Rant: my game group's play style did a 180 after one bad campaign

So my usual group has been playing medium weight euro games for like 3 years straight. We were all about efficiency and points, barely talked during games. Then last summer we tried a legacy campaign game (won't name it) and it crashed hard around session 8 when someone's big secret got revealed wrong. That one bad night totally broke our vibe. Now everyone wants to play party games or heavy negotiation stuff instead. I miss the quiet planning sessions honestly. Has anyone else had their whole group's taste flip after one bad experience like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

campbell.robin1mo agoProlific Poster

Yeah that's interesting because I've noticed the same thing happening in other hobbies too. Like my buddy who used to be super into building detailed model planes had one kit that kept falling apart on him and now he only does those quick snap together models. Once people get burned on something that was supposed to be fun it's like their brain rewires to avoid anything that reminds them of that frustration lol. Your group probably just associates quiet planning with the risk of another big let down so they're all about the safer less serious stuff now.

laurabennett1mo ago

Hang on, it's not really about avoiding the frustration itself. More like once you've had that one model airplane disintegrate on you, you start second guessing every little step in a quiet planning session. You get this nagging feeling that if something goes wrong, it's gonna be a huge mess again. So your brain just nopes out of the whole careful approach and goes for the instant gratification stuff where nothing can go sideways. It's like the memory of the big letdown makes the quiet part feel dangerous, not just annoying.