As a player, it's always been a very mixed picture. I've played all sorts of games, hard to spot real trends.

As GM there have been definite phases. I am terrible with years, but it went something like this...

20 years ago  - Mostly playing, though I had a stab at running Amber, Pendragon among other things.

15 years ago - My first real GMing obsession was Gamma World. I went a few good years just running one Gamma World campaigns one after the other, most of which were pretty memorable.

10 years ago - Mostly running Fudge or D6 (Star Wars) games with few dry spells in which I was not running, or even playing, anything at all.

5 years ago - Flirted with the new breed of "Indie" small press games and marveled at all the new, bold ideas. It was an interesting experiment and I think my GMing has improved because of it but ultimately it was all a bit disappointing. This phase ended when for a change of pace I decided to run a TSR Marvel Superhero campaign at that was just sensational.

Now - ICONS, Fate (Bulldogs! and homebrew stuff) and Barbarians of Lemuria have pretty much been my staples for the passed couple of years. ICONS in particular is such a joy to run.

Quote from: Zachary The First;632998I realize some of our younger members might not be able to answer for all the spans here, but if we were to go back 5 years, what would you most likely be playing or running at your game table? 10 years? 15? 20 or more? How does that compare to what you're playing/running today?

Today: Age of Heroes, HERO System
5 years: Age of Heroes, HERO System (Shadowrun 3rd, Deadlands classic)
10 years: Age of Heroes, HERO System
15 years: Age of Heroes, HERO System
20 years: Age of Heroes, HERO System
25 years: Age of Heroes, HERO System
30 years: Age of Heroes, HERO System
33 years: Age of Heroes, HERO System
34+ years: Everything published

Quote from: gleichman;63304534+ years: Everything published

What were Buccaneer and Crimson Cutlass like in actual play?

Five years ago: D&D 3.5, Call of Cthulhu, Harn, Kult.

Ten years ago: D&D 3.0, Vampire LARP, Demon tabletop, a brief Transhuman Space game.

Fifteen years ago: Nothing that I can recall.

Twenty years ago: Vampire, Cyberpunk, Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia.

my answer is the same, going back to 1981:

AD&D, B/X, and a ton of homebrew created systems.  A sprinkling of other games in there as well, like WFRP1e, Palladium, RIFTS, etc.

Present: Adventurer Conqueror King System

5 Years Ago: Legend of the Five Rings 3rd edition

10 Years Ago: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 1st edition

15 Years Ago: Shadowrun 2E

20 Years Ago: Street Fighter RPG

2008 (-5 years): Changeling the Lost, Shadowrun 3e, D&D 3e (Arthurian Britain)
2003 (-10 years): Shadowrun 3e, D&D 3e (Forgotten Realms), Elric!, Call of Cthulhu
1998 (-15 years): AD&D 2e (FR, Ravenloft, Birthright), Alternity, Shadowrun 2e/3e, Call of Cthulhu, Werewolf, Vampire, Mage
1993 (-20 years): Rifts, AD&D 2e (FR)
1988 (-25 years): AD&D 1e (FR), B/X D&D (Known World)
1983 (-30 years): B/X D&D (Known World), Marvel Super Heroes

Probably lots of other stuff, but these are the ones I remember. Also, 1997-2004ish, tons of Warhammer 40K

5 years ago: Burning Wheel, Spirit of the Century, Universalis, d20 Modern, and starting to write what would become Diaspora.

10 years ago: D&D 3

15 years ago: nothing

20 years ago: nothing

25 years ago: Traveller, Twilight:2000, Traveller:2300 (I think this is the right slot)

30 years ago: AD&D, Traveller, Twilight:2000, Top Secret

35 years ago: AD&D, Traveller

Quote from: Black Vulmea;633060What were Buccaneer and Crimson Cutlass like in actual play?

Buccaneer is not striking a bell (it may never had made into the local game stores for us to try), Crimson Cutlass stikes a bit of bell for some reason.

The thing to remember, is that we didn't like anything we played during that period (for a number of different reasons)- the hobby had more promise than anything until 1980. Until then the best rpgs were converted wargames.

Present: Serenity, Exalted, D&D 3x
5 Years Ago: Star Wars D20, Chaos Earth and RIFTS, BFRPG
10 Years: Exalted, Star Wars D20, Aberrant, Adventure!, D&D 3, LOT5R
15 Years: DBZ, Mekton Z, Cyberpunk 2020, RIFTS
20 Years: A lot of Palladium (HU, RIFTS, TMNT)

Five years ago: I wasn't gaming much during this time; it was a lull for me though it's really picked up in recent years. All I can remember is a WoD Mortals one-shot and I think a Godlike one-shot too.

Ten years ago: A lot of D20 (3rd Edition, D20 Modern) along with some Tri-Stat and Call of Cthulhu on occasion as well. Plus I probably tried whatever game was buzzworthy at the time at least once. This was probably my gaming heyday.

Fifteen years ago: A Rules Cylopedia D&D PBEM game that lasted about 6-9 months, but that was it as it was another lull period of gaming for me. Though I picked up V:tM and was even thinking about giving the LARPing scene a try.

Twenty years ago: A bit of AD&D 2nd Edition, and occasionally a Palladium game like TMNT. I'd bought the Rules Cyclopedia but hadn't used it for anything yet.

Twenty-five years ago: Basic/Expert D&D, though I didn't know anyone besides my brother who gamed, so we just ran games for each other.

5 years - WoD, Amber, D&D 2e
10 years - D&D 2e, Kabal (homebrew), Amber
15 years - CoC, D&D 2e, , Amber + a lot of CCGs
20 years - D&D 2e, CoC, Amber, Bladerunner (homebrew)
25 years - Daredevils, 2e D&D + Battlesystem, Bladerunner (Homebrew), James Bond 007, Judge Dredd
30 years - Daredevils, Traveller, Various Homebrewed, CoC, AD&D, Jame Bond, Aftermath, V&V, Boot Hill, Paranoia and lots of Car Wars
33 years - Blue book D&D, AD&D, Traveller, Bunnies and Burrows

5 years ago:  Nothing - on a break from the hobby.
10 years ago:  Classic Spycraft, Pendragon and 3E GURPS.
15 years ago:  WEG Star Wars.
20 years ago:  WEG Star Wars.

In March of 2008, I released In Harm's Way: Wild Blue, so I would have been running that.

In March of 2003, I released Sweet Chariot 1st Edition, so I would have been running that.

In March of 1998, I would have been running AD&D 2E

In March of 1993, I would have been running AD&D 2E.

In March of 1988, I would have been running AD&D 1E.

In March of 1983, I would have been running AD&D 1E.

In March of 1978, I would have been running some version of D&D, or maybe Classic Traveller.

In March of 1973, I would have been playing music...

-clash

I'll have to remember from now on when talking to you all that I'm dealing with old decrepit minds

That explains a lot of opinions I see here actually...

Senility and dementia