#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 3: What gives a game "staying power"?

This question could be taken in two ways: The game system itself, and the game as it's being played. I'll try to cover both.

What gives a game system it's staying power?

In order for a game to stay relevant, it need to do a couple of things, besides just being a fun game. I will focus on the two big things I think are the most important, based on observation:

Community: A game is only as good as it's players. And if your players like your game enough, they will make sure to find other people that play it. Sometimes that means players introducing their friends and family to your game. Sometimes it means players creating fanmade content based on your game. It always leads to generating interest and keeping your game alive.

If your game allows players to pour a little bit of themselves into it, and you make sure to stay in touch with them so they can share their experiences with you, your game will have a good chance to remain relevant for a while.

Good examples for this are the Dragonlance and Mystara campaign settings, among many others. Though they are all based on D&D, they haven't been given official updates by WoTC. While that would mean certain death for them, the authors and players have formed very solid communities around these campaign settings, often talking about their ongoing campaigns and what new twists they bring to them.

A community helps a game stay interesting, and gives it life beyond life.

Updates: Eventually, the stuff that was originally released for a game system can grow stale, and delivering occasional updates goes a long way in keeping your game interesting. These updates need to expand upon things that players already know about, as well as present new things to add to the game. An example of this could be an adventure module, which takes the players to places that they may have previously heard about, or new region in a world that they've played in before. Good adventure modules also bring a mechanic or two that encourage the players to run the game in a different way.

I will use the Tomb of Annihilation module as an example. I've been running this for a few months now and it's brought a lot of new life to the game. Here's the description for it: "The talk of the streets and taverns has all been about the so-called death curse: a wasting disease afflicting everyone who's ever been raised from the dead. Victims grow thinner and weaker each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the death they once denied."

Now Acererak appears in two D&D book covers

This adventure takes players to Chult, a place in Faerun that had yet to be explored in the current edition of D&D. This place is full of dinosaurs, undead, and undead dinosaurs. And the players are motivated to go here in order to stop the Death Curse; a game mechanic that prohibits resurrection or any other effect that deals with souls. All of this makes ToB an interesting module: it has many of the things that we all love and are familiar with in D&D, and puts a twist to all of it. This is how you update your games.

What allows a campaign to keep running?

I feel like this topic can be covered in a several page guide, but I will give my two cents based off my experience of running several campaigns that have lasted for 2-3 years each, for many players at a time (7 - 12+ players).

Consideration: This is not easy to achieve in large groups, since every person has their own needs and expectations. However, making sure every once in a while that every player is getting something that keeps them happy is vital. It's also important for players to be considerate of others: Sometimes they may want to attempt PvP-esque actions in the game; This is fine as long as the players are okay with each other at the end of the day. The last thing you want is a schism in your player group. 

Energy: Your players feed off of your energy and motivation for the game. If you're not really feeling it, maybe take a break. Have someone else DM for a while until you recharge your batteries. If it looks like you're simply losing interest to DM this game, perhaps it's time to end your campaign early and on a high note. This goes back to consideration, but making sure that everyone, especially yourself, is having fun, needs to be a priority, or it will affect everyone on the table.