Simplifying my life...can any of you relate?

[Scribble]

Your gaming stuff is evil. BAd stuff.

Now ordinarily I wouldn't do this but you seem like a nice guy. Just send me the extra game stuff and I'll be sure to make sure it get's what's coming to it.

 

[jmucchiello]

I agree with Umbran. Don't sell your stuff. And don't hide it either. Why?

I'm 36, married with a two-year-old daughter.... I have too much stuff. I bounce around between GURPS and D20 Modern and Call of Cthulhu and Dark*Matter and D&D.

Just because you like all that stuff doesn't mean she will. You owe it to her and that poor gamer geek who falls in love with her to leave her gaming options open. Just because you have the stuff doesn't mean you can't ignore it. I don't have anything like your ADD problem (I can and have played one D&D campaign for years and years) so hopefully others help with that. But don't sell off your collection. You never know which of those books will light the spark in your daughter years from now.

 

[RFisher]

I feel much the same way these days. I'm trying to focus my energy on creating a vanilla Basic/Expert D&D campaign world. Simple rules. Simple world. Just get to adventuring.

That & the PCs I'm currently playing.

Still, I occasionally drift to wasting some time on my homebrew rules drafts or other primordial campaigns. Still, I try to limit that.

But getting rid of gaming stuff? What? That's crazy talk!

 

[Zelgadas]

I'm afraid this is the curse of the DM, my friend. As a DM, I find myself wanting to buy all kinds of nifty new gaming products. As a married man, I find myself with limited time with which to use these products. In the past, this meant that I'd start a campaign, only to start a new one a few weeks later . . . nothing was ever resolved and it was ultimately very unsatisfying. Recently, I've resolved to start something and stick with it; namely, an Eberron campaign. What I've found myself doing recently when I have an urge to play something else is to ask myself, "Do I need to start a new game, or can I incorporate this idea into my existing game?" More often than not, it seems like I can go with the latter option, and I do so whenever I can. That way I can get my fix of different ideas without abandoning those I'm already working with. Of course, it helps that Eberron makes it very easy to add new ideas into the mix.

 

[Darren Ravenshaw]

I agree with Umbran and Piratecat. Before I moved I was with a group that had the same problem(self included). We were jumping from Rifts to D&D(2nd and 3rd) to Champions to Feng Shui, etc. Most games last only 2-3 months(gaming once a week). We would never go back to a old game, always starting a new one. Since I moved ever gaming book I have except for my 3rd ed. ones are buried in the garage. After awhile I found that the urge to play the other systems had died down. I still have a problem of jumping from campaign idea to campaign idea, but those I keep telling myself to ingnore. With you stuff stored away instead of sold, if you and your group decide you want to play another system all you have to do is pull that systems books out and put away the system you currently are playing.

 

[Arnwyn]

Is this feasible, just focusing on one game to try to preserve sanity and simplify a busy life?

Uh.... of course. To be honest, I'd be surprised if the majority were not like this. *shrug* Who knows?

Can anyone relate to what I'm saying?

Nope. I've always been all about focus.

 

[Pigeon]

I've recently done something very similar, also due to a complete lack of time and the birth of my daughter 10 months ago.

I basically sat down and looked at all my comics, games, and other bits of geekdom and realised that I didn't need 95% of them, and didn't even particularly want about 50%. I've also been thinking a lot recently about the amount of effort I've been putting on aquiring stuff compaired with the enjoyment I get out of it, and coming to some decisions that I won't go into due to their political nature.

Anyhoot I gave away all my comics to the 11 year old next door, except for the more mature stuff who i gave to a guy at work. Gave away the majority of my RPG stuff away apart from the books I actually use. and haven't looked back.

Downsize.... you know it makes sense.

 

[Hunter Simon]

I've recently done something very similar, also due to a complete lack of time and the birth of my daughter 10 months ago.

I basically sat down and looked at all my comics, games, and other bits of geekdom and realised that I didn't need 95% of them, and didn't even particularly want about 50%. I've also been thinking a lot recently about the amount of effort I've been putting on aquiring stuff compaired with the enjoyment I get out of it, and coming to some decisions that I won't go into due to their political nature.

Anyhoot I gave away all my comics to the 11 year old next door, except for the more mature stuff who i gave to a guy at work. Gave away the majority of my RPG stuff away apart from the books I actually use. and haven't looked back.

Downsize.... you know it makes sense.

It does indeed. Like you and Atom Again, I have a daughter too. I'm also downsizing. GURPS 4e...gone. D20 Modern...gone. Alternity (HUGE collection)...gone. I'm thinking of focusing just on D&D, and maybe Paranoia XP for laughs.

Out of curiosity, Pigeon, what RPG stuff did you keep?

 

[Emiricol]

You people are CRAY-ZEE!! I tell myself I'll focus.

But instead I have conversations in my head, along the lines of "Oh man this D20Future stuff Warlord is putting out *rocks!*"

Or I'll say, "Oh crap, Darwin's World II is freakin' affordable at Amazon! Must... resist... urge..." A month later it arrives and I have to explain to my poor long-suffering wife that I didn't really MEAN to hit "submit order" at Amazon... Oddly, she never believes me, and just goes out and buys another damn computer game in retaliation.

Ahem. Anyway, I think you should keep it. If you have stuff you dislike, trade that away but if it's just "this is cool but I'll never use it"... keep it. You never know.

Also, I really like the suggestion above about running a bunch of shorter games instead of a normal, long campaign. At least for a while. But if you must focus on one system and stash the rest, that's cool too. That's what boxes are for

 

[BlakeT]

I basically sat down and looked at all my comics, games, and other bits of geekdom and realised that I didn't need 95% of them, and didn't even particularly want about 50%. I've also been thinking a lot recently about the amount of effort I've been putting on aquiring stuff compaired with the enjoyment I get out of it, and coming to some decisions that I won't go into due to their political nature.

I'm going through the same process myself, actually both my wife and I are going through this. I've already purged my PC and all the computer games that go along with it, I'm using my Mac only now for writing and the internet. I'm realizing that my comic reading has turned into comic collecting so I'm going to cut out a lot of that and focus on only those titles I read. Even my gaming, RPGs, CCGs and Mini's, has gotten out of hand and I'm thinking on how to cut that down.

My suggestion to the original question posed here is that you know deep down what you need to do for yourself. Everyone is able to cope with things like this in different ways, and I think you might be a bit like me. If they're still there, even if away in storage, you'll find yourself thinking about them and eventually they'll be pulled out and used and you'll find yourself in the same position later.

If you're not like me then perhaps what others have said is a good idea, and put those books you choose to put aside in storage someplace. That way in six to ten months you'll have them if you want to go back to them in place of D&D.

Good luck with whatever you do.