I think it is time for a break.

[Deset Gled]

I unintentionally skipped over 4e.

I loved 3.x, and gamed a lot in that period. Around the time 4e came out, I moved across the country, bought my first house, had offspring, and changed career paths. I didn't have a ton of time for gaming, I didn't have a group in my new area, and wasn't even sure what game I would be searching for (3.x, Pathfinder, 4e).

Years later, 4e had died and I eventually had time to get back into gaming. I started by trying to make a 3.5e group, but things were slow. It was harder to find players, etc. My gaming took off much more when I finally switched to the current edition (5e). It's been great ever since. I've been back gaming consistently, and now I have plenty of opportunities to do non-5e stuff when I want to.

Two lessons from this story: 1. It's okay to take a break whenever you want to. The world will move on. 2. When you come back, don't just try to recreate what you had before. Find out what's changed, and be willing to try new things to get back into it.

 

[Koloth]

Rule 1 of gaming: If you are not having fun, don't do it. Gaming out of a sense of duty to your gaming group rarely ends well for anyone. Continuing to game without fun risks a hard burnout. Let your group(s) know you are taking a break. Decide if you want to stay in the communications loop or want to go radio silent for a while.

Might be time to explore those board games that have been shelf lurking for many years. Or worse, buried in a sunless box in the back of a closet or garage.

Good time to do some of those "Need to do but don't have time because of gaming." items from your to do list.

 

[haakon1]

If you ever took a break so you could find your joy in TTRPGs again, tell me about it. Thanks.

“A change is as good as a rest.” - Fred Thursday, in “Endeavour”

I took a break from D&D from 1991-1996. I came back knowing what I wanted (AD&D “1e” in homebrew or Middle Earth or Greyhawk, with friends, playing infrequently in person or mostly on email), and I have never stopped since (now 3.5e with modified Greyhawk).

It’s invigorating to not feel contractually obligated to play the current stuff. Play what you want - be an artist of your gaming, not a consumer.

In between 1991-1996, I tried non-D&D RPGs. Top Secret/SI, RECON by Palladium but with a lot of my own rules and research on Vietnam, Boot Hill 3rd edition but with a lot of my own research on the Old West. History major in the house!

But when I came back to D&D again, it seems to be forever this time.

Queue the ending of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” - in any universe, seems like I’ll always come back to love D&D. (Not a spoiler because who she ends up with is unclear until the final episode.)

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I haven't actually played an RPG in quite a while ... since the early days of 5E, IIRC. Still gaming, just more miniature wargames, card games, and board games. While I do miss RPGs, I find the other gaming is more flexible for time invested.

 

[pukunui]

It wasn't intended as a break ... but when I packed up and left the USA to move to NZ in 2003 to get married and start my "adult" life, I gave away my D&D stuff, thinking I would not ever play again. However, just a few years later, my younger siblings-in-law convinced me to play 3.5e with them, and I've hardly looked back since! (I even managed to reclaim a bunch of my old AD&D 2e stuff too, with visiting family members bringing it over in their luggage occasionally.)

I am currently on a semi-break. I had been running two 5e games and playing in a third for many years, but I'm now down to running one game. I seem to have lost interest in 5e as a player, but I am still content enough to DM it. In fact, my non-family group has been on hiatus since May or June, and I'm now getting the itch to start running a game for them again.

 

[Zardnaar]

Mother died 2018. Stepped away on lead up and post. More or less always year off.

Thought seriously about quitting.

I'll keep going until I cant find players whose company i enjoy. Not interested in playing online.

I suspect one day once I'm on the wrong side of 50 I'll quit 100%. Or next edition I don't like.