I've been a member of rpol on and off for about a decade and a half.  I've come to the conclusion in the past six months that there simply isn't enough interest in the games I want to play in order to go through the effort of maintaining an account.

As such, I'm hanging up my hat and retiring from tabletop gaming.  I've been a gamer since the mid 1980s but it's apparent to me that I've no longer the interest in the hobby that I used to have.

As such, I want to wish the best to everyone and luck with games in the future.

Well, that's a bad new. I have enjoyed playing in your game, even if that was a short session.
You were the kind of GM that I like to play with. I wish you the best for the future. :)

I have to second that.  I've gamed since white box D+D.  I went to the game store and got the 'what do you want oldster, this is no place for you' treatment from the 20-somethings ostensibly running the place, and the stock was running heavily to card games - rpgs, terrain and wargaming minis were just pathetically scant.

So, I have to give it a think, whether or not gaming is a hobby worth continuing.  I know I have less time and energy now.  I haven't even run a wargame for over a year now, nor painted a miniature, nor have I attended a wargame convention (and there are 3 big ones in driving distance).  Perhaps I'll just liquidate the mini collection before my spouse has to do a 'estate sale' on it.

I'm an old time gamer too. I started with Avalon Hill in high school in the mid-60s.

I got into RPGs with OD&D when it came out in '74 and have RPGed my way through Morrow Project, Deadlands, Dragon Slayer, Millenium's End, Call of Cthulhu, Savage Worlds, etc, etc. AD&D didn't do it for me and the later editions just got further away from my preferences.

I tried CCGs and such, but they never really did it for me (except Mythos). I also gave various dice games and such a whirl, but they didn't endure.

I played MMORPGs and PC RPGs for a while, but that wasn't the right fit.

I like some of the new-style board games.

I don't have anyone to game with in person these days, so I slake my thirst with PbP (Rpol) and an annual trip to Origins Games Fair with my daughter, who's been my writing and game-playing and GMing partner for fifteen years now (since she was 13).

I like character-driven stories about people who aren't demigods and superheroes. I like pretty simple mechanics, but free-form isn't my thing. I run a couple of games here that usually take a year or so to come to a conclusion and play in a half-dozen most of the time, some of them for several years now, I guess.

What sort of games are you looking for, Hunter, Silverlock? Maybe we can work something out.

Once a gamer, always a gamer, IMO.
Fashions come and go, games come and go, sites come and go, and moods come and go. I've had such despairing thoughts myself from time to time, but what else would you do?

I didn't get into RPGs for the 1st ed D&D, but I bought 1st ed Traveller. I reckon I'll still be playing games from a chair with a blanket over my knees, by which time there may be ten billion people on this planet. Surely six of them, worldwide, will be willing to RP for a few months at a time?

If the kids don't know how to game with dice, I'll teach 'em.

I suspect/hope you'll be back, but until then good luck with your other hobbies - whatever they may be. :)

Speaking as a guy who once tossed his game books in the trash, stick with it man! This site is the only way I rp. One of my friends mentioned being in a dnd group, but its 5e. So rpol it is. I agre with ico, have fun with your other hobbies, just don't forget about here.

Besides, if we give up, who will teach others the joys of these games?

When I read that message, I have to say I've felt that way before. I know that feeling of disinterest, it's one of the few valid reasons to give up a hobby like this. I have seen a few "goodbye" threads on these forums, and many of them were because of one isolated event. I'm happy to see that you made your decision based off the whole picture rather than a decision on the fly. Do us all a favor, save the bookmark. Don't check back, forget about the site a bit. Then one day when you're bored, hopefully you'll stumble on the bookmark and think, "Boy I haven't checked there in forever, let's see what they're up to." It'd be nice to not lose too many of our gamers who are clearly mature enough to make difficult decisions.

Good luck in whatever adventures await you next.

In reply to Gaffer (msg # 4):

You know Gaffer, you're right; Origins is the place to go.  The spouse and I went about six years ago, and have had too much happen by way of jobs and life that prevented us from returning.  In our time we played Call of Cthulhu, D+D, AD+D, Gurps, Traveller, and most recently, Hollow Earth Expeditions (found it at Origins).  Miniature rules I make up, pirates, zombies, weird science, monsters, manic races set during the French and Indian wars (won a prize for that one), Revolting Peasants, general mayhem.  Then the strain of hauling all the stuff around to the conventions, not to mention time to take from work (not the best job, let me just say), was too much.  I'd had a thought to bring it to the local game shop and get some play in, but from the reception I got, most definitely NOT the venue.  They'd probably charge me table rent and sneer when my arthritis acted up.  Our kids were into gaming a bit, but it didn't stick, any more than the MMRPGs stuck with me.  Can't get into 'kill monster, steal loot, make more stuff, repeat'.

It IS time for the miniatures to be cleared out though, I will never have time to paint four thousand assorted Vikings, NW Frontier, mediaeval, etc etc etc.

Think positive. There's 30+ years of retirement to come, when you're bound to get bored and go rooting round the attic looking for something to do. Won't it be great to dig out those old miniatures and give em a coat of paint?

I'm not getting rid of mine anytime soon, I've got a whole second childhood to play out yet. :)

In reply to Silverlock (msg # 8):

Never get rid of  miniatures, you never know when you may have family members that become interested in this fine art of ours. Keep it alive man, we are a dying breed in this world and the sad fact is humanity needs people like us. We are this rare breed of artists that combine both left and right brain thinking into a single art form.

Plus I can't even count the times on my finger where I needed 4'000 vikings! That'd be one epic battle.

So go already.  We'll still be here when you want to come back.

I don't look old enough to get 'go away, Old-Timer' looks at my local game store (recently had a woman tell me she thought I was almost two decades younger than I actually am), but when I go look at game stores (which doesn't happen often, these days), I don't see a whole lot that grabs my attention.

That said, I've got no plans to give up gaming anytime soon.  I still have a group of friends that loves to play, even though they live an hour and a half away from me...and as long as I can find someone on here running a game that intrigues me, I'll play, even if it's only a post a week or whatever.

But I do have hobbies I've put on the shelf because they lost their appeal for me, or I no longer had time for them, or they just got to the point where the expense to continue with them was greater than my budget would allow.  I haven't disposed of the gear (yet)...but I have repurposed some of it from time to time (my fencing rapiers became stage props a couple of years ago...required different blades, but there you have it...)

Take a break...if it becomes intriguing to you again, we'll be here.  If not...happy trails and clear sailing and all that jazz.

I am back after many years - its never too late to start over again.

I have fond memories of RPOL and despite all the new computer games out there - (Dragon age, I am looking in your direction), RPOL offers so much that they cannot.

I predict you will return and if not, I hope you find something fun to do!

I personally am not playing or running any games any more. Brain to fried for it.
But I still come here for the forums and to stay in touch with this community.
So you don't Have to be a player to come by and chat a bit.

Interest wanes and waxes.
My books sat in storage on and off for many years. Just recently got some gamers together that clicked and now we don't have enough days in a week to get time in on the campaign.

I will never get rid of any of my gaming "stuff". When I pass I want my kids to go through it all with their spouses and their kids and look at it all and ask themselves ... "What sort of sick and twisted individual was he really ?"

I've been in a similar mind-set before. Still kinda am, but a few people still keep me wanting to slog forward. (I would also like to point out my computer grammar says "kinda" is more correct than "Kind of")

I've heard it said in the context of flying, but it goes for anything you enjoy.

One day, you'll do something knowing it is for the last time.

Or...

One day, you'll do something NOT knowing it is for the last time.

Either way, it's sad.

Guess we are all old timers. I have been gaming since the late 1970s. I game once a week face to face but I am very happy for RPOL

Sometimes it's easy to get burned out.  After a break and some time away, perhaps you'll change your mind and come back.
We'll be here.  :)

That we will. Unless we decide we need a break too. But leave a message ... And would the last one out please turn off the lights and lock the doors !

But if you lock the door, please leave the key under the mat so we can get back inside if/when we come back.

Will do! ;)

Idk about all this doom and gloom talk, I havent had a problem maintaning a healthy interest in roleplay or getting into very enjoyable games lately, ill admit, None of the games have been on rpol they have been offsite on chat based forums. Tho its for no lack of trying to get one going on here. Most games just peter out after a few months leaving hard worked dm's heartbroken and players reeling from shock. I feel the distance comes from the mentality of the play by post format. While its convenient because you can post anytime you want you end up posting...when you feel like it and that bitter taste spreads like a throbbing infection to all the players and its relfected into the community.

I recently came back after a year long hiatus from rpol and havent had horrible luck finding a game thats promising and even started a pretty ambitious interest check with myself as the dm.

And I feel for anyone trying to sell off gaming minis, I have $20,000 tied up in warhammer models that have an effective resale value of $1000

Don't you just love that feeling, Add that together with most of the stores in my area closed so driving an hour to "Possibly" get a game in really blows. I've taken to just letting a few of my friends with tons more free time take a few armies of mine so that one day, possibly in an edition, I will once again have free time and can use one of my other 5 mothballed armies

In reply to Andrew Wilson (msg # 24):

Like most things, this Rpol/PbP is what you make it, especially as a GM.

The game is the GM's responsibility to keep moving. And I think that's the biggest thing, keep the game moving!

If you only have two players who post promptly out of six, push the game forward with those two, treating the others as NPCs. If that means you only have two players, so be it. Re-chart your plans and make it a great game for those two PCs.

If the game just isn't working, tell your players you're sorry and close it down. But don't get all pouty and blame the players.

If you're playing in a game, do your best to keep it moving. Make good posts that move the story and give other players and the GM something to respond to.

Don't get into long single sentence conversations with NPCs or PCs. That kind of thing can be dynamic around a table, but in posts it just draaaaaaagsss... Ask all your questions in one post, using context to indicate whether you're drilling the guy rapid fire or giving the gal time to think.

If something's bothering you about the way the game's going, speak up! Tell the GM why you're losing interest and ask for what you need.

If you realize you're in a story that doesn't appeal to you or that isn't the game you expected, don't drag along making a post every week or so when you feel like you have to. Tell the GM and leave the game and find another one.

Or start your own. See above.

Absolutely!  The format is so very different from other styles of game that you cannot expect to just reproduce a table top of video experience in text and make it work.  It needs its own style.

But on the other hand, like a book can delve into so much more than other forms of game can.  Background and environment, whole "sourcebooks" can be woven into posts to create a mentally immersive world, where a video game can only give you a visually immersive game.

Good luck Hunter. I have tried quitting my gaming hobby before for the exact same reasons, then I get a newsletter from Drivethrurpg with an interesting game I'd like to run, or a friend pitches me an idea, or I feel nostalgic, and I am back to it a month or so later. It feels like quitting smoking was easier.

In reply to icosahedron152 (msg # 9):

Fraid my genetic timeclock won't run 30 more years; if we make it to 80 we're doing bloody well.  More so I don't want the spouse to have an estate sale wherein the buzzards pay pennies for what cost me thousands.  And maybe we can actually DO something with the little bit of Wonga that will come from selling off the unused stuff.

Gaming has changed.  For a while, the only games I could find were here on RPOL.  Given I still have a job working for Satan and all his daemons, and can't retire for some time to come, I'll consolidate the collection down to a more manageable level and give up on the minis.   I'm not going back to the game store (which is a pity, as I had ready to spend cash in my pocket AND it is in my hometown), but I might go back to Origins, someday.  I still GM my CoC game, but that's getting harder now.

In reply to Silverlock (msg # 29):

If you make it to Origins, come see us in the Rogue Cthulhu room.

Now didn't I say 'think positive'?? :)


Yes, gaming has changed, but it'll change again. At the moment everything is 'virtual', but Play by Post is becoming as archaic as the original Face to Face. I have a suspicion that 15 years from now it'll go full circle and we'll be moving our own miniatures under a camera in some form of video conferencing. We have the technology today, but it's beyond the pocket of most citizens. Maybe those miniatures will be useful yet. :)