In my third personal update, I want to talk about hobbies and some of the dreams I had when I was much younger. I gave it a funny title because I think there is a sense of universality in the idea that the dreams we have when we're younger often don't persist into mature adulthood.
So one dream I had when I was younger was to own a game shop.
But modern games, even RPGs, barely excite me these days. RPGs evolved from wargaming, and gamers in my generation continue to play D&D like a serious game raid with an emphasis on combat tactics and cinematic carnage. But Gen Z plays D&D more like a therapy session, and I suspect my style of gameplay, often involving ambushing NPCs in an outhouse when they are taking a shit or setting random buildings on fire ("DM, how flammable is this building? "), may be considered toxic gameplay. We Gen X D&Ders are often the source of trauma for Gen Z players.
Even modern TCGs have moved away from competitive cut-throat gameplay, as I observe the latest Riftbound decks and have to take some time to figure out the gender of some of the characters in Riftbound TCG.
Another fantasy is retiring in a place like Perth to play RPGs all day with my gaming buddies.
Yes, before I discovered FIRE, Perth was the Valhalla where all the gamers I know go to play D&D for the rest of their lives.
But over time, I've become crankier, so I'm now more selective about who I hang with, and people my age have become a lot more annoying. It might be a side effect of becoming financially independent, but I just don't share fellow Gen Xers' negativity about life, Singapore government policies, or the corporate world. So net-net the Gen X folks around me often drag me down. As such, I very much prefer the blissful optimism of Gen Z, even though I try to avoid talking about pronouns.
So, actually, I thought I'd talk a little bit about D&D because for months I've been contemplating quitting the hobby I've played for the past 42 years.
The scene has changed. It used to be just medieval fantasy, and I can tolerate occasional forays into Wuxia territory, but this generation is really weird. There is some kind of Southeast Asian flavour to the gaming style, but it's purely flavour and doesn't come with mechanics my brain can be trained to understand. It's good to have a cultural identity for our gaming hobby, but it's just not for me. Maybe some gamers are just overcompensating, and the postmodern decolonisation they teach in modern humanities degree programs is finally invading my beloved hobby.
The gaming company has also done a lot to spread ill will. Now the producers of D&D are selling feats and spells piecemeal on their portal, while refusing to let us buy PDF copies of their book.
All this is a sign for me to move on and pass the hobby on to a new generation, except that something very strange has happened to it lately...
For a start, an old friend wanted to try his hand at game-mastering, so I got an experienced friend to form a small group where he DMed for us, and we just functioned as referees to let him gain some experience. There's a lot of theorycrafting, understanding the mechanics and making the game enjoyable and challenging for veteran players. We were happy because we got to play the 2024 ruleset. None of us thought this was even sustainable.
Then my friend got the hang of running games, and now more people in our networks wanted to play with us. So our group grew, and immediately some players even wanted to buy adventures to keep the campaign going.
So without any intervention on my part, I actually managed to be part of a fairly substantial group of Gen X RPGers playing my favourite RPG, without the wokeness, weird Renaissance SEAsian cosplay antics, and pronouns. Instead, I just tell my gaming buddies that in our 50s, we need some kind of system to manage loneliness, as it can kill 3x better than a heart attack, so guys need to just hang out and do stuff together.
I do what I do best in D&D, throwing fireballs, killing things and taking their treasure, all in the name of the greater good.
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