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Last week I figured I'd simply fade away, but today I've opted instead to transmit this final missive. (It should probably be in the Meta forum, but I'll leave that up to the friendly neighborhood Modsters.) I turned 31 yesterday. I have given up D&D*. I'm moving on.
Don't think this is a sad letter, or an angry letter, or a whinging letter, or even a troll. It's just a simple goodbye, and a thankful shout-out for a couple years of great discussions.
Anyway, I'm off to do a lot of reading and a lot of writing that's been patiently waiting for me to get around to it. You can use this thread to say goodbye, to say good riddance, or to say any darn thing you like.
We Discordians must stick apart.
Fondly,
Thomas Cashel Fitzmaurice O'Boyle O'Flynn
*To answer the inevitable question: I quit D&D because my campaign reached critical mass. There was no escape. My players refused to take a turn DMing. My players refused to take a few days off from the combined live meeting/message board format. My players refused to focus on anything but the rules in the PHB, to the detriment of their own success and my fun. When I failed to check the boards for even two hours or so, my players decided that they would DM themselves online. At the end I was expected to DM 24/7. Cue up your copy of Misery to witness my DMing experience during those last few months.
GREATER POOP: Are you really serious or what? MAL-2: Sometimes I take humor seriously. Sometimes I take seriousness humorously. Either way it is irrelevant.
Take care, Tom. Sorry to see you go, but I'm a strong believer in walking away with as many happy memories as possible rather than running away in loathing. I left gaming for about seven years and thought I'd never play again, so I'm not going to say "good bye forever" but rather "so long for now".
I am at work. I can not see your images or sigs. This is to help make my boss think I'm looking at work-related websites. If you want to help me out, put random snippets of Java code in your messages. Thank you in advance.
What Dave said. You don't need to make it so formal; next time you swing by, we'll be pleased to see you.
__________________ - Piratecat, EN World Admin
Currently editing the 4e War of the Burning Sky adventure path. Support EN Publishing, get excellent modules!
Take care, Tom. Drop by every so often anyways...don't make it a permanent thing. Maybe you just need some time away...perhaps another group will spring up from the ashes like a Phoenix.
__________________ "The king's brothers are the ones giving Cersei sleepless nights....Lord Stannis in particular. His claim is the true one, he is known for his prowess as a battle commander, and he is utterly without mercy. There is no creature on earth half so terryfying as a truly just man".
Get another group where you can be a player only. I have "saved" two burned out DMs from quitting totally by getting them into our campaigns. Both were great players.
__________________ Temple of Evil - Authorized Cultists Only - Trespassers will be Sacrificed
This reminds me of when I used to play Fortress Maximus in a Transformers MUSH. It got to the point where they needed me ALL the time, and if I was missing for a night, people freaked out and went on without me, causing me to get lost. I'm talking MAJOR plotlines that didn't need to be done. My wife would be upset because I was always on the MUSH whenever I was home, and I couldn't get out... (It WAS fun, and man, I was Fortress freaking Maximus, leader of the Headmasters!) So... my vacation was coming up, and I took it... and never returned... just disappeared... It was hard at first, because I wanted to know what was going on, but eventually I moved on...
And returned to Dungeons & Dragons.
Yep. Giving up MUSHing got me back into D&D (after some time off), and I've been gaming ever since. This was 7 years ago.
Ok, fellow enworlders, place your bets. Will Tom Cashel be true to his word? Will he adopt a new hobby like bowling or spelunking and never return to RPGs? Or will he enjoy a brief vacation and then, much like the Tell-Tale Heart, hear that incessant knocking, "louder! louder!" and tear up the planks in order to return home to enworld?
Sad to see anyone go. I know where you are coming from.
My suggestion? Do what I did.
Tell your players you are taking 3 months off. Let your mind cool. Rest. Sleep.
Reboot...
Start a new campaign. Set up a schedule. Stick to the schedule. Game every other weekend. It will give you time to cool down before you need to start thinking about the game.
Thats what I did, and it worked wonders. By the time the 3 months was over, I had ideas coming out of my ears!
Also, every DM likes to play now and again. Thats what you should be spending your message board time on. Run a game every other weekend, and play in a good messageboard game. Sometimes being a player, even on a PbP game, really helps you as a DM.
Just my two coppers. Take from it what you can.
__________________ Mike McConnell, Freelance RPG Writer Currently Working On: Starblazer Adventures: The Planet Killers
Co-Owner of Imagineering Inc, formerly known as BC-Products, and the owner of the original Tact-Tiles.
Follow me and Imagineering Inc on Twitter: Mechalus
If it isn't too presumptuous please come back in a few months and let us know what you've been reading....
Ysgarran.
Quote:
Originally posted by Tom Cashel
Anyway, I'm off to do a lot of reading and a lot of writing that's been patiently waiting for me to get around to it. You can use this thread to say goodbye, to say good riddance, or to say any darn thing you like.
[/size]
Originally posted by Tom Cashel *To answer the inevitable question: I quit D&D because my campaign reached critical mass. There was no escape. My players refused to take a turn DMing. My players refused to take a few days off from the combined live meeting/message board format. My players refused to focus on anything but the rules in the PHB, to the detriment of their own success and my fun. When I failed to check the boards for even two hours or so, my players decided that they would DM themselves online. At the end I was expected to DM 24/7. Cue up your copy of Misery to witness my DMing experience during those last few months.
Is there an actual game being played in there? "Live Meeting/Message Board format"? Huh?
Well, OK, then. TTFN.
__________________ "I'd say it's more appropriate to say that videogames are RPG-ish, wouldn't you?"
or our older WizarDru's Story Hour? You Should.
I ain't linking to Piratecat's story hour...no sir, I just won't do it. He can just get the next half-million reads on his own.
Did I mention that I have a Livejournal? It's possible that I have.
Yeah. I understand how you could get burned out on D&D. It happens to everyone. But even if you never pick up the dice again I hope you still drop in from time to time. I really enjoy your posts and it would be a shame to never see you around here again.
Take care Tom.
"Sometimes you get the bear....sometimes the bear gets you."
__________________ [Eadric]: Your lack of moral responsibility concerns me.
[Mostin]: A surfeit of it would concern me more. I abide by certain axioms Eadric, which you cannot hope to comprehend. You can rest assured that within your own framework, I am completely mad.
[Eadric]: And within yours?
[Mostin]: I am utterly pedestrian. There are things far madder than I.
Originally posted by jgbrowning Gaming's an inverse square relationship: the farther away from it you get, the more you want to do it.
I've been a living example of that principle lately; my actual gaming has been extremely skimpy the last four or five months, and I've got a jones to game like you wouldn't believe.
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