RPG burnout

i think i might quit cold turkey.

I'm currently playing in a Star Wars game and it's going great. that's not the issue. the issue is that it's expected to end this autumn where another player will be starting up a game. the Star Wars game is basically a filler between campaigns.

and i came to the decision that i won't be playing.

my enthusiasm is gone.

i found the idea of the guy's campaign rather interesting but when it came to creating a character i got about halfway through it and...i stopped.

i could not find the energy to invest in character creation and the thought of playing in a campaign just drained what was left of my energy that night.

at first i though it was just some apprehension towards the system but for this group, i can put aside my distaste for the system long enough to have fun but... not this time.

but i don't have the energy to go out and RP anymore. the last time i "stopped" RPing wasn't really voluntary... i had to go to university about 9-10 years ago and was occupied with study for 3 years. i would have like to continue playing but i put it aside for more important endeavours.

the most frustrating thing for me out of all this is that i like hanging out with these guys... we've been doing so for the past 6 years. hell, going out on wednesdays is really the only socializing i do during the week since i tend to work 11-9 5 days a week.

but now... to use a corny line: the fire's burnt out. it's been dimming for a while now though. i was becoming less and less enthused by the time our last campaign went to a close, and a change of style from fantasy to scifi was a nice and welcomed change but i think once Rorworr retires, i might very well do the same.

i was hoping the news of 5th ed would relight some of that fire, but it didn't. it didn't snuff it out, it just didn't do anything.

has anyone else had this happen to them, fallen in a gaming funk?

Yup.

The longest campaign my group had, we finally managed to go from level 1 to epic, and after that, I just lost the will to play DnD. This was 4-5 years ago.

Its somewhat returned, but between knowing too much about 3.5, and the fact we managed to achieve a campaign like that, I just can't much get into it.

Also, anymore I kinda like finding new ways to break the game then actually play it... :smallconfused:

1) Try a totally different game. Radically different, like some of the indie games that are out there. Mouseguard is a relatively available, but indie game. It might give you a new perspective.
2) Heck, try old-school D&D, with character death and all that around every corner - read this, it's a very different game: https://plus.google.com/111266966448...ts/Q8qRhCw7az5
3) Run a game instead of playing it. Might freshen things up a bit.
4) Go to socialize with your friends, even if the game-as-a-game isn't doing it. It's no different than joining a bowling league even if you're not into bowling just to be with people you like.
5) Question: What scenario *would* get you excited about RPGs?

Yup, specifically D&D/high-fantasy settings. Especially convoluted systems like 3.5, which has so many supplements and third party junk that I cannot even begin to wrap my head around it.

And to be honest, I haven't been playing D&D for long. I played it as a kid for less than a year, starting with AD&D 2e and moving to 3.0. I came back over a decade later and played 3.5, but I lost interest fast. Dropped D&D completely a few months ago, swore off 3.5 and promised myself to avoid high fantasy.

Currently playing Cyberpunk, and man oh man is it a welcome change. It's not for everyone, though. One of my fellow players mentioned, "Man, this system has grown on me. I think it's my favorite," while the new player that joined us kept bringing up how great Pathfinder is for some reason. To each their own.

If this campaign ever falls apart I'll grab the reigns in an instant. I'm assuming you only get one chance a week to meet with your friends? Otherwise, you might be able to pick up where your current GM left off...

If not, that sucks. Either way, I know that feeling man. If it wasn't for Cyberpunk I think I'd quit tabletop entirely.

(Also I'm still keeping an open eye for new systems, specifically of the non-d20 variety.)

That often happens to me about a particular game if I haven't managed to come up with a character concept that sufficiently interests me, but that doesn't seem to be the problem for you.

I also often get burnt out on playing games with groups other than my regular one - they include some people I don't know and I have to drive to get there, and then they have a tendency to pick times to play that I really don't like (around dinner time, weekends). That isn't because of the game, though, and I don't recall ever having burnt out on my regular game.

I wouldn't rule out right away that your problem could in fact be the system, and that you just got tired of putting up with systems you don't like. I know that I can put up with them for a while, but if the game goes on long enough or if the group keeps choosing systems I dislike, I eventually won't be able to get past them any more. Of course, if you feel equally apathetic about systems that you do like, that probably is not it.

I did experience more or less the same thing with doing theatre once. At one time, I would do something for every show that came up no matter what it was and enjoy it. Then, I started to get tired of it. After a while, I realised that I do still enjoy doing theatre, it's just that I'm pickier about it now - the original novelty wore off or some such, I suppose, and I only like working on or acting in shows that interest me (unless it's stage combat that I'm doing, but that's not really applicable to the whole roleplaying thing, unless there's one type of character that you always like playing no matter what or some such).

If it's just playing characters that you're tired of, than taking a while to DM might help. Or, if you're just tired of roleplaying in general, taking a break or quitting (personally, I'd probably refer to it as 'taking a break', since you never know if you might want to start again at some point) is probably the best thing - there's no sense in trying to force yourself to do something that's supposed to be fun, after all. You could hopefully still hang out with your friends and do different things with them on a day other than their game day.

Burn out happens. I'd recommend just quitting, until you feel you want back in. Odds are, you'll feel like roleplaying again after a while away.

Play something dramatically different for a few weeks. I don't mean GURPS to DnD, I mean switch over to Diplomacy, or Poker, or watch the Olympics.

I've been feeling a little burnt out too, but for me it's because there aren't many good RPers around. There's a group at the local library, and while a couple people there are indeed good at roleplaying a character, many more are beginners, or only really know how to hit stuff. I am not as good an RPer as I'd like, but it's really hard to get better without a good group, and just not a lot of fun. I do have two friends who are decent RPers so sometimes I just DM for them or one of them DMs for me.

TL;DR: I sympathize for different reasons.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Riverdance

I've been feeling a little burnt out too, but for me it's because there aren't many good RPers around. There's a group at the local library, and while a couple people there are indeed good at roleplaying a character, many more are beginners, or only really know how to hit stuff. I am not as good an RPer as I'd like, but it's really hard to get better without a good group, and just not a lot of fun. I do have two friends who are decent RPers so sometimes I just DM for them or one of them DMs for me.

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Have you tried Skype or IRC gaming? I've found some fantastic role players through these, and they are my go to source if I'm not aiming for a beer and pretzels style. Plus, even if you do have a novice they tend to learn from the group, and in a group of decent roleplayers they pick up decent roleplaying fairly quickly. I'm currently in the 5e Skype game, and we have a novice who improved fairly significantly over the course of one session - I'm also used to groups with good role players, to the point where this wouldn't even register most of the time.