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viktor_haagSo last night was Thursday-night-roleplaying-in-the-big-city. I like the weekly event for a variety of reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with playing a game:
(a) I get to widen my social circle to people I almost certainly never would have met otherwise; in fact, some of them brought me here - they have blogs, and the urge to comment on their blogs led me to dip my toe in this pool. Whether that enlarges the richness of the wider world, or not, I have my doubts. But whatever. Sometimes I read some funny stuff. Sometimes i may even say some funny stuff. So that's good.
(b) I get to spend more time with a part of my family that I hardly ever see. The vagaries of big-city parking being what they are, and the fact that my aunt and uncle (the bohemians) live reasonably nearby, lets me stop off for a few hours to see them on an almost weekly basis. This has been enormously gratifying for a variety of personal reasons, including the fact that I got to see one of my cousins a few times before she died. So that's good.
(c) I get to realize that, really, it ain't so bad living in the not-so-big-city. The stuff that I'd probably care about, day to day, is pretty durn good right here, thenk-you-veddy-much. The bookstores ain't bad, the gamestores ain't bad, the restaurants aren't nearly as varied, but the ones I like ain't bad. The streets are cleaner, safer, and less congested. But I think a regular visit to the-big-city is a good way to keep all this in perspective. So that's good.
I also like the event, for reasons that do have to do with playing a game:
(a) I get to be in the group of a reasonably important figure in the hobby, it doesn't matter what his name is. What does matter is the opportunities this affords for me to observe and try to let some of those "I'm attempting to do this for a living" skillz find their way into my ownself's bag of tricks. So far, I've seen a few things which I'm trying to incorporate into the evenings I host.
(b) It gets me playing a wider variety of stuff. It's nice to see how the rubber actually meets the road with a wider variety of games. 'Cause it gets one noticing more things about how the rules work in the other games one plays.
(c) It's interesting to be in a group where I know that, no matter what I or the others in the room might want to try hosting, it ain't never gonna happen. It's the golf pro's event, and it has a professional purpose for him, and he's always going to be the one refereeing. My other regular group does not function this way, and never has. Every single person in my regular local group has hosted at one time or another, and there's a fairly regular tension and incentive to perform (if you can't keep your stuff on the stage regular, fresh, and interesting, then baby you'll lose your time to the next guy in line). Sometimes that pressure is good, and sometimes it's not (this is supposed to be a diversion after all, not a pro-am event). In the past two years, I've also tried floating a second local group, where I was the guy hosting all the time. This brings other kinds of pressures. So it's nice to be in a situation where the only pressure is to (a) get my ass into the-big-city on a weekly basis, and (b) remember what we did last week, and (c) relax and participate.
All this leads me to think about the game we're currently playing, and thoughts on rules and how they influence what actually happens in the game. But I'm not going to go into that now, and frankly may never do it, because I'm sure that road has already been trod by far more eloquent and thoughtful folk than me. (Yeah, that's what the world needs is another rolegame critic: Barthes-lite, or some-such. Feh.)
(a) I get to widen my social circle to people I almost certainly never would have met otherwise; in fact, some of them brought me here - they have blogs, and the urge to comment on their blogs led me to dip my toe in this pool. Whether that enlarges the richness of the wider world, or not, I have my doubts. But whatever. Sometimes I read some funny stuff. Sometimes i may even say some funny stuff. So that's good.
(b) I get to spend more time with a part of my family that I hardly ever see. The vagaries of big-city parking being what they are, and the fact that my aunt and uncle (the bohemians) live reasonably nearby, lets me stop off for a few hours to see them on an almost weekly basis. This has been enormously gratifying for a variety of personal reasons, including the fact that I got to see one of my cousins a few times before she died. So that's good.
(c) I get to realize that, really, it ain't so bad living in the not-so-big-city. The stuff that I'd probably care about, day to day, is pretty durn good right here, thenk-you-veddy-much. The bookstores ain't bad, the gamestores ain't bad, the restaurants aren't nearly as varied, but the ones I like ain't bad. The streets are cleaner, safer, and less congested. But I think a regular visit to the-big-city is a good way to keep all this in perspective. So that's good.
I also like the event, for reasons that do have to do with playing a game:
(a) I get to be in the group of a reasonably important figure in the hobby, it doesn't matter what his name is. What does matter is the opportunities this affords for me to observe and try to let some of those "I'm attempting to do this for a living" skillz find their way into my ownself's bag of tricks. So far, I've seen a few things which I'm trying to incorporate into the evenings I host.
(b) It gets me playing a wider variety of stuff. It's nice to see how the rubber actually meets the road with a wider variety of games. 'Cause it gets one noticing more things about how the rules work in the other games one plays.
(c) It's interesting to be in a group where I know that, no matter what I or the others in the room might want to try hosting, it ain't never gonna happen. It's the golf pro's event, and it has a professional purpose for him, and he's always going to be the one refereeing. My other regular group does not function this way, and never has. Every single person in my regular local group has hosted at one time or another, and there's a fairly regular tension and incentive to perform (if you can't keep your stuff on the stage regular, fresh, and interesting, then baby you'll lose your time to the next guy in line). Sometimes that pressure is good, and sometimes it's not (this is supposed to be a diversion after all, not a pro-am event). In the past two years, I've also tried floating a second local group, where I was the guy hosting all the time. This brings other kinds of pressures. So it's nice to be in a situation where the only pressure is to (a) get my ass into the-big-city on a weekly basis, and (b) remember what we did last week, and (c) relax and participate.
All this leads me to think about the game we're currently playing, and thoughts on rules and how they influence what actually happens in the game. But I'm not going to go into that now, and frankly may never do it, because I'm sure that road has already been trod by far more eloquent and thoughtful folk than me. (Yeah, that's what the world needs is another rolegame critic: Barthes-lite, or some-such. Feh.)
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-27 15:30 (UTC)"Every single person in my regular local group has hosted at one time or another, and there's a fairly regular tension and incentive to perform (if you can't keep your stuff on the stage regular, fresh, and interesting, then baby you'll lose your time to the next guy in line)."
Wow. Each group is so different. Around here there are guys who can run games, and some do a really good job of it, but I'm the only one who does. Although it makes me happy most of the time ... a vent for my creative endeavors and all that, sometimes it does get to be a bit of a drag. Additionally the guys end up putting up with some of my "bad" ideas ... system changes, game changes, and stuff because I'm the only one with the drive to string it together. A little pressure from others who want to run would (a) keep me on the straight and narrow a little more; (b) allow the players to vote with their feet and still have a game if I'm screwing things up royally; and (c) give me an occasional break when GM burnout hits me, as it occasionally does.
Doug.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-27 17:14 (UTC)My current goal is to keep the stage for a year; to get a year's worth of playtime out of Burning Wheel. I hope I can keep our feet on the path for a year. I think their's fun, creative value out of keeping a long-term campaign on its feet. It's just we're not so good at it right now (any more?)...
And, frankly, I'd like to get at least one long term, recent campaign under my belt. But if it can't be me, I'd like it to be one of us, dammit. 8)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-27 17:52 (UTC)After the three year L5R game ... probably the best game I've ever run, I wandered game-wise. I'd try this and that, dabble and muddle, and have fun, but not get the continuity I really wanted. On top of that, life flexed and altered the group several times, so I'd have players for a couple of months before some people would go, and some new blodd would arrive. A final difficulty: I suffered several spats of GM burnout, or at least GM not-having-any-fun.
A couple years ago the guys sat me down and said: it's long-term time again.
We tried it with HARP and pseudo-Vikings. It was going awesomely for several months, and then suddenly, out of left field we had a player out-of-gmae issue that melted the game. Then it was the "China Game" I was dreaming about for years ... and two months into it my life melted down.
Although it wasn't my current choice, the guys asked for L5R 3e this year, and I agreed. Hasn't been the best game I've ever run, but I'm heading into six months withno real sign of slowing down. We'll see if it survives the biggest barrier to all my games, the two month tasking season in the summer, when I'm away teaching recruits.
Doug.