The resources required for gaming

Let me start with an anecdote.

I bought Final Fantasy XIII a while ago, and have been playing it a good bit (at least, before my Houston trip). I have come to the conclusion that if I had played it at any time before my senior year in college, I would've hated it.

There are no towns to explore, no cleverly hidden treasures to find, no people to talk to, no fiendish puzzles to solve, no dungeons to get lost in, no characters with 40 statistics to tweak and juggle and optimize. No, it boils down to a long linear path with cut-scenes and monster battles and story progression.

So why would I have hated this game before, and enjoy this game now? Because I'm busy now. I love getting stuck on a good puzzle, or having to talk to everyone in a village to find out where to go next, or grind for hours to be able to defeat a boss. But those things are for people to have the luxury of playing four hours a night. Now, it's nice not having to worry about what level I am. It's nice always knowing where to go next. I can just enjoy the story and kicking monsters' butts.

This leads me into my main point which I will apply to tabletop role playing games. First, there are two personal resources that have a direct bearing on gaming: time, and money. Second, what kind of gamer you are is a result of which of those two resources you have the most of.

Olde School gaming is for people with lots of time who don't want to spend a lot of money. It takes a lot of time to prepare for sand-box style play, and a lot of mental effort to continually have an answer ready for any scenario your PCs might lead you on. The games take longer; the PCs need to be more careful, using that 10 foot pole on every weird stone, listening at every door, examining every vase. They have to take lots of good notes, draw maps, remember what was said. They have to keep track of food consumption, how many hours have passed since they lit that torch, how long do they have till winter. Olde school games take time to prepare for, and time to play.

Now of course this can be great fun, or else no one would play these games. It is fun to have a detailed world of open possibilities, to feel a real sense of accomplishment in using your wits to survive in a game in which it is so easy to perish. And, it can be argued, that once you get good at it the time investment can be reduced. A lot of material exists online which can be cut together to form a world. After ad-libing for a while, it becomes easier and easier. But I argue that, on the whole, olde school gaming requires a greater time investment than usual.

New school gaming (I'll use 4e for ease) is for people who don't have a lot of time, and who have money to spend on it. There are a lot of books, which can be very cumbersome, but offsets this with a breadth of ready-made material that can be used with very little preparation. It's a plug and play system. Most rules that you could think about already exist. You pick a dungeon, you put on a few personal touches, and you're ready to go. It also takes less time for the players. With the exception of character creation, things are streamlined. You don't have to worry about that pesky resource situation. You don't have to poke and prod every element of a room; a die roll will suffice. A whole dungeon can be conquered in one play session.

But you lose out on some things. That sense of openness is diminished. If you know you're playing a TSR dungeon, you know what to expect. Your accomplishments are fueled less by cleverness and more by good die rolls. But this is not to say these things cannot be accounted for by a good GM. You can make a 4e world detailed, and you can reduce the amount of money you spend by only using core books. Though greatly, 4e saves time at the cost of money.

This is why I prefer 4e now. I'm willing to spend money to have fun doing what I love even though I'm a busy person. I would love to play olde school games, but it seems the time scale for completing a dungeon, or a quest, or what have you is too great.

Thoughts?