D&D 5E When generational differences become apparent

[Sacrosanct]

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."

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Same experience here. We were just talking about how we think it’s by design that there’s no real Monster Lore check defined in 5e like there used to be in 3e and 4e.

I've come to hate the "with a roll of ##, what happens" when I haven’t even called for a roll yet, or when people haven’t told me what they’re even doing.

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."

 

[Sacrosanct]

While all generalizations fail to capture nuance, and there will always be exceptions, I have found this to be generally correct. That said, I think it's a reflection of the gaming systems that the players grew up in, as opposed to anything more profound than that. When I learned to game, dice were for combat, talking was for other stuff.

I agree, which is why I referenced (although apparently poorly) the way the game has evolved. I think it's like anything else, and I imagine you'd see the same generational difference in how a Gen X and a Gen Y approach video games.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

That really seems more like an edition-al issue rather than a generation-al one. If you started in an edition prior to 3.0, then you didn't have lore skills or perception checks or social skills or anything, so you wouldn't have thought about rolling for it. Starting in 3E, new players have always had those things.

 

[TwoSix]

I personally am right on the dividing line between Gen X and Gen Y (born in '78), but am definitely "Gen Y' in temperament (at least as defined above). I tend to agree with [MENTION=6799753]lowkey13[/MENTION] that it's very much based on the system you learned to play in. I grew up doing homebrew campaigns in 2e, so I never really picked up the cautious, careful dungeon-crawl methodology.

 

[jodyjohnson]

The Dungeons & Dragons I wanted to play as a high schooler in 1981 (and didn't realize) was the D&D WotC produced in 2008. And I can still play that way in 2016.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

These are not generational differences, they are differences of which version of the game's typical style the player is "used to."

That last player I had in my group that behaved in the way attributed to "generation Y" here was actually in his late 40s (more than 10 years my senior, just a few years back when he was part of the group).

And yet, basically anyone that learns the game because I taught them, or grows "used to" the way I run things fits firmly into what you describe as the "generation X" behaviors - even though I myself was born after the typically used cut-off point for that generation and all of the players I've taught (save the first few, my cousin and some of his friends) are younger than me.

 

[iserith]

Sounds like a case of players playing a game like they'd play some other game. It's pretty common in my experience for folks to drag their assumptions and biases (sometimes held up as "playstyle") from one game to another. I don't play any version of D&D the same way as another. They're different. As a player, I'll ask to make skill checks in D&D 3.Xe or D&D 4e, for example, but not D&D 5e.

 

[Salamandyr]

These are generational differences, but as has been noted, there are exceptions. I played a lot of Rolemaster in the 80's because it had exactly what WOTC would later turn D&D into. Ironically, I started to see the value of the earlier way of doing things after D&D had gone the way of Rolemaster.