Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ollieollie34 02-27-07, 08:36 AM	I am a thrity eight year old man with many kids. I have been playing this game for over 25 years. My wife nags me repeatedly that i am too old to be playing fantasy games. How many of you out there are in the same boat. Am i really getting to old for this? It seems like its getting harder and harder to find gamers my age. And how many out there dont fit the image of the typical "older" gamer? I own my own house, run a semi successful business. I dont live in my parents basement and i have kissed girls (Only my wife since marriage). I assume im not a rare individual but gamers are hard to find here in West Virginia.
fiendlurking 02-27-07, 09:07 AM	Some old people watch gamshows, some do crossword puzzles, and some walk around the mall and sit in coffee houses all day...lol #1 your not old...and #2 theres nothing wrong with playing D&D...after all whats more grown up than using your brain to escape the reality of the world?...with all the negativity in the world there is nothing more grown up then alittle responsible escape-ism...heck im 33 and i have no plans of ever quiting roleplaying games! :D
FrostWolf 02-27-07, 09:13 AM	Yo should stop playing, only if and when it isn't fun anymore. Untill then, tell the missus to stuff a sock in it.
kadeity 02-27-07, 09:15 AM	im not an older gamer myself, but the place where i buy my books has about 6 guys who are like you. Whats worse, they only play second edition :D And the Pastor who goes to the hobby store i buy books at says that of ALOT of people playing DND in prison, because they haver little else to do, and the freedom of time is there. i dont think you outgrow an imagination. I fully intend to be playing roleplaying games until im grey. Anyway you could always let your wife know that you could be doing worse... alot of older people who hang out at the game store are star trek dorks, or starwars geeks, and have massive collections that definetly cost tens of thousands of dollars. I mean some people collect toys, or guns, or coins, or classic cars. You play a fantasy roleplaying game. Honestly, your probably the smarter of the group... and Roleplaying is sortof a unique hobby. Once youve been playing DND for so long, you have a creativity that cant be expressed any other way. Besides, Vin Deisel and Stephen Colbert both Play DND. Even Robin Williams plays DND so You are by no means alone.
Temmogen 02-27-07, 09:17 AM	Buck up little camper!! I'm 39, no kids, however I do own a house, 2 cars, and I'm married. My wife understands I need to escape every now and then, and I do it through D&D. It may be hard to find a game, but they are out there. have you tried turning your interest to writing? Try writing adventures, start putting your ideas down in a notebook for posterity, you never know when one of kids will take up the gaming hobby, and use your ideas. :D
Boraxe 02-27-07, 09:46 AM	You're never too old to play D&D.
Mesiolan 02-27-07, 09:59 AM	I am 36 now. Playing pen&paper RPGs since 1983, and D&D since I was 15. When I married and got kids, I put D&D on a hiatus, for some seven years. I played perhaps twice a year. Starting 2004, I lurked on D&D boards and I picked up the rules of 3.0, w/o playing it at all. In 2005 I met some friends, who showed interest in playing. Now we meet once or twice a month to play for a full day. My wife and others have joined the game. Now we have two ongoing campaigns. And we all enjoy it very much. I consider myself really lucky. You are lucky too, if you have fun playing.
Arrowhen 02-27-07, 10:02 AM	“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” --C. S. Lewis
herb4 02-27-07, 11:16 AM	I turn 40 in a month. Last year for my 39th Birthday, my wife bought me the 3 core books and I've been playing semi regularly since. Before that, I hadn't played for about 20 years. i don't think you're too old.
Rogue Shadows 02-27-07, 11:30 AM	Meh. "Old" is a perspective thing. My great-grandfather died last September at the age of 103. He was active right up until age 100, when he broke his hip. Even then, he was still very outgoing right up until the end. The end, incidentally, taking awhile. he was pronounced dead three times over the course of a week. Finally stuck the last time. (I can say things like that 'cause I know he'd of laughed) How did he break his hip? A VCR fell on him, after he had programmed it to record a show that would be coming on in a week's time. A week's time! I've never successfully programmed a VCR in my life! My grandmother is 70, she's still quite active, as is my grandfather. Age is relative; age is what you let time do to you.
Orcdoubleax 02-27-07, 11:39 AM	I'm mid 30's and for the longest time had a hard time finding players. lucky to now be involved with a large local gaming group where allmost all the member are at least late 20's. The wife is understand of the hobby despite not being the least bit interested in it.
*Grim_Reaper* 02-27-07, 11:40 AM	You're never to old for this game. In the group I play in there are 4 of us ranging in ages from 22 to 37. So, it's got a good eb and flow to it. We rotate who is DM'ing. It's a good way to release stress that's built up at work and in real life. I think that society would have a problem with someone running through an office building cleaving to and fro with a greatsword, so why not take out that stress on a goblin hoard and spare your co-workers!
Krusk 02-27-07, 11:41 AM	If its harder to find games your age, you could try getting your kids into it and dming for them. Your wife might lay off a bit because its a family game now, and you still get to play. Thats like saying you are too old to play poker. something i use all the time when describing dnd to nonplayers. "we get together once a week, hang out for 6 or so hours, and all loose anywhere from 0-20$."
Sakaki22 02-27-07, 11:42 AM	My girlfriend tells me I'm too old for D&D, and I'm only 20. I agree to it all being a matter of perspective.
Sarella Starshine 02-27-07, 11:57 AM	Let's see, my husband is 44, I will be 30 this year. We are actively looking forward for the time (5-6years) when we can start teaching our two (one will be 1 on the 1st of March, the other due 1st of April, both girls) children how to play. As my husband says (and I agree with him): 'growing older is manditory, growing up is optional.' You are never 'too old' for anything if you do not think you are. We will soon have our own house, in the meantime, we live in a rather cluttered, and somewhat small (for a family of 4, was HUGE when we got it and it was just us) appartment right now :). The only time my husband ever lived with his mom after high school was for a few months right after he retired from the navy (he put in 20 years). And, he is no virgin (not suprising).
seldom_seen 02-27-07, 12:01 PM	I can relate to you, because my wife, whom I love deeply, has one glaring fault. She's a non-gamer. She too tells me that I'm too old to play, or that only nerds play that game (guilty!:D ). I reply that it is simply my way of escaping all the burdens of life for a little while. I have a career that is very stressful, and unfortunately is also time consuming. As much as I would like to, I don't get to play anymore (at least not right now, but I have high hopes for the near future!). I keep my hand in the game so to speak by perusing the boards here, and by reading the new core books. I know for a fact that there are groups in my area that consist of similarly aged folks who are always looking for new players. I also intend to keep playing for as long as my mind and imagination allow me to, so all I can tell you is to keep up the good fight, and happy gaming!!!
LCD2YOU 02-27-07, 12:03 PM	I'm 43, two kids and I still play. This Saturday, my eldest and I are going over to my friend's house to game. She'll be playing her character in a group with his son and his friends. I'll get to be the bad guys who'll try to thwart them while my friend DMs. I'm still playing and I'm introducing my lady friend to the game as well. She's 43 too.
lathropdragon 02-27-07, 12:08 PM	I'm 38 and just picked it up again after stopping 20 years ago. My wife thought I was crazy..."You're too old!!!". That was until I joined a meetup group and showed her pictures of people playing that were my age. Even my mother started giving me crap. But as I told them (and it seemed to have worked)...what's the difference between me being 38 and playing a weekly D&D game...and someone my age playing in a weekly poker game, or a weekly bowling league. Or as I turned to my mother...her having weekly bridge games at the house when I was younger. It's a game and something I enjoy that takes me away from going to work, going home, watch the kids, go to sleep...rinse and repeat. If you enjoy it...you're never too old!!!
johnkretzer 02-27-07, 12:17 PM	I am a thrity eight year old man with many kids. I have been playing this game for over 25 years. My wife nags me repeatedly that i am too old to be playing fantasy games. How many of you out there are in the same boat. Am i really getting to old for this? It seems like its getting harder and harder to find gamers my age. And how many out there dont fit the image of the typical "older" gamer? I own my own house, run a semi successful business. I dont live in my parents basement and i have kissed girls (Only my wife since marriage). I assume im not a rare individual but gamers are hard to find here in West Virginia. I am in m,y early thirties. I'll play till I die...as a mayyer of fact I want to be buried with a set of dices and my favorite characters... Anyway my father is always saying it is a waste of time...I disagree. It what I do to escape and be creative. He sits home watching TV...it is the same thing.
Heros_Backpack 02-27-07, 12:34 PM	Let me put it this way - my gaming group ranges in age from 27 to 61. Compared to that, what's 38? :D
Xylem 02-27-07, 12:45 PM	I'm 48 with two kids, and I got back into roleplaying games a couple of years ago after a 20 year gap* because my kids got interested, and now I occasionally GM for them and their friends. My wife does not play, but she realizes that I'm going to have some hoddy or another, and at least it isn't golf! (Besides, she likes it when I spend time with the kids.) (*) The group I had gamed with before had never adopted AD&D, so I jumped straight from the original boxed set + Greyhawk to D&D 3.5 -- talk about culture shock!
Dagger4192 02-27-07, 12:55 PM	I'm 32, married, 1 kid, and am a training manager at a software company. I run a weekly game with 2 guys I work with who are around my age. The only thing I've noticed is that most people my age I've run into prefer to play earlier edititions (myself included). 3.5 seems to take more time outside the game for preparation for the DM (me), and with a family and professional career it's nice to just set up and play.
freedeath 02-27-07, 12:56 PM	Keep on doing what you enjoy; any hobby that stimulates you is worth participating in. The masses seem to equate imagination with immaturity for some reason, which is absurd. As long as you're taking care of what you're responsible for (mortgage or rent, bills, feeding the family, etc.) before spending money on gaming, it shouldn't even be an issue. I've noticed people without hobbies (or the time to have a hobby) are far more critical of gaming. I suspect it might be resentment towards people who have spare time available to have a hobby. People who say "Get A Life" seem to have their lives tied up in their career, leaving little time for anything else that defines a full life. Finding people to game with does get harder as you get older; I've been gaming for almost 30 years, and my gaming groups have changed and shrunk over the years; friends move away, some lose interest or don't have the time to be able to game like they used to. I've found having a signifigant other that shares your interest in gaming is a huge advantage; there's always someone to game with, and there are more women that game than you'd think.
FntsyWlkr 02-27-07, 01:42 PM	I have to agree with the thought that sometimes people who don't have hobbies or who's hobbies lack certian aspects that gaming does ... tend to get a little jealous. The interaction, the storytelling, the imagination, the sense of a greater community ... For example if someone's hobby is watching movies, there isn't necessarily a "movie club" that meets once a week, with the same people, who are trying to solve problems, and get to interact ... and then there isn't a national network (this website) of "movie clubs."
Herald@Large 02-27-07, 02:23 PM	Mere children, all of you! I'm 54 (that's fifty-four), you young whippersnappers :ahem: ... Seriously, I didn't even start playing until my mid-20s, fell in love with the game and have never fallen out of love with it. Not married, but if a SO ever comes into my life he'd better be a D&D player! "Age -- it's only a number, baby!" :D
TheOinodaemon 02-27-07, 02:44 PM	Gary Gygax is in his what, 70's? Monte Cook is in his fifties, those guys still play. Just because you have a wife and kids doesn't mean you have to give up what you love. By the way, circumstances have forced me to relocate to WV for a few months. If you're interested in a game I'd love to find a goup around here. For the record, I'm 30. Edit: Apparently, Monte Cook is 39. Sorry about that Monte, for what its worth, you're one of my favorite game designers.
ldcnuke 02-27-07, 02:46 PM	I'm only 15, but I can say that one of the best players I know is in his late thirties, and he has been playing since the birth of first edition advanced. D&D is practically half his life, and he is the best DM I know. It would be a shame if people like him stopped playing, because I learn new mechanics and DMing tips from him every time we play (a rather large group every friday, I play a human cleric, he DMs). The age when picking up the dice to roll is too difficult is the age you should stop. Unless, of course, it tears your family apart or you lose intrest or something...
Sphyre 02-27-07, 03:44 PM	My wife nags me repeatedly that i am too old to be playing fantasy games. Fairs, fair right? She's too old to do anything remotely fun. If you started telling her that she's too old to have fun or enjoy life, or too old for anything in general, she'd probably take it as some sort of "you don't love me anymore." :rolleyes:
Adamaro23 02-27-07, 04:27 PM	one of the D&D players i know is 59, and he plays 3 times a week.... consider yourself not-old.
Cromag 02-27-07, 04:49 PM	I'm personally against fumbles largely because I've played often enough to know that some people seem bad luck with the dice. Theoretically all dice even out, but most people that have played long enough knows that guy that will roll a 1 at least 4 times a night and the other guy who seems to roll a crit every other attack. Sure it's funny to have a fumble once or twice during an epic campaign, it's not funny when the tenth level fighter who's mastered his fighting style to look like a buffoon every fight as he manages to break/lose/misdirect 3-4 weapons every time the player sits down to game. Frankly I'm one of those players, heck in one star wars game where we use fumbles. Ranged weapons to jam/ run out of ammo on a 1. I went through 5 guns before I had one that didn't jam on the first shot, it jammed on the second. After the fight I threw those guns into a garbage compactor and bought 2 new ones, They both locked up in the first fight I had with them, I stopped using guns.... A player has a single avatar in the game so it's extremely annoying when that one character is rendered not only useless but a clown because of dice rolls. When I GM I occasionally have my mook NPC's fumble with a natural 1, but with anything that isn't supposed to suck at fighting I go with the old standy of a 1 is an auto-miss (which effectively makes up for a crit hit). As a player I end up either 1. playing a caster so the DM rolls a save instead of me rolling an attack 2. Carrying a golf bag with a dozen different weapons and quick draw so when I inevitably run out of ammo/lose my weapon I have another dozen to spare. If your players like fumbles, that's fine. I use descriptive text for why it missed or hit and how when I DM and that's all the flavor I need.
mike_beavers 02-27-07, 05:20 PM	nope. I'm 50 and have been running D&D since 1975. My wife gets bothered occasionally but thats about it. My two daughters just go "its dads thing and we dont get it" shaking their heads and go out. :)
mike_beavers 02-27-07, 05:54 PM	To oinodaemon: monte cooke is 39 not 50 although hes been doing stuff for a long while.
OneEye589 02-27-07, 05:56 PM	I'm 17 next month, does that make me old? Anyway, I don't think you're ever to old to use your imagination and stuff. People never told famous writers to stop writing when they got in their 40's. "Stop writing fiction books! You're too old!" That just doesn't happen. There wouldn't be anymore movies or television (besides news, sports, discovery channel, and a few more). Everyone loves fictional movies and TV. Luckily my girlfriend and some of her friends like D&D, and when I get married, I am planning on teaching my kids D&D.
Bruunwald 02-27-07, 06:15 PM	We've been getting a good number of these sorts of threads recently, haven't we? I'm glad that Arrowhen paraphrased the C.S. Lewis quote, because the man hit the nail directly on the head. Here's the whole thing (cut and pasted from someone else here, once upon a time). I think it's very important, because, well, it's very true: Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up. This is in no way meant to disparage your wife, but it might be good to show this to her. See, people show they are grown up and adult when they let other people have their fun and enjoy harmless pastimes in peace. It is not very adult to try to force somebody to act "adult" because of some arbitrary opinion on what that means. And what does it mean? Old men like to build model trains in basements. Old ladies like to spend time playing with children. As long as you care for your kids, pay the bills, and act responsibly, you are being a perfectly good adult. Your game is for fun and recreation. Just like poker or watching football. To chime in, I am 37, my wife is 31 and plays in two games with me currently. We have a six-year-old boy. We make all our car and insurance payments (and all our other bills) on time. I work for a major university. She has a degree in computer graphics design, but is currently working part time so she can be home when the boy gets off the bus. We don't own a house yet, but this is Northern California (home of the $2,000,000 fixer-upper), so there's nothing unusual about that. I think the myth of the loser immature gamer died a long time ago.
Zaxon D'Mir 02-27-07, 10:44 PM	I am a thrity eight year old man with many kids. I have been playing this game for over 25 years. My wife nags me repeatedly that i am too old to be playing fantasy games. How many of you out there are in the same boat. Am i really getting to old for this? It seems like its getting harder and harder to find gamers my age. And how many out there dont fit the image of the typical "older" gamer? I own my own house, run a semi successful business. I dont live in my parents basement and i have kissed girls (Only my wife since marriage). I assume im not a rare individual but gamers are hard to find here in West Virginia. I'll be 36 on March 30th and I'll never give up this game. My wife understands that this is a passion for me and it's my hobby. She got a little fussy when we first got married ten years ago but after I offered to go to a bar, drink and flirt with other women instead, she let it go. I think you might want to have a little open and honest discussion with your wife about what fires your imagination and why you feel so strongly about fantasy games. If she really loves you she will understand and get off your back. And by the way, I live in Mississippi so finding gamers is hard for me too. NASCAR and D&D don't exactly mix.
Stardrake 02-27-07, 10:56 PM	Gee, at 49 it's rare not to be the oldest (Hey, Herald@Large & mike_beavers). I'm fortunate that my lady wife also games (hey, we met at a gaming con...) but the other posters have said most of what needs to be said--except you could point out that you won't end up losing the rent payment at your D&D game....
shamurai7 02-27-07, 10:57 PM	Ill tell you now that a lot of people in the military play dnd. all ages included.... we get bored and dnd is a good way to sit around drink a few and have a good time together..
Myree 02-27-07, 11:27 PM	I'm right there with you. Just hit 40 (Natural 20, by the way), and my wife never has understood the game or why I play, regardless how many times and ways I have tried to get it across. But, she's alright with it too -- as long as she doesn't have to sit through it, she says. Then again, she dozes off during most movies I enjoy, so no big deal there. The only real hesitation she had ever had was when I started introducing my son and friends to the game -- not that she was against me and my son playing, but rather she was worried what the families of the other kids would say. Imagine her surprise when several of the parents had played at one time or another! But, even if she doesn't understand it, she has learned it is a part of who I am and that I need to stretch that creative muscle quite regularly to keep sane in this strange world of oppressive mortgages and taxes; of overbearing bosses and nosy neighbors; of terrorists and wars and crime and drugs and all the rest. She has her pets (I'm pretty sure she is a druid under a spell of some sort) and I have my PCs, and as long as we don't lose touch, we are just fine. "Too old to game"? No, more like too old NOT too!
joelsanda 02-28-07, 12:39 AM	I am a thrity eight year old man with many kids. I have been playing this game for over 25 years. Yup. Same boat. I hit 40 in April have a mortgage (I think I know own the front porch, front door, and carpet on the first floor :-) a car payment, career, a kid in the third grade, and a wife. The joke in my group is we'll all have to grow old in the same old folks home so we can game in the common room! Never too old. What gets old are middle aged men armchair coaching NFL, MLB, NBA games eight hours a week with a remote in one hand an the TV guide in the other. It can be hard finding 40 somethings to play - took me quite a while to find folks who work, have a mortgage, family, and don't borrow money from friends. I'd suggest posting an ad that says just that: we did in my group and it worked. Twice. I don't know what you mean by "many kids" (we stopped at one) but if their ages are appropriate bring them into the mix. If your wife can't grasp D&D but looks the other way if the lawn gets mowed imagine her surprise if you keep some of the youngsters tied up with a game for a few hours a week. That's a time commitment but if you manage it right you should be able to get them into the game enough one of them will express an interest in DM'ing and you created a group in the house that keeps the kids busy. Understand about the neighbors. When friends or neighbors come over and see D&D books on the table and miniatures all over they don't know what to say. As I watch their reaction, and hide my smile, I think it would be easier to explain a drug lab in the basement than D&D. You should see them when they come into my office at home and I have six floor to ceiling shelves filled with D&D books and miniatures.
CharlieRock 02-28-07, 01:40 AM	I'm a thirtysomething gamer ,too. :D At least when I get to the retirement home I'll still be slaying dragons and giants, exploring strange lands, and meeting fantastic creatures. Everyone else gets to play bingo. ha! :P
docballen 02-28-07, 01:56 AM	And by the way, I live in Mississippi so finding gamers is hard for me too. NASCAR and D&D don't exactly mix. Uhhh... in a tournament I participated in I created my 20th level character as a warforged. (Barbarian/warforged juggernaut/gladiator...) Its name was Breland 24... if he could have worn red paint with blue flames upon that would have been perfect, but, I thought it would be too obvious that he was patterned after Jeff Gordon's color and team. So his 24 was black. He loved the competitions and being the winner. I am 41 years old... for a while I was the oldest member of our group. (I'm moving to another group.) My hubby is 36 and has been a D&D'er since age 13.
Lord_Tirian 02-28-07, 11:29 AM	Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up. This is in no way meant to disparage your wife, but it might be good to show this to her. See, people show they are grown up and adult when they let other people have their fun and enjoy harmless pastimes in peace. It is not very adult to try to force somebody to act "adult" because of some arbitrary opinion on what that means.Hmm... very true. As someone who is young (I'm 19), I know when this "grow up"-idea arises first: When people enter puberty - then they start to gauge other people using their idea of being grown up and "cool". Essentially, this "grow up" was - at least in my experience - a way of dismissing other people, to feel as superior or as an authority, who wields the "beatstick of age". Essentially, it means - at least from my point of view - that people are overtly preoccupied with their self-perception or peer reception. I don't want to attack your wife, I'm sure she's a wonderful person, otherwise you wouldn't have married her, but just ask her, why you're too old. Or what's the problem with it - it is her gut feeling, or is she embarrassed by it. And, of course, take Bruunwalds superior comment to your heart (and wife), for his statement is good.
ollieollie34 02-28-07, 01:00 PM	For the record everyone i have 7 kids. 2 of which are old enough to play D&D (They are 9 and 13) It is fun dming them and watching them do all of the stupid things i did when i was a kid playing for the first time. The 13 year is running a barbarian and the 9 year old is running a ranger. Ive got a npc cleric who runs out of healing spells frequently. My wife is a wonderful person (for a non gamer) and she and i have a great marriage. I told her that being able to game twice a month (with adults) and being married to her would make for a perfect life.
Cincinnati 02-28-07, 01:45 PM	And the Pastor who goes to the hobby store i buy books at says that of ALOT of people playing DND in prison, because they haver little else to do, and the freedom of time is there. Sweet!! I'll have to get myself sent up the river. Lots of people to play D&D with... and unfortunately maybe some other "games" too... :bigeyes:
JadeReaver 02-28-07, 02:32 PM	Thirty something gamer here as well. No kids, but I got two jobs, one of which requires me to interact with some pretty heavy hitters in the state government on a regular basis. Dont know how much more grown up I can get, really. I also manage to get out and do other stereotypically grownup things too, like go to the gym, grab a beer or two at the pub, date, get together with family, etc. I've heard the comments too about it being a child's game, and I find it funny. Games aren't limited to age. Games are a sign of a creative mind, and the leisure time to pursue it. Frankly, I think its great to live in a society where I have the time to play, whatever the game may be. And I agree with a comment made earlier, they'll be burying me with my dice in my hand. Our current group ranges in age from 29 to 70ish. Yes, I said 70ish. People who think D&D is for kids are just plain wrong, but its usually a matter of not knowing any better, plus all the other societal "norms" thrust upon us from a very early age. Since it not a sport or poker night, it lies outside of what grownup guys should be doing, according to popular culture. *shrugs* Funny thing too, I find those people who are obsessed to one degree or another about being "grown up" are usually rather boring.
DmMagnus 02-28-07, 05:48 PM	I am a thrity eight year old man with many kids. I have been playing this game for over 25 years. My wife nags me repeatedly that i am too old to be playing fantasy games. How many of you out there are in the same boat. Am i really getting to old for this? It seems like its getting harder and harder to find gamers my age. And how many out there dont fit the image of the typical "older" gamer? I own my own house, run a semi successful business. I dont live in my parents basement and i have kissed girls (Only my wife since marriage). I assume im not a rare individual but gamers are hard to find here in West Virginia. Lemme tell you about a friend O`mine! I am 15 years old.. And been gaming since i was 12 ish.. Last year I was in this group.. The DM was well to be honest I dont know.. He has a wife and children just like you.. And it doesn`t look like he is quitting.. None of the grown up gamers I know fit into the looser cliche you are pointing to.. I think those stereotypes are quite rare to be honest. Latley it has been snowing a lot here in my "dirty old" town.. As I was walking over to a friends house I spotted a group of adults that was racing on their childrens sledges.. I smiled as I passed and I thought.. THats whats D&D is all about.. Not forgetting that you were a child.. and going back to those days of playing all day.. Do you get to old for it? Thats up to you really, do you get to old to have fun? I wont.. D&D is a hobby that supports grown ups.. as its less physical activity and more sitting on yer arse :P Pretending to be a hero in som far off world seems like a good way to escape from the office! Are you to old? Nope, you`Ve just started.. For the record everyone i have 7 kids. 2 of which are old enough to play D&D (They are 9 and 13) It is fun dming them and watching them do all of the stupid things i did when i was a kid playing for the first time. The 13 year is running a barbarian and the 9 year old is running a ranger. Ive got a npc cleric who runs out of healing spells frequently. My wife is a wonderful person (for a non gamer) and she and i have a great marriage. I told her that being able to game twice a month (with adults) and being married to her would make for a perfect life. A happy marrige... You don`t see to many of those these days! You must be lucky :)
Lord_Inan_Highcrest 02-28-07, 06:18 PM	I am 32 will turn 33 in 8 days. I have played D&D since I was 14. The groups when I started playing consited of no less than five persons around same age and the DM in his early thirties upto fifteen people ranging in age from 14-early thirties. The number of people have changed and the DM as since passed on, but the love for the game is still there. I have created my own world my, own classes and, my own races not to mention the thousands of magical items and the book I am currently writing. So there is no such thing as being to old.
WitheringSolid 02-28-07, 11:10 PM	Nope. Never too old. As a matter of fact, this game is like fine wine, it get's better with age (ours). You see, the older we get, the more life experiences we have under our belts, and this lends itself to better role playing. There is NOTHING like a good RPG played by a group of adults in thier 20s, 30s, and 40s on up.:cool:
WizO_Cat 02-28-07, 11:27 PM	Count me in the "Will turn 40 this year" crowd, and I still play D&D. It goes back to the Bob Dylan song My Back Pages, "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."