Maybe It's Time for a Break?

[Retreater]

I think I've reached the point now where I've been running games without much of a break multiple times per week for about the past 6-7 years. I've been following every new thing that's been coming out. Spending lots of time thinking about games, lots of money on products (books, minis, gaming table, etc.) It's finally gotten to that point of diminishing returns. People are regularly not showing up for games, sometimes without any notice. I'm wracking my brain trying to keep the groups together, but the realization is that I care more about it than anyone else in the group seems to.
My posts on here are mostly negative. I'm not excited about any of the upcoming products (and haven't been for around a year).
So I'm thinking it's time for a break. Time to find another hobby for a while.
I've started by unfollowing all my social media gaming accounts. I've also relocated all my gaming PDFs into "deep storage." Don't know what else I need to do to "winterize" my hibernating hobby, but that's my goal here.
Anyways, thanks to all of you for trying to put on a positive spin and give advice to this old curmudgeon.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Umbran]

1. Don't run game; play a game. See if you can join a game, and have it be a beer & pretzels type thing. See if playing (instead of the stress of running games) brings you any joy.

This is fine advice. My Ashen Stars campaign is likely coming to a creshendo within a couple/few sessions, after which the players may feel the story has been told.

One of my players has a game that they'd like to run for a short arc - he saw the dual purpose of 1) just doing something new with the bunch and 2) Giving me several months of break to rest and do leisurely development for the next campaign. I like my game, but I'm looking forward to the downtime.

 

[Arilyn]

You've been at it a long time! And pretty steadily. All GMs need to take breaks.

Hope it's not a permanent one, and we hear from you again.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

So I'm thinking it's time for a break. Time to find another hobby for a while.

I definitely get where you're coming from. Only this morning, I was eating breakfast at Jim's with my daughter, lamenting my lack of enthusiasm about an upcoming FG D&D5e game I have scheduled to run when she looked at me, frowned and said: "You really should just wrap that up and quit running the games. Find something other than D&D to do."

I agreed with her, was unfollowing stuff on Facebook when I ran across a post on the Knight Watch Games facebook group for players in a SW:EotE game. Hmm, I thought. Maybe a game that I'm not running in a system I'm starting to get burned out on. Maybe, thought I.

Might not do the trick, but I find I'm way more excited about the SW game than I have been about the D&D games for a while.

So my online group has a deadline to finish the campaign (Dec 31) which is more than doable then I think I'm done with D&D and/or Fantasy for a while. (Yes, I know. SW is fantasy like, but it's got BLASTERS, man! BLASTERS!!)

TLDR: I feel ya. You definitely should. Go take a rest.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

A break can be a good thing, even a long one. I'm coming out of a multi-year gaming deep freeze myself. It was sorely needed, and now I'm stoked to be getting back into it again.

You'll get your mojo back.

It. will. be. amazing.

 

[John Dallman]

Trying to run too many games is very draining. I've been content to run one session a fortnight (alternating with another GM in the same group) for about 20 years now, and I think I'm doing some of my best GMing in 40 years of role-playing.

 

[Blue]

I get burnt out running and have to take breaks. For me playing is entirely different mental muscles than running, so I've found even when burnt on running I don't give up the hobby.

 

[Shiroiken]

Burnout is a real thing. I've been fairly lucky in this regard, as since college I've always had multiple GMs in every group (even if it was for different games), because it allows people downtime to decompress and recharge the creative juices. Even at my peak of GMing, where I was running 1-2 times a week, I'd have one of the other guys run a mini-game for about a month between campaigns, so that I'd have time to figure out what to do next (plus it was nice to be a player occasionally).

So take a load off, maybe find a game you can play in for a while. More than likely in a month or two you'll feel recharged and ready to start up another game. Even if you don't, you can still enjoy playing for as long as you want.

 

[Eric V]

It's so much better when a group has rotating DMs. One DM doesn't even have to finish her story, it just has to stop at a good stopping place; one of the other DMs starts and goes to a good stopping place. First DM, invigorated, picks back up, rinse, repeat.