Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game opens my eyes

Me and some friends sat down and did a Star Wars game last night, using the West End Games first edition Star Wars D6 rulebook, the first edition Sourcebook and the Gamesmaster's Pack.

It was absolutely bloody brilliant.

I've not run a full-on Star Wars game for my old group for years and it took me way back, long before I got really serious about RPGs and game design and even longer before Farsight Games was even a twinkle in my eye. It took me back to a time when I played the games because I loved to play, to a time when gaming was simple, fun and exciting. It took me back to a time when I enjoyed playing roleplaying games much more than I do now.

Yeah, that was quite a blow. It sort of hit me at the end of the game when everyone was really up for the next installment and seemed to really get excited about their characters, as new and as off-the-cuff as they were. There was no pretence - we weren't trying to delve into psyches, or experiment with new systems, or try a new way of or approach to gaming. We sat down, had fun and wanted to play it again.

I've not done that for years. Games that I've played or designed for recently have been an exercise in what makes the game tick, how it runs and how it works. Not if it was any fun. This is mainly because the fun is slightly sucked out of the game for me because I'm too busy juggling playing with note-taking and analysis. I'm a bit tired of that, now.

Playing Star Wars last night reminded me how much simple fun and excitement I've been missing out on. I kind of feel I've been reminded of a time when I used to play games for enjoyment, whereas now I've turned it into something of a job, almost a chore. I don't want to get under the skin of games and into the mechanics of a system anymore. I just want to have some fun. When did this happen? When did I forget the original reason why I got into roleplaying games in the first place?

So now I'm looking fondly at games of old that bought me great joy; Basic D&D, Star Wars D6, MERP, WFRP. Now I'm looking at having fun again.

Goodbye for now, game and setting design. Maybe I'll look to you again in the future if gaming becomes a little hard to come by but right now I want as much enjoyment out of the game as possible while I can still appreciate it.