Burned out and stepping out of gaming for a while.

[EricNoah]

You've reached one of many crossroads in life and it sounds like you are taking the path of wisdom. Maybe it's time to reinvent yourself. I totally feel where you are coming from and will miss seeing you around here -- but fortunately for me you'll be at CM where I check in just about every day.

 

[HellHound]

Definately take a break from gaming for a while if that's what you feel is best. The only thing I'd like to mention is that there are non D&D games out there that take signficantly less prep work. Some are built on the idea that the entire game just sort of builds itself as it goes.

Sorry, I forgot to add that to my original post (and I realized it as soon as I went to bed) - I'm not a D&D gamer, I am a gamer. I play / played litterally hundreds of RPGs now. And I can't make ANY of them work for me right now. I have an extensive collection of games by different companies, from independent games to the big names. And none of them work for me right now. All my games are sucking and sucking PAINFULLY badly.

So at this time, I'm not in a position to pick up another game and 'replace' D&D with it. I also can't pick up a game that requires serious player participation as part of the world-building and event resolution in the social contract of the game, because my primary gaming group is not all adults - I game in a primary group with an 11 year old, a 15 year old and a 35 year old. And I know what kinds of games they enjoy, and its not going to be a collaborative one.

HellHound dude, that doesn't sound so much like burn out, you've got some unresolved issues here, but you're right get away from all this stuff, you need to work this out,

Yeah. I agree. And I'm working towards resolving these issues. But for 25 years of my life now, gaming has been a core part of what I do and who I am. And I find that I'm unable to resolve the issues as long as I keep trying to do the same thing. Its time for a clean break for a while to really resolve them.

 

[Piratecat]

Jake, this is absolutely the right thing, I'm betting. We love you, and there's always a home for you here - but you're really smart to take the time for yourself and find what makes you feel passionate.

You have my respect. And like Erik, I hope you come to GenCon anyways! (but that's me being selfish for your company.)

 

[HellHound]

You'll still come to Gen Con, right?

Right?

--Erik

H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks Yes I am. And Origins. One thing I've gained from gaming that there is NO WAY I'm just going to ditch along with gaming is friends. I enjoy getting a chance to talk to everyone in person at Origins and GenCon, and anyways, as a board gamer both cons are awesome too. If anything, my time in the industry has made this even better - in addition to all my friends from the ENWorld & CircvsMaximvs community at GenCon and Origins, I know that a stroll through the dealer hall will have me run into people like you and your team; Joe and Suzi; the Necromancer crew; my friends at White Wolf; guys at the Forge booth; Henry, Eric and company at Paradigm Concepts; Fiery Dragon and so on (and I know I've just dug myelf a hole since I missed a bunch of Industry friends already in this list - Claudio & Steve Creech for instance).

And I wouldn't ever be able to trade a night of quiet heckling at the back of the Origins awards and watching Denise and Lisa hit it off and cluck like hens. Viscious, heartless hens with teeth and claws.

 

[Buttercup]

We love you, and there's always a home for you here

Yes, we do. And yes, there is.

You have my respect. And like Erik, I hope you come to GenCon anyways! (but that's me being selfish for your company.)

I think Denise would draw and quarter him if he made her go to GenCon by herself. I'm certain we'll see him in August.

And some of us lucky people will see him sooner!

 

[HellHound]

Yeah, like Buttercup said, I'll be attending with Dextra of course. She'd kill me if I stopped going to GenCon now that she's a rising star in the scene and working her butt off there every year (since I'm the guy who dragged her into GenCon in the first place)

 

[Umbran]

Whoof. Heavy stuff.

Loss and stress can but the kibosh on things you otherwise love to do.

Take the time to care for yourself, and the rest will follow as it will.

 

[BOZ]

aww man... that's rough.

well hey, take it easy and do what you think will help you out the most. take it from EN and PC - they've both had to step away for awhile, and as you can see they've both come back as well.

will you still be around CM (and/or NTL)?

 

[BSF]

Take as much time as you need and do what you feel you need to do. When your fun time begins to be a drag and feels unenjoyable, you need to step away. I really hope the best for you and that you will be able to get through this period.

Take care,
David

 

[Taren Seeker]

I don't post often here, but I thought I'd share something with you Hound. A couple of years ago I lost my best friend to cancer. After that I found that even thinking about DMing was creating a lot of anxiety for me. Not just prepping, but even trying to run RPGA games which is minimal prep. I guess it was just some wierd byproduct of grief. I found that after a couple of months I wanted to play again, but still not DM. It took me about a year before I felt like I could do it again.

So there you go, give it a year before you try to GM again Once you've destressed a bit, see if you can get into a game as a player. Take care.