Doctor Futurity
Hero
About 50-60 sixty sessions averaging 5 hours in length over 1 or more years is my limit these days; that gets them to level 20 usually. My preferred campaign format is around 20 sessions and takes them through maybe 5-10 levels depending on system/edition.
I do maintain the same worlds and carry continuity forward, but if a campaign takes more than that I probably haven't got the energy for more. But as I look further back in time the tendency for very long multi-year campaigns that maintain the same characters (and, ergo, players) grows dramatically.
In contrast, my longest running "campaign" by continuity of characters ran from 1992 to 2005, and involved at least one consistent PC getting to level 27 (and over two editions). In the 80's, my players had characters who between 1981 and 1989 reached maybe 15th-18th level back then, over maybe 60 or so games spread out over several years (some of these sessions lasted entire weekends, though!) I consider it "valid" in that it was the same characters over that whole time, but we'd break between chunks of the campaign and play other stuff or other characters, too.
In terms of world continuity.....my oldest world started in 1981 and my latest campaign in that world was run just last year. My next oldest world was devised in 1992 and I ran a campaign in that one as recently as last year, too. My "youngest" world setting popped up just a few months ago and has two ongoing campaigns running side by side, exploring different aspects of the setting.
EDIT: If you consider continuity as relates to players, then that would be an average of 12-14 years for several in my current group; but within that 12-14 year span we've played many campaigns, and I tend to keep discreet storylines as 1-2 years over 60 sessions in length. My longest-running player gamed with me from 1989 to 2009, before he moved across the country, and while we could rekindle gaming in roll20 perhaps, it just wouldn't be the same.
I do maintain the same worlds and carry continuity forward, but if a campaign takes more than that I probably haven't got the energy for more. But as I look further back in time the tendency for very long multi-year campaigns that maintain the same characters (and, ergo, players) grows dramatically.
In contrast, my longest running "campaign" by continuity of characters ran from 1992 to 2005, and involved at least one consistent PC getting to level 27 (and over two editions). In the 80's, my players had characters who between 1981 and 1989 reached maybe 15th-18th level back then, over maybe 60 or so games spread out over several years (some of these sessions lasted entire weekends, though!) I consider it "valid" in that it was the same characters over that whole time, but we'd break between chunks of the campaign and play other stuff or other characters, too.
In terms of world continuity.....my oldest world started in 1981 and my latest campaign in that world was run just last year. My next oldest world was devised in 1992 and I ran a campaign in that one as recently as last year, too. My "youngest" world setting popped up just a few months ago and has two ongoing campaigns running side by side, exploring different aspects of the setting.
EDIT: If you consider continuity as relates to players, then that would be an average of 12-14 years for several in my current group; but within that 12-14 year span we've played many campaigns, and I tend to keep discreet storylines as 1-2 years over 60 sessions in length. My longest-running player gamed with me from 1989 to 2009, before he moved across the country, and while we could rekindle gaming in roll20 perhaps, it just wouldn't be the same.
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