Seriously considering dropping the hobby

[cignus_pfaccari]

No it's not. I have played WoW several times and it is extremely cheesy. I don't even play anymore.

MMORPGs being social or not /= cheesy or not.

Certainly, it's easy in some games to do your own thing off by yourself and not talk to anyone. But it's not nearly so much fun as being in a guild grouping and beating the snot out of bigger monsters.

Personally, half the reason I play is to hang out online with my friends.

Brad

 

[LordofIllusions]

Personally, half the reason I play is to hang out online with my friends.

To hang out online with your friends. Scary. What's wrong with hanging out with flesh and blood people?

~~~

 

[LordofIllusions]

LordofIllusions and Greenstone hit the nail on the head for me! I'm just waiting for my son to be old enough (6). I've gamed for over 28 years. Right now, I have four players -- one really committed, my wife, and two guys who let me know on a friday night if they can make a Saturday game. One of them can't remember what happened 15 minutes ago if it didn't happen to his character and didn't involve rolling dice -- yet he's our resident rules lawyer/ Chief Metagamer. Nice guys, just a gaming style I can't adopt. Recruitment from outside my peer group (not too many admitted gamers) has proven next to impossible (I've never SEEN so many stereotypical gamers -- bad hygiene included). My solution - run the game to the people who show up and PLAY, not to those who just show up. I run a few PBEM games with far away friends, and a separate, solo Conan RPG game with my wife whenever we feel it. Not a huge fan of computer games -- I like the social element of D&D --including the side conversations, hackneyed Monty Python quotes, and general BS. Despite what many have said about MMORPGS not taking tabletops over, they have influenced them in a subtle way. We've always had minmaxers, munchkins, rules lawyers et al. But now so many people incorporate those lovely traits with all the artificiality of online gaming. 's funny...I would have expected that from the younger gamers, but its prevelant in older gamers as well.

I am going to have to co-sign this post. You got that right! I kind of wish WotC would sell D&D so they can stop screwing it up!

~~~

 

[Crothian]

To hang out online with your friends. Scary. What's wrong with hanging out with flesh and blood people?

~~~

Just because people are on line does not make them not flesh and blood. I have friends in Boston, England, Seattle, New York, LA, Florida, Maryland, Canada, etc. It makes it really hard to hang out with them face to face. Welcome to the age of the internet were friends can be made that are not limited by geography.

 

[dpetroc]

I keep in touch with my distant friends via email, phone, IM. However, in my opinion (and I'm not going to start trotting out psychology research), person to person face to face interaction is not something that can be replaced by a computer screen and headset. That's why despite the awesome graphics and vast community of players in the MMORPGs, I'd rather have my table top rpg. Unfortunately, the mentality of the MMORPG has leached into tabletop gamers -- who try to get to level 70 as fast as they can, that the miss the experience going on around them. For some people this works -- bully for them. Doesn't work for me. I forgot who said it, but RPGs (tabletop) have been described as an excercise in communal storytelling. That's what keeps me in the hobby: sharing imagination with my friends around the table, instead of being subjected to someone elses (no matter how vivid it appears).

 

[Nap]

I grew up playing D&D in the 80's as well, and then had to take an extended leave of absence for the last 15 years while I settled into my career, got married, etc. One of the reasons I was aways from the game for so long was because it was impossible to find "just the right people" to play with. Chemistry is important, and many of the people I knew or met that expressed interest in D&D just weren't the kind of guys I wanted to spend a lot of time with and form friendships.

Now, I'm nearly 40 years old and I teach World History at a local high school. Turns out that several of the guys I teach with are not only my approximate age, but they have all played D&D at one time or another. We got together and have been running my campaign for a year and a half.

I now realize that it was worth the wait. We are all good friends, and we often do other things besides D&D, such as going to movies, parties, bowling, even rock climbing! Most of us have either a spouse or girlfriend, and they often find themselves becoming friends (much like wives of athletes that sit together during games, lol).



I would recommend to anyone that is "fed up" or frustrated with the current state of the game to sit back and wait for the right opportunity to come along, even if it takes years. Devote your creative energy to developing that homebrew world you've been tinkering with, or submit pdf files for e-publishing. Paint all those miniatures that you haven't quite gotten around to priming. But most of all, don't try too hard to find the right players. Eventually, they will find you.

 

[Biohazard]

Just because people are on line does not make them not flesh and blood. I have friends in Boston, England, Seattle, New York, LA, Florida, Maryland, Canada, etc. It makes it really hard to hang out with them face to face. Welcome to the age of the internet were friends can be made that are not limited by geography.

And who knows? Maybe those "internet friends" are even more interesting than you realize. For example, that buddy of yours who is 20 years old and lives in Kansas City might *really* be a 50-year-old morbidly obese recluse living in his parents' basement in Chicago . . .

 

[LordofIllusions]

Just because people are on line does not make them not flesh and blood.

I never said it did.

I have friends in Boston, England, Seattle, New York, LA, Florida, Maryland, Canada, etc. It makes it really hard to hang out with them face to face. Welcome to the age of the internet were friends can be made that are not limited by geography.

My point is where are the flesh and blood friends you physically hang with? Or do you consider only having friends with usernames on your computer screen the new fad?

~~~

 

[LordofIllusions]

And who knows? Maybe those "internet friends" are even more interesting than you realize. For example, that buddy of yours who is 20 years old and lives in Kansas City might *really* be a 50-year-old morbidly obese recluse living in his parents' basement in Chicago . . .

Lmao!

My 2 Cents: The online crowd should get out and make friends you can physically see by playing a good social game that requires physical attendance.

~~~

 

[LordofIllusions]

I keep in touch with my distant friends via email, phone, IM. However, in my opinion (and I'm not going to start trotting out psychology research), person to person face to face interaction is not something that can be replaced by a computer screen and headset. That's why despite the awesome graphics and vast community of players in the MMORPGs, I'd rather have my table top rpg. Unfortunately, the mentality of the MMORPG has leached into tabletop gamers -- who try to get to level 70 as fast as they can, that the miss the experience going on around them. For some people this works -- bully for them. Doesn't work for me. I forgot who said it, but RPGs (tabletop) have been described as an excercise in communal storytelling. That's what keeps me in the hobby: sharing imagination with my friends around the table, instead of being subjected to someone elses (no matter how vivid it appears).

Great post!