Gamer Burn out

[Mr. Lobo]

DM Burnout

A little heresy maybe.

What about trying an earlier edition of D&D that is more rules lite?

I was talking to my bro's the other day and one of the things that popped up was playing D&D. We couldn't get a session in because of other things happening (family events and all) but one of my brothers made a telling remark.

He said he liked playing a lot better in the earlier days with the edition that had less rules. I'm talking Basic or 1st edition AD&D. My other brother agreed. They both commented on how the 3rd edition games just got too bogged down in looking up rules and making sure everything was by the book.

Granted, it doesn't have to be this way with 3rd edition. But sometimes if the nit-pick rules aren't there you may never even know that you've missed them!

After a few years of the new edition rules being out I think enough playtesting has been done to get a real feel for the game. And it seems like a few players are finding that the rules may be a little overbearing for their style of play as judged by some of the threads on these boards.

Maybe if you made your campaign based on Basic D&D you might find what you're looking for. I know I'm going in that direction myself.
Plus you can buy the PDF's for the Basic rules for a relatively cheap amount of money.

Just my $0.02

Mr. Lobo

 

[Elf Witch]

I went through something like this about a year ago. I started hating DnD and all the rules arguging and the powermunchkins. I would leave my game sessions with my stomach in a knot. I would come to en world and after a few minutes leave becuase I was tired of all the arguments about suboptimal classes, paladins you name it I was sick of it.

I was also not sleeping or reading. I would sit in front of the TV and mindlessly flip stations. I had lost my desire to do anything. My doctor diagnosed depression coupled with anemia.

Besides some anti-depressants and iron injections I also took a break from anything dealing with gaming outside of my one regular session. I stopped coming to any gaming sites and I dropped all my PBEM games. That helped some.

My desire to game really didn't come back until about a month ago. And to avoid burnout happening again I now steer clear of certain threads if they start being really negative and become nothing but rules arguing I stop reading. I also try and tune it out when it happens in game I will get up and go to the kitchen or the bathroom until it is over. I also started other hobbies so that main hobby is not just gaming it is nice to get a break now and then.

You should take a break because it sounds like a little more than burnout it sounds like depression. Walk away don't play find something else not related to gaming and see if that revitalizes you. If it dosen't then go talk to a doctor. You would be surprised how sometimes it is a medical or psychological problem not burn out.