Free to choose?

[Thornir Alekeg]

One of my hopes with occasionally running Boston EN World game days is that people would meet and game together; it seems to be working pretty well.

[HIJACK]
Any of these planned soon? I'd love to try and get to one.
[/HIJACK]

 

[EricNoah]

Well, my group has 3 games going currently - my high-level D&D homebrew, my Conan game, and StalkingBlue's Midnight game. So there's some choice there, and some of the players belong to other groups. But naturally the choice is to either play what a GM is offering to run, or don't play it. It's hardly fair to make a GM run something they don't want to, but you want to play in, is it?

Ah, you've hit something there: You almost never hear of a GM "stuck" running something he doesn't want to run, but you often hear of players stuck playing something they'd rather not play. Theory: GMs have the power because they are a rare commodity!

 

[Melkor]

I'm pretty much "stuck" playing D&D when I play.

My group's main DM runs D&D exlusively - and when he's not, I am running a 1st Edition AD&D game.

The DM, and other players ONLY want to play D&D. It is rare to get them to play anything else, although we have in the past played one-off games of Spycraft, Star Wars, and Hackmaster....

If I want to play at all, it's got to be D&D - but it's always been my favorite, so I don't mind that much.

 

[Wombat]

Hmmm, let's see...

My current group has two-and-a-half GMs, in that I have run most of the games here in the last four years, but another guy has run two mini-campaigns and one woman ran a one-off, pre-made adventure (As she said, "I feel like I have training wheels going here.").

But when I suggested running a Star Trek campaign with the group, there was a sullen rebellion. People balked at aspects of one or another ST campaign notion that I had, until finally one of them came out and said, "Look, Wombat, we just don't like Trek!" Of course none of them said that up-front, which if they had would have saved me two+ months work on a campaign...

After that we went back to another variant fantasy campaign.

So I think it would be hard for me to wedge the group in another direction, at least currently, and my "back up GMs" essentially do variants of exactly the same thing. Then again, we have used three different systems and I might yet convince the group to try out Ars Magica, which would make me very happy

 

[eris404]

Are you "stuck" in your game? What I mean is, if your DM wanted to run a game that you weren't all that interested in, would your choices be between "no gaming" and "gaming I don't enjoy"?

We have a lot of game masters and variety of games in our group, so even if I wasn't interested in person A's game, I have the option to play in person B's. In fact, some of our players do that right now and there are no hard feelings. Sometimes I still participate in games that I don't have real interest in because the people in my group are good friends of mine and I still have a great time. However, if I weren't playing with people that I knew well (or liked, as often seems to be the unfortunate case with some people on these boards), I wouldn't say that. In fact, before I met my current group of friends, I didn't play for probably twelve or thirteen years.

 

[der_kluge]

I would argue that, even if a crappy game, the chance to roll some dice with friendly people, and the time spent making up a new character (and maybe several) is always preferable (in my mind) to not gaming at all.

I start to go through withdrawals after about 3 weeks if I don't get to game at all.

 

[Alejandro]

I don't have enough time to game more than once a week, and I'm pretty much restricted to weeknight gaming, so my choices are limited. However, given the option to play in an AU game and a 3.5 game on alternating Wednesday nights, I only care enough to make a character for AU. I'm happy playing the DM's assistant for 3.5, but just can't bring myself to play it.

In the past, when I had more time, I did in fact leave a game because it didn't fit my needs (rather than leave a game because it didn't fit my schedule). I couldn't abide the fact that players were goofing off or reading and the GM let it slide. I was there to GAME, damn it!

So, put me down in the "no game rather than a bad game" group.

 

[Zappo]

I used to be a full-time DM, then I got tired and now I get to DM and play. I am addicted to gaming; I think it would take an ab3 situation to keep me away from the table. But I would probably start attracting a new gaming group anyway.

 

[Ace]

More thoughts...

It's no secret that a lot of gamers are introverts, and as such may not always be the best communicators or great at resolving conflict. Maybe some "stuck" gamers have trouble expressing their feelings about a "bad" campaign? Maybe it's somehow easier to endure a bad game than to say what they really want, or quit gracefully.

I think a lot of us have an "ideal" of gaming that we would like to achieve. I also am guessing that we rarely reach that ideal. But we keep trying because ... it's awesome when it does happen. So maybe the attitude is: you've got to put in your time now to have that opportunity later?

What is this? 3 for 3 excellent posts

In my group I am the conflict negociator and often the only person who is oragnized. I am can communicate what I want in a game.

This communication often leads to more trouble than its worth. The other members get a bit huffy at times especially if system or a favored play style is mentioned--

I see gaming a several seperate styles that sometimes overlap --

the others don't and that can lead to conflict when they figure I should play whatever is on the table and I refuse

Note I am not shy (actually I am rather extroverted) Unfortunately I am also the pickiest so it leaves me net with less gaming opportunity --

If they had their way I would do all the orgainizing, find the players than play whatver anyone wanted. I guess I am supposed to get enough fun out of it to pay for the time invested

Feh

 

[Ace]

I would argue that, even if a crappy game, the chance to roll some dice with friendly people, and the time spent making up a new character (and maybe several) is always preferable (in my mind) to not gaming at all.

I start to go through withdrawals after about 3 weeks if I don't get to game at all.

I actually play almost diceless when possible so IM TTRPGC roleplaying is the main focus (with a bit of other stuff mixed in) its my prefered play style but it is very dependant on good players

For my hanging out gaming I play L5R cards or board games

I need good roleplaying (or a game I really like) to be worth the time

Optimally I would play a kicking game 2-4 times a month with a group of adults thna I would DM than go back to playing round robin style (me, them, me, other them, me. them) and so on.