When was YOUR Golden Age of Gaming?

[Wisdom Penalty]

I'm not talking about when the Golden Age was (or is, or will be) for D&D or RPGs or certain companies. I'm talking about you, personally.

For me: I'm finding myself spending as much time "daydreaming" about D&D as I ever have in the past. I'm having a blast actually playing the game, so I find myself less inclined to browse the net, post on message boards (you're welcome), and purchase SF/Fantasy fiction. Those are all things I did when I wasn't gaming as much as I would have liked.

That being said, my "Golden Age" would have to be the heady days of high school. Mid 80s. USA. Rolling dice in my friend's parent's basement. Some core buddies and a constant in-flow/out-flow of other guys playing the game. Watching the D&D cartoon even though I was too old to do so. Flipping open The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth or The Lost City as if they were Biblical tomes. To be honest - I think we played AD&D and B/E D&D without ever really knowing the difference. Amazing, huh?

Anyway...what's your Golden Age? You as happy gaming now as you've ever been? Do you have to reach way back to find that Golden Age? Perhaps you don't have one, but expect one coming down the road in the near future?

WP

 

[Darrin Drader]

Right now.

The players I have right now are the best, we meet regularly, I'm happier with the systems we're playing not than in the past (Pathfinder, C&C, and True20), and in cases where I'm working on material that isn't protected under an NDA, I get to playtest the stuff I work on before turning it over. I also think that people are turning to certain 3rd party publishers more now than ever, and as a result there is a greater diversity of games being played now than before. It's a good time to be a gamer.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I've found that roleplaying is like a lot of things, in that you get better at it - and get more out of it - the more time and dedication you put into it.

So, for me, it's been increasingly a 'Golden Age' as the months and years have gone by, and will most likely continue to be (increasingly) so.

In particular, W&W for M&M might well mark another important moment of change, for the better, as that is the system I've become most enamoured with, lately.

 

[Lord Xtheth]

If by "Golden Age" you mean "Glory days" I'd have to say High school as well, only my HS days were in the mid 90s
I remeber we all had a spare after lunch so we booked the C.A.L.M. room out and played every single day through lunch. On our directed study day we all skipped and played all day. Every now and again we'd start playing at someones house Friday night and keep playing until we all passed out sunday morning.

Those were great times!

I'm still happy with my playing. I still manage to get 1-2 RP sessions in a week. One 4E game I DM, and one 3.5 I've been playing for a couple weeks.

 

[Shemeska]

Overall:
Now. So much awesomeness over so many games with the best gaming group of friends I could ask for. And since we're no longer in college as we were only a few years ago, we don't have to try to find open lounges across a college campus to run a game in. Now we have a devoted game room in one players' house.

As a DM:
2002 - 2005 for the duration of my first 3.x Planescape campaign. The creative well was both as full as it has ever been, I had players completely new to the setting with no preconceptions, and I had -much- more time available.

 

[jdrakeh]

From 1997 to 2000 in Topeka, KS — without a doubt. As a DM, I could find players for all manner of games, no matter how obscure (e.g., Vampire Hunter$) or potentially objectionable (e.g., Little Fears) and had plenty of games to play in, as well. Those were the Golden Years.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Early 90s. I find myself remembering my golden days of yore moreso lately. Makes me want to play a game of 1E.

 

[Lanefan]

Golden Age*s*, more like...

Fisrt was late 1983 to about mid 1985 - an excellent series of games all in one campaign played with an edge (the players didn't always get along in or out of game but always seemed to enjoy playing it) and a purpose (the storyline was still in the realm where we mere mortals could grasp it).

Second was late 1987 to about mid 1989 - I'd started my own campaign by now, and the other one was still hammering along; not to mention some truly memorable one-offs. And we still played with an edge.

Third was between about mid 1999 to maybe late 2001 - the campaign I was running at the time really hit its stride (and acquired a bit of an edge); meanwhile 3e came out and one of our crew started a campaign using it - the system was dubious but the game was good.

Fourth is from about early 2008 to right now, ongoing - our crew have never had so many different games going on at once, and a serious influx of new blood (and new whimsy!) has revitalized things for some of us veterans.

And it's no coincidence that these golden ages almost directly coincide with the runs of sometimes-ridiculously gonzo gaming we've had. Serious gaming has its place, but its the gonzo hell-for-leather games that always seem to end up most fondly remembered, and not just by me.

Lanefan

 

[Glyfair]

The mid-80s.

I used to head down to my local game store owned by friends and play all day Saturday in their club. There were also occasional games other nights of the week I was in my early 20s at the time.

Saturday afternoon we would have a large Champions crowd. We often had enough players to run 3 separate games with about 4-6 players per table. We also initially had an evening Champions game with the older players.

After a while it shifted to a regular Saturday fantasy game (a variation on Melanda Land of Mystery). That campaign lasted for many years, with the game rarely missing more than a couple of Saturdays during a given year. We usually started between 6-7 and ended between 11-12. It wasn't too uncommon to run longer, and a couple of times we left to see the sun come up (although the game did end hours earlier, we would continue talking well after).

 

[Baron Opal]

Mid 80's

I had my own game with my school friends and a community center (Studio of Bridge and Games) that had a number of talented DMs running games. It was very cool being a part of a community of gamers. There was one big campaign where people solicited help from gamers from other tables according to what characters they had. I had a 9th level human wizard in Linda's game so people from Shirley's table asked me to hold a particular fort and some members of the Courts of Chaos from Reyn's table were recruited to do something else. People knew what characters had been earned among the group of DMs and they had a feel for each other's playstyle.

Sadly, all things end, and the Studio is now but a shell of what it once was.