Sacrosanct
Legend
The game of D&D has evolved quite a bit since the 70s. So has pop culture. So it shouldn't have come to a surprise to see just how obvious the generational differences in gamers playing D&D are. Note, this isn't an indictment on which generation is "better" or more of "role players" or whatever. Just an observation of differences. And these are just generalizations; of course there are exceptions.
For example, one thing I've noticed a lot is that Gen Y gamers tend to want a dice roll for everything. For example, during our AL games, the 3e/PF players will say something like, "As I enter the room, I try to percept it. What's the DC I need to beat?" For an old fart like me, I'm thrown off. "What do you mean? Are you searching the room? How are you searching it?" And that in turn throws them off. They were just expecting a die roll and compare the result to a DC, and if they beat it, I as the DM need to tell them everything about the room.
Another example is if the players know there's this monster X they will end up running into, the Gen Yers are "I rolled an 18 on my lore check, what do I know about it?" compared to the GenX players who will say, "I find a library or ask around to see how much research I can do to find out about monster X."
On the flip side, Gen X and prior gamers tend to want to explain everything in detail to you and bypass rolling completely. Die rolls are only for combat, most of the time.
Another is how they approach combat. The GenXers and prior will be like, "OK, we need a plan. Get the flasks of oil out, set up an ambush, etc." and the Gen Y will be like "It's just orcs and oil only does crappy damage, and it's an easy encounter. Let's roll initiative so I can go."
It's an interesting thing to watch these generational groups interact all in the same game. Gen X and prior will often roll their eyes with a "get off my lawn' expression, while Gen Y and newer are more "who has time to waste on all that stuff, let's get to the exciting parts."
For example, one thing I've noticed a lot is that Gen Y gamers tend to want a dice roll for everything. For example, during our AL games, the 3e/PF players will say something like, "As I enter the room, I try to percept it. What's the DC I need to beat?" For an old fart like me, I'm thrown off. "What do you mean? Are you searching the room? How are you searching it?" And that in turn throws them off. They were just expecting a die roll and compare the result to a DC, and if they beat it, I as the DM need to tell them everything about the room.
Another example is if the players know there's this monster X they will end up running into, the Gen Yers are "I rolled an 18 on my lore check, what do I know about it?" compared to the GenX players who will say, "I find a library or ask around to see how much research I can do to find out about monster X."
On the flip side, Gen X and prior gamers tend to want to explain everything in detail to you and bypass rolling completely. Die rolls are only for combat, most of the time.
Another is how they approach combat. The GenXers and prior will be like, "OK, we need a plan. Get the flasks of oil out, set up an ambush, etc." and the Gen Y will be like "It's just orcs and oil only does crappy damage, and it's an easy encounter. Let's roll initiative so I can go."
It's an interesting thing to watch these generational groups interact all in the same game. Gen X and prior will often roll their eyes with a "get off my lawn' expression, while Gen Y and newer are more "who has time to waste on all that stuff, let's get to the exciting parts."