Ok that camera HAS to stop.

Whoever invented that camera needs to go to videography jail.

I have a group of 4 that specifically plays campaign games. We try to meet as close to once a week as possible to play (usually a weeknight). We have played Jaws of the Lion, Roll Player Adventures and Oathsworn. Currently about 30 games into Gloomhaven 1st edition. Not sure where will we go after GH is done, we dont look at buying the next game until we are at least close to done the current one.  

Hands down the most memorable of what we have done so far is Oathsworn. Great combination of story and gameplay.  Was stretched out a little too far in the back-end missions, but overall i highly recommend it to everyone. Its still on our shelf, however i doubt i would ever pick it up again.  There is just too many new games to explore.

I played thru the Stalker campaign and it was fantastic. The key is having a dedicated table that you can leave the game set up and everything readily available. Packing everything up and setting everything up is the biggest thing imo.

Glad you let Machina Arcana stay! Such a good system and great art and atmosphere.

We decided about a year ago to simply stop playing or acquiring campaign games. Too many releases and too little time to warrant playing only one game over and over again, no matter how good it is.

Losing momentum on a campaign game is tough. After trying to play Risk: Legacy with a dedicated group back in 2010-2012, we decided to only play campaign games as a couple - because getting together with people outside your household is too unreliable. An exception to our rule was made for The Crew, which we played at work over lunch hours with a dedicated group (typically getting 5 or 6 hands played each week).
We played Arydia as a couple - and we binged it in 2 months! So good we never wanted to stop! But I can understand how it would be difficult to get back into if you paused it for a few months. Too many side quests to keep track of and key words/phrases to simultaneously be looking out for. Even with our rule, we're currently stuck with a couple sessions of Tidal Blades 2 left to go, before we move on to one of the other 5 or 6 campaign games in the queue, and others we'd be interested in trying but know we're YEARS away from catching up on games we're already planning to play first.

Abandoned: Risk Legacy, Pathfinder ACG RotRL, Kids Chronicles Old Oak Prophecy (with kids)

Completed: Pandemic Legacy S1, Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, The Crew: QfP9, Mechs vs Minions, Arydia, Clank Legacy 1, The Light in the Mist, Zombie Kidz Evolution (with kids), Kids Chronicles QotMS (with kids), Cozy Stickerville (with kids)

In queue: Roll Player Adventures, Kinfire Chronicles, Oathsworn, Gloomhaven JotL, Pandemic Legacy S2, plus we have games like Space Alert, Mind MGMT, Scythe: Rise of Fenris, Too Many Bones, Claustrophobia, CoraQuest, etc, that have campaign modes... but we just never find time to make that happen.

Very interested in: Lands of Evershade, Primal The Awakening, Song of Silveranth, Agemonia, Rove/Anchorpoint... but starting in like 2030, by which point there will likely be dozens of others we'd prioritize ahead of these.

Make the camera stop! It needs some stabilization and less intense tracking.

Couldn't agree more with your thoughts on 'ambition to play' vs. 'reality of time/dedication'. A difficult consideration especially when you are going to have to play solo most of the time.

A lot of my culling decisions come down to what I can see myself playing in the long run, not just right now. I think about being retired someday, with more time on my hands, wanting to lose myself in a game’s universe and spend time with characters and stories I can connect with.

Whether you ever finish a campaign or not, a great narrative game can leave you with indelible memories. Years later, you may still remember that impossible escape, a character’s unexpected betrayal, or the story your group created together.

Converting a bushel of wheat into three loaves of bread for five victory points probably isn’t going to do that for me. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with games like that - I love them. They just fulfill a different need.

What I’m increasingly realizing is that the games I want to keep are the ones capable of creating those memorable, emergent stories - campaign game or not.

Game Brigade once said that the most important thing in a campaign game is that you enjoy the core gameplay loop, because you will be doing it A LOT. And I think that's why Legacy games have more staying power. They campaignify games that already have proven and beloved gameplay loops.

I feel like this makes sense for you because you always have a revolving door of new games, that by the time you even get that newest campaign game its already old. For me I set up a day for just campaign games every week and the same campaign game stays up every week until its finished or my group wants to move on. I don't usually have to learn any of the rules again. Now this might mean I play less non campaign games but I feel like the experience of a campaign game is more fun for my group.

I'm a #2.  Buy more than I could ever play. Keep them all. Convince myself that "someday" I'll get them played.  Luckily the absolute nonsense that is the current crowdfunding scene has me backing about 5% of my previous rate which means that I'm finally getting more things played than are being bought.

I have a group I played through all of Gloomhaven, Frosthaven, Crimson Scales, and Oathsworn. We're about to start Chapter 4 of Middara. Definitely, thankful we can meet up twice a month most of the time.

As someone that mostly plays solo, campaign games are about all I pick up. I want that continuity, that sense of progress and accomplishment. There are some very good board games that you can play solo, but I find it an empty feeling when I'm done, that I would have enjoyed my time more reading a book.

Camera = nope

There are so many video games with a story arc that I didn't finish and that's solo games. Campaign board games are subject to the same issues

That camera needs to chill 🫠

I find myself avoiding campaign games, especially legacy games. Not just because I'm mechanics over theme type of player, but also because it's too much of a hassle to get the same people together to play through it. It took me and my friend three years to finally get through Rise of Queensdale (I chose to do it 2-player because my attempt at Charterstone with more people just ended up with people abandoning it after a handful of plays, so I never got to the end of it) and it was only really fun for us those first few plays, then it just became this obligation to get through, we forgot things along the way because it had been so long, and it bugged me that we had to prioritize this one game because it was our only chance of actually finishing it. It shouldn't be a relief to get to the end. So anything that is campaign only and doesn't have one-shot scenarios are completely out of the question for me.

I always tell myself I get to my neglected campaign games when I stop working and become a pensioner... 27 years from now!