The shift in gaming as we get older

[der_kluge]

I'm curious as to whether anyone else sees a shift in gaming as we get older.

By that, it seems that most campaigns (IME) tend to sort of fall apart before ever even getting to the high levels. Maybe it's because I've moved around a lot, but I know a fair number of others that have as well.

It's almost like the "standard" model of "start at 1st, advance to 20th, and then retire" doesn't really work for most people. People either get bored with the campaign, or RL issues prevent the story from coming to a successful completion.


How do you handle this? Ignore it, and continue on, or do you try to shoot for a more "episodic" kind of game where people can come and go as they please?

 

[WizarDru]

I'm curious as to whether anyone else sees a shift in gaming as we get older.

By that, it seems that most campaigns (IME) tend to sort of fall apart before ever even getting to the high levels. Maybe it's because I've moved around a lot, but I know a fair number of others that have as well.

Which is funny, because the first campaign I've ever played completely to fruition from 1st to 28th level didn't occur until 3E. We started in 2000 and finished in 2006. The youngest player in my group was 35, the oldest in his mid-40s. Our gaming HAS shifted...it's become more predictable with regards to night and play time.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Well, the "standard" model was never standard for me, so while I've seen changes, that's not one of them.

In fact, as I've grown older, I've found myself more drawn to long plot arcs that interweve, or even completely replace, the "episodic adventure" model.

No, the true mark of getting older, in my own experience at least, is the loss of childhood whimsy. I'm no longer able to accept weirdness in games, or the illogic of critters dwelling together in a dungeon, or the like. Part of me wants things to make sense, at least internally, even if that means losing some of the "cool" factor of the unknown.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

No, the true mark of getting older, in my own experience at least, is the loss of childhood whimsy. I'm no longer able to accept weirdness in games, or the illogic of critters dwelling together in a dungeon, or the like. Part of me wants things to make sense, at least internally, even if that means losing some of the "cool" factor of the unknown.

What Ari said rings completely true for me as well.

My games have always involved the long, interwoven campaign arcs with individual sessions ranging from all roleplay to near-"300" death-fests. A player even described one of my story lines as "frustratingly Byzantine", which I took as a very good sign.

 

[kenobi65]

Can't say this theory works for my case, either.

I've been playing for 25 years, I'm turning 42 tomorrow, and most of the campaigns I've played in or DMed in during the 3E era have lasted 3 years or more. The only two that didn't were due to the DM moving out of town.

Now, what I will note is that my groups aren't able to get together nearly as often as we did when I was younger. Two of my three current groups play once a month if we're lucky; the third group is more geographically dispersed, and we only are able to play as a group 3 or 4 times a year.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, the "standard" model was never standard for me, so while I've seen changes, that's not one of them.

In fact, as I've grown older, I've found myself more drawn to long plot arcs that interweve, or even completely replace, the "episodic adventure" model.

Absolutely my experience.

No, the true mark of getting older, in my own experience at least, is the loss of childhood whimsy. I'm no longer able to accept weirdness in games, or the illogic of critters dwelling together in a dungeon, or the like. Part of me wants things to make sense, at least internally, even if that means losing some of the "cool" factor of the unknown.

But not this. You hang out with fuddy-duddies, Ari! My next Midwood adventure features a (very adult) encounter with a D&D-ized Big Bad Wolf. It'll be scary and harrowing and all that, but it'll also be The Big Bad Wolf!. And everyone in the group, I believe, is 30 or older, some much older.

 

[Mouseferatu]

But not this. You hang out with fuddy-duddies, Ari! My next Midwood adventure features a (very adult) encounter with a D&D-ized Big Bad Wolf. It'll be scary and harrowing and all that, but it'll also be The Big Bad Wolf!. And everyone in the group, I believe, is 30 or older, some much older.

See, that might work in my group, in the proper context. I was thinking more about environmental/setting-related details. Stuff like you might find in the old D&D cartoon: the waterfall that flows upward, for instance. It's not that I cannot tolerate such things, it's just that they ring false to me, even in a magic-rich setting, in a way that they did not used to.

 

[DaveMage]

By that, it seems that most campaigns (IME) tend to sort of fall apart before ever even getting to the high levels. Maybe it's because I've moved around a lot, but I know a fair number of others that have as well.

That's why the last campaign I played in *started* at 10th level. We wanted to play kick-ass PCs and enjoy being powerful.

We had a blast. Campaign lasted until 26th level.

 

[pawsplay]

How do you handle this? Ignore it, and continue on, or do you try to shoot for a more "episodic" kind of game where people can come and go as they please?

Sometimes, but to be honest, the kind of commitment that grown-up gaming entails has resulted in some of the longest running campaigns I've had. "Let's get together every 2nd and 4th week" can result in a lot of leveling in, say, six months. I've got a weekly game that's already gone from 1 to 10th.

 

[el-remmen]

I have the opposite experience.

As I have gotten older my campaigns have been longer and more regular.