Musings On The Experience Of Growing Up In Games

I've been thinking a little of late, about how the way we roleplay has changed.

Back when I started 'properly' gaming in 1981, in general terms, you began with an inexperienced character of around your actual age, if like me you were part of the 'Golden Horde' who made the hobby the phenomenon it was by around 1984. You could identify easily with how difficult it was to engage with those with more life experience in the real world and so, it was a natural and dare I say it comfortable state of affairs. 

 In the game world you were threatened by powerful wizards and evil interstellar empires and imminent reduction to a pile of ash by dragons. So, you did what you could to get by, make money, gain experience and go on to become a formidable adventurer in your own right.

You learned that thought generally got you out of scrapes far more successfully than just lashing out and hoping for the best. 

In the real world, if you were in the U.K, you faced the threat of mad politicians, the I.R.A and imminennt reduction to a pile of ash by nuclear armageddon. Then there were the various youth cultures who really did kick the shit out of you for dressing differently or listening to music they didn't like.

So, you kept your head down, saved pocket money and gained experience that taught you to deal with all the the travails of life, and how to afford what was more than a hobby to millions.

More importantly, you learned in the fantasy world, how to interact with others, be it imaginary characters of the older gamers who were the guardians of the sacred flame of gaming. 

You also learned inbetween games that with and a fast mouth could, if properly applied get you out of getting your head kicked in by skinheads who took exception to your far superior mullet hair do and taste for Marillion and Rush. The ability to run fast was also a valuable skill, when you failed the fast talk check...

As I have already stated, many of the people we came into contact with were a good decade older than us, with young families, jobs and mortgages. In short, they had responsibilities and  to the majority of we of the junior set, they were a force for good, and indeed gave good council of a kind that we could not expect from our parents. In short they were given respect.

These days, I increasingly see game mechanics where you have low characters who are pretty much fully formed at the outset, and I think it reflects contemporary youths who think that just surviving to the age of 13 in what is arguably a softer more coddled age generally is reason enough to be considered equal to those who have actually experienced some 'serious shit' and survived with scars and experience. The games they play seem to have to reinforce that sense of power and entitlement.

Give an average kid a powerful character, and they will probably not get the most from the roleplaying experience, because they have not had to nurture that little string of statistics, learning how to increase those numbers against the threat of much larger numbers.

It's reminiscent of the 80s film 'Big' in which Tom Hanks plays a boy who wishes he was an adult, only to wake up and find he is. The learning curve is a steep one, and along the way the ability to relate to children, allows him to get by in the world of adults. He realises that being an adult is more than just looking the part.

Roleplaying for my generation gave us a parallel world to experiment with the concept of coming of age, and I am pretty sure that the confidence and experiences we gained by being small fish in a large predator filled pond (albeit imaginary) made survival in the sea of reality all the easier.

The 'kidults' who seem to be the idols of the current teenage generation are a mile away frm those we looked up to. So many of them still live at home, and don't have the kind of responsibilities their predecessors had. In may cases they are only different to the kids who ape them, in that they have straggly beards and a stronger strain of body odour.

I have noticed that kids who were introduced to gaming by parents of my own generation, seem to approach their gaming in a dirfferent way, and they are also able to interact with the venerable 'Long Beards' to whom my generation owe a debt of thanks. They have their teenage 'spats' but they also learn a few useful traits and behaviours

Those who fell between the generational floorboards are a lot different. They appear to have a sense of impatient entitlement. If their desires are not immediately sated, they throw a fit.

Yes, times are different, I know, but children should become teenagers before they try being adults. They should not be expected to leap from A to C, avoiding B. B is the letter which will teach them the most, it's that formative bridge between the two extremes of life and how to live it.

 Pateince is indeed a virtue, and will be rewarded with a richer fuller appreciation of anything requiring it. Building an army in my youth (and to this day) began with research of the period, talking to older or more knowledgable gamers about formations and tactics, and then we could start making informed decisions about which brand (or as was more usual brands) of miniatures was going to hit the Goldilocks Zone for us.

We'd divide a period up amongst all those in our circle who had been bitten by the bug which made the want to play, say English Civil War, so that we had a lot of options available to us collectively, and along the way we'd keep on adding to our knowledge, which as we in turn matured, was passed down to other younger gamers. That is how it was and that is how it should be.

A young gamer should be humiliated by Kobolds before he or she screws around with Orcus, because the memory of those Kobolds will make them all the more careful when they smell brimstone and see the air shimmering in the summoning circle.

 Equally, we older gamers should not forget the experiences and feelings of youth. Those Kobolds are just as relevant now, as they were 4 years ago. 

We should also teach the young that most important of lessons; that a pint of bitter and a barley wine is not something to take lightly because in comparison, Orcus will do less damage, and your parents won't have to clean the lounge carpet...

TTFN