BlueBlackRed
Explorer
D&D is my hobby.
I've played many other RPG's and have always come back to D&D.
I've played many other RPG's and have always come back to D&D.
One (Awesome) Gamer's Perspective: My Hobby is Gaming
- Thread starter Rel
- Start date
Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
I have an open relationship with D&D. It is my game of choice, but sometimes I need to play something different. Fortunately D&D doesn't get jealous when I do this.
Desdichado
Legend
Gaming is my hobby. D&D is like the occasionally fun to hang around with, occasionally great in the sack, but otherwise often frustrating and possibly psychotic girl you dated in your twenties. I have fond memories of it. I have fun with it from time to time even now. But I certainly don't think of it as my favorite game, or my only game.
However, I don't necessarily think that I'm promiscuous. Rather; I'm trying to find the ideal, Holy Grail system that I'll never have to switch from ever again because it does everything I want perfectly. I just haven't been able to do so yet.
d20 overall is a pretty close substitute for me in the meantime. No matter what kind of setting I think sounds interesting, I tend to think first in terms of a d20 execution of it. My patience with learning all new systems has dropped tremendously over the last few years. Since d20 Call of Cthulhu, I think. I think I always told myself that if d20 could reflect CoC well, then it could reflect anything to my satisfaction. I still have some lingering issues with parts of it, but by and large that's been true; I haven't had any disatisfaction using d20 to run everything from horror to fantasy to spacefaring swashbuckling action to pulp and dinosaurs.
Therefore, I'm pretty ambivalent about 4e too. Maybe it'll fine tune d20 in a way that I can apply those refinements to other d20 games. If so, then it'll be much more interesting to me than if it's simply a refinement of D&D that doesn't apply outside the D&D scope.
However, I don't necessarily think that I'm promiscuous. Rather; I'm trying to find the ideal, Holy Grail system that I'll never have to switch from ever again because it does everything I want perfectly. I just haven't been able to do so yet.
d20 overall is a pretty close substitute for me in the meantime. No matter what kind of setting I think sounds interesting, I tend to think first in terms of a d20 execution of it. My patience with learning all new systems has dropped tremendously over the last few years. Since d20 Call of Cthulhu, I think. I think I always told myself that if d20 could reflect CoC well, then it could reflect anything to my satisfaction. I still have some lingering issues with parts of it, but by and large that's been true; I haven't had any disatisfaction using d20 to run everything from horror to fantasy to spacefaring swashbuckling action to pulp and dinosaurs.
Therefore, I'm pretty ambivalent about 4e too. Maybe it'll fine tune d20 in a way that I can apply those refinements to other d20 games. If so, then it'll be much more interesting to me than if it's simply a refinement of D&D that doesn't apply outside the D&D scope.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
The search for perfection is what will make you effectively promiscuous.Hobo said:
And you're probably not alone. I see my hobby as gaming. Even though D&D so far has been one of my best experiences...
I agree, my hobby is gaming, not D&D. On the other hand, my second hobby seems to have become discussing gaming so I like to follow the conversations, even if I'm not that emotionally involved.
I do believe my first response to seeing 4 edition was announced was "What? Seriously?" (I had to read a couple threads to make sure it wasn't just another "My 2nd cousins wife heard from his bosse's grandpappys nursemaid's son" rumour) Which was eventually followed by simple curiosity to see what they're going to do with it.
Which is still where I'm at. A (truly) new edition of D&D only comes once a decade or so, so it's definately one of the most interesting geek related events this year, no matter what I think of the finished product.
I do believe my first response to seeing 4 edition was announced was "What? Seriously?" (I had to read a couple threads to make sure it wasn't just another "My 2nd cousins wife heard from his bosse's grandpappys nursemaid's son" rumour) Which was eventually followed by simple curiosity to see what they're going to do with it.
Which is still where I'm at. A (truly) new edition of D&D only comes once a decade or so, so it's definately one of the most interesting geek related events this year, no matter what I think of the finished product.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
I'm more of a gamer than a D&D'er. In fact, only after playing lots of other games do you appreciate the flaws that still exist in D&D and really see the need for change. We played OD&D and AD&D (never played any of the iterations of Basic, never knew anyone who played Basic - we went straight from OD&D to AD&D and never looked back) for many years, but most of my AD&D play was under a GM who was 'story first, rules second'. If there was a rule that got in the way of replicating how a scene played out in a book, then the rule died or was replaced. He had a huge wall-map of the subcontinent we adventured in, and books of city maps and customs and NPCs and we spent years exploring it. 1E's clunky spell system was one of the first things to die; playing in straight-up 1E games was like having teeth pulled after we were set free from the strictures of it. He used a couple of third-party things and some house rules. Racial limits died next, then the silly notion that you got XP for treasure. But if anyone asked us, we'd have said we were playing D&D.
Another group, we played tons of Traveller, Space Opera, and other systems.
Near the end of 1E, we'd all but abandoned D&D.
Over the years, we moved to less-restrictive and dogmatic systems. The Basic Roleplaying Engine was our first real 'generic' system; RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, ElfQuest, and Superworld was what we used mostly. The BRP engine was our 3E for a decade or more; simple, adaptable, expandable, used one single mechanic for many many things - to this day we are still totally baffled as to how Chaosium is not at least the second biggest RPG manufacturer in the world.
And Champions. God, we loved Champions. And Star Wars and Marvel Super heroes, and a number of other games. Two groups I played with loved Rolemaster and I liked it fairly well, but never could get my main groups to try it. One group loved GURPS but I never could get into it all that much, save by ignoring 90% of the combat rules. I ran it once and it was OK, but I had no real burning desire to do it again. I've done a few sessions of it since then, but we were far more concerned with characterization and worldbuilding in those sessions than with rules.
We still played 2E D&D but mainly as a change of pace.
We've never ever used the Great Wheel. Only one guy ever used the Forgotten Realms. We never played in Greyhawk. Never used Sigil or PLanescape or Spelljammer - basically, all the stuff 2E did, we'd already been doing for 10 years in other game systems. 2E was too little, too late.
Vampire was a massive breath of fresh air. We played the hell out of that game. We never went in for Werewolf, Mage or the rest, but we stuck with 1E Vampire, only gradually moving to 2E or Revised or whatever the next thing was.
3E changed all of that. It had enough changes that D&D suddenly became the expandable, adaptable game we wanted and finally there was a group of designers that saw this as well and showed us how you could do horror and superheroes and space and westerns and other stuff all with D&D. We've seldom played anything else for the past seven years or so -- and to us, 'd20' and 'D&D' are the exact same thing. Same basic rules set, same game. Simple as that. No arguement from anyone. Mutants and Masterminds and True20 are 'D&D/d20' to us. So is Conan, or Blue Rose, or Midnight, or Arcana Unearthed, or Iron Heroes.
I've run Savage Worlds, and liked it quite well. If 4E turns out not to be what we want, we'll probably either move to that, or move to some variant of Arcana Evolved or True20.
We've played a lot of systems. Much like I think that a substancial amount of fiction reading is a requirement for truly enjoying gaming, I think that playing other games is also a requirement for truly enjoying gaming as a hobby. Staying with one thing is like eating only pizza breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It may be good for a time and you may enjoy it, but eventually you'll get scurvy and die from it.
Another group, we played tons of Traveller, Space Opera, and other systems.
Near the end of 1E, we'd all but abandoned D&D.
Over the years, we moved to less-restrictive and dogmatic systems. The Basic Roleplaying Engine was our first real 'generic' system; RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, ElfQuest, and Superworld was what we used mostly. The BRP engine was our 3E for a decade or more; simple, adaptable, expandable, used one single mechanic for many many things - to this day we are still totally baffled as to how Chaosium is not at least the second biggest RPG manufacturer in the world.
And Champions. God, we loved Champions. And Star Wars and Marvel Super heroes, and a number of other games. Two groups I played with loved Rolemaster and I liked it fairly well, but never could get my main groups to try it. One group loved GURPS but I never could get into it all that much, save by ignoring 90% of the combat rules. I ran it once and it was OK, but I had no real burning desire to do it again. I've done a few sessions of it since then, but we were far more concerned with characterization and worldbuilding in those sessions than with rules.
We still played 2E D&D but mainly as a change of pace.
We've never ever used the Great Wheel. Only one guy ever used the Forgotten Realms. We never played in Greyhawk. Never used Sigil or PLanescape or Spelljammer - basically, all the stuff 2E did, we'd already been doing for 10 years in other game systems. 2E was too little, too late.
Vampire was a massive breath of fresh air. We played the hell out of that game. We never went in for Werewolf, Mage or the rest, but we stuck with 1E Vampire, only gradually moving to 2E or Revised or whatever the next thing was.
3E changed all of that. It had enough changes that D&D suddenly became the expandable, adaptable game we wanted and finally there was a group of designers that saw this as well and showed us how you could do horror and superheroes and space and westerns and other stuff all with D&D. We've seldom played anything else for the past seven years or so -- and to us, 'd20' and 'D&D' are the exact same thing. Same basic rules set, same game. Simple as that. No arguement from anyone. Mutants and Masterminds and True20 are 'D&D/d20' to us. So is Conan, or Blue Rose, or Midnight, or Arcana Unearthed, or Iron Heroes.
I've run Savage Worlds, and liked it quite well. If 4E turns out not to be what we want, we'll probably either move to that, or move to some variant of Arcana Evolved or True20.
We've played a lot of systems. Much like I think that a substancial amount of fiction reading is a requirement for truly enjoying gaming, I think that playing other games is also a requirement for truly enjoying gaming as a hobby. Staying with one thing is like eating only pizza breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It may be good for a time and you may enjoy it, but eventually you'll get scurvy and die from it.
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Wombat
First Post
Rel said:
Well said.
As someone with a foot into the D&D world and a foot out of it, but having been gaming almost constantly for 30+ years, I, too, consider myself a gamer.
I am not wedded to any given system; even systems that I am not overly fond of (GURPS springs to mind) have brought up sessions and campaigns that have been utterly delightful.
I have played over a dozen systems in my gaming career. I have read material on over three dozen. I have cobbled together games with a little out of Column A and a little out of Column B.
System loyalty? This is not the issue. For me, that's like saying I will play with a 52 card deck, but would only ever play Go Fish. Nope, give me the possibilities inherent in each game on its own terms -- Spirit of the Century, Burning Wheel, Paranoia, Dogs in the Vineyard, World of Darkness, Talislanta, Cyberpunk, Agone, Nobilis, Rus, usw.
My hobby is gaming -- the rules should be the best ones to fit the world I am playing.
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️⚧️
I may always come back to D&D, but my hobby really is gaming. I keep coming back to D&D because, so far, it has provided some of the best experiences and is one of the best games out there... in most of its incarnations (Players Option varieties being notable exceptions).
If 4e provides a suitably enjoyable experience, I'll play it, probably a lot. If not, I'll play something else. It's really not that big a deal. That said, I am both excited and apprehensive about changes being discussed in 4e. But then, it's going to be a new experience and what new experience doesn't provide a little of both - excited and apprehensive anticipation? Honestly, that's part of the thrill of the new discovery.
Actually, it's a little like going on that first date. You know the girl at least a little, enough to know you have things in common to talk about, but you still don't know everything about her or whether or not you'll really hit it off.
If 4e provides a suitably enjoyable experience, I'll play it, probably a lot. If not, I'll play something else. It's really not that big a deal. That said, I am both excited and apprehensive about changes being discussed in 4e. But then, it's going to be a new experience and what new experience doesn't provide a little of both - excited and apprehensive anticipation? Honestly, that's part of the thrill of the new discovery.
Actually, it's a little like going on that first date. You know the girl at least a little, enough to know you have things in common to talk about, but you still don't know everything about her or whether or not you'll really hit it off.
Desdichado
Legend
Would you say then that 4e brings back your sense of wonder?billd91 said:
