Too old for gaming?

[Godless Zealot]

How do BoLS chums just putting down some thoughts that have been churning around in my head for the past few days. Can one be too old for gaming? When I say 'gaming' I am referring to any kind of gaming activity be it video games, tabletop or board games etc. Recently my life has hit a little hiccup, I'll spare you most of the sob story but I'm currently unemployed and looking for a job and to save money I've moved back in with the folks (lame I know). So with all this free time (Can one have too much free time??) it gives me plenty of time to think. A recent conversation with an old work associate and a few of her friends got me thinking on the topic of gaming. Many of them were of the opinion that anyone who seriously games after the age of 25 has issues. I am 27 soon to be 28 and have been a gamer since I was 4 when I got my first system and while it's true I don't get the same childish glee I used to I still enjoy gaming.

I started 40k late last year with my best mate to branch into another avenue of gaming that I'd never tried before. Now my mate has packed it in already, his new career is taking off and he said he didn't want things to hold him back. Essentially he's embarrassed by it and works in an environment where anything 'geeky' is sneered at and looked down upon. As I struggle to make a career for myself I have been wondering if stopping would help me progress in life. I certainly missed out on better grades through gaming rather than studying etc and wonder if I'm just hiding from life behind a monitor screen when I should be more productive with my life. Guess I'm just having an early mid life crisis or something. Sorry for the long ramble but just felt the need to post this. I'm sure there are gamers out there my age and a lot older so what do you guys think? Can you ever be too old for gaming? Anyone think it has held them back? Anyone embarrassed by their gaming hobby?

[Mr Mystery]

HELL NO!

We don't stop playing because we grow old.

We grow old because we stop playing.

If you're not enjoying yourself, you're not enjoying life. Do whatever it is that makes you happy. As long as it doesn't negatively affect others.

[ElectricPaladin]

Can one be too old for gaming?

DEATH FIRST!

Ursula K. LeGuine wrote a great article called Imaginary Friends (my Google-Fu is failing me, so maybe someone else can provide a link). In it, she names a concept "maturismo," which she defines (more or less) as the immature terror of being found out as immature that leads to shunning and deriding immaturity. In other words, maturismo is to homophobia as that jerk who makes fun of you for playing wargames (because he secretly wishes he could paint tiny plastic spacement) is to the guy who beats up homosexuals (and is a closet case himself). Someone who is truly comfortable with his maturity - just like someone who is truly comfortable with his sexuality, gender, and so on - is comfortable doing whatever he feels like, however it's viewed by others, and has no need to deride others for their choices.

More to the point, a lot of people seem to believe that the need to play goes away when childhood ends. This is absolutely not true. Playing - letting off steam, messing around with new ideas, just plain releasing endorphins and having fun - is absolutely necessary to mental health at all ages.

And the same people who say that you can get too old for gaming have their own ways of playing - unless they're totally nuts, uptight losers - they just like to pretend that their ways are "better." Watching TV, obsessing over old movies, memorizing the stats and startup noises of cars, building computers... all of it's play. And play is always wonderful.

Personally, I will play - in one way or another - until the day I die. And then I'll divide my armies up among my grandkids. And they can have a tournament at my funeral.

That would be awesome.

[scadugenga]

HELL NO!

We don't stop playing because we grow old.

We grow old because we stop playing.

If you're not enjoying yourself, you're not enjoying life. Do whatever it is that makes you happy. As long as it doesn't negatively affect others.

This. A hundred times.

Gaming is still relatively new, when taking the sum of human history into account.

People who state otherwise are stuck in a paradigmatic rut.

[Kirsten]

I will stop gaming the day after they pry the dice/models/controller from my cold dead fingers.

[stampdog316]

You aren't too old to game--I am 44 and just retired from the US Army and I paint and play Warmachine. I finally have the time to play games, paint models, and read comic books which I never had before due to my job. I don't go around telling eveyone what my hobbies are, but my friends and family all know what I do.

You are just going through a temporary rough spot. It happens to all of us. I had to move in with my grandfather while I was around your age and got divorced at the same time. Be true to yourself and do the best you can. Don't stop doing what you enjoy for the sake of total strangers. It will only make you more unhappy.

[Houghten]

When I became a man, I put away childish things.

The first thing I put away was the fear of being thought childish.

After that, there didn't seem much point putting anything else away, so I bought some more childish things and got to building.

[ElectricPaladin]

When I became a man, I put away childish things.

The first thing I put away was the fear of being thought childish.

After that, there didn't seem much point putting anything else away, so I bought some more childish things and got to building.

Where's the "like" button?

[Mr Mystery]

There's also the why of gaming.

For me, console games are for staving off boredom. Tabletop gaming is there to be at once engaging, relaxing and stimulating. Keeps the grey matter pondering. Whilst my job isn't repetitive, it's not quite stressful either (I can't remember the last time I hadn't made target by Wednesday, so I don't feel performance pressure). But it can on occasion be frustrating. War gaming isn't. Being a former staffer, I'm both well known and well thought of in my local scene, and I'm determined not to disappoint those who look up to me. So it's friendly gaming and big brother type coaching all the time. It gives me a happy feeling.

Why would I ever give that up? Also goes a long way to explaining my complete insensitivity to price (I know, Godwins of GW just hit).

[Denzark]

I'm 33 and have been doing 40K 23 years. I would only quit if, in my 50's I look like a serious paedo bear surrounded by younglings. As to computer gaming, I still do too much (to the detriment if my painting) but the only factor that has died back has me and mates meeting up to LAN a weekend away - if we get a pass from our respective ladies we use it being bibbers of strong liquor.