Introspection: Gaming Preference Categories

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, spurred on by the many demands on my time and resources.

My current gaming preferences are broken up into two major categories: reading, GMing, and playing.

Lexx, for example, was a read or play setting. But I'd never
run a game in the setting -- I'd be worried about getting the
feel of the setting and the tone of the stories right.

Game Reading refers to the games that I get a kick out of reading.

It may be because the premise is intriguing or particularly difficult to realize in the realm of RPGs. It may be because the art and layout are impressive, or because the rules and/or the setting or the writing are fantastic. It may be because the reviews of gameplay are outstanding. I want to read it and see for myself -- but it's unlikely I'll GM or play it because I just don't have the time or the readily available game posse yet.

As you might imagine, this category has the broadest selection of products in it.


Game Playing refers to games that I want to play in.

I may be attracted by the premise, or the setting, or a new game mechanic. I may even be interested in seeing how people I know run the game or play in the game. I'll want to see how combat is handled, where the edges of the 'sandbox' are, where the rails of the 'railroad' are, and find out how the gameplay feels.

As an avid gamer, this category has a slightly less broad selection. For example, I'm no longer into the whole World of Darkness setting/system -- though I will pick up books and leaf through them out of curiosity -- so I'll usually give playing in a WOD or nWOD game a pass.


Game GMing refers to games that spark my imagination and desire to run a game (either out of the box or modified setting- / rules-wise).

The game premise is particularly important here -- what kind of adventures and experiences will the players go through, and are they interesting enough for me as a GM to go through the reading and prep time necessary in addition to running the game? The setting comes a close second, and a unique system will count for a one-shot try -- provided I can use that system for some other game I'll be running in the future.

This is the narrowest selection of games despite my apparent interest in a lot of the developments in the RPG industry. These days, the desire for experimentation --  wanting to try out a bunch of systems and settings -- is tempered by the reality that I just don't have that many people interested in trying them out, and even then my learning/prep/running time is limited.

For the young ones and the young once who do have the time, enjoy all the industry offerings while you can!