People who read games but don't play...are there more than me...

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What I am wanting to ask is--are there more of us like that out here? I remember hearing from somebody at TSR or WoTC said that there was an audience of people who just read and collected the games and didn't play them.

Much of the audience for oWoD books, toward the end, were readers, not players, which explains a lot about some of the actual rules wackiness.

 

[Hairfoot]

I know at least three people who buy RPG and wargame sourcebooks because they love the art and concepts, but wouldn't be caught dead doing something as nerdish as actually playing them.

 

[Stormonu]

I do run a regular game (of some sort of RPG) just about every weekend, but I do collect and read a lot more RPGs than I play. I'm definitely an "armchair RPGer" of certain systems, such as Rifts (played the TMNT game, and when we beat Shredder with 1st level characters, [and after playing a year of the Robotech game] decided the system wasn't to my liking - though the fiction was interesting).

I also tend to raid other books for ideas and whatnot, usually adventures. I don't like mixing and matching systems, but I have sometimes found things worth pulling into other games.

[edit] I also find myself getting frustrated at RPGs. I'm a story person and when things tend to go sideways in the game, I become somewhat irate - especially when bad mechanics (or, more often power gaming) stomp all over good story elements.

Games for the curious:
[sblock]
Regularly Play(ed): Aliens (my own RPG), D&D BECM/1E/2E/3E, Serenity, Vampire, L5R (3E), Star Wars d6, Gamma World (2E?), James Bond, Robotech, Star Trek (Last Unicorn), Villians & Vigilantes, Marvel Superheroes

Tried (Read, generated characters and at least one adventure): 7th Sea, Alternity, Castles & Crusades, Chronicles of Ramlar, d20 Modern, DC Superheroes, Deadlands, D&D 4E, OD&D, Farscape d20, Hunter, L5R (1E), MERP, Pathfinder, Pendragon, Rolemaster, Shadowrun (2E), Star Wars d20, SWSE, Star Frontiers, Spycraft (1.0), Mechwarrior, Star Trek (FASA), TMNT, Toon, Werewolf

Have, but not yet played: Burning Sands, Call of Cthulhu, Dark Heresy, Fading Suns, Fireborn, Three-Sixteen, GURPS, Mouse Guard, Mutants & Masterminds, Space 1889, Stargate SG1 d20, Twilight 2000, Warhammer Fantasy RP (2E & 3E), Weird War II, Wraith

Have, but will not play: L5R (2E), Rifts, Stormbringer

There's probably more, but I can't think of them now...
[/sblock]

 

[Blackbrrd]

Heh, funnily enough, I'm the exact opposite. I play more games than I read. I rarely RTFM and only really ever do so as a reference. I am a strong believer in jumping in head first and worrying about the details later.

I learned 1e that way. I learned 2e that way. I learned 3e that way and I learned 4e that way.

Why mess with a working formula?

Same here really. I usually read up on the rules afterwards when I have a tried them in practice. Who reads 900 pages of rules (PHB, DMG, MM) before starting to play 4e?

 

[vagabundo]

I used to do more reading when i had time, but I have always run a game for my younger brothers and sister, and some of their friends. They've been my group for the past 15+ years. Very stable.

There is a big difference between the - usually - deep and visual world that your imagination can provide and the pounding that world gets when it meets a game of average, casual, players.

They are different experiences for me and something that can be hard to reconcile. But, you shouldn't give up on ever playing. If you found the right group it can be very rewarding and can make the imaginative world come alive in a different way.

Although, it can be hard to go on sometimes when your players are messing with spoons and pencils, and firing dice at each other.

 

[ggroy]

I know at least three people who buy RPG and wargame sourcebooks because they love the art and concepts, but wouldn't be caught dead doing something as nerdish as actually playing them.

I knew of a few individuals who were like this too. I only found this out when I was at their place, and noticed a bunch of D&D/AD&D modules on their bookshelf. Otherwise I wouldn't have suspected they bought such things.

I asked these individuals whether they were interested in playing in a 1E AD&D campaign several times, but found out they had absolutely no interest in playing rpg games whatsoever.

Later on, one of these individuals started to pick up various TSR novels instead of the modules and rulebooks. It turned out he preferred to read novels in various D&D settings like Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, etc ... The last time I was at this person's place, I saw a huge bookshelf full of TSR/WotC novels, but no new D&D/AD&D modules and rulebooks beyond the mid 1980's.

 

[thedungeondelver]

I can't fathom reading but not playing. That's like collecting and hoarding rare guitars ... without listening to music, ever. To paraphrase Frank Zappa, reading about RPGs is like singing about architecture.

 

[JohnRTroy]

I can't fathom reading but not playing. That's like collecting and hoarding rare guitars ... without listening to music, ever. To paraphrase Frank Zappa, reading about RPGs is like singing about architecture.

I wouldn't say its as radical as collecting guitars without ever listening to music, more like listening without playing, that's probably a better analogy. Clearly, I'm not as alone as I thought, and I don't think it strange to read and perhaps do a little "play via imagination", or like writing settings, etc, without caring for the actual play experience.

And as for the zappa quote...

Mixtape: 10 Best Architecture Songs | archiCentral

 

[ggroy]

If I was such an individual whom in the past bought tabletop rpg books without ever playing any tabletop rpg games at all, today I would probably be more inclined to buy books like video game strategy guides such as the BradyGames guides to World of Warcraft and other games.

 

[pawsplay]

I have five kids, so I can count at least 15 months or so where I definitely read and did not play RPGs. I don't think it's much different than people who read about cars but don't drag race.