It may be odd, but it is indeed the reality. If you feel you're an inseparable team then you are.
One thing you often see in discussions about game groups is that this or that person is annoying or not fitting in or can't show up regularly, and the common response is, "boot them and get a new player," and they reply, "but this person is my _friend_."
That's just the way people like to do things, quite often.
Now me, I say that if they're genuinely your friend, you have some bond beyond one single common activity or interest. So if you stop that single common activity, a genuine friendship will continue undisturbed.
But really this is an old thing in roleplaying. If you look at the play and GM advice in AD&D1e, you find stuff like, the players aren't allowed to look at the GM section, etc. So what's that saying is that once you're a GM, that's that. Combine that with the "reach Lord level, build a stronghold and clear the surrounding hexes of monsters" and what you have is a model of the same players playing the same characters and the same campaign with the same GM meeting at the same time and place every week for years on end.
I help run a gamer hookup service (gamecircle.org) and I can tell you that model is alive and well out there. Lots of gamers are looking for the One True Game Group and campaign. It's quite hard to get gamers to move out of their little groups and circulate around a bit.
> If people are going to get upset because their group plays a game they
> don't like, they should not consciously or unconsciously sabotage the
> game - they should elect to bow out and not feel like this means they
> are entering voluntary exile.
I agree, that's the ideal. But as people are human, they frequently fail to reach ideals. I'd also point out that people can't change what they're doing _unconsciously_ - that's pretty much the definition of "unconscious."
> If people want to play HeroQuest they should find people who want to
> play HeroQuest. They shouldn't be limited to their 'normal' clique and
> they shouldn't make that clique feel obliged to participate in games
> that do not remotely interest them.
Again, that's the ideal. But many gamers get tired of endlessly searching for the right game group, so they settle for a less than perfect one in the hopes that things will improve over time, the system and setting used or the GM will change, etc.
I mean, in the end it's all just a game, so there's a limit to how much effort most people will make to find the right game group, create a good character and campaign, and so on.
Cheers,
Kyle
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