After being DM can PLAYING ever be as good?

[Endur]

I was just wondering what folks views are on this. Most people start off as players then become DM at some stage when they get to know the game. Once you become a DM has it affected your enjoyment as a player in later games?

Understanding the rules can reduce your fun. You are somewhat more likely to get stuck in rules lawyer arguments if you understand the rules vs. not understanding the rules.

Likewise, if you read the module ahead of time, you lose some of the mystery of the game.

However, having said that, if you focus on the Role playing and not on the Rules playing, you can bring the fun back.

I'm actually sort of going through an opposite experience from what you did. I had so much fun playing in my last campaign that I don't want to play anymore and would rather GM. No other game will ever be as much fun as the last time I played.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Kind of. I now tend to think "Oh I would have done that differently" instead of just enjoying the game.

 

[Harmon]

I have been GMing sense AD&D, Playing before that.

GMing is a chore, something I hate to do, and have seldom enjoyed. It is one of those things that has to be done by someone.

Being a GM has highened my enjoyment as a Player, because I know the effort that has to be put into the chore of GMing.

Couple years back I started having issues with GMing, and stopped all together. I just could not do it anymore, this placed all that chore onto our only other GM, and I feel really guilty about it, but I just can't seem to get re started, even to allow my friend the enoyment of GMing.

 

[Evilhalfling]

I felt the same ways as the OP when playing call of Cthulu, I had barely read any lovecraft - and carefully avoided as many rules as I could.
and loved the feeling of "WTF is that??!"
rather than knowing the monsters name and abilities. Just as good was casting spells - one or two sentances of explanation was all i had to go on.

I find playing d20 CoC less fun, even if I didn't know the specifics I knew too much of the bones of the system.

As for D&D - I love DMing, but am a better roleplayer when only handling a single PC.
My PCs can become real enough that I know what they would do, quickly in any situation.
I don't have many problems ignoring the facts, the pc wouldn't know.

My NPCs are almost always coloured by tactical decisions and where the story is leading.
Or Im thinking about pacing, or trying to figure out what they would know or could guess about a situation.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I still love both kinds of experience (equally, really), and this is after years of GMing and playing, with various people, and using a variety of systems (though significantly more d20/OGL in recent times).

 

[The Human Target]

DMing hasn't necesairly made me enjoy playing less, but it has made me more critical of other DMs.

Thats what it is for me too.

Plus, by DMing I really found out what aspects of the game I enjoyed most. So as a player I kinda have to get used to other people being in control and having different focuses.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I was a player for years, a dm for years and finally I'm a player again.

Being a good player is 3/4 the labour and as much fun. I think being a dm requires more organisation, stability and time management.

Thank goodness I'm a player in this hobby again.

 

[boredgremlin]

I enjoy DMing far more then playing. Out of the decade and a half of gaming i have probably only been a player for two dozen sessions but i found them boring. The DMs werent bad at all and other players had fun. But for me most of the fun is designing the world and the campaign backstory and the overarching plots and personalities that are weaving through the world.

Watching the players go through the world i created and enjoy the stories and NPCs is the juice of gaming for me. I dont care about the system or the rules that much, enjoy combat heavy and RP heavy sessions equally. What does it for me is when a player gets that look that says "oh cool" or "oh man we boned", that tells me that its been a good session and story and gives me the enjoyment i desire from gaming.

 

[FireLance]

Like shilsen, I don't get a big kick out of mystery. I much prefer the character-building (and optimizing), tactical, and puzzle-solving aspects of the game. I can enjoy a D&D game without mystery in the same way that I enjoy a game of chess, or a real-time strategy game like Warcraft II, or a computer RPG like Final Fantasy IX or Kingdom Hearts after I've read the official guide book and all the walkthroughs on the internet.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

I find that DMing increases my subsequent enjoyment as a player, because I get to implement all those "Why on earth didn't they do x?" thoughts I have when I'm DMing.