"At what point are you no longer allowed to play a game?" Topic

I keep reading moans here on TMP that the previous edition was better (any 40K, AK-47, etc.).
There are exclamations that the game "is no longer supported".

So, the question is not so much about when you abandon a game. It's really about when social pressure compels you to abandon a game you rather like.

1. When the god-like publisher issues a new edition.
2. When the author no longer answers email.
3. When the game is no longer supported.
4. Nobody tells me what to play. If I like the first edition better, I play the first edition.
5. What a stupid question.
6. When my mother in law throws all my toys on the trash.
7. Now that I am married to the love of my life, maybe playing Panty Explosion may not be the smartest thing to do.

These are not all possible answers. Feel free to add a few.

If its a game we only play once in a while, I rarely buy a new edition.

If its a game we're really into, I'll upgrade but we may end up picking an older version after trying the new one thoroughly. It depends on what feels better.

Lack of author communication is an annoyance but not a decisive factor on its own.

Unless you're and avid tournament player I'm not sure why you would care which edition you used with your mates.

4

When you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

8. When one of my buddies refuses to play that set of rules any more.

When there are no longer any players locally that play your game.

The thing about new editions, and why it is important to stay "up to date:" Unless you are strictly a solo gamer, it will be easier to find opponents for the latest edition, than for some previous edition. As new players move in, the game they're going to buy is the latest edition, not your older, favorite edition. This is especially important for "high profile" games like 40K. While I may prefer the gameplay from 3rd and 4th ed 40K (where I really started), I play the latest version because that is what everyone else is playing locally.

Damon.

Mark +1,
you stole my line from a previous post! :-)

Sam

4,5 & mostly 7.

Since 8 is added, here's my #9:

9. When I finish painting the last unit and rule-specific terrain, only to find the group that found the rules "oh so shiney" has already moved on to the next "oh so shiney" rules. I seem to always be an "oh so shiney" behind. And no, that does NOT mean what it seems ; > )

4

A game with a lot of editions is like a game with a lot of options. Picking my favorite of the lot leads to a much more enjoyable gaming experience!

8 for me too! I used to like DBM, but everyone else ditched it!
We also have a partial 9, where a period becomes popular, then when you have painted a force for it, everyone else has moved on!

Glad most of my rules have a solo option!

4, 5, and what EC said.

4. I play whatever I find interesting and enjoyable.

5 for me

8. When the restraining order says so.

After 1am.

"At what point are you no longer allowed to play a game?"

Sorry, I don't understand the question?

I don't play with clubs or groups just pals that seem satisfied with what I'm doing so it doesn't make a lot of difference if the rules are not popular. I can't see any reason unless I get sick of the rules :)

4 & 5 My toys, my game.

3, 8, and 9. If the company has abandoned support and my friends have quit, then that means I probably just finished painting and basing my units.

I have a few "go-to" rules but I'll play what my group wants to play, except for a few rules that I won't go near.

except for a few rules that I won't go near.

I think, as the opposite of "go-to rules", those would be called "go-away rules".

Wait, there's a game called Panty Explosion??

Unfortunately, yes.

5

Lack of author communication is an annoyance but not a decisive factor on its own.

Yup. Fletcher Pratt hasn't answered letters for decades, but the rules still work.

4 for me.

5

+1 rmaker

4. Like there is another choice!

4.

4

The OP says 'allowed to play' so my answer has to be a resounding 4.

There are many situations, of course, in which I might decide for myself to stop playing a particular set of rules/edition thereof, but that is another matter.

4.

8. If nobody else in my club likes the rules. That is the only thing that will force me to abounded a set of rules that I like.

I can't pin it down for sure. If the game seems broken as published & the author is not answering the gamer's questions, we either have to address the issues ourselves via house rules or move on to something else.
Lots of gamer are using Neil Thomas's rules and he's as hard to get an answer out of as Elvis.

4, of course

4. I've been playing the original version of OGRE since the early 80's. SJG republished the original a couple years ago. What comes around, goes around.

$

+1 for ExtraCrispy. If it's a rule set I really like, then it follows me to the grave.

10. When I can no longer find an opponent willing to give the old rules a go.

Sadly, happens more often than it should!
I've got a dozen or so OOP rules-sets I'm keen on playing that no one else will touch.
Works both ways, though:
other than Frostgrave, I doubt I'll bother with any new rules for a long time….

8.

When my gaming pals turn up their eyes in horror that the creaky old dinosaur has been dragged out once again.

In general though, my toys, my rules.

When the author no longer answers email.

How many people send emails to a rules author, specifically about the rules?

I've never done that in my 30+ years of wargaming.
If there's a problem, we solve it ourselves. Why would we bother the author?

4.

>Phil Dutre

Judging by my inbox, quite a few :-)

At the risk of putting myself on a watch list somewhere, I play old games if I want to. Sometimes I just don't want to buy the new rules. Sometimes it's nostalgia. Sometimes I don't like the changes. Sometimes I simply never got around to playing them, so by the time I try something out it's already obsolete. They'll probably put me in re-education camps for this.

Sometimes I don't like the new version. They change what was good and keep what is bad.

And sometimes we end up playing a bizarre mix and match. Our Traveller games were positively insane (character creation from mega traveller, space ships from traveller, combat from striker)

Sort of 4. But TBH I won't even get the next edition unless it sits in the spot where I loved the ideas in the edition I have, but there were enough problems that I wanted to see if the next edition solved them.

If I liked the rules and they don't have big issues – why would I buy another edition? If I didn't like the basis of the rules, why would I buy another edition?

When every player I know refuses to play it.

Whirlwind – I've done it when the rules are largely the same but there's a promise of new stuff.

I.E. the first edition lacked campaign rules but the new version has them, or something like that.

Not super common though.

Never. Even after I die I will be playing games.

As a Christian I believe in the after life and I am pretty sure I will get to go to heaven. There it will be wonderful. I will be able to do research in the Library of God and really KNOW all the mysteries of history and pull up the tapes of every event. I will be able to write the best rules and I will have lots of time for painting and model building, and they will all come out GREAT. I will have plenty of time to game, and will always have an opponent, and in the very rare times that I can't find an opponent, God will play with me.

And sometimes he will even let me win.

They change what was good and keep what is bad.

That's what they did to HeroClix and Mage Knight Dungeons (the best set of the 'clix rules). Or more specifically, they optimized the system to advantage people who spent more money.

Similar to Weasel above, MKD with HC figures/powers and abilities card was the best game. Per the OP, we still play it, though not as often as I would like.