PDA

View Full Version : Ratio wise how much do you think you read compared to play?



randomhero00
2012-04-06, 02:31 PM
Reading can be anything fiction.

Personally I read 70 percent v s 30 percent of playing. I'd much much rather those figures be equal at least.

Ya'll?

Raum
2012-04-06, 02:41 PM
Read to play? Probably 10:1, maybe more.

I only play / GM twice a week. I read every day.

Out of curiosity, why would you want to equal the time spent on each?

Aidan305
2012-04-06, 02:43 PM
There was once a time when Reading would have been far higher than playing. Nowadays it's probably about a 2:1 ration with regard to hours/week.

valadil
2012-04-06, 02:47 PM
Depends when you're asking. Right now I'm in 0 games and I read during my commute. But when it gets a little warmer I'll be biking to work, which cuts into my reading time significantly.

randomhero00
2012-04-06, 03:00 PM
Read to play? Probably 10:1, maybe more.

I only play / GM twice a week. I read every day.

Out of curiosity, why would you want to equal the time spent on each?

Mostly a question out of curiosity. But also because without reading I don't think we could roleplay.

ClockShock
2012-04-06, 03:11 PM
2:1 on the weeks were we manage a session.

Interesting proposition but I think it would be entirely possible to roleplay without reading - there are many other forms of media which will provide you with the basic tools you use while playing, including the guy sitting next to you roleplaying.

randomhero00
2012-04-06, 03:20 PM
Out of curiosity, why would you want to equal the time spent on each?

Just curious.

Averis Vol
2012-04-06, 07:12 PM
i'd have to say 6:1 easily, and occasionally 13:1. my group has games set up for once a week, but we have some very flaky characters so we miss out on playing a lot. so i bide my time with reading and curling up in the corner until the next book of a song of ice and fire comes out.

Morithias
2012-04-06, 08:19 PM
I rarely if ever read a book that's not D&D...but here's the thing.. I STUDY D&D.

One of my fellow players who is probably my equal in min/max but has been playing for a LOT longer basically told me "the difference between us, is I learned from my mistakes and experiences, you cracked open the book and read it front to back".

I am CONSTANTLY working on D&D stuff. Researching new builds, fleshing out character concepts, and writing campaigns. My group meets maybe once every 3 weeks on average, but I probably don't go a week without making alterations and new discoveries.

So if you count that as "playing" my ratio is 1:0. (playing/reading)
If you count it as reading it's probably more 1:8 (playing/reading)

Our sessions last about 9 hours, and I probably blow a good 3 full days of D&D research in between all of them.

erikun
2012-04-06, 10:53 PM
Mostly a question out of curiosity. But also because without reading I don't think we could roleplay.
Perhaps, but I'm not sure if you'll find out with this question. I mean, I read about 10-15 minutes a day, five days a week, but end up going to a D&D game for several hours one day. By your question, this would be around 1:5 reading-to-gaming, but it kind of ignores the hundreds, possibly thousands, of books I've read up to today. I have not played anywhere near that much RPGs.

NikitaDarkstar
2012-04-06, 10:59 PM
I used to read A LOT more (I'd average in a few +1000 page books a year) but since school started I'm down to next to nothing when it comes to reading for my own enjoyment (last year and so far this year I've probably read a total of 250-300 pages). So my old ratio is probably 10:1 reading/playing ratio, my current one is well... my fictional reading is so small it falls outside the statistical margin of error right now. :(

*goes and hugs my book case and longs for some one on one time with it*

HeadlessMermaid
2012-04-09, 06:43 PM
Mostly a question out of curiosity. But also because without reading I don't think we could roleplay.
Nope, we could. I've played with two people who didn't read at all. (Between them, they had read one and a half novel in their entire life. It was mind-boggling, really.) Despite that, they roleplayed just fine. In fact, one was a fantastic roleplayer, among the best I've ever seen.

I think we wouldn't be able to roleplay without being exposed to storytelling, but storytelling isn't found exclusively in books. It's also in cinema, TV, theater, narrating fairy tales to the kids, exchanging scary stories around the fire, exchanging stories, period... Frankly, I don't even think there are humans not exposed to storytelling - unless they're totally unable to communicate with other people for some reason.

Knaight
2012-04-09, 07:06 PM
I read a lot of nonfiction, including reading history texts for fun. As such, my fiction : play ratio isn't nearly as high as it could be, and is probably 30-40: 1 or so. That sounds high, but I'm not in a weekly group currently and mostly play intermittent one shots and such. If you include nonfiction history, which is still a story in some ways it skyrockets, and is easily 100:1. The pure numbers for both reading and gaming are lower than is ideal, given school.

ForzaFiori
2012-04-09, 07:22 PM
I read maybe 30min-1hr each night, and spend maybe 20 minutes a day keeping up with pbp. So anywhere from 2:3 to 1:3, playing to reading.