Age Differentials in Gaming... Continued
So last time I went some current experiences with Shay and KC, the two youngest people that I have played games with. This time I am going to stray from the individual experiences and move into the territory of group experiences. I have two in mind that I am going to write about today. The first is the most recent event I attended, Atlanta Game Fest 13, and a convention that I attend yearly, Dragon*Con.
First up is the Atlanta Game Fest. The Atlanta Game Fest is a now yearly mini convention in Atlanta, Ga in the month of January. This year marked the 13th Fest, this is the first year of the yearly format, and my first Fest. I had a really great time! The convention lasted a full weekend from Friday-Sunday, was chock full of gaming, and drew an attendance of about 30 at its low point and around 100 at its high point. However, the most surprising part to me was the wide range of age groups that showed up to play. There were people anywhere from 17-70 in attendance and I played with a fair number of differently aged attendees. But it seemed as if I and a few others were the anomalies. Within any given group of strangers that I met and played games with I was invariably the youngest (this is partially due to my age) and everyone else was within a few years of each other. And while I was generally well accepted by all age groups it did seem as if the 60's liked to stick with the 60's and the 30's stuck with the 30's and so on and so forth. Something else to note is that a lot of the attendees did know each other so this did factor in somewhat.
Now, another interesting thing that I noticed was that talk at the table was much more frequent between same aged players. This, I noticed, also factored into the assembly of groups during the convention. In fact, after playing a few games with different people, many of the same aged players would stick together and form groups of 10-12 whose members would intermingle and play games together over the course of the convention. The third criteria was game type. A few of the nice people I met were only into certain games. For instance, one older gentleman I played with a few times would only play very simple Euro and American style games, while I will play anything and everything. And it was this very thing, game type, that brought together the different age groups at various times during the convention. Everyone has a distinct taste in games, and sometimes the people you usually play with just won't meet these needs. This requires players to look to strangers to satiate their gaming appetites. Thus, pulling together groups comprised of 20-60 year olds instead of the usual groups made up of four or five 40 somethings. Overall, the Atlanta Game Fest was a great time and a very eye opening experience in regards to group composition and age.
Next up is Dragon*Con. While it is really a pop culture convention more than a gaming convention, there is plenty of gaming to be had. The gaming at Dragon*Con is more focused on RPG's than Board Games, but there are board games to be found, even if the table space is extremely limited. Dragon*Con is a yearly convention held in Atlanta, Ga every year over Labor Day weekend and draws a crowd of about 30,000+. For observing age differences between gamers, I can think of no better local convention.
This past year I went with Shane and Zack and we played a lot of games. We spent the entire weekend playing games. It was fantastic and tiring. So, naturally we encountered some very odd and outrageous people over the course of the weekend. The first experience that comes to mind was our Friday morning game of Puerto Rico. A man about 50-60 years old taught us the game and he was an Overlord. Additionally, Shane and I had played an RPG with the other player at the table the year before, and let me just say, the guy was an odd one (he was somewhere in his 30's). The guy that taught us the game was constantly telling everyone what they should do and not letting us learn the game like we were there to do. I personally feel that learning only happens once you have made a mistake in the game, which this guy would never let happen. No sir! Not on his watch! The other player at the table only exacerbated matters when his friend would come over and always ask if he was "pwning those noobs." A very pleasant experience it was! The game itself was a lot of fun though and Zack would later get it for Christmas. So I suppose that all turned out well.
Perhaps the above example is the reason that gamers stick to players of their own age group. They don't want to be hassled with the perceived stupidity and annoyances that older or younger gamers bring to the table. The key word here is perceived, as everyone is going to have their own opinion on what is annoying and stupid. And on those rare occasions that one awesome game comes along that brings players of all ages together for a great time. That special event that only that special game can make happen. With the perfect balance of player interaction and length so as to keep the players into the game with some table talk, and also ends in that perfect amount of time so as to keep everyone from becoming annoyed with each other. This is, in my opinion, what game developers should strive for.
So, to wrap up this topic. Gamers are a fickle bunch for the most part. They want everything to go their way and to happen perfectly. They get annoyed when someone plays rules wrong or puts down their favorite game. So, they stick to people in their own age group that are likely to feel the way they feel about certain games. Hence, the age differentials in gaming. I will admit to getting frustrated teaching new games on occasion. But that is part of the process, and I feel helps to iron out your problems in communicating certain aspects of games. Basically, all age groups should play with each other to get over their trivial quibbles with the younger or older age groups. Will this happen? Maybe, I can see it starting. However, I already play with a wide range of age groups. In fact, this entire two post topic pertains to a very small percentage of gamers. So maybe it doesn't even matter at all. Maybe I am searching for a problem where one doesn't exist. Either way, get away from my table...... YOUR TOO OLD!
First up is the Atlanta Game Fest. The Atlanta Game Fest is a now yearly mini convention in Atlanta, Ga in the month of January. This year marked the 13th Fest, this is the first year of the yearly format, and my first Fest. I had a really great time! The convention lasted a full weekend from Friday-Sunday, was chock full of gaming, and drew an attendance of about 30 at its low point and around 100 at its high point. However, the most surprising part to me was the wide range of age groups that showed up to play. There were people anywhere from 17-70 in attendance and I played with a fair number of differently aged attendees. But it seemed as if I and a few others were the anomalies. Within any given group of strangers that I met and played games with I was invariably the youngest (this is partially due to my age) and everyone else was within a few years of each other. And while I was generally well accepted by all age groups it did seem as if the 60's liked to stick with the 60's and the 30's stuck with the 30's and so on and so forth. Something else to note is that a lot of the attendees did know each other so this did factor in somewhat.
Now, another interesting thing that I noticed was that talk at the table was much more frequent between same aged players. This, I noticed, also factored into the assembly of groups during the convention. In fact, after playing a few games with different people, many of the same aged players would stick together and form groups of 10-12 whose members would intermingle and play games together over the course of the convention. The third criteria was game type. A few of the nice people I met were only into certain games. For instance, one older gentleman I played with a few times would only play very simple Euro and American style games, while I will play anything and everything. And it was this very thing, game type, that brought together the different age groups at various times during the convention. Everyone has a distinct taste in games, and sometimes the people you usually play with just won't meet these needs. This requires players to look to strangers to satiate their gaming appetites. Thus, pulling together groups comprised of 20-60 year olds instead of the usual groups made up of four or five 40 somethings. Overall, the Atlanta Game Fest was a great time and a very eye opening experience in regards to group composition and age.
Next up is Dragon*Con. While it is really a pop culture convention more than a gaming convention, there is plenty of gaming to be had. The gaming at Dragon*Con is more focused on RPG's than Board Games, but there are board games to be found, even if the table space is extremely limited. Dragon*Con is a yearly convention held in Atlanta, Ga every year over Labor Day weekend and draws a crowd of about 30,000+. For observing age differences between gamers, I can think of no better local convention.
This past year I went with Shane and Zack and we played a lot of games. We spent the entire weekend playing games. It was fantastic and tiring. So, naturally we encountered some very odd and outrageous people over the course of the weekend. The first experience that comes to mind was our Friday morning game of Puerto Rico. A man about 50-60 years old taught us the game and he was an Overlord. Additionally, Shane and I had played an RPG with the other player at the table the year before, and let me just say, the guy was an odd one (he was somewhere in his 30's). The guy that taught us the game was constantly telling everyone what they should do and not letting us learn the game like we were there to do. I personally feel that learning only happens once you have made a mistake in the game, which this guy would never let happen. No sir! Not on his watch! The other player at the table only exacerbated matters when his friend would come over and always ask if he was "pwning those noobs." A very pleasant experience it was! The game itself was a lot of fun though and Zack would later get it for Christmas. So I suppose that all turned out well.
Perhaps the above example is the reason that gamers stick to players of their own age group. They don't want to be hassled with the perceived stupidity and annoyances that older or younger gamers bring to the table. The key word here is perceived, as everyone is going to have their own opinion on what is annoying and stupid. And on those rare occasions that one awesome game comes along that brings players of all ages together for a great time. That special event that only that special game can make happen. With the perfect balance of player interaction and length so as to keep the players into the game with some table talk, and also ends in that perfect amount of time so as to keep everyone from becoming annoyed with each other. This is, in my opinion, what game developers should strive for.
So, to wrap up this topic. Gamers are a fickle bunch for the most part. They want everything to go their way and to happen perfectly. They get annoyed when someone plays rules wrong or puts down their favorite game. So, they stick to people in their own age group that are likely to feel the way they feel about certain games. Hence, the age differentials in gaming. I will admit to getting frustrated teaching new games on occasion. But that is part of the process, and I feel helps to iron out your problems in communicating certain aspects of games. Basically, all age groups should play with each other to get over their trivial quibbles with the younger or older age groups. Will this happen? Maybe, I can see it starting. However, I already play with a wide range of age groups. In fact, this entire two post topic pertains to a very small percentage of gamers. So maybe it doesn't even matter at all. Maybe I am searching for a problem where one doesn't exist. Either way, get away from my table...... YOUR TOO OLD!
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