Gaming Woes
I haven't had a good (or sustained) RPG group since I left Alaska in 2003, and I'm pretty sure I understand why.
1. RPGing is, at its heart, a social activity, and I don't want to game with folks that I wouldn't otherwise hang out with. The best groups I've had have been with people that I was friends with BEFORE we started gaming together regularly (although all of us being gamer nerds frequently contributed to the friendships).
2. I like a narrow style of game: character- and story-driven, with less combat, few (if any) dungeon-crawls, and lots of in-character conversation. I want to create literature, enduring stories about the human condition. Heroic deeds like slaying the dragon or saving the princess are just a backdrop for what's important. Some of the most memorable sessions I've ever had have been completely devoid of dice rolls. What passes for roleplaying is often just a tabletop version of a computer game, and that's just not my thing.
3. I've been spoiled by great players, such as dweezel, elflad, and juleske, to name a few (and to insult no one by exclusion, btw). A common thread among these folks is that they understood being part of group. Each of them knew how to make the other players and the story better by being able to shine the spotlight on someone other than themselves. They also knew how to immerse themselves in the campaign world without losing themselves to it, how to completely buy into what we're doing while we're doing it but not lose touch with real life.
4. I'd rather have no game than the wrong game.
5. I prefer folks closer to my own age, and although gaming has been around a long time, there still aren't that many of us knocking on the door of 50. I want a commitment from the players that few younger, especially college-age, folks are capable of or willing to make. I have the insane idea that when people say they're going to show up, they actually do. Although this is not specifically a problem only with younger gamers, people with more steady lives tend to be more reliable. I guess what it boils down to is that I want for the game we have to be a feature of our lives, one of our primary recreational activities, not just something we do when we don't have anything else to do or as an afterthought. I know that as a GM, I bear a large part of the responsibility for creating such a game--but I'm also sure that I'm well up to that challenge.
Now that I have clearly defined the problem, guess it's time to develop a solution.
1. RPGing is, at its heart, a social activity, and I don't want to game with folks that I wouldn't otherwise hang out with. The best groups I've had have been with people that I was friends with BEFORE we started gaming together regularly (although all of us being gamer nerds frequently contributed to the friendships).
2. I like a narrow style of game: character- and story-driven, with less combat, few (if any) dungeon-crawls, and lots of in-character conversation. I want to create literature, enduring stories about the human condition. Heroic deeds like slaying the dragon or saving the princess are just a backdrop for what's important. Some of the most memorable sessions I've ever had have been completely devoid of dice rolls. What passes for roleplaying is often just a tabletop version of a computer game, and that's just not my thing.
3. I've been spoiled by great players, such as dweezel, elflad, and juleske, to name a few (and to insult no one by exclusion, btw). A common thread among these folks is that they understood being part of group. Each of them knew how to make the other players and the story better by being able to shine the spotlight on someone other than themselves. They also knew how to immerse themselves in the campaign world without losing themselves to it, how to completely buy into what we're doing while we're doing it but not lose touch with real life.
4. I'd rather have no game than the wrong game.
5. I prefer folks closer to my own age, and although gaming has been around a long time, there still aren't that many of us knocking on the door of 50. I want a commitment from the players that few younger, especially college-age, folks are capable of or willing to make. I have the insane idea that when people say they're going to show up, they actually do. Although this is not specifically a problem only with younger gamers, people with more steady lives tend to be more reliable. I guess what it boils down to is that I want for the game we have to be a feature of our lives, one of our primary recreational activities, not just something we do when we don't have anything else to do or as an afterthought. I know that as a GM, I bear a large part of the responsibility for creating such a game--but I'm also sure that I'm well up to that challenge.
Now that I have clearly defined the problem, guess it's time to develop a solution.