The shift in gaming as we get older

[Piratecat]

I have the opposite experience.

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

Same with me. My campaigns now last far longer than they used to. Only people moving, as opposed to disinterest, tends to cause turnover.

 

[Ourph]

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.

With me it's exactly the opposite. The more I play of D&D the less interested I am in things making "sense" and the more I just want cool encounters, weird puzzles and opportunities to have exciting things happen to my character. I get frustrated sitting in a game when I feel like there's a lot of extraneous stuff going on to put the exciting stuff into the proper context. I'd rather just skip all that and get to the exciting part. I love it when something absolutely strange and inexplicable crops up because it means something cool (and probably extremely deadly ) is about to happen.

Regarding the original topic, I have had the same unfortunate experience as the OP, campaigns tend to last several months and then dry up (usually in relation to sports seasons, babies being born, marriages, moving, etc.). The longest running campaign I've played in since 2000 lasted about 6 months (1st level through ~11th level).

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

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?

I understand exactly what you are saying. My groups keep falling apart because players move away, players get married or have kids and are no longer able to manage the time reliably, or DMs get too busy with work to keep things going.

Part of the issue has also been the players in my groups have not been that close geographically, some requiring a drive of an hour or more to get to the game. The result is that we played on a Saturday or Sunday for a long session since people feel it isn't worth driving 2+ hours to play for 3-4 hours in an evening. Then games get scuttled because of shifting work schedules (two player were nurses and a few worked in retail. Saturday shifts were inevitable.) family obligations, or just too much to do around the house to lose a day on the weekend.

Obviously there are many here that have not had this same issue. I wonder if people who have better established games also have players who are closer together so travel time is less of an issue and work mostly 9-5 M-F jobs.

 

[S'mon]

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.

You need to read up on Jungian archetypes and Campbell's Hero's Journey - then you'll see the dungeon does indeed make sense. Just not the kind of sense you're used to.

 

[Mouseferatu]

You need to read up on Jungian archetypes and Campbell's Hero's Journey - then you'll see the dungeon does indeed make sense. Just not the kind of sense you're used to.

Well, I've never been a huge fan of dungeon crawls anyway. Give me an epic, sweeping, nations-spanning, intrigue-laded, mystery-solving tale over a few twisting passageways with monsters any day.

(Yes, I'm exaggerating. There's nothing wrong with the occasional exciting crawl. Heck, I'd still love to be the guy to write a hypothetical Expedition to the Keep on the Borderlands. I just don't like 'em too often, or as the focus of a campaign.)

 

[TerraDave]

Long campaings have always been both rewarding and also challenging to maintain.

Play frequency has fallen, at least from it peak (but then again, thats how peaks work, right?). And like others, player interest is no longer much of an issue. RL very much one.

 

[Henry]

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.

I, too, have noticed a shift, but not in that sense -- I don't think our early groups EVER went past 9th level. Instead, the shift has been more in the falling apart of games due to lack of time and familial obligations coming first.

 

[drothgery]

The 3e/3.5e campaigns I've played in with my current group as working stiff in his mid-20s to early 30s have usually covered less calendar time than the games I played in college (and I didn't play prior to that, excepting a short-lived game the summer between high school and college). But the amount of time at the table was about the same; three years or so of alternating weekends while classes were in session get about the same amount of 3-4 hour blocks as one year or so of 3-4 hour blocks pretty much every week excepting major holidays or when too many people can't make it.

 

[sniffles]

I've only been playing D&D for about 10 years, so I'm a relative newbie by the standards here. But I'd say that the older our group gets, the more we want long-term regular games where we can develop our characters fully.

My friends, who all started gaming as teens, tell me of much more revolving-door gaming in their younger days, starting new campaigns at the drop of a hat and changing characters whenever they got bored.

I also notice that as my groups ages we are much more interested in roleplaying. Combat is good and we all want some, but we get very involved in fleshing out our characters and thinking about their inner lives. Looking back on some of my earlier characters I realize I never gave much thought to their personalities, but now I spend a lot of time contemplating that.

We do have more interruptions due to family obligations now that one of our members has become a parent, but we're all already in stable jobs and aren't likely to move to other locations or change to jobs with less regular schedules. The biggest scheduling conflict we have now is that we just get tired because we're all so much older.

 

[DragonShadow]

Personally, I can't seem to find a gaming group where the story lines aren't long and involved, and I love it that way.

IMC I'm currently running off about 4 major plot lines with smaller plot-lines running in between, and my players are reveling in it. We're not exactly a group of old gamers, either. I'm 23, and most of the group is around my age, give or take a few years, with one player old enough to be our mother (or grandmother if it was on the edge of decency).

I understand what you're saying, but I would go further to say that the shifting moods and methods of the older generations of gamers sets the standard for the entire industry. Gaming itself has evolved a long way from "four heroes are called to destiny to slay the evil Lich King."