D&D 5E New Vs Old

[Norton]

I've been a DM for a group of (mostly) teenagers and groups of thirty-somethings and middle-aged folks and the big difference between them that I've noticed is "time". If you have a lot of it in both your day and your life, you enjoy banter and interacting with NPCs. If you have less of it, you tend to want to just move forward. My older guys get annoyed with describing how "things go down" based on rolls and such unless it's the kill shot. The teens are rapt over every narrative detail. Maybe there's a video game quotient here I'm ignoring, as well. If you've played a lot of them, you're really more of a passenger handling mechanically what is thrown at you, even with most RPGs. If you're not a video-gamer, you tend to take things in more of an RP direction and let the session breathe.

For me, practicality is the biggest factor. These days, my preference for running a game is mostly cool maps and combat and moving forward with a sprinkling of NPC interaction. Life can be demanding and draining, so when I jump onto roll20 at 8PM on a "school night" I need to get from A to B before life intervenes and we're canceling sessions, two-to-three weeks pass and everyone forgets the details of story.

 

[Yaarel]

IN multi other threads I have heard people talk about new and old players... even I am guilty of it. BUT, what does it really mean?

what are your experences? old vs new?

For me it has nothing to do with age. There is "old school style" and "new school style".

In some ways, I am old school: theater of the mind, homebrew setting.

In some ways, I am new school: player character customizability, balance, inclusiveness.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Maybe there's a video game quotient here I'm ignoring, as well. If you've played a lot of them, you're really more of a passenger handling mechanically what is thrown at you, even with most RPGs. If you're not a video-gamer, you tend to take things in more of an RP direction and let the session breathe.

Not uh... familiar with a lot of modern games I take it?

Depending on the genre, some of them are NOTHING but interacting with NPCs and story.

 

[Norton]

Not uh... familiar with a lot of modern games I take it?

Depending on the genre, some of them are NOTHING but interacting with NPCs and story.

I uh...am familiar, cheers. The games I'm talking about are relative to my players and they are invariably action-adventure shooters which traditionally tend to be very popular. Perhaps I should have been clearer. My apologies if I've unduly taxed anyone with my generalization.

 

[Dausuul]

The ones I grit my teeth about are the ones who say “you don’t need to read the DMG” and then don’t understand optional rules or what the DM’s job is and accuse people of being “bad DMs” who are excellent DMs because they said no you can’t take a feat because we aren’t using feats in this campaign or one shot.

These players have been around since forever. It's nothing to do with 5E or Critical Role. Some folks just don't deal well with being told no.

 

[Quickleaf]

Having run a game for some 10 year old boys (who I introduced to D&D for the first time), I can report that these boys were waaaay bloodthirstier than my regular gaming group of late 20's to early 40's aged players with lots of D&D experience.

Back when I ran AD&D, I was surprised at how much combat happened at store games / convention games / camp games compared to our home game which had a greater proportion of roleplay and puzzle-solving.

I think it's much more about the individuals at the table than an age trend.

 

[jasper]

Store/pick up/AL games there is not much time in your session to do detailed Role playing and problem solving. Plus with regular actors you can write the script to highlight their qualtities.