What kind of games do you play now ?
D&D3.5, Red Dwarf, FUDGE5, sometimes nWoD

What kind of games did you play before ?
D&D3, Engel, WoD (LARP & tabletop)

Did system matter much you when you first started gaming? Does it matter now?
No, I didn't know better. Now I do.

Do the people you game with, influence the way you play? Are the people you are playing with now, a roadblock to the kind of style you prefer?
Certainly influential. Not really a roadblock, as my styles is still forming.

Did any particular game influence your playstyle?
I get my ideas from what I read.

Does participating in forums influence your playstyle?
Not really.

Did theory influence you in any way?
I like Pundit's ideas about playing.

Was there a specific moment when you said, "this is not working, I'm not having any fun, something's got to change" or something like that...
Yeah, when my college's Vampire LARP imploded.

Were the people you were playing with at the time, supportive of your new found outlook?
They didn't have a choice either.

Did you ever lose interest in rpgs? Why?
I've gotten cynical at times, but haven't quit.

Did any particular game revive your interest and did you go back to your old style or was it something different?
N/A

Do you think your gaming group encourages the kind of playstyle you want or are they indifferent to it or actively discourage your desired playstyle?
They're happy as long as I keep running.

Does your gaming group, talk about the different playstyles out there ?
Too busy looting the bodies.

Does your playstyle change according to the kind of game you are playing?
Sure. I play much more aggressively when not playing Call of Cthulhu.

Have you found that after playing one type of game - say an indie game - you bring over ideas/elements etc that you used in the indie game, to your more mainstream regular games?
Maybe, I try to make my games cinematic like the GM for Engel did.

Do some playstyles bother you? Why?
I hate melodrama and angst. I get enough of that in real life!

Do you think a game should encourage a particular playstyle? Yes/No why?
No, it's a waste of ink. More crunch and fluff! Don't tell me how to play you bastards!

What kind of games do you play now ?

All kinds of roleplaying games. As long as they are great.

What kind of games did you play before ?

All kinds of games. As long as they were (and still are) great.

Did system matter much you when you first started gaming? Does it matter now?

Yes it did. It does even more now.

Do the people you game with, influence the way you play?

Yes.

Are the people you are playing with now, a raodblock to the kind of style you prefer?

No.

Did any particular game influence your playstyle?

I've learned from each and everyone of them, with varying degrees. Everway was extremely influential.

Does participating in forums influence your playstyle?

It does make me ponder sometimes. So a mild yes.

Did theory influence you in any way?

Yes, slightly.

Was there a specific moment when you said, "this is not working, I'm not having any fun, something's got to change" or something like that...

Yeah. I grew older and determined communication was key.

Were the people you were playing with at the time, supportive of your new found outlook?

I told those who weren't supportive to go fuck a goat.  

Did you ever lose interest in rpgs?

Yeah, particularly during my teenage years.

Why?

Because I wanted to party, to get drunk and to get laid as often as possible. I was ashamed of the gamers I knew.

Did any particular game revive your interest and did you go back to your old style or was it something different?

I went back to roleplaying when I decided to "create" new gamers myself out of normal people, instead of fucked up individuals of the basement-dwelling variety.

Do you think your gaming group encourages the kind of playstyle you want or are they indifferent to it or actively discourage your desired playstyle?

Slight resiliency by new folks is ok. But I wouldn't game more than once or twice with people who have different goals than mine. Who would?
 
Does your gaming group, talk about the different playstyles out there ?

Nope.

Does your playstyle change according to the kind of game you are playing?

Yes, a lot.

Have you found that after playing one type of game - say an indie game - you bring over ideas/elements etc that you used in the indie game, to your more mainstream regular games?

Rarely, but it does happen.

Do some playstyles bother you? Why?

Nope, not at all. But I am annoyed by shitty games and there are a lot of them.

Do you think a game should encourage a particular playstyle? Yes/No why?

A game should be cohesive and consistent. A playstyle to me consists of a variety of elements, small details. I do think every game should encourage a particular playstyle but I consider a playstyle to be something difficult to describe in a few words.

What kind of games do you play now ?  Mainly D&D 3.5.

What kind of games did you play before ? Roughly chronologically:
D&D (pamphlets), AD&D, home-brew versions of D&D, Champions, many homebrew games, D&D, Hero system, Rolemaster, FUDGE, ruleless homebrew,
rules-light fantasy homebrew, D&D 3

Did system matter much you when you first started gaming? Does it matter now?
When I first started, rules were so incomplete and hard to understand that game play was largely improvised.  When they were systemized (AD&D) games degenerated into rule lawyering.  Then I played in a variant game where the players really didn't even KNOW
most of the rules, and it was great.  So my early lesson was:  System matters but mostly in a negative way.   It bogs down the game when players are too conscious of rules.  Stupid and arbitrary rules are OK as long as no one really pays much attention to them.  


Do the people you game with, influence the way you play?
Of course.  Different groups have different chemistries.

 Are the people you are playing with now, a raodblock to the kind of style you prefer?
Well, some of the people I play with have annoying gaming quirks, and if I could magically delete these quirks leaving the rest of the person untouched, I might be happier.  And there are some fun things I've done with other groups that I wouldn't do with my current group.  But the question seems bizarre.  If they were a ``roadblock'' I'd quit the group.

Did any particular game influence your playstyle?  All of the above.

Does participating in forums influence your playstyle?  To some extent.  The rfg
advocacy newgroup was the most influential, with the threefold way breakdown.
I decided that I didn't have to be a strict simulationist or gamist,
and could make decisions as a GM based on what would be the most fun, not what
is ``fair'' or what ``really would happen''.  

Did theory influence you in any way?  Yes, see above.  Many other ``theory''
discussions were influential.

Was there a specific moment when you said, "this is not working, I'm not having any fun, something's got to change" or something like that...

First, one of my close friends quit my college D&D game.  I asked why, and he gave
a bunch of reasons why the game sucked and I realized how right he was.  That started me putting more plot into my game, rather than random dungeon-crawling.  He eventually started playing again.

Years later, I was playing a few groups in a highly random game at a game store (a bizarre Arduin variant) with some kids, some college students, and a bizarre GM.  There was one aspect I liked (humor acting in character) but there was no real story or challenge.  So I quit and started taking improv comedy classes instead.

Were the people you were playing with at the time, supportive of your new found outlook?
The first time, they really liked the change.  The second time, I quit playing with them.

Did you ever lose interest in rpgs? Why?  I never lost interest, but there have been a couple of periods where I couldn't find good games and gave up.

Did any particular game revive your interest and did you go back to your old style or was it something different?   Well, the longest period I had quit, my friend from college moved into my general area, and we started playing together.  

Do you think your gaming group encourages the kind of playstyle you want or are they indifferent to it or actively discourage your desired playstyle?

We negotiate what we want in the game.  For example, when I asked players for criticism of the game I'm currently running, many of them asked for tougher, more complex fights that lasted longer.  So I've been more ``gamist'' since then than would be my natural proclivity.  

Does your gaming group, talk about the different playstyles out there ? Not really.

Does your playstyle change according to the kind of game you are playing?
Yes, although I tend to stay ``lightly immersive'' in most games.  

Have you found that after playing one type of game - say an indie game - you bring over ideas/elements etc that you used in the indie game, to your more mainstream regular games?  No.  And I don't think the few indie games I've played are less ``mainstream''

Do some playstyles bother you? Why?  Some games I've been in bored me to tears  or made me feel frustrated.  I wouldn't want to keep playing like that, or with those people.

Do you think a game should encourage a particular playstyle? Yes/No why?
I'm not quite sure what this means.  If a designer creates a game with a particular playstyle in mind, it makes sense to tell the players what the intended playstyle is
for that game, especially if that's not the default for gaming groups.