TOPIC: Time to Revisit Age Policy?

Jeff321,

Thanks for the clarification on age...

I may just bring my 12 year old to GenCon after all then!!!

I can almost fill an entire run with just my family... brothers, kids, etc and not worry about the ghosting limitations.

Mongo wrote: I can almost fill an entire run with just my family...

Hey - if you want/need a non-family member to help make that "almost" into "can," I'd be happy to join you for the run

Harlax wrote: I waited until my son was old enough for us to do TD together. He was mature enough to have done it at least a year earlier.

Yes, I've waited (/am waiting) until my kids are old enough to meet the age requirement. They are 12 and 14--and I've been on runs with much younger kids. It has never bothered me, but I agree that there should be consistency.

This year at GenCon I only have a single room with one bed and a sofa bed... so not going to bring entire family... I hate being crowded in my hotel room.

Next year I hope to get a two bedroom suite with sofa bed... then I will plan on bringing four of my boys, my brother, and of course myself... making six.

Invite a couple of people., Raven for example since she has already volunteered to be a victim, er, ah, player, and a fun time will be had by all.

Of my two older daughters, the older hasn't the maturity to enjoy the game (even though she is 18), and the other is following her mother's footsteps in condemning anything that doesn't bring her closer to her personal diety/religion. Oh well... else I could fill almost an entire run with those who are old enough...

Just because I am wanting to throw fuel on this fire. Origins list TD events as:


True Dungeon Sessions
Before selecting a session these are some things you might want to know:

Location: GCCC-MGH-D HALL

Event Category: LARP

Minimum Age: 10+

jedibcg wrote: Just because I am wanting to throw fuel on this fire. Origins list TD events as:


True Dungeon Sessions
Before selecting a session these are some things you might want to know:

Location: GCCC-MGH-D HALL

Event Category: LARP

Minimum Age: 10+

Makes more sense. At GC your are forced to have a badge for 9 year olds and up. Maybe the age should match the badge requirements.If you have a Con badge then you can play (as long as you behave). Under 18 accompanied by a guardian (as is already in the liability rules that we sign). But then again I am biased.

I have no dog in this fight. Just thought it was more data. For GC I buy out my runs so I know who is on them. I don't have any friends that young or friends that have children that you yet.

If I end up in a random/semi-random group I know I just as likely to have issues with any person regardless of their age, not in spite of it. But that is me.

I just don't anyone should complain about some age 10 playing at Origins because according to what is out there 10+ can play. Not everyone visits the forums.

Not sure how it is this year, but in the past when registering an event you are running, Gen Con only allows a few choices for the age limits on your event. If I remember correctly, they are 18+, 13+, 6+ and no limits. So the 13 and over for TD at Gen Con is likely nothing more than a limitation on the choices provided in the registration system. (I have run events just about every year, but I have not done the actual registration for the last few years.)

And if the coaches guide says 12 or over, and other cons say 10 or over, that would be consistent with this just being a limit in the Gen Con system.

Last year, I bought 8 tickets on a run and brought my 9 year old, 12 year old, and 15 year old. The other two tickets ended up being purchased by someone on the forums - another father and son team. We had such a good time that we have already made plans to run together again this year. Stroke of luck? Completely. But I knew my kids would not be a hindrance to enjoying the event or I would not have wanted them there and certainly would not have shelled out $400+ for us to hang out for 2 hours together. I think most TD players bringing their children would have the same consideration for others.

MU Skulls Rob.

It sounds like it might be time to let go of the age policy. If a baby went through a TD run - and there were no problems then the whole age policy isn't necessary. I do think however that TD should enforce that each PERSON going through TD should have a valid (and paid) ticket. I had a bad experience a couple of years back where a child wanted to go through with their guardian on just one ticket (thereby getting two for the price of one). So if some parent wants to spend $62 to carry their sleeping newborn to go through TD - then TD should happily accept the money and consider it as easy as taking candy from a baby.

The success of one person breaking the rules and bringing a baby on the run does NOT prove the age policy is not needed.

That is a huge logical fallacy...

I would hate my paid experience being ruined by young children who are not behaving, not having the conflict on a run with their parents...

Mongo wrote: The success of one person breaking the rules and bringing a baby on the run does NOT prove the age policy is not needed.

That is a huge logical fallacy...

I would hate my paid experience being ruined by young children who are not behaving, not having the conflict on a run with their parents...

I agree. The point of our hobby is not to rake in "candy from a baby" money on tickets. It's to provide an epic, awesome experience for everyone. Just because someone has bought the ticket doesn't give them free reign to bring whoever and do whatever on it, the other 8-9 people in the run have a stake in it as well.

It was brought up earlier in this discussion....it doesn't matter even if someone buys out all 10 tickets on a run, it STILL isn't okay to bring a kid who isn't ready, because it CAN affect people that aren't in the room at that moment. If the kid is screaming, the room before, after, and adjacent can hear it. If some kid breaks a prop, or gets scared and pukes or pisses on the floor, it ruins the experience for everyone coming after them. There are all kinds of things that can go wrong. The absence of an issue in one given instance does not negate the probability of it happening in other cases.

This is exactly like buying a theater ticket. You are paying for the privilege of enjoying the event, while abiding by the rules set. There are at hundreds of people passing through the dungeon in a given day. Just because you're not directly in the presence of the others, doesn't mean you can disregard their enjoyment of the event as well.

So-
I posted the question in the other thread but both that one and this one seem to have missed my point.
We have also bought full runs for our group and had a kid that was not quite 12 play. I had my kids wait until they were old enough to meet the restriction.

My question regarded 2 UNACCOMPANIED children, about 9 and 10, or 8 and 11, somewhere along there, last year. They came into the room while we were finishing up our character cards, had never played before, and our party was not asked if that was OK.

What is TD's official position on unaccompanied, underage children?

Most years we buy full runs so this isn't an issue but honestly if I were to have it happen again I'd get a ruling from someone in charge.