Friday, February 8, 2019

A Theoretical Question

If you had the relationship that you have with the other players in your game, but didn't have the game, would it be enough? It might be easy to say, "Well, there would just be something else to take the place of the game." I suggest to you that that is not true. Gaming is that special. It is interesting to consider what those relationships would look like without the game.

My first long-term gaming group broke up after ten years of gaming, because all that there was, was the game. I did next to nothing with those people outside the game. Such was my interest in having a game, I used them. They used me. When their interests moved away from gaming, the relationships with me ended. I had never experienced anything so stark, but none of it was healthy. Understand, that it is better to seek the healthy.

Now, I ask more of my players and of myself. I engage with these people on other subjects of similar interests. I eat meals with them and their families. I go to non-game events with them. I have much, much more of a friendship with these people than I did with my first group. I emphatically state that having a solid, well-rounded relationship with your others players only makes for a better game. Seems obvious but when the game is all there is, it is not enough.

Follow-up question: is this the problem with computer games?

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