Asking myself "Why?" about gaming lately...

[Storminator]

Maybe you need a different venue; find yourself a juicy PBeM. I love mine. I spend about half an hour every day DMing my various games. Lots of small doses are a big change from the weekly marathon, and it might be what you want.

And hacking and dungeoneering might be less burdensome if it isn't your only game.

PS

 

[WSmith]

I yes, thanks Yuan Ti for reminding me of a question I was going to ask Eric.

Eric, what sorts of signs are you seeing that might lead you to see "the day?" I am just curious. I am having a lot of mixed feelings myself, lately. When RPGHost killed all the free websites, my was gone. I wasn't really upset, but in a funky kind of way I was relieved. Probably simliar to what you felt when you shifted power to Morrus. That might mean nothing at all, cause i get my HTML fix from NG and enjoy doing so, but just something I thought about.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I hate to say this but I see a day coming when my interest may fade out. It may be an inevitability of getting older.

I disagree. One's ability to play decreases as one gets older, due to the external pressures mentioned by some of the posters above, but interest itself does not inevitably fade. Eric, if you're burning out, it's mostly due to the fact you have been immersed in this stuff for the last few years. I think even the most hard-core gamer's enthusiasm would waver after such constant exposure; it became more a job than a hobby. Getting away from gaming for a while would be in order, both for the original poster, and for Eric. Everybody needs to recharge on occasion.

 

[Information]

Of late, I've been increasingly reluctant to show up to my regular game. It's been just a string of excuses to have us delve into different dungeons. The dungeons are fun, sure, but I'm all too often wondering "Just why were we doing this again?", "Where is this all leading?", etc.

I feel your pain, Dr Midnight. My campaign rarely has dungeon delves. It certainly has an epic theme towards which all of the present and past adventures are designed, but it leaves 90% to player choice and even dice rolls are entirely subordinate to the needs of the story line.

While I don't claim this type of campaign is superior, I much prefer it to repetitious dungeon delves and closed-lips dice-rolling.

I would try approaching your DM about the problem in a respectful manner and tell him the type of gaming you're interested in. If he is anything like myself, he'll be interested in what each players actually enjoys doing and will try to accomodate without hurting his conception of the campaign.

You have nothing to loose by speaking with him. Just remember to be respectful about it.

If approaching him fails to effect any positive change, try to find another gaming group. If that doesn't work...you can always start your own campaign.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I yes, thanks Yuan Ti for reminding me of a question I was going to ask Eric.

Eric, what sorts of signs are you seeing that might lead you to see "the day?" I am just curious. I am having a lot of mixed feelings myself, lately. When RPGHost killed all the free websites, my was gone. I wasn't really upset, but in a funky kind of way I was relieved. Probably simliar to what you felt when you shifted power to Morrus. That might mean nothing at all, cause i get my HTML fix from NG and enjoy doing so, but just something I thought about.

I'm not trying to speak for Eric, but I thought I'd address the issue.

RPGs are a creative endeavor, much like writing or filmmaking or painting or music, especially for DMs. As with any creative endeavor, outside influences are necessary to keep one's art fresh. That is, in order to be a good writer or filmmaker, one needs to do a lot of non-writing or non-filmmaking stuff. I'm not saying that anyone here does nothing but game, but I'm guessing that in the case of anyone feeling burned out, that gaming takes up a significant portion of their non-working life.

Think about it; when not gaming or working (or maybe while working in some cases), many of us haunt online gaming communities like this one. While the internet has helped gaming immensely, it has also made it so that we can be around gaming and gamers all the time. That can't be good.

 

[Dieter]

I think EN also said that June is a freak occurance. Usually he only get to game about once a month.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

And also - Eric is an ENnies judge and does a number of other RPG-related activities, as well as having publishers send him their wares...he must be around RPG stuff constantly.

 

[Helspar]

Same problem as with dr.midnight here, the game we play doesn't seem to meet what I'm looking for in the role playing experience. While communication would be good, there is a fine line between voicing preferences for play and sounding like you're whining. Especially when the other players seem to enjoy the style of play.

 

[Broken Fang]

Our group is in a similar situation. We have some older players who are intrested in role playing and some younger ones intrested in roll playing. Some of the younger ones show intrest in learning but others do not. So we are changing the campaign to try and introduce more role playing to the younger group (around 25 ys old).
Eric, you have done a great job with everything since 3rd ed rumors even started way back. We have talked a few times. Take a break this summer, hang out with the family. I took the family up to the mts. for a 3-day camping trip (first real trip for my 6 and 2 yr old daughters). Went hiking, screwed around, had it snow on us. It was a great relaxing break and got me away from the weekly game. A break like that every once and awhile might be what you need. I've been at this since it started back in '78-79 (thats about 24 yrs now) and sometimes I feel the burnout, back off a little, and then am ready for more.
Only 73 more days till summer break is over.

 

[Nightfall]

I think you just need to move closer to where I live Doc!