Eli over on the I See Lead People blog just did a post about, "Figuring it all out", he admits to being in a gaming slump of late. I realize I have been also. Yeah I have also been very busy; work, school, kids...you know real life stuff, but I realized that I haven't done any real gaming in quite awhile. I pondered that for a bit and I realize a big part of the problem is me. In the past I've run some pretty detailed, highly involved games. I put alot of work into them (front loaded things so to speak), to be honest I put too much work into them. Spending hours working on Campaign background, areas, places, NPC's while fun to an extent can also cause that ole Gamer ADD to kick in, after playing only a few real sessions of the actual game, I'd find myself looking to do something else.
In the past I've also let things bother me too much. Disruptive players, goofy players etc. I took things too personally. Situations like, "Oh there goes What's his name doing something completely bonehead AGAIN " that will completely derail the session...AGAIN. I would percieve such instances as Player X doing these things just to get under my skin. Maybe he was, I dunno. Point is it stopped being fun, because I allowed it to stop being fun. Sometimes you get a bad player, sometimes you get a bad DM, sometimes...you are the problem.
I saw recently on a blog where someone talked about folks falling asleep at their game table and how that was funny, even cool with them. I realized in the past I would have been annoyed by such behavior. But why should I get annoyed? It's just a game.
Now where did I leave my dice bag???
I agree with a lot of sentiments, Bill. I would say I don't think there's anything wrong with taking your game "seriously" in terms of putting a lot into it for the player's and expecting them give something back.
ReplyDeleteI look at it this way: if people are avoided in an amateur league team sport, someone who takes it seriously and practices and trains hard, is no more "wrong" (or right) than someone who views it as an inconsequential lark--but their probably not going to work on the same team.
Hey Trey,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there is a "serious" part to it; being courteous, showing up on time, being involved, not forgetting your character sheet etc.. It's the TOO Seriously part that I've been guilty of in the past.
Thanks for the comments!
Have to say that if I took things too seriously at my gaming table I wouldn't have a game group. Most of my players work two jobs, have kids, etc. Sometimes one of them will fall asleep (the only time we have free is Saturday Night starting at 9 pm). When I was younger I would've gotten upset, but hey, it's game. No biggie. Someone else will run their PC until they wake up, ask what's going on, pick up the dice in mid-combat and carry on.
ReplyDeleteAnd then some of the other players are younger and a little immature. Thrown dice, thrown food, making fun of each other. Nothing mean spirited and IMO it has enhanced our game b/c it's usually done in character.
It's the way we've been playing for a year w/this game group and it works well for us.