Your gaming experience...

[Aberzanzorax]

1. I started playing in 1995.

2. I have only seriously played two games. I started with AD&D, moved to 3.0, then 3.5, tried 4e but didn't play it seriously, and now play Pathfinder (I also DMed all of them). I also played a campaign of old World of Darkness (it was Vampire, Werewolf, and Mage all mixed together).

3. I graduated from college in 1999 and stopped playing for a bit, not being around the people I played with. I "got the itch" to play again, and had given my friends my old books, so I went out and bought 3.0 when it was fairly new. After that, it's mostly been tweaks and upgrades/refining of rules that have been reasons for switching.


A note, though. I've "dabbled" in several one shots or two or three shots (no more than three for any game/system, I think). I enjoy seeing how other systems work both from a mechanics perspective (mainly out of curiosity and to mine for ideas on how to improve my D&D game) and from a genre perspective (I like games like Fiasco, Dread, Og, call of cthulhu, Armageddon, Kult, and so on).

I'm also an avid reader of rpgs. I've had long periods where I've moved new places and so "scratched the itch" of rpgs by voraciously buying D&D adventures but also other rpgs. For me, reading an RPG like Dogs in the Vineyard is more about worldbuilding in a sense. I read that to explore a genre or world for the same reason I might read Dark Sun and also Eberron. I like to think about the characters and possibilities of that place/plot/theme/world/motif, etc etc.

I'll say this...I've probably read or skimmed (somewhat thoroughly) about 10-30 times the RPGs I've played. I can't imagine learning all the rules for each of these systems and spending the time to play them all. But I do like to get a general feel for them for idea mining and just for general inspiration and creativity.

 

[Ahnehnois]

1. How long have you been playing RPGs?

Probably a little over 10 years. It's been one gaming group, but membership was fluid for some time. Now the same group has been playing D&D for a couple of years together.

2. What systems, editions, and different campaigns did you play in?

Started as a 2e player, switched to 3e when it came out after the first year or so. At that point, the group voted on which edition to play, the new release or the established game. Easy choice. We never tried 4e. Again, easy choice. Later I started DMing, although we have always done some form of trading off DMs in order to get me a rest and to let everyone else have a shot at doing something different.

With my group I've played probably 90% D&D over the years. Most of the rest is CoC d20; with a d20 Moden game and a BSG rpg game thrown in.

3. What made you switch from one to another?

When we first switched to 3e, what attracted me was the skill system, and the overall customizability of characters relative to 2e. It felt like you could do anything. Still does. Also the unifying mechanics seemed much more "fair" and easy to adjudicate. Again, this still holds true. The game does what I need pretty well and when I want to change, I just houserule rather than really switching systems (which has resulted in quite a few houserules derived from various d20 sources).

We initially experimented with CoC d20 for a few reasons. We're fans of the source material. We sometimes need a short-run game. It's good to change up playstyle. It's easier to run on short notice or with little preparation. All these things keep us coming back.

Similar reasons attracted me to the BSG rpg. I wanted it as a supplement to D&D to break up our D&D and d20 mindset every now and then. I also wanted to introduce the source material (the TV show which me and the players subsequently watched together). The last game I ran was actually a CoC d20/BSG rpg rlues hybrid which I cooked up because we were missing a player and couldn't do the regular campaign.

 

[Jdvn1]

1. About a decade.

2/3: In college, I was in a long-running 3.x game, but my group of friends tried to run other games concurrently--other people (including me) kept wanting to try GMing, but their games never lasted too long. I got a chance to play Rifts, Aberrant, Werewolf, Mage, World Tree, Wheel of Time, ad probably a few more I can't remember. Outside of college, I had stretches of longer 3.x games, interspersed with friends running short (planned to be short, often) games such as Nobilis.

Nowadays, whenever I play a new system it's either when a friend is visiting and wants to run a one-shot in another system, or trying a game at a con. I have my long term games going on, but I like trying out new things too. Gamma World was fun, and I want to try Burning Wheel, for example.

I tend to like trying out other systems, to see what's out there, and to get a different perspective on gaming.

 

[Pentius]

1. How long have you been playing RPGs?

About 6 years now. Usually face to face, but more recently I've been exploring PbP.

2. What systems, editions, and different campaigns did you play in?

-I started with AD&D 1st edition. The Player's Handbook with the big, red demon statue, and two thieves prying out a gem eye.

-I then moved on 3.5, that being the current edition at the time. I've only had one group for 3.5(with a few member switch outs over the years), but we played in at least 5 campaigns.

-Now I play 4e. I've been in 3 campaigns in 4e, not counting a couple one shots, or things that fell apart early on. This is also where the bulk of my pbp experience has been

3. What made you switch from one to another?

The 1st ed campaign ended when one of our members moved away. There had only been three of us, so two wasn't enough to continue.

My 3.5 group switched campaigns every few months. At first I thought this was mainly a facet of us being so new to the game. We'd want to try different characters, and different players would try out being DM, with varying levels of success. Looking back on it now, most of our campaigns really fell apart around 7-9th level, when the spells that made hours of DM prep work obsolete came about.

In 4e, our first campaign went poorly, partially from a poor understanding of the game, but also because we had a railroady DM. The first switch came when we asked him to step down and another of our number took over. The second came when I moved and had to find a new group.

 

[Bedrockgames]

1. How long have you been playing RPGs?

Started in about 1986. Really got into gaming about 1990.

2. What systems, editions, and different campaigns did you play in?
*Note: Including games I even just played 2-3 sessions of.
AD&D 1E (Homebrew and Dragonlance)
AD&D 2E (Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Dark Sun, Birthright)
D&D 3E (Homebrew and Ravenloft)
STAR WARS d6
TORG
GURPS
SAVAGE WORLDS
BESM
NETWORK SYSTEM
COLONIAL GOTHIC
SHADOW SWORD AND SPELL
TMNT (I believe this used palladium)
RUNEQUEST
LORD OF THE RINGS
GOTHIC EARTH
WORLD OF DARKNESS
CALL OF CTHULU
GODLIKE

3. What made you switch from one to another?
I never really switched. More like we would cycle through different games as different GMs took turns. So I might have a regular ravenloft game that went on for years, but we would break and play Birthright or TORG. In Highschool especially I had lots of friends who were gamers and everyone of them GM'd at different points. So one of my friends liked TORG and would occassionally run 3-4 session games of it. Another like CALL OF CTHULU and would run that once in a while. Plus we'd go to the gaming store, see a new game and try it out a few times. If we liked it, we'd try to get a game going.

 

[xipetotec]

I only *really* got started in RPgs last year ( I was 36 ). I mean I had sort of played in school. and played computer versions my whole life. But with my kids getting older, I thought it would be fun to go beyond the standard board games on "family game nights" and really get into interactive storytelling.

We tried a few right off the bat, 4E, SWSE, CoC and Dread. But sure enough, there is only so much time available. We've pretty much settled on CoC. It's what everyone in the group likes to play most.

 

[francisca]

1. How long have you been playing RPGs?

2. What systems, editions, and different campaigns did you play in?

3. What made you switch from one to another?

I've got 2 distinct phases of gaming. The first is from the fall of 1981 to the winter of 1986/87.

1) Started in the fall of '81.

2) Primary System: Moldvay/AD&D mashup. Some of us had Moldvay Basic books, some had AD&D books. We used AD&D HD, alignment, and weapon selection, but used the simpler combat system of Moldvay. By 1983, this had moved to full-on AD&D.

Secondary System: Gamma World 1e.

Other systems: Played GURPS once, rolled up a Traveller character, but never played.

There was one consistent group I was in, and it was D&D, all the time. There were a few different long-term campaigns. I also played in a few other campaigns around town/school from time to time, with the same characters.

Once in a while, for a change of pace, I'd run GW, all one-shots.

3) We didn't ever really change systems, just dabbled in the others from time to time.

The second phase is from 1999 to the present.

1) Got back into gaming in a former co-worker's 1e AD&D game. Played in it for nearly 7 years, every other saturday.

2) I started a 3e campaign in January 2001. Ran until Dec 2004.

Along side it, I was running a different group using Moldvay/Cook B/X. This also ended in Dec 2004.

I welded the two groups together into a 1e AD&D Greyhawk game, which ended with a TPK in 2007, and restarted imemediatley. In 2009, one of the players took over as DM, and I'm still in as a player.

Somewhere along the way, I joined a 3.5 game, I think this was in 2005. That game ran until 2010.

I've run a few one-shots of GW 1e in the last decade, but have not strayed outside of D&D beyond that as a DM/GM. I have played all sorts of games at conventions since I started going to cons in 2003. These games include RuneQuest, Traveller, Shadowrun, and others I am certainly forgetting.

3) As I said, we've largely been happy with 1e AD&D for my games, and 3.5 for others, and I really haven't strayed. I do want to either run or play RuneQuest 2 (the old one, not the mongoose version) or Classic Traveller.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

1. Since 1997. However, I did play one summer at a day camp in 91. I didn't start playing regularly though until '97.

2. 2nd Edition DnD, 3/3.5 DnD, 4th Edition DnD, 7th Sea, Star Wars d20, Star Wars d20 Revised, Star Wars Saga Edition, GURPS, Mutants and Masterminds, Wheel of Time d20, d20 Modern, d20 Future, Old World of Darkness.

3. For DnD, we changed when editions changed. We went from 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 3.5, 3.5 to 4th. We did this pretty much without question, save for the 3.5 to 4th. There was some debate on what to do, but ultimately we switch to 3.5.

While DnD formed the back bone of our group, we sprinkled in other games. However, we always went back to DnD.

4th has changed this. We played 4th for a year and a half. Since then, we've switched to World of Darkness (another year and a half). I'll probably be the next GM. I'll run either 7th Sea or DCC. During the World of Darkness game, I've run a 4E one shot (Revenge of the Iron Lich) and a few sessions of 3.5 Red Hand of Doom.

Our group splits like this for game preference
2 for 2nd Edition DnD (one DMed the 4th Edition game)
2 for World of Darkness (one is the current GM)
1 for 4th Edition DnD (DMed our final 3.5 game)
1 for 7th Sea (me, sad lonely me )

Luckily, the group is pretty willing to try out other games or do one shots.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

I haven't had the opportunity to play much outside of D&D. When I was a kid, I had but one friend who knew what role playing is, and no way to find/recruit other gamers in my neck of the woods. Literally. Now I just don't have the time or the money to experiment with many games.

I play Blue Planet every few months because one of my group members likes to GM it.

I've played a couple sessions of SW, but couldn't really get into it. I think it's because people who play SW tend to be serious fans, and I feel like a shlub because I can't even remember which one Tatooine is. Which is a shame, because my name is actually Luke.

I played a session of V:tM with a GM i didn't really like.

And I played a session of an rpg called Chaos University at a con. The GM loved my style, but I didn't care for the almost-freeform rules.

 

[kitsune9]

1. How long have you been playing RPGs?

2. What systems, editions, and different campaigns did you play in?

3. What made you switch from one to another?

1. Close to 30 years
2. Currently, I run Pathfinder set in Kingdoms of Kalamar. Golarion will be my next campaign.
3. When I went to cons, that's the time where I would play every other game except D&D, because my group is pretty much a D&D only kind of group. If there was a good con game, I'll pick up the game and collect the rulebooks, but my chances of playing the game outside of a con is unlikely.