Gamer Burn out

[Belen]

I figured that I would see what you all had to say on this topic. It has been awhile since we had a burn out thread.

"I am a Gamer and I am burned out."

I still love the game. I get just as excited about every new product that arrives and my buying habits have certainly stayed the same. In fact, I may have gone a bit crazy over the Giants of Legend release.

However, my excitement for PLAYING the game has significantly dwindled. Let me qualify this with "I have no desire to switch to a different system etc."

I just cannot find the will to DO anything game related lately than be a warm body. I am lucky that my wife is running Freeport to give me a break, or my entire group would be a sad puppy. This break was supposed to allow me to develop my new game world. I have not touched it since February. I sit here and think about working on it. I tell myself that I need to work on it, but when it comes down to it, I watch yet another episode of Stargate SG-1 or otherwise vegetate. Heck, even reading 2-3 books a week have dwindled to maybe 1-2 per month!

Maybe it is because my group has become very rule oriented.... Instead of playing a character, most of us are playing being with a certain set of abilities. Heck, most game discussion has devolved into rules discussions. Feat/ class/ PrC/ spell combos are a hot topic on game day and I find that I am just not participating like I used too. In fact, I tone most of it out and stare into oblivion.

Sometimes, I think EnWorld is the problem. I know far more about the game now than I ever did before I started being a regular here. I love EnWorld, but there is a huge overload issue.

Ok, I am going to end now. I am usually too verbose for my own good. I apologize in advance for jumbled or incoherent thought patterns here. Heck, incoherent pretty much described my thoughts in general.

Anyone else go through something like this? Just wondering.

 

[EricNoah]

You bet, after 8 years wearing the DM hat I've been toying with the idea of an extended break from DMing. And I know what you're saying about EN World -- there's definitely such a thing as "too much of a good thing." Balance is important -- too much gaming means too little of something else. Making the transition and finding the "right" amount for you can be a challenge. Good luck!

 

[Mark]

Have you ever run or played a game where the DM kept all of the player stats and advanced them based on what they actually tried to do in-game?

The players kept only their name, description and background information, as well as keeping a written journal of their deeds and thoughts (allowing the DM some insight into how the characters would "like" to advance beyond the things they merely tried).

Nothing at the table is allowed in meta-game terms, only as descriptive prose in terms of action and setting. The DM determines what rules to apply to any situation or description. All dice rolling is handled by the DM.

Quite a challenge for a DM, though easier if the DM knows the rules very well.

Difficult to grasp for the players, if they are used to meta-gaming most of their decisions, but very rewarding as a gaming experience once they have invested in the process.

For extra fun, keep a quarter jar for when someone falls back into meta-speak, and anyone who is called on it (even the DM) has to drop $0.25 in when they slip back into the old habits. The money can be put toward snacks or game books, etc.

Give that a try for a session or two...

 

[JoeGKushner]

I've been on this boat many times. I'm sorry to hear your not interested in a new game system. Believe it or not, many times a new game system can give you some relief. I hope, really hope, that Troll Lords OGL Lite book will breath some new life into the game for those who are more interested in playing than rolling.

Other things to do include, as you already are, playing. Finding new players can also be interesting as you now have a new mix of people to kick up the group dynamics. Trying some board games like Axis & Allies or not as stragetic, Apples to Apples, can help bring in a new spark as well. Other things that can be done include taking a step back and just enjoying yourself for a little while without the game. It sounds like you have several hobbies and a SO that understands your hobbies so you won't be too far off the track if you decide to come back.

 

[Von Ether]

"I'm BelenUmeria, and I am a burned out gamer ..."

"Hi, BelenUmeria"

I hear you, and I also feel that the Internet is part of my burn out. Even though I only play a game twice a month now (as compared to playing in two and running a third), I still spend a lot of time on the Internet talking about gaming stuff.

It seems that sharing warstories, giving out opinions that never get read, or sharing advice seems to be easier than acutally getting a game together and running it.

I still buy more gaming books that genre books, and I read them when I can. But I can't find any time in schedule anymore than that.

Orginaly, I cut back to work more on my fiction writing hobby, and I am making some decent progress on that, but I could still have even more time if I could just stop reading three or five message boards about games that I don't even play right now.

As for the rules vs. character thing ... I know that too. Don't get me wrong, dungeon crawling can be fun, but the rules arguments sucked the life out of the game for me. I played in two characer based one-shots and I dumped my two regular, argumentaive dungeon crawls within the week.

Right now, I play in a character-based Champions game and I am having a blast. Don't get me wrong, I have seen plenty of character-based games go down in flames and arugments as well. In fact, I had shied away from them for a time since the only guy wanting to run them in my neighborhood turned each one into a fricken, painful disaster.

 

[Treebore]

Yeah, I was. Then I found a group where playing a character was more important than crunching numbers and earning treasure. The fun of the game for me is the world we play in, not how powerful my character is, even thought that is fun too, but in a much more secondary way.

Maybe switching to OA/Rokugan can help you the way it helped me. I am playing a 16th level plus Samurai who has 21,000 Koku to his name, his ancestral weapons (fully enchanted for my level), and 46,000 Koku worth of other magic items. It has been a blast for me to work on increasing my honor and defending my Daimyo and Emperess, as well as the empire. Plus I have been appointed as a Jade Magistrate (title, not class) and am now playing the political games required to gain a family name. Something I have a good chance of attaining because of my actual services to the Empire, not because it is an expected "reward". I have to earn even this, not have it given to me.

Anyway, it helped me to get "revitalized" with roleplaying instead of number crunching. Maybe it can help you do the same.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I have been there. In the end for me it was not as much a gaming burnout as it was a touch of depression. I'm no psychologist, but it kind of sounds like that might be you too. I think the thing that makes me think that is the drop in the reading. I read a lot, it is something I really enjoy, but while I was a bit depressed, I found I didn't have as much desire to read, or work on my homebrew, or do much else for that matter other than veg in front of the TV (and even that was not what I would call enjoyable, it was just easier than other things). The difference for me was that game day was the break from that, because we game so infrequently. Although, perhaps looking back it wasn't the gaming I was looking forward to as much as the chance to get together with friends I don't get to see enough. I finally broke out of it by finding something different to do to spark some interest, and to also make a little more time to get together with friends.

[EDIT] And as for the game becoming more rule focused and therefore less interesting to you; try and be the one to pull things back to the characterization, rather than tuning out. Maybe the rest of your group has become so wrapped up in the rules they have forgetten the fun that the roleplaying aspect can be.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

If you're burnt out, you're burnt out. There's nothing wrong with taking a break from a hobby. That's why we call them "hobbies". Just read the books and magazines and clean up the house and provide munchies when your friends are over to game. It might be weird, but if you need a break that's the way to do it.

However, if you want to continue D&D on a new track:

1) d20 Modern. A buddy of mine is burnt out on fantasy. We had a d20M one-shot and he loved it. I know, same system, guns instead of swords, there should be no difference. But there was for him. Go figure. If you like SG-1 there is a SG-1 game out there, I have no idea how good it is though.

2) Don't design a new world if you're not in the mood for it. Why do something that isn't fun? Why not play a mega module? The World's Largest Dungeon for instance?

Now for the long-winded #3 ....

3) It is not a bad thing that your players are into feats/PrCs/combos more than they are their character histories. Since 3e, I have seen more players spending more time thinking about their characters than I ever saw in 2e. In 1e/2e I saw players writing backgrounds and histories and then they'd play. No real thought about where the character was going. In 3e they now have game mechanics to support goals. What a great treat for a DM! Now we can make them quest for this stuff!

Before we had to beg them to look over the next hill. Now we can say things like "If you want to become an Arcane Archer you must speak to the elf over the hill" and away they go! It's like throwing a ball to a dog, it really is. What's really fun is if you throw that ball over a cliff ("What, I didn't mention the elf over the hill is in league with Tiamat? My bad.") Do that for feats and spells too. Put things in places so the characters have to make decisions about what they want. Is saving the helpless dragon from the evil princess more important than getting Whilrwind Attack? That's for the players to decide and the more decisions they make the more invovled they become in the game.

If you want the characters to become more involved with each other and role-play, I suggest making up about 10 or so feats for them to take at 1st level. For example, a character who was a disposessed nobleman may have a druid buddy who is a spiritual advisor. If they both take a "Member of the Fallen Barony" feat (which you will invent) they might get a +1 synergy bonus to a saving throw or +3 synergy bonus to a given skill they both have or whatever. If you game with married couples a "True Love" feat is always worth introducing. Stuff like this helps the character be involved with the other characters and the mechanics enhance the roleplay. In other words, in their quest for uber min-max combinations, you'll have tricked them into roleplay! You sly dog, you!

So, there's my advice. Take a break, switch systems, buy a big module, or encourage role-play with mechanics bonuses.

Happy gaming!

 

[Vrecknidj]

"Hi Burnouts, I'm Dave."



Seriously, I've had my periods of burnout too, but they've passed (I've been playing almost steadily since 1980). The burnout periods come and go--some of them last a few weeks, other times a few months. It's no biggie. Find something else to do for a while and when you're ready to start gaming again, you will.

Dave

 

[Belen]

Well, I am also the host of the game. That duty never ends. I am responsible for all the recruiting, coordinating non-gaming activities like movie night, mediation and diplomacy for the group..... so in many respects, I am still in the spotlight, even on GM hiatus. My wife is also a first time GM and the second newest gamer in the group, so I could not just leave her alone to twist in the wind. I am sure she would not want to play without me.

Funny enough, this seems to be the strain.

Also, the group just cannot get any bigger (no more space for bodies in the house), so that affects being able to recruit fresh blood. This seems to be a problem because we rarely do anything together outside of the game anymore. Gaming is really my ONLY social activity left and it just is not enough, if that makes sense...