"older" gamers

[GreyWanderer]

Re: Older Gamers

Originally Posted by dungeonmastercal
The joke among my group is we'll all somehow end up in an Old Gamers' Home somewhere, eating liquified junk food and having to have nursing assistants read our character sheets for us.

A few years ago, my DM was saying how great it would be when we were all in the Old Gamers home - he could use the same Dungeon every day, and we wouldn't remember it - saveing him lots of prep work.....

 

[GreyWanderer]

BTW2: We are in Santa Barbara, CA. Feel free to drop me a note if you're interested in chatting about our current game or participating in our all-day Lord of the Rings movie marathon.

- gridion

We're in Colton - a bit far, I'm afraid, for weekly gaming. Also, my Wife (a fellow gamer, though a newbie - at 29, she's 11 years younger than me) didn't like the LOTR movies (UTTER sacralidge, I know....but she rolls well

 

[GreyWanderer]

Re: Older Gamers

A related question:

As an older gamer, I have been fortunate to play with other older gamers these past 7 or so years. I had lived in NJ, and over two years ago, I moved to California, and was very fortunate to find more older gamers out here.

What's funny is that ALL of us (from both groups) work for some level of Government (local to Federal); I myself am a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (a Health Inspector).

I found that kind of spooky; I was wondering if gamers tend to wind up in Government jobs as we grow older, or if its just some weird cosmic coincidence.
What do some of the other older gamers on the list (I'm 40, BTW) do for a living?

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

A related question:

As an older gamer, I have been fortunate to play with other older gamers these past 7 or so years. I had lived in NJ, and over two years ago, I moved to California, and was very fortunate to find more older gamers out here.

What's funny is that ALL of us (from both groups) work for some level of Government (local to Federal); I myself am a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (a Health Inspector).

I found that kind of spooky; I was wondering if gamers tend to wind up in Government jobs as we grow older, or if its just some weird cosmic coincidence.
What do some of the other older gamers on the list (I'm 40, BTW) do for a living?

I work for a non-profit hunger relief organization (www.heifer.org). Maybe this question should have its own thread. I was thinking about this same thing yesterday.

 

[Buttercup]

What do some of the other older gamers on the list (I'm 40, BTW) do for a living?

I'm a librarian. So is my husband, and all but one of my current players. The odd man out is a chemist.

 

[DonaQuixote]

This is heartening!

It is so helpful to hear from all of you! Here I felt I was staring the end of my gaming time in the face, and I learn that actually I'm a relative newbie!

The recruitment resources are also amazingly helpful! Part of what has set off this particular concern for me is the recent exodus of several members of what has been a stable gaming group for the past seven years. Folks are just getting involved in their careers and families and moving away. Will post on those boards when I get a chance.

The scheduling issue that many mention is definitely a big factor too. I'm a graduate student, so my scheduling problems are pretty, well, quixotic. I'll have months at a time with a lot of free space, then all of a sudden have to go into a cave for three or four weeks. Does a game keep up the same intensity when so much time passes between sessions? One thing we've been doing is in-character e-mailing back and forth during a long hiatus, just to stay in tune with each other. Any other suggestsions? I'm going to India for six weeks this summer, so I'll be able to put your ideas to immediate use.

In terms of openness, it's kind of hit or miss in academia. Some folks will think it's the most interesting thing in the world, and talk for hours about new perspectives on narrative and social processes and blah blah blah. Actually, no one has done that yet, but I would if I was in their position . I think it would make a good research topic, actually, but it's not my area. Perhaps I will try the indirect methods suggested. I was thinking an LOTR t-shirt, or something like that. No one goes to my office but undergraduates who, while they may be great gamers, are also my students, and that would just be awkward.

Oh, and that link to the thread on creepy gamers -- that was great! We've had a fair stream of those ourselves, though I don't doubt that we've been pegged as the wierdos one or two times ourselves!

--To the fella who researches religion: my field is religious studies. Lemme know if you ever want suggestions on good reading, especially about South Asian traditions!

 

[dougmander]

So how do you keep it going? Where do you find other gamers "your age," how do you nurture a gaming group with your particular maturity level, or learn to deal with being the oldest person around the table? Or what else do you do?

I've been blessed with a spouse who loves to play RPGs as much as I love to DM. We do a lot of gaming one-on-one -- it never seems to get old (I wish I could say the same for myself!). As for other players, we still play with my brother and my two closest friends from my home town; we've been gaming together for 27 years, and we still haven't figured out how to win the damned game . A few players have come and gone over the years, but we've been lucky never to have lost our core group.

Because I'm a middle school/high school teacher, I have an opportunity to play with much younger people, and have turned about 20 of them into avid gamers in the last two years. Three of them have begun DMing their own games. Playing with them reminds me of my own first youthful excursions into RPGs -- it's extremely rewarding, and I feel I'm doing my part to grow the hobby.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Age and Gaming

And I thought I was old
Just Kidding. I am the oldest person in my gaming group. The two guys older than me have had child and scheduling problems so I haven't been able to game with them in ages. Otherwise my group ranges from 32 (me) to 22, though we had a 16 year old and 12 year old (one of the older guy's sons) play at different times. But then again, I don't have children to mess with. But like the aforementioned Master's student, I should just really hide and get my thesis done (let's see 2 months to go and 8 chapters to go, hmmm....).

I know if you get on the Tekumel boards on yahoo (groups.yahoo.com) you can talk to people like Victor Raymond, Joe Saul, Krista Donnelly, and other who are probably in their 40s (if you are not and are reading this, my apologies) who are still involved in the oldest living gamer's campaign, the one the only Dr. MAR Barker and his Empire of the Petal Throne Game. I do believe that Dr. Barker is in his late 70s and still manages to run a weekly game of EPT, which Dave Arneson was once part of.

 

[drakhe]

Forget age, share an interest (or plain old fun)

I've never had any problem finding a gaming group as I've never made age an issue.

Some stats:

Sunndi Avengers (my main Dnd group, me DM)
10-15 : 1, 15-20 : 2, 20-25 : 1, 30-35 : 1, 40-45 : 1

Der Dicken Mörder (Warhammer group, me DM)
15-20 : 1, 20-25 : 3

Avalon (Warhammer group, me player)
20-25 : 2, 30-35 : 3, 35-40 : 2

Birthright (Birthright, me player)
15-20 : 1, 20-25 : 3, 35-40 : 1, 50-55 : 1

Celtic Cross (Adnd2nd, me player)
20-25 : 5, 35-40 : 1, 40-45 : 1

As you can see, ages vary greatly. I never had a problem with other peoples age. Also character wise, i've played characters ranging from 18-63 (and an 118 year old snotty nose elf)

So I'd say: forget age, look for a group of kindred spirits (a group where you feel OK and where others feel OK with you) and just PLAY!

 

[Psionicist]

I am not an old gamer myself (being 19 years old) old but I feel your pain because I have the same problem. Unfortunately I can only play once per month, not because of spare time (or the lack thereof) but due to the other players priorities. Oh well, you cannot get everything.

I'd like to mention that I find the information in this thread quite relieving. Hopefully it will not be impossible to find gamers my age in the future, "older" gamers seems to be far more common than I thought.