One of the things I like most about this hobby is that everything takes a long time. Running a game session takes hours. Preparing for a campaign takes longer. Plotting out a dungeon or a hex map is painstaking. Writing things for publication is a frustratingly drawn-out process, full of false starts and failures and do-overs. Reading rule-books and digesting them can't be done in an hour.
All of this feels, to me, like an antidote to the world we live in - the web of tweets and video games and work emails and internet arguments and forgettable clickbait bullshit that can drag you down and turn your life into a hollowed-out simulacrum of living if you're not careful. Gaming means devoting time and energy to making and doing things that are good. This is important. There is a sanctuary in craftsmanship. If all the internet activity you involve yourself in day-to-day (staring at your phone, checking your emails, commenting on news articles, reading other people's opinions, losing yourself in the visual and auditory fantasies of youtube, Spotify and tumblr) begins to feel like an obligation, like work, then the role playing hobby is the Sabbath.
Not something I had considered before, but I think you are on to something here.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that that is why we consider this to be hobby. It gives me something pleasant to think about while the world burns.
ReplyDeleteI dig where you're coming from, but conversely some of the best play I've experienced comes from an on-the-fly, seat of the pants methodology.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that disproves your theory at all, though. I think on-the-fly really only works if you've spent the time honing your narrative reflexes. (Plus I believe that true spontaneity comes from marinating in your campaign world enough that you can answer questions that come up instinctively. I bet if your players ducked into a random doorway in Yoon-Suin you'd be able to tell them what's beyond in short order even if you hadn't explicitly written it up.)
Long story short, I think time is a factor but you need to know the most enriching way to spend it. To each their own. It's really all about developing that comfort level for when you go out on stage.
Yes, that's true. Good improvisation comes at the end of a lot of practice.
DeleteThis is an actual trend - not only in gaming. Analog hobbies are on the rise.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. It's a bit of a defining trend of late modernity.
DeleteToo true, been spending 10+ hours prepping for a one-shot in a system I haven't run for three or so years. I've regretted none of that time.
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