Monday, August 3, 2009

CCGs > RPGs?

I've written very little lately, mainly because my attention has been on painting miniatures and card games rather than RPGs. After a shaky one-for-four stretch of our weekly game nights, I've started drifting back toward games that I don't need the same core group of friends around to play. If I had my choice, I'd play RPGs all the time... but after several weeks of minimal playing, I start itching for something to sink brainpower into.


Why do I prefer roleplaying games?

  • The gathering of friends & family. I like hanging out with my people. 
  • The team aspect (even when I'm the DM).
  • Being limited only by my imagination (and occasionally the rules).
  • I can buy a few rulebooks and never spend another dime.

What makes trading card games more appealing at the moment?

  • Being able to go to the FLGS on Friday and play regardless of whether or not I know anyone. Because there is an accepted structure, you can pretty much play a game with anyone and have fun. It's a perk that RPGs don't have, as house rules, combat to roleplaying ratios, and GM styles very wildly. Best of all, if different people show up every week, it doesn't matter at all as long as there are enough to play. Continuity doesn't matter.
  • No prep time in between games if I don't feel like it. Once I've built my deck, if I want to tweak it for the next tournament, I can. If I want to get some testing in against a deck archetype that is unfamiliar to me, I can. If I don't want to, it might affect how well I play, but it won't affect whether or not I get to play. Similar things can be said for the players of RPGs, but GMing is a different story and a good improv. session is hard to come by. I'd rank my ability to improvise as mediocre at best.
  • Winning stuff. There are very few instances in gaming that are more satisfying than walking into the tournament with nothing but your entry fee and walking out with a ton of new cards. In what RPG do you actually win stuff? I can't think of one.

As I've started collecting Warhammer 40K miniatures to use in my Spectrum Shock campaign, I noticed some of the same trends. Once you have an army built, there is very little you need to do in between games. There is a fairly well-accepted structure to games so any random opponent is good to go. There are tournaments set up with prizes. I've even started collecting an Eldar army so I can actually get into the hobby.


The downside, of course, is that games like Magic: The Gathering and Warhammer are prohibitively expensive. Magic is less so, but those budget decks usually don't last long in a tournament with decent competition... and my competitive nature always draws me to the tournament scene eventually.


I guess the conclusion I keep dancing around is this: While roleplaying games are more fun, card games (and perhaps war games) are just so much easier to organize and play regularly. Maybe I need to stop trying to run campaigns and do a series of one-shot adventures...
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9 comments:

  1. I'm in the same boat. For me, it's a nice way to stay sane and keep my gaming schedule balanced. Sure, rpgs are great, but they take a lot of investment, and burnout is a very real phenomenon. You and I are lucky that we have CCGs and minis to fall back—though I'll admit that I don't play any of the popular games at my FLGS, so I can't drop in for games like you descrive above.
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  2. Phil VecchioneAug 3, 2009 09:45 AM
    I think that your argument above is pretty sound. I would suggest you think of one more element of RPG's that both Miniatures and CCG's do not provide, and that is Creativity. One of the unique aspects of RPG's is the ability to create worlds, characters, and stories from your imagination. Neither Miniatures or CCG's give you that outlet.

    If your primary focus is to spend time with people and play a game, than Miniatures and CCG's are a good option for you, but if your primary enjoyment for RPG's is the aspects of imagination and creativity, then I think you will find that CCG's and Miniatures will not be as good of an outlet.

    Getting and keeping a gaming group running is not easy, and often frustrating. I have felt the same way you have in the past, when my group had trouble getting a steady game going. Our solution was to re-focus our commitment to playing and to modify the group make up for people who could keep that level of commitment.

    Once you get a group who is committed to playing, and get a game that sparks their interest, they will move mountains to make game night.
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  3. What games do you play, Patrick? If your FLGS doesn't have them, you might want to try getting them started. It's a great way to meet RPG fans, even if you aren't actually playing RPGs when you meet.

    Agreed on commitment and burnout. I have a little conundrum in my group... even though my DMing skills are mediocre at best, nobody else thinks they can do better, so it is a rarity when they give it a go... and it usually doesn't last more than one or two sessions before I take over again (not by my choice). So DM burnout is more of an issue to me than RPG burnout.
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  4. Creativity is the best part! And I did have that in mind... I had it rolled into the "only limited by my imagination" point. I guess I should have gone into more detail on the reasons I like RPGs.

    Most of the characters, locations, and plot hooks that I describe on Outsyder Gaming never actually see the light of day, but I enjoy the mental exercise and the creativity. In many ways, I preach the "don't overprepare" rule when I'm talking to new DMs, but I rarely practice it myself. I end up putting together a ton of material that I never get around to using.

    As far as a game that sparks interest and having committed players, I have that already. What I don't have is a way to make game night more important than family commitments and church commitments... but I wouldn't want that anyway. Game night rightfully ranks behind them.

    RPGs, in my opinion, are lightyears ahead of CCGs in enjoyment factor alone... they just can't compare to the ease and convenience of other games. So when Tuesday's game night gets cancelled for one reason or another, by Friday I'm itching to whip out the Magic cards for the local FNM...
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  5. I play Magic (but not competitively enough to enjoy playing at my FLGS), Game of Thrones, WarMachine and an assortment of WWII miniatures wargames and other board games. I am thinking about getting into Call of Cthulhu because that gets a lot of play down at the game shop, plus I hear the rules are sweet.

    Recent blog:=- Gaming and music: Firing on all cylinders
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  6. Phil VecchioneAug 3, 2009 01:39 PM
    @Josh-- I understand about finding the right night to play. Before we all got married, and had kids, we played Tuesday nights and Saturday nights. After doing some serious work on our calendars and talking it over with our spouses, we found that the time block that had the least events scheduled into it was a block of time on Sunday night from 6pm to 11pm.

    It is not the most intuitive time, but few family events we had ran into that time. Our kids were in bed by 8pm, leaving our spouses only a 2 hours to watch the kids. None of our jobs schedule into Sun nights. In all it was the best time for our group.

    Take a look at all your calendars lined up, you might be surprised at what time block you find that you all have free.
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  7. I appreciate the advice. I'll have to talk to the guys tomorrow (assuming everyone makes it) and see what comes of it. I doubt Sunday would work (church plus getting up early Monday morning), but comparing schedules is a great idea that we've only informally done in the past. Let's hope it works!
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  8. I'm assuming you're talking about the Call of Cthulhu card game by Fantasy Flight Games? I've never played it, so I can't critique the game itself, but the artwork looks great. I'd bet if you found just one person to play and then played at the game shop, you'd get people interested enough to join you.

    As far as Magic goes, I haven't played competitively in several years (other than the odd prerelease or release tournament). But I'm really tempted to jump back into it. Do you ever play online?

    Recent blog:=- CCGs > RPGs?
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  9. As for a low-to zero prep work rpg I suggest you to try some indie games such as InSpectres, my Life with Master, Polaris or Prime Time Adventures (to name just a few). All of them are share the characteristic to give players (no just GM) the "power" to narrate the story, so the game is played "on the fly" with no pre-worked adventure or plot. Try it.

    Recent blog:=- Rifts Secret Files: WP Bayonet
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