Board vs Role Play Gaming

This one is sort of the flip of the last Trashdome. In this case, it's entirely possible for most participants to spend no money. Instead of all participants buying components, it only takes one. Theoretically, one could only buy one board game (catan, CE, Talisman, whatever) and play forever. Much like one person can buy a single RPG and run adventures forever. Theoretically, but we know the reality. Either way...board gaming or role playing?



vs

Board Gaming, unless it's Fiasco, in which case it's a draw.

As an aside, I think that "Good Guy Greg" meme guy, the guy with the joint, is my friend Bobby Ferguson (who is currently in prison in Eastern KY for drug offenses)

Well, if that's true...that sucks. Hope he gets out soon.

Board gaming. Much easier for adults with lives to actually get a game going.

Board gaming is nice because it puts boundaries on the whole endeavor - This many people, for about this long, doing these 3 or four things until someone has all the stuff or lands on the thing. Wonderful when it's light and quick in pacing (not necessarily short) and with people you like hanging around with. Miserable when it's slow and plodding and your praying for someone just to land on the thing so it will all end.

Role playing is nice because there are no boundaries, mostly - Get a group of people you like being around, grab a few rule books and make up some crazy stories about some crazy dudes. Wonderful when you can find a committed (notice I didn't use the word skilled) DM or two and a group of people that can show up regularly, you won't want it to ever end. Miserable when your DM burns out, or people get flaky and bail and you just want to get everyone together so that you can handwave your way through the epic final confrontation so that you all can be done with the campaign after not getting together for a month.

I would choose Role-Playing - both are great ways to frivolously pass the time, but I when I get together with old friends we rarely talk about epic games of Puerto Rico: However, we are prone to reminiscing about the adventures of Airik Stormcaller and that time he trained a goblin to tend a bar.

Roleplaying. Better stories, better possibilities, funnier.

All the common criticisms of RPGing (too long, too many rules, etc.) are IMO based in a 1985 understanding of the hobby and are no longer true unless you specifically want that kind of game.

Mr. White wrote:
. Theoretically, one could only buy one board game (catan, CE, Talisman, whatever) and play forever. Much like one person can buy a single RPG and run adventures forever. Theoretically, but we know the reality.

ha Jeff! Walk the walk my friend, you're almost there.
I only have one board game now, and thats all I play, and dont see that changing.only 6 months in but as time goes on it feels MORE not LESS likely that it will stay a "reality".

My kid just started getting into the Pokemon TCG as well so have started to look at that with him. I bought a load of cards that were cool but was left with the nagging feeling that its just a retarded form of gaming/parenting/living. So now I found some blank cards and we are currently drawing our own pokemon and making our own game. They look like shit, and the numbers and Powers are all made up and shit. But its already way better than getting sucked into that mouth breathing cesspit that is "collectable" anything. If I was 25 years younger I might consider making some kind of pre EX era cube for casual messing about but who has time for that shit.

Nope, drawing spazzy pokemon with your 6.5 year old is where its at!

Also, let me just say - It is so amazing the gaming hobby has grown to the point that we now have those FotM euro guys to make the RPG guys at the game shop seem cool in comparison.

The best board game experience possible happens at least three times session in a Role-playing game.

Bojack wrote:

Mr. White wrote:
. Theoretically, one could only buy one board game (catan, CE, Talisman, whatever) and play forever. Much like one person can buy a single RPG and run adventures forever. Theoretically, but we know the reality.

ha Jeff! Walk the walk my friend, you're almost there.
I only have one board game now, and thats all I play, and dont see that changing.only 6 months in but as time goes on it feels MORE not LESS likely that it will stay a "reality".

My kid just started getting into the Pokemon TCG as well so have started to look at that with him. I bought a load of cards that were cool but was left with the nagging feeling that its just a retarded form of gaming/parenting/living. So now I found some blank cards and we are currently drawing our own pokemon and making our own game. They look like shit, and the numbers and Powers are all made up and shit. But its already way better than getting sucked into that mouth breathing cesspit that is "collectable" anything. If I was 25 years younger I might consider making some kind of pre EX era cube for casual messing about but who has time for that shit.

Nope, drawing spazzy pokemon with your 6.5 year old is where its at!

One board game?

Tough choice for me. I have spent a lot of time on both activities over the years.

Boardgaming is very dependent on the quality of the games played, and also on the players themselves. Some board games really aren't worth playing, but some are great. Fun players can elevate the experience of an average board game into an enjoyable experience, but it only takes one bad player at the table to ruin the game for everybody. Most board games offer replay value, but can feel samey after a certain number of games.

Role-playing games are even more dependent on variables. A gamemaster will easily make or break the experience for everyone, because that one person has so much control over the game. As with board games, fun players can elevate the experience, and just one bad player can ruin the game. Some role-playing games are worse than others, often because overly detailed rules turn the experience away from a shared story-telling experience to complex procedural discussion couched mainly in game mechanic terminology. Even the better groups can get bogged down in long discussions of The Plan, which is inevitably derailed by complications anyway. Assuming a reasonably creative GM or a good supply of premade adventures, a role-playing game can offer massive replay value.

One of my favorite boardgames is the FFG edition of Arkham Horror, and I probably spent around $240 for maybe 100 games lasting maybe 300 hours for an average of five players per game. My longest running rpg campaign was Ptolus, and that cost me maybe $350 for rulebooks, scenarios, maps, and tokens. I ran 80 sessions of Ptolus, averaging about six hours each, for an average of six people counting myself..

Ultimately, I think that a role-playing game is a highly variable experience, with some truly memorable experiences sprinkled through longer periods of only moderately engaging play. A board game will offer a more limited and therefore more reliable level of entertainment, though shorter play time and less replay value.

Vote: role-playing games.

bryce0lynch wrote: The best board game experience possible happens at least three times session in a Role-playing game.

Exactly. My vote goes to RPGs.

That said, it's been over 15 years since I have played an RPG. The reason being is that once you play with a good gamemaster, you cannot accept pedestrian substitutes. It's a super hyper snotty thing to say, but it's the difference between watching raiders of the lost ark, and then having Shia lebouf run rampant in your schlocky crystal skull. The two do not compare.

So now I live with fond memories of the best gaming experiences of my life, and that's ok. I still love you, boardgames, but while playing you I am always thinking about my past mistress, RPGs.

bryce0lynch wrote: The best board game experience possible happens at least three times session in a Role-playing game.

So much this!
Later today I'll be running session 3 of The hidden shrine of Tamoachan (PDF link, TSR module) with Old Dragon a Brazilian OSR RPG. No boardgame I know can deliver anything like the memorable talking crayfish encounter.

Vote: RPG

Ps I like hybrids like the Diplomacy zines that had RP games. Anyone knows of other documented rp boardgames?

Colorcrayons wrote: That said, it's been over 15 years since I have played an RPG. The reason being is that once you play with a good gamemaster, you cannot accept pedestrian substitutes. It's a super hyper snotty thing to say, but it's the difference between watching raiders of the lost ark, and then having Shia lebouf run rampant in your schlocky crystal skull. The two do not compare.

Very true. I am pretty picky about people I play boardgames with. I'd rather not play at all than spend 2+ hours at the table with somebody I don't like or don't feel socially comfortable with. But with RPGs it is just another level of elitism altogether. They definitely need to be friends and they need to be smart and I need to respect their life experience and knowledge (in particular the GM). So, I haven't played an RPG in over 15 years.

Bojack wrote:

Mr. White wrote:
. Theoretically, one could only buy one board game (catan, CE, Talisman, whatever) and play forever. Much like one person can buy a single RPG and run adventures forever. Theoretically, but we know the reality.

ha Jeff! Walk the walk my friend, you're almost there.

I posted the following a little over a year ago:
fortressat.com/forum/15-games-catchall/1...-did-it-mofos#226244

Take away BB:TM, Lotr: Confrontation, and Colossal Arena, but add a few more minis titles, and that's the state of my current shelf. Board games, in the traditional sense, are all gone.

My son (10) has been wanting to move into the minis realms and I don't mind too much. I already had all the supplies and we've been finding good deals on the minis he wants, but more importantly we've been working on the hobby side together and it's been fun even as an art project. sort of like your Pokemon endeavor. We can have just a good of a time hanging out, painting minis and shooting the breeze as we do actually playing the games.