I myself have been roleplaying ever since my neopets days (ah... the times were so simple with grocery lists. -gags-) which has to have been at least 4 or 5 years ago. I've been through my share of making/breaking sites, bumming over longterm sites that close for no reason, and sharing my excitement over a new roleplay that I've joined.

I have a friend of mine who I met through a HUGE Harry Potter site (RIP Colour of Magic -_-) that died out at least a year ago, and we continued roleplaying on several other sites together, usually having our characters create most of the drama on the board. Anyway, we were working on our second board created together, when we both realized that she had little to no time on her hands to keep going like this. Which brings me to my point:

Is it possible for a person to outgrow roleplaying?

I know it seems like a trivial question, but part of me believes that yeah, obviously, as people get older, they have less time on their hands. But I look around now, and I still see roleplayers that are in their twenties. What gives?

I'm a college student currently, and I did find that I had a hard time fitting in roleplaying alongside my English paper(s), but I still did occasionally.

Do you think you could fully give up roleplaying if you didn't have the time to make drama or delve deeper into a world that demands your total attention? Why or why not?

I don't think you outgrow Role Playing but, for me, I phase in and out. For instance, I took a little phase where I couldn't do it for both a lack of time and wish but I am getting back into it. It is odd how it works but I think she will come back.

Eh, I'm in my 30s....

Not enough time would probably be the biggest problem. With jobs, and spouses, and kids, it's hard enough to find time to sleep.

The second major issue, IMHO, is that this form of roleplaying wasn't around so much when I was in high school. A lot of people my age don't even know it's an option, or haven't considered it. Or they are tabletop gamers, and don't like the freeform style of roleplaying because they think people tend to take advantage of that freedom of doing what you want with your character. Some I've talked to are rather heated about it, and don't realize the strong taboos against Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters in the forum RPG world.

Plus, when I was in high school, to say you liked things like anime and LARP was taboo. It was very uncool to like stuff like that. Not just to friends either, but also to parents. My mom would have been fine with it as long as it was decent (and possibly would have joined herself), but a lot of parents weren't.

However, Sorai is about 1/2 people over the age of 20, and four of us are in our 30s. So it is probably more common than you think.

I agree with Roswenth. I, too, am in my 30's (as is one of my co-admins, the other is in her mid 20's), and I haven't grown out of it. Though, as she said, when I was in High School to say you roleplayed was the kiss of social death. As well as this form really didn't exist then, at least not that I know of, because when I was that age, the internet didn't exist (gasp!). Even now when I talk about it I explain it more as interactive writing. I will say, though, that I go through phases where I need a break. I always come back, though. It's too much fun for me to give it up and the breaks I take only last a few weeks at the most. Also, if I weren't able to be on the 'net from work, I wouldn't play nearly as much as I do. If I had a more traditional job, I know that my roleplaying time would be cut dramatically, so that very much is an issue as one gets older (along with spouses and family and what not).

I'm in m 40's which makes me the oldest person on this board (I think). I'm not giving up my role playing!

That said, I do about half of it with a group of other adult role players (Yes, it's an NC-17 group). The average age in that group is probably well over thirty.

Adult role playing is different from the teen role plays I join. First, it is very unstructured. Everyone has their own plots and we tend to write exhibitionally or connect by corresponding. The adults only role play I belong to is by Yahoogroups.

One of our members is now turning her role play in to a novel. Another has been role playing using pencil and paper since her teens. I've tried writing novels and ended up with a rough draft of a hundred and fifty page story and more recently I have two novellas on the net.

What has happened to me recently is a job hunt 2005-2006 and a couple of other personal crises have pretty much wiped out my taste for fantasy. I used to love fantasy and supernatural plots when I was a teenager. Now I like mainly modern genre role play. This is why I end up on high school role plays.

I find writing fiction (and role play) gives me a chance to write about things I can't write about in real life. I can't name names. I can't discuss my job. Big pieces of my real life are off limits. My characters can discuss their lives though so I can speak through them, not intentionally most of the time though these days I do have one story going that really carries a cathartic weight. V'ahavta, the real main character, has been rattling around in my head since I moved to Atlanta. A crisis in my real life two weeks ago, made me pull her out on stage. I have no idea how this story ends by the way. It is in the hands of the characters. Maybe what they do can help make me stronger and teach me.

This is why I don't want to give up role playing.

I've been roleplaying with a woman in her (late, I believe) 50s for over four years now, and for almost as long with another older woman and her son. I also roleplay with a father-daughter pair. It's quite cool. (happy)

I don't think you can outgrow writing, daydreaming, or interacting with people, and RPing is kinda a mix of those three (most basically). Basically I think all you outgrow is, as Roswenth and wisteria have said, having time... ;)

I'm sorry, in their twenties?

I know roleplayers in their fifties!

But since when did roleplaying become something one assumes only teenagers do? Was I absent during this transgression? o.O If anything, I know more people in their twenties that do it than I do teenagers. We have a player on our board who is a teenager (and not a young teenager, either) and he is considered the 'baby' of the board.

It is to do with tastes, and time. I have been doing it since I was 15 and I'm 22 now. Others I know have been doing it for 10 years, 15 years...we do it because we enjoy writing, and I don't think one will ever outgrow a love of writing - they will just find other ways of expressing it. Or, like a few I know, will keep on doing it well on through adulthood, and good on them.

One might outgrow RPGs for reasons spanning from time constraints, responsibilities, or not being able to find something that suits them and not having the time to run their own. I don't think outgrowing an RPG has anything to do with age, at all.

I have more experience playing with older players as well - folks in their 20's, 30's, 40's, once I had an RPG with an 84-year-old o_o Until I came to RPG Directory, teenage roleplayers were the exception for me, not the rule!

Time constraints definitely have a lot to do with it, but oddly, I find those pressures are greater on teenagers than other age groups (again, in my personal RPG experience) - school, homework, extra-curricular activities, dances, parties, relationships, part-time jobs...

I know someone who's in his late 50's who registered on this board. No posts yet though. So, certainly not the oldest, but you get brownie points anyway. :p

There certainly are a lot of older RPers out there. Play-by-post is a relatively new genre, you have to remember. But I can probably direct you to certain places where the average age is in the mid-20s at the minimum.

Wow, so many replies! =D It's great that there are so many people who feel so passionately about this.

As I've mentioned before, I started out on neopets. At the time, I thought this 'roleplaying' was something that kids did and ended up growing out of it. I really had no idea that there was such a range in ages when it comes to roleplayers. I should definitely widen my horizon when it comes to more roleplays with older members instead of sticking with ones where I'm the oldest at 19. -_-

Thanks for all of the feedback! =]

I'm in my late 20's and been roleplaying since I was 16 :)

still haven't gotten tired of it, although I find it hard to find rpg boards with people around my age or older.

I'm 21 and haven't fallen off the wagon yet. :)

If anything, I think it's one of those things that is impossible to outgrow.

I've been rping since I was 15 or 16 and I have quit like a dozen times saying I wouldn't do it anymore. But 4 months later or less, guess where I am again? Yup, back RPing it up.

For younger people like your friend or us who "outgrow" it, I really think it's more of a "I need a breather" kinda thing. I think RPing has a potential to get pretty intense on a person, especially when other things are going on in their life such as time constraints and whatnot, and it just gets to the point where it's no longer fun. So you set it aside for a few months or whatever length necessary, and before long you're itching to go at it again. It's kind of addictive like that.

Yeah, trying to quit, even when you know you have so many other things that require your attention more...just isn't possible. (happy)

Even LOTRO couldn't take me away, and I'd been waiting for that game for over three years...

And yeah, I agree - the times when you need to take a break are when it stops being fun because all it starts to feel like is an obligation, just like so many other things you have on your plate. Not a good thing.

Anyway...I guess obviously part of why there may not be as many older players is because of what Aleph touched on - the internet itself really isn't old, and certainly not such great accessibility to it, so the internet culture is still young. And, as was said, the play-by-post genre in particular is quite young.

A lot of older adults have really gotten into the internet culture, but it's not a part of their generation. And they haven't grown out of it, because they didn't grow up with it.

It kind of is possible. Back in 05 when the user rooms went down on Yahoo I ended up losing interest in RP for quite a bit. It wasn’t until late 06 that I began to RP again, after a friend of mine invited me to join an RP. I said no, but it seemed so.. Tempting to join it, and I did. I was rusty, but then I kept on wanting more of it. I wanted to quit, since I knew it would probably become an “addiction” but I couldn’t. And since 06, I haven’t stopped Rping. And I’m one of the few whose probably been Rping since 1999.

Now, if life went in the way, I probably would have to give it up. Almost every night at the moment I’m in some form of RP, but I know for a fact when real life takes its course, I’m going to have to give up Rping. Its just a hobby. A few weeks ago, I was slowly beginning to drift away from Rping, because I was losing interest in a group which I’m in that is now becoming very, very slow. But when I created a new RPG called “Evil Eyes” I began to get back into it just as my friend got me into it.

So… its kind of on the yes and no side.

As for adults role playing in it, I think I’ve Rped with someone who was in their late 30’s once. They where pretty good, but they retired not to long ago.

I'm not yet 20, btw.

Well, I guess it really varies by the person.

But, for me, probably never. I'm a writer (O_o; sorta). RPing is what helped me realized that words were awesome.

However, with all the other things in life (neccessary and fun) RPing can take the WAAAY back seat sometimes.
For instance, this is the first time I've been on RPG-D in a LONG time. Life changes and so on.

I don't think I'll ever grow out of RPing, because it's like second nature now. XD It might have to sit at the back of the bus until life can make room for it again, but... It'll always be there.


As far as the subject of ages... I don't ever really know the age of the Role-PLAYER. I'm usually worried about the character and don't have time to talk to the person. O__o;
And, for the longest time, I only RPed with my close friends so... ^^;