Do you consider learning a new game to be unpleasant work?

[cmad1977]

Not at all.

 

[CleverNickName]

What if you think the "work" is also "fun"? (Serious answer--not trying to be snarky.) I like to dig into the rules mechanics of new games, learning new ways of doing things, and then incorporating that new stuff into my own houserules. I invent new card games when I'm bored. I will spend hours decompiling and poring over code to write mods for my favorite video games--figuring out how they work, then figuring out how to make them work the way I want them to. Strange as it sounds, this is how I relax.

Work is fun, and fun is fun...so I voted fun.

 

[dragoner]

Work, it can be fun, except work nonetheless. I think I am more into interacting with the setting, and exploring that, then having to remember mechanics. Things change though, I used to have a side business of putting together and racing cars in California, mostly vintage stuff, now I don't touch a wrench if I don't have to.

 

[Ace]

This was prompted by this post in this thread:

D&D General - Why do you play Dungeons & Dragons?

Nostalgia and 5e is much easier for me to DM than any other game I’ve been a DM or GM for.

www.enworld.org

I enjoy learning a new RPG. Reading a new game and getting excited about the new rules and itching to make a character or try out the rules is fun for me.

I know that other people find that unenjoyable and consider it work rather than fun.

So the poll. Fun or work?

*Obviously, as with films, books, food, etc, the assumption is that it’s a good game. Obviously eating a new bad dish made of poo is not fun. Assume quality.

This was a great question. I voted Work simply because new rules typically aren't worth the time and effort to learn them. Yes they can be better at one thing or another but they are not, broadly better than the rules I already have.

Some games have proven to be worth the effort if either like 5E they have a huge player base or if like the Tiny D6 system are very simple yet well supported.

Otherwise, I'd rather spend the time doing other things.

 

[Eltab]

Weird how the replies differ to the poll.

That's because a dial-o-meter would express my opinion better than an yes-no switch.

 

[ccs]

A bit of both.

 

[pogre]

RPGs are largely work for me. Oddly, I will read dozens of rules for miniatures and really enjoy getting to know those systems. I guess that is because I am largely satisfied with my RPGs experience and still looking for the next great system in minis....

 

[Dire Bare]

I am not of the opinion that work and fun are mutually exclusive.

So - assuming that learning a new system is largely reading a book, it is work, and if the book is well written for the act of learning, then it can be fun. Most rulebooks, however, are written for the act of reference, which is not so great for learning, and the result is work.

If we have some other method of learning the system - then the answer varies based on the method.

Yes! If a rulebook is, not just a good reference, but a well-written and fun read . . . it's work and it's fun! Even if I know I'll probably never play the game! I used to collect World of Darkness books in the 90s, but rarely played the game. I just found the world-building and story just so much fun!

If a gamebook is mostly just rules . . . it can still be fun work if the book successfully pulls off a strong theme or tone, or the rules seem adaptable to my favorite game (D&D), or might be an interesting alternate take on my favorite game, like a good OSR rulebook.

But fun or not, it is work . . . and I don't have the kind of time I used to. Reading through a new game's rulebook is one level of work-fun . . . but sitting down and figuring it out at the table with my friends is a whole other level of work-fun . . . and sometimes we'd just rather be playing what we know instead of investing time in a new game that does the same thing but in a slightly different way, or a game we might not end up playing all that often.

There are a lot of good games out there besides D&D's five-plus editions . . . and it can be wonderfully refreshing to shake up your game table with something different every once and a while, but . . . it is work and a time-investment, and we have busy lives.

 

[Dire Bare]

RPGs are largely work for me. Oddly, I will read dozens of rules for miniatures and really enjoy getting to know those systems. I guess that is because I am largely satisfied with my RPGs experience and still looking for the next great system in minis....

Hah! I'm just the opposite!

I just picked up the new core book for Warhammer 40k (9th Edition), and it's been sitting on my shelf asking me, "Why did you buy me if you aren't going to read me?" I should have just picked up the rules-only paperback, let my pals figure out the new rules, and use my paperback as reference only.

Heh, I never really fully figured out the 8th-edition . . . now I have to pretend to learn a whole new edition! (in truth, it doesn't seem radically different)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It’s work, but not necessarily unpleasant.