Café de Nuit

What do you think? A group of middle aged men with graying hair that plays Ravenloft is an abominable thing? Are they freaks? Have no lives? Do the right thing?

A hard question as D&D has only been around for 30 years. Gygax was only 36 when that was published so there's probably very few people with an opportunity to be 70yo+ players.
Lets not forget the plethora of 40+ game developers who have been in the buisness for decades.

It depends on the family and friends. Why can't D&D be the same as a dinner party or some crappy cocktail thing? Especially if you marry a gamer (I'm in the middle of turning my SO into a comic/RPG geek ).
Think of those murder mystery party games, they're essentially LARPs so why couldn't you have a mature D&D session?

I can see it taking a back-seat to raising kids but what a better chance to get new people into RPGs than involving your spawn.


Give the game a few more decades and we'll see. The stereotype of only teenagers gaming is about as faulty and nigh-offensive as the one of all gamers as over/under weight social rejects living in their parents basment with bad skin and an odour proble who've never kisses a girl.
Show some pride man! GEEK POWER!!!!

alhoon wrote:What do you think? A group of middle aged men with graying hair that plays Ravenloft is an abominable thing? Are they freaks? Have no lives? Do the right thing?

Well, I'm a middle-aged (44), middle-class (makes something under $100K/year US as a mid-level manager), Midwestern-American husband, father, & grandfather that has played in Ravenloft since I6 was released over 20 years ago. I can assure you that I do in fact have a life beyond gaming (that actually does strongly limit my gaming time). Freak? I do admit that I keep my hobbies seperate from my work life, my business associates only understand golf, bowling, bars, and casino gambling. I have shown my closest work-friends my letter in Dungeon magazine last year, and was met with blank stares.
Yeah, the day will come when I have to hang it up, probably when they wheel me off to the nursing home. I have already informed my family that my considerable collection will do well on Ebay if listed corectly (hopefully 30 - 40 years from now!)

*lol* I feel like in an AA meeting.

I'm a middle-aged (40) too, middle-class Montréaler husband, father, and I play Ravenloft since I6 was released over 20 years ago.

*lol*

Catman Jim wrote: I have shown my closest work-friends my letter in Dungeon magazine last year, and was met with blank stares.

I don't recall hearing about it (or am too old to remember ). What was it about (and which Dungeon #?)

Catman Jim wrote: I do admit that I keep my hobbies seperate from my work life, my business associates only understand golf, bowling, bars, and casino gambling

*lol* This Old Gamers Not-so-Anonymous meeting is really needed.

Here, people only talk about what crappy TV 'reality' (that name is really a joke !!!!!) show they saw last night, the latest hockey game, and of celebreties doing silly things not to be forgotten. My family are often having fun of the very straight neighbours in my area

Me and my D&D team (all 40's, one 23 and one 53) vows to play D&D until we all reach the Seven Heavens, and then we'll resume.

Joël

With my gaming friends, I keep imagining us as old men with no teeth, hair and wearing 3 inch thick glasses and a horn in the ear to hear but still throwing dices even if some of us are now more mad than Easan

Ah!!! That'll be the dream

*lol* We do imagine ourselves as old grumpy persons around the gaming table, with each a young cute nurse to help us roll the dices

"C'est à vous de jouer, monsieur Paquin, tournez votre dé 20..."

Wow. 9 votes for never so far, and none for anything else. We've a bunch of hard core geeks around here.

Well, I'm still in my twenties, but I don't see any reason why you'd ever have to truly stop playing. I know lots of folks who maintain their hobbies well into their fifth, sixth, or even seventh decade (depending on how physically demanding said hobby is and their own physical health). If people can play freaking GOLF when they're "old and gray" (no offense intended for any golfers out there, but I can't think of a more mind-numbingly boring pastime than playing golf... except maybe WATCHING golf on TV), surely they can sit around and roll a few dice.

Not to mention (and I'm totally serious about this), playing Ravenloft and/or other D&D games may well contribute to mental health in the aging population. Studies have shown that exercises like mathematics and memory games can aid in retention of clarity and mental abilities even in individuals above 80. If you think about it, D&D includes mathematics (stats, attack rolls, armor class, bonuses, etc.), involves memory (who the characters are and why they're doing whatever they're doing), and helps keep the mind active.

I firmly believe that spending time with God, having a family, and making a living are important elements in life... but I don't see any reason why Ravenloft/D&D should have no place in the lives of older people. Supposedly the gaming groups for Ed Greenwood and R.A. Salvatore continue to meet with each other after 15-20 years on a regular basis, and they have time for work and family, so why can't everyone else?

*shrug* I guess we'll see if I'm still playing in 50 years or not...

I'm fifty. I first discovered AD+D in 1979. TSR was such a small company that Skip Williams had some free time and accepted an invitation to come to Illinois and DM a game for us to show us how it was done.
When I found Ravenloft years ago I said "this is cool!"
Now I'm buying a whole new set of of books and I'm here on this forum to get advice from all of you.

The Mists are eternal. We'll never stop playing!

WOW! 100% have answered never! I think that says everything!

At any age you can play D&D, since you have a good time, why you should stop?

What if your hair become gray, you have no real teeth and you should pass the major part of your day in house, because you can hardly walk?
You can pretty well sit around a table with your old- old friends and play!
No one will get us this pleasure away!

Silly question. Who would answer anything else?

Besides, it's much more poignant to have your character try to ascend to lichhood when you're working on it yourself!

The great thing about Ravenloft is whith the right tools even death is not a campaign ender...

...Isn't that right Grandpa Jones...

pulls a few wires and pushes a lever

"Thats right sonny..."

Of course it's 100% "never"; this is a Ravenloft board, after all.

I will stop playing RL and rlling dice when my fingers fall off. Of course, that will be about 100 years aftre my death, unles I find a replacement body to serve as host of me, as I shall be a Lich long before then :twixted:

Hey, we have one vote that says someone should ever stop playing Ravenloft. And it's at a fairly young age, too! Who was it? We need to know who to give the head start to when we release the angry mob.