[Sigh] Retiring from RPGs. Here's why.

[ChristianW]

I can relate to a lot of what you say, Biohazard.

The quality of the role-playing game experience is so dependent upon the type of folks you play with. I'm without a group at the moment. I'm not sure I'm interested in going through the trial and error of putting a new batch of players together. It's never easy....

*sigh*

One of the reasons I am so diligent when writing my fanzine is that it fills the void (somewhat).

 

[Kesh]

I have to agree that board games are gaining a lot on me, lately. I blame Arkham Horror.

Still, I enjoy a good RP session once in a while. I think I'm going to be scaling back my RPG playing/purchasing, but my shelves will still be full of ideas.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What you're saying sounds like burnout to me as well- I retired from DMing (not playing) for a year and a half (and counting). That said, I'm currently in the process of designing 3 campaigns- one for D&D, one for Urban Arcana/Mutants & Masterminds, one for D20Mod/Spycraft 2/Mutants & Masterminds (my current group only likes the D20 system).

Take some time off. Read books. Drink overpriced coffees. If it comes back, so be it.

4. Video games. I also started video gaming in 1980 with the Atari 2600 and a recently bought a PS2 and a GameCube with tons of cool platform and survival horror games (my two favorite genres). It recently hit me: why spend hours preparing a cool horror scenario for my group as I try to master the rules for new WoD when I can just sit down with a bag of chips and play Silent Hill 3?

I haven't been able to answer that question yet.

I'm kind of your opposite number here- I started video gaming with Pong, and picked up D&D in 1977. As time pressures continued to build, my choice was for the RPGs- I get more out of socializing at a gaming table than by slaying pixilated foes. Currently, I have a 1 foot tall stack of computer games next to my machine, most of them still shrink-wrapped, but I'm a player in 2 D&D campaigns.

 

[Yair]

I'm in semi-retirement. For the same reasons. I no longer DM, after a LONG time of only DMing, and play fairly rarely. (Two online games, one of which is very very slow and has very little plot, and one tabletop game which is again kinda slow (and, frankly, kinda frustrating).)

It sounds to me like you're in a burnout. I expect you'll start thinking up new campaigns and games you want to play in a year or two. It's in your blood.

I'd also suggest at least thinking about playing pre-prepped campaigns (I like The Shackled City), but this too needs work (IMO). The same goes for game systems that are easier to prepeare to (anything narrativist-based seems right, I'm starting to seriously think about a Sorcerer or FATE game). But you've probably done that and, like me, decided the burden of DMing would still be too large.

So have fun with your retirement. Having fun, that's the important part.

Yair

 

[Imperialus]

I can relate too. My D&D game is on an indeterminate hiatus since my group broke up and I have no pressing desire to get back into it. I still play a bi-weekly wargame (chit based not warhammer or other mini based games) so I get my geek fix but D&D and roleplaying in general has been put on the back burner.

 

[Mistwell]

If you are going to play board games (and I agree there is a whole fantastic world of board games out there that is right up there with RPGs), go find more of the REAL good ones.

Settlers of Catan is fine. It's a fun game. It was the real start to an entire genre that began with it's publication in 1995. But it's only the very tip of an extremely large ice berg. It's just one single german-style board game out of literally hundreds of games of equal or better gameplay.

I strongly encourage folks to check out:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/

if you are interested in board games. Caylus, Power Grid, Princes of Florence, Ra, Goa, Ticket to Ride, Amun-Re, Through the Desert, St. Petersburg, Puerto Rico, El Grande, Alhambra, Blue Moon City, Carcassonne, Citadels, etc.. Each of those games is equal to or better than Settlers of Catan.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Hi Biohazard,

It makes sense to take a break and do other stuff for a while. A few years back my entire gaming group took a break from RPGs and played DBA (table top "ancients" wargames on a 2ftx2ft board with 12 figures a side, and FANTASTIC fun).

Then after a while we felt like playing RPGs again, so back we are.

In other words, do what's right for entertainment for you right now, but don't close any doors because who is to say that in a few months or years you won't feel like a bit of RPG again

Cheers

 

[Nathal]

1. I usually DM. And it's so much work that it just isn't worth the time involved. Preparing a new adventure for my group is, in my experience, akin to creating a new board game for them every session. And once they finish the adventure, it's over, never to be used again (at least not by that same group).

Why not play Savage Worlds, or C&C?

 

[librarius_arcana]

Don't get rid of your stuff.

Very very TRUE, don't, because later down the line you may regret it (very common mistake)

I've seen this before, You just need a break, either you are burned out or jaded after too much work/bad GM's etc, doesn't mean you won't be interested in this hobby later (cuz chances are you will) , you've just been playing the wrong games for to long and not been addressing the problems of those games

the video game question?
Again just shows burnout, video games are pretty much mindless fun, no real effort on your part, (I should know got them all but the 360 at the mo,) you can just sit back and switch your brain off,

 

[FullTinCan]

I've been there

3. Lately I've been getting into something I never thought I'd enjoy: board games. We've been playing Settlers of Catan, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Arkham Horror, Attack! and Risk 2210. I'm finding that board games, for me, are just as much fun as RPGs (often more; see #1 and #2) and are FAR less work to prepare. You simply set up the board and play--your mind free from churning over the various aspects of the game between sessions.

***

In short, it's been a good, long run, but I'm not enjoying DMing anymore. It's more like a job than a game. And I'm definitely not enjoying playing--I usually haven't. It's only fun if you have a great DM, and there ain't enough of those. And in the time that has passed, other things have emerged that are, for me, far more fun and far less work (no work, really): video games and board games.

I think that RPGs themselves have changed; contrast the simplicity of OD&D (1974) with the monster that is D&D 3.5, with its two DM's Guides and two PHB's! I think it takes a certain kind of person to play, and especially DM, an RPG nowadays. Back in the old days, anyone could do it (and did it)--hell, I was 10 years old when I DMed my first game of Moldvay basic. Today, however, it's a full-time job, almost. You have to be a university student without a family who spends hours of times studying the rulebooks to master the game. I'm 35, married, and a father. And I just don't want to devote the time and energy anymore.

Anyway, I bid you all farewell. And maybe one day we'll meet again for a session of Star Munchkin.

Biohazard
Old School Gamer, 1980-2006

Best wishes. I would recommend that if you enjoy Settlers of Catan, give Puerto Rico a try. If you have a large group of players (5 or 6) also give FFG's Citadels a chance. Lots of fun.

Now, with some recommendations, I'd also strongly encourage you to keep you gaming books (space allowing). You may not play them ever again, but in two, three, or 10 years, you might come back and game with a vengeance (its the path that I took).