I am a middle of the road gamer...

Well, first off, I am feeling better than I did a week ago.  Not sure what is happened to the game tonight.  But, that is for later.

Two things have sort of been spinning around in my head.

One is the fact that I am both an old school and new school gamer.  And, there is nothing wrong with that.

What do I mean by this?  Well, the best way I cam describe it is thusly:

An old school gamer is content with starting off in some mega-dungeon then into the frontier, building up xp and treasure until they are high enough to raise an army and carve out a niche for themselves in the wild frontier.

A new school gamer wants to start off at first level with a complex backstory and a desire make the campaign his own from the start.  That the plot revolves around them.  That they are not merely part of the show, they ARE the show.

There is nothing wrong with either approach, and I think that I have been switching back and forth between the two camps for awhile now.  And, I have to say I think I need to realize I like bits and piece of both.

I was reading a few posts by Blackrazor about his musings on exploration, starting here.  It got me thinking about the old school movement.  Also, I have played in some of Evan's G+ Nightwick Abbey games as well.  The game was always fun.  And, it was mostly exploring, trying to survive and then getting the hell out with treasure.

Then, there are the games I have heard of in some actual play podcasts.  Most of these are 3E or higher and they are either more interaction with people with small planned out encounters or long encounters with powers and abilities that make me think I'm listening to a superhero game.  I have also played in a smattering of 3E and 4E games.  And, there is something to be said for having powers and being able to do amazing things.

I think that there is a middle of the road here.  That there is something that can be done to accommodate both the new and old school groups.  I'm not positive how as of yet, but it is something I am pondering.

I know I had a part two here, yet it has gone...oh well.  I'm sure it will come back to me at some point.