fantasy and other games, the newer breed of fantasy films and T.V. and a generally shorter attention span, with the types of gaming materials to match.

This leaves me in a funny space...I can get a bit of a handle on where older gamers come from (influences, preferred styles of gaming), but I'm not big on the family/marriage thing and don't really relate on that end. On the other hand, age-wise I'd be closer to younger gamers but (in general) due to their influences (and shorter attention spans, sense of entitlement, etc), I can't relate to them at all as well.

So, to sum, I was wondering if there are other gamers in the same kind of generational limbo? And second, if you think that these generational factors do indeed make a difference/exist at all?

Thank you!

 

[Mark]

How do I meet "mature" gamers?

I'm forty-one, been gaming since 1974, and folks who game with me walk away asking that very same question...