How Many are Non-Gamers?

Kyle Aaron · May 28, 2014, 07:56:28 AM

Quote from: The Butcher;753371The people who are gaming less are not necessarily the ones stirring up shitstorms about "spherical cow" scenarios and other non-game-table-relevant minutiae.

Yes, they necessarily are.

People who are actually gaming have better things to worry about, like how can I get that last 50xp to level up so I don't have to wait until after this session, will Jerry bring his Aspberger's buddy with him again, why am I the only one who ever brings snacks, and where did all my d6es go and howcome I have so many fucking d12s?

flyerfan1991 · May 28, 2014, 08:05:21 AM

Quote from: Emperor Norton;753329Not to mention that RPGs require more than one person. So if I have commitments to my kids stuff, that change regularly, so might my other players. Or some of my players might not have set work schedules. Or some of my players may have legitimate issues like an autistic son who sometimes acts up in a way that makes it impossible for him to go out.

Look, if your life lets you set aside one afternoon at a set time every week for years on end, along with all your players as well, then more power to you, but man, that is not my life.

No kidding.

My 3.0 group has only one person without kids, and we all have time commitments for various things that change on a (seemingly) daily basis. While we keep the session time the same, we're not always able to make things work out.

It all reduces to what your priorities are. If your priorities are Gaming > Family > School commitments > Friends, then yeah, you're going to always make that weekly game night. If that gaming priority is somewhere lower, then sorry, you're not going to always make a weekly game.

Unless you're hard core, you probably don't have gaming as your highest priority.

Géza Echs · May 28, 2014, 09:45:56 AM

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;753382Yes, they necessarily are.

People who are actually gaming have better things to worry about, like how can I get that last 50xp to level up so I don't have to wait until after this session, will Jerry bring his Aspberger's buddy with him again, why am I the only one who ever brings snacks, and where did all my d6es go and howcome I have so many fucking d12s?

Really? Because you describe regular chatter at my games (well, except for the Asperger's buddy bit), while I have no idea what a "spherical cow" is.

Haffrung · May 28, 2014, 12:02:05 PM

Quote from: Emperor Norton;753329Not to mention that RPGs require more than one person. So if I have commitments to my kids stuff, that change regularly, so might my other players. Or some of my players might not have set work schedules. Or some of my players may have legitimate issues like an autistic son who sometimes acts up in a way that makes it impossible for him to go out.

Look, if your life lets you set aside one afternoon at a set time every week for years on end, along with all your players as well, then more power to you, but man, that is not my life.

Quote from: flyerfan1991;753387No kidding.

My 3.0 group has only one person without kids, and we all have time commitments for various things that change on a (seemingly) daily basis. While we keep the session time the same, we're not always able to make things work out.

It all reduces to what your priorities are. If your priorities are Gaming > Family > School commitments > Friends, then yeah, you're going to always make that weekly game night. If that gaming priority is somewhere lower, then sorry, you're not going to always make a weekly game.

Unless you're hard core, you probably don't have gaming as your highest priority.

+1. I have a group of five, including myself. All but one have kids. Our priorities are: family > work > leisure (of which gaming is anywhere from #1 to #3 depending on the time of year). Work commitments, and more especially family commitment, don't hold to a tidy schedule.

I question people who have families for whom gaming trumps all of these considerations.

Sorry honey, you'll have to tell your boss you can't go out of town that weekend - D&D.

I don't care if that's the only weekend the campground has sites available - that's D&D night.

The kids can't do soccer this year - the schedule will interfere with D&D.

You can go out for dinner with my parents by yourself - it's D&D night.

The Butcher · May 28, 2014, 12:03:56 PM

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;753382Yes, they necessarily are.

I don't think so.

I have good reason to believe that a goodly amount of people aren't gaming because they don't have the time to game. Let alone spout off irrelevant bullshit about them on the Internet.

Not all non-gamers (whatever definition you're using) are Bitter Non-Gamers. The BNGs are just the more vocal segment.

Novastar · May 28, 2014, 12:44:33 PM

Quote from: Black Vulmea;753312But this is all quite beside the point, as the asinine presumption of this thread is that if you don't play regularly within an arbitrary time interval, you are a non-gamer. The specifics are irrelevant - the whole idea that frequency determines cogency is too stupid to deserve serious consideration.

I think Pundit was looking for a 'Practicing Gamer', much like my wife is Roman Catholic, but the only time we've been in a church in the last 15 years has been for weddings and funerals; while she has a lifelong identification as a Roman Catholic, she is by no means a 'practicing' Catholic.

...and if you want to talk about people able to gather in large groups, for several hours, for years at a time, well...

beeber · May 28, 2014, 01:12:35 PM

haven't played in 3, going on 4 years, i think. left my old longstanding group and haven't felt the urge or need to hunt down a new one. video games or solitaire adaptations of other games fits the bill these days.

Kaiu Keiichi · May 28, 2014, 02:07:40 PM

Some folks simply don't have the bandwidth in their lives to live tabletop game. Anyone who wants to call themselves a gamer should be able to do so. I however identify myself as an active gamer - I play in a live tabletop once every other week, run 1 live game bi weekly, and participate in seveal PBPs.

Kiero · May 28, 2014, 02:31:26 PM

Quote from: Haffrung;753470I question people who have families for whom gaming trumps all of these considerations.

Sorry honey, you'll have to tell your boss you can't go out of town that weekend - D&D.

I don't care if that's the only weekend the campground has sites available - that's D&D night.

The kids can't do soccer this year - the schedule will interfere with D&D.

You can go out for dinner with my parents by yourself - it's D&D night.

I play on a weekday evening, not at the weekend, which makes all of these moot.

mcbobbo · May 28, 2014, 02:58:47 PM

Can I ask who moved the goalposts? OP -

QuoteHow many of you are actually NOT gaming at this time (with "not gaming" defined as having been at least one month without playing a game)? And if so, how long since you did?

Wherein lies "regular"? Where is the criteria that you can never miss or reschedule?

Also I would say that it should be a call to action. If you fit the definition but don't want to, maybe you can game some more? What would be the harm in that?

Especially in the internet age... Isn't there PBP on this very forum?

flyerfan1991 · May 28, 2014, 03:33:31 PM

Quote from: Kiero;753539I play on a weekday evening, not at the weekend, which makes all of these moot.

You must not have kids, because their after school activities aren't limited to weekends.

flyerfan1991 · May 28, 2014, 03:37:33 PM

Quote from: Haffrung;753470+1. I have a group of five, including myself. All but one have kids. Our priorities are: family > work > leisure (of which gaming is anywhere from #1 to #3 depending on the time of year). Work commitments, and more especially family commitment, don't hold to a tidy schedule.

I question people who have families for whom gaming trumps all of these considerations.

Sorry honey, you'll have to tell your boss you can't go out of town that weekend - D&D.

I don't care if that's the only weekend the campground has sites available - that's D&D night.

The kids can't do soccer this year - the schedule will interfere with D&D.

You can go out for dinner with my parents by yourself - it's D&D night.

Exactly.

My brother-in-law games twice a week (and works on a podcast as well) because he and my sister-in-law don't have kids. They are as active as they are because they have that free time, which her sister, my wife, and I don't have with our three kids.

Is one better or worse than the other? No, it simply is what it is.

Are my brother-in-law and I both active gamers? Yes, because we both game as much as we can fit it into our schedules. He just is able to do more than I am.

mcbobbo · May 28, 2014, 03:50:26 PM

I solved the kids problem by involving them. Well the oldest anyway.

flyerfan1991 · May 28, 2014, 04:20:23 PM

Quote from: mcbobbo;753577I solved the kids problem by involving them. Well the oldest anyway.

So have I, but they do their own thing these days. I still want the schedule to settle down so I can have some prep time to run some RPGs with them, but I recognize reality.

soltakss · May 28, 2014, 04:26:49 PM

Quote from: flyerfan1991;753573My brother-in-law games twice a week (and works on a podcast as well) because he and my sister-in-law don't have kids. They are as active as they are because they have that free time, which her sister, my wife, and I don't have with our three kids.

The person in our group who games twice a week has 3 kids, the rest of us don't have kids.

I think it depends on the person and the situation.

Quote from: flyerfan1991;753573Is one better or worse than the other? No, it simply is what it is.

That is the important thing.

It doesn't matter if you play RPGs every day, or every week, or every month, or every year, or just at conventions, or at lads' weekends or not at all.

Nor does it matter if you think of yourself as a gamer or hate the word gamer, identify with a gaming culture or just play now and again.

Some people have inferiority complexes about the fact that they don't play very often, other feel superior because they play a lot. It doesn't really matter.

What matters is that you have fun when you game.