The Nature of Fandom

[mmadsen]

Doctor Who and the Fandom of Fear discusses the nature of fandom -- and although it's discussing Doctor Who, it could just as well be describing D&D:

And nostalgia, apparently, is a central part of the show's appeal. "It's an odd television program in that it's very rare for someone to become a Doctor Who fan later in their life," says Alan McKee, a senior lecturer in media studies at the University of Queensland who studies Doctor Who fandom (and is himself a self-described "Doctor Who obsessive"). A fan can be any age, he adds, "but they always start off younger. From the time its first audience started growing up, the history of Doctor Who has been fans condemning the program for not giving them what they want anymore. And of course what they want is the same experience they had as a child." The flipside would be viewers like me, who gave up on the show because we wished it would grow up a bit—and who briefly came back when the program showed signs of greater depth.

 

[mmadsen]

As I said, it could just as well be describing D&D:

And nostalgia, apparently, is a central part of the game's appeal. "It's an odd game in that it's very rare for someone to become a D&D fan later in their life," says Alan McKee, a senior lecturer in media studies at the University of Queensland who studies D&D fandom (and is himself a self-described "D&D obsessive"). A fan can be any age, he adds, "but they always start off younger. From the time its first audience started growing up, the history of D&D has been fans condemning the game for not giving them what they want anymore. And of course what they want is the same experience they had as a child." The flipside would be gamers like me, who gave up on the game because we wished it would grow up a bit—and who briefly came back when the game showed signs of greater depth.

(Obviously, I replaced "Doctor Who" with "D&D" and so on.)

To what extent is that description true of you and your gamer friends?

 

[Emiricol]

I played tons of games as a kid. D&D was but one of many. I'm probably more nostalgic for Twilight: 2000 than I ever could be for D&D, yet D&D is what I play now that I've gotten back into the hobby. I have Twilight: 2000 stuff, it just doesn't get played much.

So I'd say that, for me, factors other than D&D nostalgia determine what I play.

 

[Henry]

I wouldn't say D&D fans can't be born later in life (then again, neither can't Doctor Who fans). But I do agree the majority of them are born in their teenage and pre-teen years, and go from there. Some people would point at Gary Gygax and say, "there's someone who wasn't a D&D fan in youth", but in truth, Gary's been a D&D fan since his father read him bedtime stories - he just didn't know it yet.

I've known people on these forums who did not become D&D gamers until their 20's or 30's - in some cases I've run into some people who started in their 40's, and are in their 60's now.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Yeah, D&D starting is age-independant. I haven't met many people who started playing before middle school.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Well, in the group I gamed with previously, there were five people. Of those five two of them had been gaming since adolescence, one started around age 30 and the other started around age 50. I was the fifth and I started at age 11.

 

[Driddle]

Excerpts from the Unagamer Manifesto:

The Nature of Fandom
93. We are going to argue that industrial-technological society cannot be reformed in such a way as to prevent it from progressively narrowing the sphere of human fandom. But because "fandom" is a word that can be interpreted in many ways, we must first make clear what kind of fandom we are concerned with.
94. By "fandom" we mean the opportunity to go through the power process, with real goals not the artificial goals of surrogate activities, and without interference, manipulation or supervision from anyone, especially from any large organization. Fandom means being in control (either as an individual or as a member of a SMALL group) of the life-and-death issues of one's existence; food, clothing, shelter and defense against whatever threats there may be in one's environment. Fandom means having power; not the power to control other people but the power to control the circumstances of one's own life. One does not have fandom if anyone else (especially a large organization) has power over one, no matter how benevolently, tolerantly and permissively that power may be exercised. It is important not to confuse fandom with mere permissiveness (see paragraph 72).
95. It is said that we live in a fan society because we have a certain number of constitutionally guaranteed rights. But these are not as important as they seem. The degree of personal fandom that exists in a society is determined more by the economic and technological structure of the society than by its laws or its form of government.

Other Definitions of Fandom
Anthem by Ayn Rand (Penguin Books, NY; 1992 - first published in 1938): "There is nothing to take a man's fandom away from him, save other men. To be fan, a man must be a fan of his brothers. That is fandom. That and nothing else."

Return to Reason: An Introduction to Objectivism by Paul Lepanto (Exposition Press, NY; 1971): "Full fandom is the absence of restraints, other than natural ones, on an individual's actions."
"The degree of a man's fandom decreases as the restraints on his actions, beyond those imposed by nature, increase in number or extent."
"Although the influences reducing a man's fandom can vary in form, the source of any and all such influences can only be the actions of other men."

For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto by Murray N. Rothbard (Collier Books, NY; 1978 - first published 1973): "Fandom is a condition in which a person's ownership rights in his own body and his legitimate material property are not invaded, are not aggressed against."

The Discovery of Fandom: Man's Struggle Against Authority by Rose Wilder Lane (Arno Press & The New York Times, NY; 1972 - first published in 1943): "Fandom means self-control; no more, no less."

 

[mmadsen]

To what extent is that description true of you and your gamer friends?

More specifically, did you (and your friends) start playing D&D at a young age? Do you (and your friends) complain that D&D isn't what it used to be? Or that it should "grow up" into something more than it used to be?

Although a few people here picked up D&D in adulthood, I think they're a tiny minority. We certainly have a few people here longing for the good old days of D&D. And we have plenty of people decrying hack-n-slash rollplaying. And we have plenty of people saying D&D is all about killing things and taking their stuff.