Anyone under the age of 40 won't like to hear this, but to me it means I'm gaming with someone who I'm pretty sure has some muscle memory left over from an era when most people understood how to play in the style I like — really proactive players; free-wheeling, flexible adventures; sandboxy settings; real danger and unpredictability at every turn (meaning dead PC's, not lovely wonders). I feel like 90+% of the stuff I've pulled off the gaming store shelf in the last 20+ years has been over-written, rail-roady pre-programed crap that I don't even recognize as useful gaming material. I can't really play with people who relate to that stuff.

"Play style quality?"  What in the name of Sarku's rotting anus is that?

The only question is "are they still having fun?"  If you're trying to put forth some sort of thing that they "should" be doing...

:forge::forge::forge::forge::forge:

Tells me Jack fucking shit, and Jack?  He just left town.

Why?  Because my gaming experiences don't inform my choice of the type of people I want to play with.  The fact that I am their friend, or they're willing to be mine, is more important.  Because even if our gaming experiences differ, good friends talk shit out.  Communication is the name of the game here.

I don't have time to for self-important asshats.  The only reason I point out that I have been playing for thirty years, is to provide context, nothing more.

I would rather give someone more information than they need, than give someone not enough information, and them needing more.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;892544When someone says they've been playing or GMing RPGs for 30+ years, what does that really say to you?

You see how they play now, and you're not impressed.

Do three decades make any difference in their play-style quality?

1: It means theyve been playing for 30 years. That in and of itself is meaningless. They could have been playing in the worst possible killer GM gaming environ, or they could have been in some monty haul glamour, or they could have been in alot of different games. So it doesnt say anything to me other than that they have been playing 30 years.

2:

QuoteYou see how Shawn Driscoll plays now, and you're not impressed.

Fixed that for you. :cool:

3: Note answer 1 above. Depending on the environ they gamed in. Yes. No. Maybee. Some players play exactly the same now as when they started. Others have adapted to new games as they desire but did their style change or evolve? Others play the same game and over time come up with new ways to play and new avenues to explore.
Also. WHAT games? What if all they ever played was Gurps? "the investigator recoiled in horror..."

I don't broadcast it, but I'm happy to confirm it.

I say that today is the greatest time to be a roleplayer, so much variety in games, gaming styles, players (age ranges, diversity), technology, etc.

I happily admit that after thirty plus years....I'm still just beginning to learn what's truly possible with this amazing hobby

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;892544When someone says they've been playing or GMing RPGs for 30+ years, what does that really say to you? You see how they play now, and you're not impressed. Do three decades make any difference in their play-style quality?

Part of my work responsibilities include hiring and interviewing candidates. If a person keeps referring to their years of experience, that's a major red flag to me. If your # of years of experience are more impressive than your ability to articulate and distill the hard-earned wisdom of your vast experience, it's a serious problem. Taken at face value, it indicates an abysmal learning curve. Digging a little deeper, it can indicate all sorts of nasty things about that person's character.

Quote from: Omega;892599Also. WHAT games? What if all they ever played was Gurps? "the investigator recoiled in horror..."

... and what's wrong with that?

Anyway ... when I say I've been gaming since the 70s, I mean to convey one or more of the following:

* I've been around the block, and have seen and tried a fair number of things;
* I've been at this long enough to be pretty dern secure about the styles/systems I like, the styles/systems I don't like, and my certitude that at this point I'm extremely unlikely to change; and
* that while I've never been sold on "old school/new school" divides, I don't worship at the altar of RAW, and strongly believe in the right of the GM to houserule or otherwise decide what he wants, how he wants, as often as he wants.

As far as anything else goes?  No doubt I wouldn't be impressed by how a number of you play.  I expect a number of you wouldn't much be impressed by me.

But that's a moronic sentiment.  For Chrissake, apply it to any other hobby.  You've been a hockey fan for 30+ years?  Does that mean I get to be "unimpressed" with the teams you prefer to support?  You've been a Rolling Stones fan for 30+ years?  Does that mean I get to be "unimpressed" with the number of concerts you've attended or the albums you believe to be your favorites?  You've been a model railroad hobbyist for 30+ years?  What do you mean you don't have a dedicated basement layout, what's wrong with you?

We play this game for fun, and if you're going around measuring an amorphous "skill" level against time-in-service to the point of making forum posts about it, you definitely need a hobby.  Possibly not this one.

Quote from: Lunamancer;892625Part of my work responsibilities include hiring and interviewing candidates. If a person keeps referring to their years of experience, that's a major red flag to me. If your # of years of experience are more impressive than your ability to articulate and distill the hard-earned wisdom of your vast experience, it's a serious problem. Taken at face value, it indicates an abysmal learning curve. Digging a little deeper, it can indicate all sorts of nasty things about that person's character.

The guy that says he's been doing computers for 30+ years, yet comes to me with his computer problems, makes me wonder.

in my experience it is usually followed by "... so I know the RIGHT way to play RPGs, and YOU are playing wrong!"

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;892636The guy that says he's been doing computers for 30+ years, yet comes to me with his computer problems, makes me wonder.

Context.

Using vs coding, coding vs repairing, repairing vs building. Again. Doing A for 30 years doesnt mean doing B for 30 years.

I've been playing arcade and console games for about 40 years. I havent a single clue how to code, build or repair one.

Context.

Quote from: Omega;892638Context.

Yes, and we are talking about hobbies here, playing RPG's specifically. Exposition doesn't equal knowledge, in fact Einstein said the opposite:

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;892544When someone says they've been playing or GMing RPGs for 30+ years, what does that really say to you? You see how they play now, and you're not impressed. Do three decades make any difference in their play-style quality?

tbh, as far as I'm concerned, it's one of those vague expressions that I might (with no provided context whatsoever) interpret in too many ways to perceive it as any important. So I don't.

By the way, I happened to encounter plenty of people who claim they have been playing this or that for God knows how long & stuff, who expressed so dense, B&W, unoriginal, no out-of-box-thinking for me, thank you very much opinions regarding stuff, that it made their "background" highly dubious. Precisely no forum, no site, no group dealing with the RPG is void of such armchair theorists, so it's not that I'd be willing to take said "years" at face value.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;892544When someone says they've been playing or GMing RPGs for 30+ years, what does that really say to you?

It says they started playing RPGs around or before 1986.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;892544You see how they play now, and you're not impressed. Do three decades make any difference in their play-style quality?

Is it a competition?

Do you always have to "improve" your roleplaying skills?

What they probably have is experience. They might have done a lot, seen a lot, tried a lot and rejected a lot.

Does that make them "better" roleplayers? Maybe, maybe not.

Quote from: Omega;892599Also. WHAT games? What if all they ever played was Gurps? "the investigator recoiled in horror..."

Then they would probably know GURPS really well.

I have no problems with people who have played one game for 30 years. I have no problem with people who only play a game for a couple of sessions and move on to the next game.

If people can take part in a hobby and still gain enjoyment after 30 years then they must be doing something right.

Quote from: soltakss;892678Then they would probably know GURPS really well.

I have no problems with people who have played one game for 30 years. I have no problem with people who only play a game for a couple of sessions and move on to the next game.

If people can take part in a hobby and still gain enjoyment after 30 years then they must be doing something right.

1: But which edition? The good edition or the bad one?

2: I've known a few who bounce from one system to another. Often I got the impression that they just had not found the game and/or GM yet that "clicked" to them. Others were just really fickle. And others just like to try  new things, but have one or more favorites that they gravitate back to.

3: Verily. Moreso if they have stuck to one system more or less over that span.