Whose game are you playing?

A thing that occurred to me while I was working one one set of rules or another (I forget which one exactly... probably Legions)



Whose game are you playing?

Probably not this one...

It may sound an odd question, but the core of it is, to me:

If you didn't write the rules then you're playing the game (whichever setting it may be Sci-Fi,Fantasy or Historical etc) how somebody else envisages it

 Which, if you are happy with how it's playing is no bad thing.

After all, there's no right or wrong way to enjoy the hobby, despite what some people/companies say. It's not like the Inquisition (Spanish or otherwise) are going to turn up to haul you away to somewhere unpleasant( Like.... say... Leeds...) if you don't play the "right" way..

Honest...

Anyway........ Moving on...

And that, is primarily why I ended up going down the rabbit hole of writing my own rules. I've got a stack of "commercial" rules, ranging back to the 80's, and to me - every single one has a varying level of "Things I don't like about it".

As you've seen, if you read my old blog:

Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here aaaaand Here. 

I had opinions back then, and tried to fit them in with the ruleset(s) we were playing then.
It kinda worked, but each change ended up needing more tweaking, which led into more tweaking, which ... well... you end up eating your own tail in the end.

Eventually we just went from scratch - that way I'd be playing what I want to play, or more accurately how I wanted to play and how I saw things working in the settings and force lists.

I mean, the very first set of rules that I remember writing was something i called "Oilwar" - Memory is fuzzy, as I was only just in double digits, and this year I hit a half century but, looking back through the mists of time 

Not just misty, but probably rose-tinted as well

 

it was a simple square based board game about capturing oil wells... I think :)

 Nowadays -  there's several. I'm just not sure if I'm going to put them online or not - having had some 3d stuff I posted a while back pinched and claimed as their own.. I'll admit - I'm a bit reticent to share again.

But at the same time - If I share it, it may give others ideas for their own games.

It's certainly a quandry.

In any case - if you're happy with what you're playing don't let anyone tell you otherwise. At the same time, never be afraid to try new things - some things might be more "what you want to play" than others, and unless you're playing in tournaments - remember:
Backgrounds are not rule specific. You can play whatever ruleset you want with whatever back ground and figure (or even counters) you want.

Or more accurately - Play your game. Regardless of the form it takes, and remember - Have fun.