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Post by Malex on Mar 5, 2014 19:32:04 GMT -8
It's been a crazy year for me, yeah I know New Years was months ago.
I cut out of 2 groups, helped form another, and resurrected one I thought long dead. All the while suffering from Burnout.
The monster that got me was the d20 mechanic, and the coffin-nailer was Warhammer 40K roleplaying games. Just killed my interest in the hobby.
Guess I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar issues. If so, what did you find that brought you back from leaving the hobby?
Good news for me is that I found Fiasco and a good group who was willing to 'go back to basics'. I even recently began GMing a 3.5/Pathfinder game and actually found it fun to do again.
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tomes
Supporter
Hello madness
Posts: 1,438
Currently Running: Dungeon World, hippie games, Fallout Shelter RPG hack
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Post by tomes on Mar 5, 2014 23:10:14 GMT -8
I couldn't answer from burnout, since I've only recently started gaming and GM-ing again after a huge break that had nothing to do with burnout; just distance. BUT, coming back to the hobby I found d20 just didn't do it for me. I've found I need something a little more liberating, with a lot more freedom and less number crunching; I've got newbie players and mechanics are not interesting for them, and I certainly don't want to have to manage it. Savage Worlds has done it for me for a while now, but I just played in a mind-altering Dungeon World game at the last Strategicon run by Denys Mordred (my second DW game; my first was a foray run by HyveMynd at Jackercon I) I'm going to try and start a DW campaign with some friends... I find these systems are just drawing me in, in all the right sorts of ways.
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Post by CreativeCowboy on Mar 6, 2014 0:09:01 GMT -8
Guess I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar issues. If so, what did you find that brought you back from leaving the hobby? People. People make all the difference in this hobby.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2014 6:26:06 GMT -8
I was going to say listening to the Christopher Lee metal album and loads of weed, but that isn't true. To be honest it was my friends that brought me back, so I agree with Creative Cowboy, people make all the difference. At least in my cases of burnout, it wasn't the system or the setting. It was the people I was dealing with on a weekly or monthly basis.
Getting back to the basics is always good too, I also find variety helped a little in some of the slow times or the almost burnout periods.
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Post by stork on Mar 6, 2014 8:12:18 GMT -8
Changing systems, changing GMs, and changing genres helps, but if you are just tired of gaming every weekend, and if it is starting to become a chore, than take a break. I haven't really had it with RPGs, of late. I can remember in my teens being in a long running campaign, and we just got bored and burned out with it. So we bought some of the new systems Dragonquest, Runequest and Space Opera come to mind, and tackled them for a while, eventually we went back to the campaign.
I go through bouts of playing online games for a while, and eventually burnout and stop. When I come back to them months, or even years later(usually after they have added new content) it's fresh and shiny again. Not to mention I have to relearn how to play.
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pjs37
Supporter
Posts: 43
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Post by pjs37 on Mar 6, 2014 8:31:56 GMT -8
I have baked in weeks off for myself so I do not got burned out. And I am pretty strict about adhering to it. I find it helps and it also makes the players more anxious for more by the time a new adventure rolls around. But ultimately sometimes you just need a break.
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Post by HourEleven on Mar 6, 2014 12:26:40 GMT -8
I have been known to take a month or so off from GMing. My process for taking a hiatus:
- Let your players know long in advance.
- At the last session before your break, charge your players with all taking detailed notes about the in-game situation. Have them take the notes in character, the character's view on the story up to now, on what they are currently doing, and what they have planned. Collect these character "journals" after the session.
- take hiatus.
- After your break, look over your notes and each players notes. At the first session back, hand them back their notes from the last session. Have them read them quietly to themselves. Then have each one read "selections" from their notes to the group (they can leave out secret plans and junk like that). Everyone should be back on the same page.
- resume that shit fresh as a daisy.
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Post by Grog on Mar 6, 2014 17:17:52 GMT -8
I have been known to take a month or so off from GMing. My process for taking a hiatus: - Let your players know long in advance. - At the last session before your break, charge your players with all taking detailed notes about the in-game situation. Have them take the notes in character, the character's view on the story up to now, on what they are currently doing, and what they have planned. Collect these character "journals" after the session. - take hiatus. - After your break, look over your notes and each players notes. At the first session back, hand them back their notes from the last session. Have them read them quietly to themselves. Then have each one read "selections" from their notes to the group (they can leave out secret plans and junk like that). Everyone should be back on the same page. - resume that shit fresh as a daisy. That seems like a pretty good system to me. I solved my burnout by getting someone else to GM and by switching groups. Also taking breaks to run 1-shots in different genres and systems, play board games, and watch some good tv/read novels. Also, reading new systems, even if you don't play them, can often help give you a perspective on GMing that makes the old seem fresh again.
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Post by HourEleven on Mar 6, 2014 17:56:18 GMT -8
I wish I could get someone else to GM. I haven't played in over 12 years.
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Post by Tony Robbins on Mar 6, 2014 19:47:13 GMT -8
I wish I could get someone else to GM. I haven't played in over 12 years. That is a sad statement. You're supposed to play/relax/recreate too. You are one of them.
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Post by Arcona on Mar 7, 2014 1:10:20 GMT -8
Exactly...
Our gaming group (consists of 4) frequently rotates GMs. Each person has his or her 'thing' and so when we run DnD, when we run Mage/Vtm and when we run 40k/WHFRPG or other flavors different people DM.
There is even a break within that sub spectrum. My bf had run V:TM for us for like a year and a half as Camarilla characters. We eventually took a break and I run a Sabbat Mexico By Night chronicle for nearly 6 months and then my other friend run us some Dark Ages mini chronicle.
So the way to not burn out is not to be the only DM of your group. Ask (or force) your players to also assume the mantle and sit behind the Screen of Power. Maybe they will end up liking it so much they will not want to relinquish it!
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Post by Forresst on Mar 7, 2014 2:06:01 GMT -8
I've got a real life gaming group where the other guy is a very very good GM, and hadn't had a chance to play in a long time. So now we just trade. It's good times. He prefers to run fantasy games (which I'm not so keen on but I'll play damn nearly anything he throws at me) and I prefer to run ANYTHING BUT FANTASY GAMES (which he's alright with, and enjoys the change of pace) so it seems to work out.
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Post by Kainguru on Mar 7, 2014 3:50:51 GMT -8
Take a break, read a few books, get wasted a couple of times, catch up with your non gaming buddies, clean the house, do all that real life shit you've let slip, intend to go back to the gym a couple of times . . . Before you know it you'll be planning your next game and getting the group together again with anticipation. Sometimes, I feel, you just need a break to have time to consolidate your ideas and generate new ones. The burnout tends to come from the week to week prepping - as the story evolves more threads emerge and eventually you find yourself 'fire fighting' rather than prepping in advance. You need time to chill and get ahead again . . . Aaron
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Post by HourEleven on Mar 7, 2014 6:15:43 GMT -8
I wish I could get someone else to GM. I haven't played in over 12 years. That is a sad statement. You're supposed to play/relax/recreate too. You are one of them. Yeah, I was pretty excited for Jackercon, but I have a bit too much life chaos at the moment and can't make any commitments beyond about 72 hours away (and then of course my conditioned response was to put together a game to run for it, haha!).
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Post by ericfromnj on Mar 7, 2014 6:40:04 GMT -8
I wish I could get someone else to GM. I haven't played in over 12 years. I LARP purely to get some playing time in
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