Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LGMoses 01-29-07, 10:49 PM	Do you enjoy playing Living Greyhawk or homebrew games more?
kenobi65 01-30-07, 10:35 AM	I prefer home campaigns. That doesn't mean I don't like LG; I just like my home campaigns *more*. But... In the home groups I play in, I'm almost always the DM. The RPGA gives me my primary chance to actually *play*. I'd also point out that LG isn't...well, wasn't, anyway...my favorite RPGA campaign. That honor would go to the late Living Force, followed by the soon-to-be-late Living Death. Again, doesn't mean I don't like LG; I just liked those other campaigns more.
MatteBlack 01-30-07, 02:02 PM	I'll generally enjoy the homebrew campaigns of my friends more but, our DMs have a tendency to run out of steam or the campaigns are disbanded by an unhappy minority of players who wish to move on to something else. As a player who likes to have long lived characters with game earned histories, I like the fact that LG is a much more stable campaign that won't get derailed by a few relative small issues or scheduling hiccups. Flatly, LG has a certain "momentum" that encourages me to invest in my character more. My secondary reason is that the rules are much better documented than our homegames often are. There are no "house rules" and anything that departs from the printed books is documented much more clearly and regularly. I like a customized original adventure better than a generic module but, LGs consistency in gaming is a greater appeal to me. Lee
clannagh 01-30-07, 07:03 PM	Do you enjoy playing Living Greyhawk or homebrew games more? I have three issues with home games. - I spend a lot of time creating characters .. not just a build but a good background and concept and locally our home games "fizz" after a few months and you shelve the character forever .. not cost effective timewise - our home games often deteriorate into a competition between a couple of players rather than a co-operation against the challenges, this is very boring for the players not involved in the "oneupmanship" - unless we have a really assertive GM the tendency in our home games is for the aggressive types to grab all the treasure take over the party and harass the GM into eventually giving them the +5 vorpal demon possessed animated great sword they have decided will match their characters leetness
Haro 01-30-07, 08:34 PM	I have three issues with home games. - I spend a lot of time creating characters .. not just a build but a good background and concept and locally our home games "fizz" after a few months and you shelve the character forever .. not cost effective timewise - unless we have a really assertive GM the tendency in our home games is for the aggressive types to grab all the treasure take over the party and harass the GM into eventually giving them the +5 vorpal demon possessed animated great sword they have decided will match their characters leetness I'm with you there 100%. The flexibility and customisation of a homebrew is its greatest advantage. Unfortunately I don't believe there are that many DMs out there that can consistently deliver 'better than LG' writing and storytelling over a long period of time. Those homebrews that do have one, more power to you. In a perfect world, homebrew wins every time. Unfortunately the world is very rarely perfect and for that reason I much prefer LG. Joe
kenobi65 01-31-07, 12:27 AM	Haro and clannagh, all I can say is that I feel sorry for you. You obviously haven't been able to experience a good home campaign. (Note: I'm not trying to be snarky or anything here; I honestly feel sorry for you guys and your bad experiences.) It *is* possible to have home groups that aren't all cheese-monkeys, and campaigns that last more than 3 months. I play in 3 home groups: #1 is a campaign that I've been playing in for 25 years. #2 is a campaign that's been going on for 3 years, and it's the fourth campaign of 3+ years that this group has run through together. #3 is a campaign that's only been going for 6 months, but that's after finishing a campaign that took 4 years to run. And, virtually all of the players in my groups are solid role-players, who spend a lot of time working on their characters, and have some concept of game balance. So, I suppose all of that does color my initial response in this thread.
Haro 01-31-07, 01:00 AM	It *is* possible to have home groups that aren't all cheese-monkeys, and campaigns that last more than 3 months. Yeah, I fully appreciate what a good gaming group could create together, given a stable group of people and a creative, dedicated DM. Unfortunately the stars have to align just right for that to happen, thus LG is an excellent but flawed alternative. Joe
solbergb 02-01-07, 04:39 PM	We had a lot of long running campaigns for various games in high school and college. When people started having jobs, family, etc it really became hard to schedule. We do occasionally get a several year campaign off the ground, but our last one died right when we were about two adventures from finally succeeding a really hard story arc becauese the GM just got tired and had difficulty with running a higher APL game. For every long campaign that went well, I've played about four that fizzled, usually due to relationship issues (somebody was dating somebody else and they broke up, or somebody important moved out of town) or scheduling issues (nobody can ever seem to play on the same day each month, and months pass without scheduling working until the game dies - unlike RPGA episodic games, you can't miss a session usually) RPGA games work remarkably well for busy people to find games, in spite of the limitations of the structure. When I had both games, the home game made me appreciate LG's relative freedom to do what you want within a pretty wide acess list of books/rules/options and not needing to fit into the setting/plot the GM has in mind. LG made me appreciate the homegame, where it was easier to have meaningful longer term relationships with NPC's and have a more direct impact on the world setting and also to tackle longer term challenges than even adaptable adventures can do (possibly barring RHOD, that's a mini-campaign)
Cardinal Teplin 02-14-07, 09:36 AM	I much prefer homebrew games. Specicially, homebrew campaigns. Of course I can't just pick up a homebrew campaign with a group of random people. LG allows me to meet and play with more people, more often. It gives continuity to a character without needing a regular weekly time commitment, and it allows me to play with friends who, like me, wouldn't be able to commit to a weekly game. It also give me access to other peoples ideas - allowing me to see adventures and game ideas written by people all around the world The actual game sessions are usually ok, can be great and can be poor, depending on the dynamics at the table and, to a lesser extent, the module being run. The big problem is that too often the game disintegrates into a 1st person wargame. I like wargames, and so do many people I know, but I've noticed that those of my friends who don't like wargaming also don't like LG.
gomeztoo 02-14-07, 10:44 AM	I like home games. Unfortrunately I don't have a lot of time to play, so plannign a home campaign is near imposisble. Campaigns I have been in (either sa a DM or as a player), generally disband after a while because of that. Even email campaigns, where people - including the Dm - just stop posting. A real pity. LG allows me to play and DM without actually having to *plan* stuff. There is always a story, always a table. I would like to DM or play a home game. Or perhaps an online game (you can't do those here, right?). If LG ever croaks I'll be back at it in wiff. But right now, LG is very enjoyable, and simply the easiest way to get a game.
echoota 02-14-07, 10:54 AM	In the 90's I shifted over to boardgames as the focus of my gaming time because I found it too difficult to be able to pull off homebrew rpg games anymore. The schedule and long commitment didn't work at that point in my life. Boardgames however worked out very well since you still got your gaming fix, but you could come and go to it on your own schedule. So last year my wife and I are introduced to LG and we were rather smitten, as it does exactly what boardgames do, which is allow you to fit rpging into your life as you see fit, rather than being tied down to a schedule. Still, after a year of LG we're hanging back a bit and have joined a homebrew game and are making time in our schedule to pull it off. For all the flexibility LG offers in terms of real life time commitments, it's just too restrictive and "classic" d&d to make us really exicited. Having grown up on the hyper restrictive structure of D&D and AD&D I'm far more interested in playing any weird monster I can get access to than play the classic races or classes. So in terms of priority I think we are looking at: Homebrew Xen'drik (which has a lot more options than LG, but still using a balancing system) LG Also, LG just moves along at a glacial pace. It just takes way too long to level with how the system works. Xen'drik with the level bumps is much more preferable, or a homebrew game where it's possible to break apart the whole mathematical model and be able to make accomplishments or have gear much quicker than the balanced system of LG or Xen'drik.
taylorj 02-14-07, 11:27 AM	The portability of LG is handy. If I put a lot of work into a homebrew character, and the game falls through, that character is pretty much done. It's unlikely that any other homebrew campaign is going to have quite the same focus, setting or allowable stuff that made the character possible. By contrast, as long as an LG character isn't dead, I can pull them off the shelf, take them to a con, and play something. Typically the only way I can be sure a home game will stick around is to run the thing myself, and even that's not guaranteed. :P
tvknight415 02-14-07, 11:50 AM	Homebrew. I can play an older and simpler (*cough* Moldvay *cough*) rules set, and the campaign can be truly interactive with the PC's (as opposed to tied to favors or disfavors only). I like LG, especially the regional feel, but the logistics of doing a living campaign just make it a bit too impersonal.
LGMoses 02-15-07, 02:50 AM	The portability of LG is handy. If I put a lot of work into a homebrew character, and the game falls through, that character is pretty much done. It's unlikely that any other homebrew campaign is going to have quite the same focus, setting or allowable stuff that made the character possible. By contrast, as long as an LG character isn't dead, I can pull them off the shelf, take them to a con, and play something. Typically the only way I can be sure a home game will stick around is to run the thing myself, and even that's not guaranteed. :P thats what i like about LG. I've got like 10 characters i've had under different DM"s and the games fall thru and you can't do nething. I really miss my wizard that got bumped to 7th level after our last home game.