Oldest age to learn a new edition?

[ken-do-nim]

I just shake my head at 4E when I see the books in the store, and I think it's because it's shiny and new and I'm an old fuddy-dud. I was 30 when 3.5 came out, and that's the most recent version I got into.

I ask the Playground this: is there an age past which you just don't want to learn the latest & greatest edition anymore? As a corollary, who's the oldest 4E player in the house?

[Kaiyanwang]

I'm 28 and my last edition is 3.5.

[Simba]

I am 39 and stopped at 3.5. 4 is simply not my style. Maybe I'm just getting old :)

[Temet Nosce]

Eh, I'm only 24 and stopped at 3.5 as well. I think it's less a matter of age than one of whether or not the system suits your playing style.

[Kaiyanwang]

Eh, I'm only 24 and stopped at 3.5 as well. I think it's less a matter of age than one of whether or not the system suits your playing style.

I agree, but let's see what it will come out. Could be interesting.

[Chrono22]

I've always had limited funds to devote to gaming. I almost never outright buy new games.
Why would I bother buying into a new edition, if the old one can do everything it can and more? That would be like formatting my computer so I can get Vista. Shiny and new are never good reasons to sink time and money into something.
I'm 22.

[Smythen]

im 29 and was horribly long about switching to 3.x, and theres noway in H... im going to play 4e.

Samething with tabletop games. Warhammer 40k was killed when they made they changed the system.

They all switch versions to fit a younger and younger market and destroys the good fun for the "more" senior players.

[Alcopop]

19 when I went to forth ed.
19 when I went back to 3.5 with open arms.
now 20.

[Eldariel]

24 and sticking to 3.5. Same isn't true for many other systems though; not every update is a downgrade. If a 3.75 came out, I'd be all over learning the new rules.

[Brendan]

Fourteen and I don't ever get close enough to 4e to be able to touch it with a standard issue ten foot pole. Ever.

[dsmiles]

33, and switched to 4e when it came out. Also learned HARP about a year ago.

[Guinea Anubis]

My Father plays 4e with my friends and I. I am 30 and he is 52, He has been playing since 1e and still have the first 3 D&D books ever printed.

[Draxar]

27 year old 3.5'er here.

I've once heard it said that anything invented before you're 25 is something you view as a natural, normal part of the world. Anything invented between 25 and 35 is an amazing advance that will change and improve the world. Anything invented after you're 35 is unnatural, and just shouldn't be.

Maybe the numbers change for gaming – pre 20, 20-25, 25+

[The Rose Dragon]

19, and not playing 3.5 Edition. Or 4th Edition. In fact, I'm annoyed by the assumption that D&D is the only game there is in this thread.

I play M&M and Exalted, mostly.

[Alcopop]

19, and not playing 3.5 Edition. Or 4th Edition. In fact, I'm annoyed by the assumption that D&D is the only game there is in this thread.

I play M&M and Exalted, mostly.

This is essentually a D&D forum...

[Temet Nosce]

19, and not playing 3.5 Edition. Or 4th Edition. In fact, I'm annoyed by the assumption that D&D is the only game there is in this thread.

I play M&M and Exalted, mostly.

The thread is specifically about editions though, which D&D is the most prominent example of (and implied to be what this thread is discussing in the Op). Do I (and I suspect much of the rest of the thread) play other systems? Absolutely, it'd take me a while to even recall everything I've played, but that's not really the topic.

[Zaq]

I learned how to play D&D 3.5 when I was 20 or 21, and I'm currently 22. (I'm a newcomer, relatively speaking.) I might be persuaded to look at 4th ed once I have a block of spare time and access to some books without paying for them, but until there's enough books that I have more than two or three viable character options, I'm not touching it. I'm a self-avowed option whore and I always have been. I hear that the situation is greatly improving, though, so my main complaint (NEEDZ MOAR BOOKS) is not going to be relevant for much longer. That said, I've invested a lot of emotional and intellectual energy into 3.5, so as long as I have friends to play it with, it'll always hold a place for me.

[The Rose Dragon]

M&M and Exalted both have two editions. Hell, some games have five or more editions.

Personally, I skipped to M&M right after AD&D 2nd Edition. Take that as you will.

[GolemsVoice]

Our group (ranging from 18 to about 23?) decided to stick with 3.5 (when we're playing D&D). The two metres of books convinced us that we really didn't need a new edition.
We try to stay with the editions we began playing with and therefore have an extended library for. Like OWoD for our Vampire games. Our Shadowrun and WoD mortals GM uses the new editions, however, and since we mostly play one-shots, we can follw easily.

[Optimystik]

19, and not playing 3.5 Edition. Or 4th Edition. In fact, I'm annoyed by the assumption that D&D is the only game there is in this thread.

Only, no. Main, yes.

I'd love to get into 4E, but likely won't until they make a CRPG for it. For all that naysayers have lamented about its MMO-ness, WotC seems unwilling to capitalize on the synergy.

EDIT: I'm 24

[bosssmiley]

33. Last D&D system grokked was 3.5. I found D&D4E so antithetical to my personal gaming wants and needs that I recoiled all the way back to B/X D&D (released in 1981).

[Satyr]

i asked myself the same thing when I started to find many newer editions of games somewhat lacking - not only D&D 4, but also nWod, 4th edition Shadowrun... all new games which seem to be inferior to their progenitors, at least to me.
On the other hand, the new edition of Earthdawn, published this year is pretty good, and certainly an improvement to the last one I owned and Gurps 4 comes even closer to perfection than the other editions of Gurps.

Perhaps, just perhaps, these games aren't anyworse than their progenitors, or any better either. But the older one got, the more the expectations grow as well and it becomes for another game to deliver.

[Saintheart]

35, and appropriately enough, 3.5!

[Glass Mouse]

20, and 3.5. I really don't feel like investing money and energy into a new system when the old one works just fine. Thankfully, both my groups feel the same way - and agewise, we range from 17-20 and from 16-20.

In my circles, I'm apparantly both old and conform

[Simba]

It seems to be that younger players lack the money while older ones lack enthusiasm to change editions.

And I have to take a look at Earthdawn, I own the original edition, including stuff they handed out when they first presented the system. I really liked the background and ran 3 campains there, but used different games systems bacuase that part was simply not good enough for my players and myself.

[Acanous]

24 and 3.5.

I was optimistic when 4th was in the works, but really dissappointed with the "Streamlining" they did (Mostly eliminating the need for any form of roleplay). Lack of options and the "Magazine" look of the books did in the rest.

Even still, I might have given it more than a cursory read-through if my alt-gaming-group wasn't pushing it so hard. Very "4th is the best thing ever and if you don't play it you're not cool"

...you'd think they'd know better than to say that to a geek.

Anyhow, I might pick it up in 5 years or so once all the bugs are thoroughly ironed out and all the options are back. For now it's just been spoiled so hard it makes bad shellfish look appetizing.

[Satyr]

And I have to take a look at Earthdawn, I own the original edition, including stuff they handed out when they first presented the system. I really liked the background and ran 3 campains there, but used different games systems bacuase that part was simply not good enough for my players and myself.

The system is pretty much the same as ever, but more streamlined and elegant to play than before. It is no reinvention of the wheel, but the system is less clunky and, as far as I can tell, faster to play.
And do I understand you correctly? You made a conversion of the Earthdawn background for another system? Which systenm, and do you want to share?

[oxybe]

24, started with 2nd, got 3rd, upgraded to 3.5, playing 4th.

will i get 5th ed? yes. for the same reason i got GURPS & nWoD: i like playing with people, new and old.

most new D&D players will be 4th ed players... at least in my area as there's only one set of 3.5 books left in the FLGS of the three they had (two of which were bought by my 3.5 group players who hadn't upgraded from 3.0 and were tired of borrowing books). it's to be expected. 3.5 is out of print and unsupported by the parent company, 4th ed is still in print and is the supported product.

i've never had a problem RPing in any system... most of my hurdles lie more in the group & GM running it then the system itself.

... then again, i started my computer days with Windows 3.1, then 95, 98, 2k, XP and since yesterday, Windows 7. and i'll probably get the next version too.

and my video gaming started with the Atari at my aunt's place, then my NES, SNES, PS1, PS2 and our PS3. and i can see myself getting a PS4 or XBox3 or the next nintendo system.

never too old to learn, maybe too set in your ways, but never too old.

[Draxar]

i asked myself the same thing when I started to find many newer editions of games somewhat lacking - not only D&D 4, but also nWod, 4th edition Shadowrun... all new games which seem to be inferior to their progenitors, at least to me.
On the other hand, the new edition of Earthdawn, published this year is pretty good, and certainly an improvement to the last one I owned and Gurps 4 comes even closer to perfection than the other editions of Gurps.

Perhaps, just perhaps, these games aren't anyworse than their progenitors, or any better either. But the older one got, the more the expectations grow as well and it becomes for another game to deliver.

A new edition always represents a change. The question is whether they've changed that bit which you've really loved.

D&D 4E: Too generic for me. Good tactical combat simulation, but things like magic being easy in combat, difficult outside, and the removal of options unless they're specifically tied to your class.

nWoD: System isn't bad. Some of the mechanical changes to individual games aren't bad. But they've ripped the heart out of two of the games – Requiem has lost the Camarilla-Sabbat war, the Antedeluvians/Noddism, Golconda and the possibility of taking on non-human morality. Awakening has lost the technocracy (the bad guys who are the good guys), and paradigm (where dynamic magic is all about how you think you do magic). Forsaken isn't too bad – it's actually different to the previous game rather than like the old one with much of the interesting bits ripped out, Promethan fails to inspire me, Lost looks like it could be good.

Exalted 2E: I really love the tick system, it's an interestingly different way to do battle. Things have gotten a bit crunchier, mostly I think that's a good thing. Suffers from some poor writers, and for a long time, lack of errata fixing those writers' mistakes. The errata now seems to be flowing, so it's looking good.

Shadowrun 4E: I'll be honest and say I wasn't really into shadowrun 3E. I miss the lack of the rolling metaplot of the ages. But I like that your attributes have become more important, rather than just being subdivided in derived stats, and determining how cheap you could raise skills. Plus, they much more go with the "Let's let players do interesting things" – the rules for playing AIs, drakes, Free Spirits, and so forth, all seem much more built on the basis that someone might want to play these, and they should be able to have fun doing so.

19, and not playing 3.5 Edition. Or 4th Edition. In fact, I'm annoyed by the assumption that D&D is the only game there is in this thread.

I play M&M and Exalted, mostly.

It's a D&D dominated forum. And 4E is still the most recent major update to a gaming.

Plus, Exalted's 2E was more of a refinement of the previous, whereas 4E is a very different way of doing things than 3E. More similar to nWoD/oWoD, though there they can be somewhat viewed as different games beyond their different editions, because they've been so changed.

[Simba]

And do I understand you correctly? You made a conversion of the Earthdawn background for another system? Which systenm, and do you want to share?

First we adjusted the original WoD rules, using Vampire as the basis. It worked well, actually.

The second try was the testing stage for our own system and went bad, bad, bad.

The third campain used WoD rules again, but with a different system for spells and powers, one we invented ourselves.

And, even though I am willing to share, I have to say no because those things are lost to the ravages of time. It was in the last millenium when we did those things, you see?