Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ringmereth 07-04-07, 01:27 AM	I've been playing our illustrious game for about five years now through various venues, and I'll be going off to university this fall. As I was looking through my school's directory of clubs and organizations, searching in vain for a good place to game (alas, all I could find was a LARPing society and a group advocating 2nd ed. AD&D--thanks, but no thanks), the question came to mind: how does role-playing change as time wears on and gamers get older? Well, actually, the question was more like "I wonder if there are any groups who don't powergame all the time and make Monty Python references every five minutes?" I'm interested, though, in how people here have seen their games and their playstyles change as they've gotten older, gained experience, found new groups, and maybe changed editions a time or two. Have your plotlines and characters gotten more serious and realistic? Have you embraced a lighter style to make your game more of a fun escape? Have you stuck with the same people and run the same world for twenty years? Let's hear it. (Oh, and if anyone knows of a good (hygienic!) group looking for an extra player in Madison, WI, let me know...)
B4_life 07-04-07, 01:31 AM	Well, i can tell from experience that playing with young players (I am 16, and play with others my age) is really a wild card. for instance, I and my DM play at least rather seriously; we go along the plotline, stay focused on gameplay, etc. the two other members of our group however... its quite less serious, to say the least (read: they are complete idiots), and they get on my nerves relatively often.
Thomar_of_Uointer 07-04-07, 01:54 AM	I've been playing our illustrious game for about five years now through various venues, and I'll be going off to university this fall. As I was looking through my school's directory of clubs and organizations, searching in vain for a good place to game (alas, all I could find was a LARPing society and a group advocating 2nd ed. AD&D--thanks, but no thanks), the question came to mind: how does role-playing change as time wears on and gamers get older? Well, actually, the question was more like "I wonder if there are any groups who don't powergame all the time and make Monty Python references every five minutes?" I'm interested, though, in how people here have seen their games and their playstyles change as they've gotten older, gained experience, found new groups, and maybe changed editions a time or two. Have your plotlines and characters gotten more serious and realistic? Have you embraced a lighter style to make your game more of a fun escape? Have you stuck with the same people and run the same world for twenty years? Let's hear it. (Oh, and if anyone knows of a good (hygienic!) group looking for an extra player in Madison, WI, let me know...) I found the sci-fi/fantasy club had several members that could hook me up with a D&D game. It helped that they had a forum. However, I never took advantage of it because I was lucky enough to already have a good group living in my dorm (one of which was my roommate my first semester). College D&D really taught me how to be a good DM. I think the most important thing besides knowing the rules (so you can break them) is to tailor your game to your players (not their characters, that's meta-gaming). Learn what they like, and do it more often. Learn what they don't like, and only do it when you want them to hate the BBEG even more (but maybe not even then).
Stormonu 07-04-07, 03:10 AM	My games been through a bit of rollercoaster. My first few forays were badly developed dungeon delves with little rhyme or reason behind them. Later games started to develop relatively complex plots and in many cases, moved the game out of the dungeon. I also got more stringent on following the rules. Eventually, I got the point I wasn't having any fun because I was trying to follow the rules of the games too closely to the letter of the law. Every session was becoming a drudgery of rules-lawyering that was an argumentive drain on me and my players. The fact there were some rotten cheaters in the group didn't help. So, I backed up. I got rid of the cheaters. My games are now a bit more informal. I've come to realize I'm there to tell a story, and watch a few heads get bashed in along the way. RP "happens", rather than trying to force my players to act like we're in some kind of amatuer theater. Sticking to the rules isn't as important as having fun. Sometimes we bust out laughing in a session with movie quotes or the like (our latest was the "Hot Pocket" spring-attack monk), other times the players are sitting in their own sweat, waiting to see how the latest encounter is going to play out, wondering if they'll get out alive. I've played with a quite a variety of groups - mostly high school/college age folks, though my original gaming group is now in its 30's. I've also started playing with my son, who is now 6. Its amazing how devious a 6-year-old can be :).
Bacon and Eggs 07-04-07, 10:10 AM	I suppose I developed by getting interested in history and psychology, and all that etchics I had to take in college. After slapping down countless gnolls and goblins and a dragon from time to time... I wondered perhaps how they got there, why are they doing the things that they are doing... perhaps they aren't just solely fodder for the sword. Are they hunters, scavengers, warriors of some tribe. Why exactly are they randomly popping up in front of the party. It might be a one liner, but I like to see that the folks I meet in the fantasy realm have some kind of backstory of their own. I suppose it added depth to the game for me as opposed to playing a cerebral game of Gauntlet... ELF NEEDS FOOD BADLY! Given a slight hint at a back story, the encounter may be effectively surpassed without the need for bloodshed. Sometimes it's not possible. So you do what you can. ... also, as I got older, the giggly sex parts went away too... and for that I am thankful, nothing worse then indirectly hearing the fantasies of all of your teenaged companions, and going ... ew.
kelvinaw273 07-04-07, 01:15 PM	"I wonder if there are any groups who don't powergame all the time and make Monty Python references every five minutes?" Well I have been gaming nearly 30 years, I don't power game, but I do make Monty Python references ...
OneWinged4ngel 07-04-07, 04:12 PM	I've been playing our illustrious game for about five years now through various venues, and I'll be going off to university this fall. As I was looking through my school's directory of clubs and organizations, searching in vain for a good place to game (alas, all I could find was a LARPing society and a group advocating 2nd ed. AD&D--thanks, but no thanks), the question came to mind: how does role-playing change as time wears on and gamers get older? Well, actually, the question was more like "I wonder if there are any groups who don't powergame all the time and make Monty Python references every five minutes?" I'm interested, though, in how people here have seen their games and their playstyles change as they've gotten older, gained experience, found new groups, and maybe changed editions a time or two. Have your plotlines and characters gotten more serious and realistic? Have you embraced a lighter style to make your game more of a fun escape? Have you stuck with the same people and run the same world for twenty years? Let's hear it. (Oh, and if anyone knows of a good (hygienic!) group looking for an extra player in Madison, WI, let me know...) My playstyle has pretty much remained the same throughout my gaming career. I started with a high focus on RP, and I still have a high focus on RP. I've gotten better at it, but that's about it. As you can see from my site (and the session logs) we do pretty well for ourselves. I've always looked to pick out players who don't say "I go to sleep and prepare spells in the morning" but instead something more like "[Sat Apr 28 17:46:49 2007] : (1293) Azalea: The energy, burning and roiling inside, festered like oil on paper in the heat of a candle. While Azalea slept, the shadow of the bed worked itself like a hole upon reality, reaching tendrils of true night into the otherwise silent evening. A screaming silence enveloped the floorboards and window, causing the flickering light of the lamp to become an island of reality, fervently grasping at the colors there like a flood of cockroaches emptying a dank castle [Sat Apr 28 17:46:55 2007] : (1293) Azalea: The gateway to that nether realm existed not within the room, however, but in its occupant, and it was no gaping abyss, no, that solid black river was a conduit, gifting, reaching, as Azalea's subconscious thoughts ripped non-forces from the stream like the clattering hands of some bony fiend dipping into horrid rivers of mewling truths. [Sat Apr 28 17:47:02 2007] : (1293) Azalea: ((Spell slots recovered!))" In my games, it's not "I roll x and if that hits I do y damage." It's "The heavily armored knight's greatsword clashes against the orc's blade, forcing it in a half-circle and off to the side. Immediately, the knight lunges forward, pushing the short of the blade near the hilt through the bewildered orc's throat. "The edge isn't the only part of a sword," the knight coos in a distinctly feminine voice as the wetly stutterring orc stares for a moment, wide-eyed, before crumpling to the ground in a bloody heap." ...As you can plainly see from the session logs for my games. Also, my groups rarely speak OOC, let alone make Monty Python references (If they did I'd probably kick them out of the game). Powergaming is fine, though... that's just "playing smart." I'm not going to tell people they need to pick worse choices arbitrarily. I curb the things that I feel are too powerful and boost the things that are too weak, so that just about everyone can feel competitive regardless of their chosen niche and flavor. If a concept isn't particularly viable, I homebrew something up to make it viable. Like, say, the Sorcerous Arcane Duelist Duskblade. Easy peasy. So... powergaming isn't a problem for me at all. One of the better RPers I know is actually an uncon optimization prizewinner, and tends to build characters from several sourcebooks including old dragon magazines. And that doesn't bother me in the least, because I can still challenge those players with things straight from the plain old Monster Manual. I honestly think that the people who whine about powergaming are a lot more problematic (and rarely such good roleplayers in my experience, ironically) than those that know how to use the system intelligently.
Board_Rider 07-04-07, 05:50 PM	I have found that, generally, older groups are more interested in plot lines, character building and teamwork. Younger folks like to go for the "whiz bang" stuff and are more self orientated. That is a very general statement that I have found to be true mostly although I have seen the coin flipped. Additionally older groups tend to have more RL issues that could mean less game time although the game time spent is more meaningful and more gets accomplished. That is not to say youth's don't get things accomplished. Quite the contrary in some cases. Whatever the motivation, the younger people tend to "buy in" faster. In the end it really is hard to pin down styles by age. Both young and old can be mature, immature, reliable, unreliable or selfish. It's person to person really.
Professorpain 07-04-07, 08:55 PM	I've been playing our illustrious game for about five years now through various venues, and I'll be going off to university this fall. As I was looking through my school's directory of clubs and organizations, searching in vain for a good place to game (alas, all I could find was a LARPing society and a group advocating 2nd ed. AD&D--thanks, but no thanks), the question came to mind: how does role-playing change as time wears on and gamers get older? Well, actually, the question was more like "I wonder if there are any groups who don't powergame all the time and make Monty Python references every five minutes?" I'm interested, though, in how people here have seen their games and their playstyles change as they've gotten older, gained experience, found new groups, and maybe changed editions a time or two. Have your plotlines and characters gotten more serious and realistic? Have you embraced a lighter style to make your game more of a fun escape? Have you stuck with the same people and run the same world for twenty years? Let's hear it. (Oh, and if anyone knows of a good (hygienic!) group looking for an extra player in Madison, WI, let me know...) As an older gamer I think the monty python references get old after a while. You do start to get more experimental and open to new games as well (for instance we modelled a few games after the situation comedy format). Powergaming certainly decreases with age. When I first started out at 12 years old all of my characters were maxed out. Over time I made characters with a more focused concept. I became less concerned with having a "succesful" character, and more interested in realizing a character concept. Some games, for instance murder mystery campaigns, are actually more fun if the players are weaker.