Obsidian Portal and a Reason to be Greatful

I love Obsidian Portal.  Some of you may remember that I originally talked about it a while ago when I first found out about it.  For a while I was developing a game on the site to give it a test run.  I found it a great tool for campaign development, keeping things more organized than I could with standard text files.  In short, the wiki feature is invaluable. 

But that isn't the reason that Obsidian Portal filled me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude today.

To explain that I have to point out another equally impressive feature of the site, the Map. Now obviously I love cartography, but that isn't really what I mean in this instance.  The Obsidian Portal Map feature is an amazingly useful feature that plots out where various games are taking place.  Using this tool players can find a group to join by searching the various games near where they live.  In a time when many an FLGS is going out of business it is a new and highly effective way for Gamers to branch out and find one another. 

So why so grateful?  Well while searching near where I live I found about 10 games going on.  Most of those 10 games were 4th Edition games.  Now I'm not going to launch into a rant on 4th Edition D&D, but just know for these purposes that I don't like it and have no interest in playing it.  Of the remaining games on 2 were feature a rules system (3.5 D&D) that I would be willing to play, and they seemed pretty dull and poorly designed.  So my gratitude was not for the site itself, though as I say I think it's great, but rather for something else that I often give very little credit to.

My group. 

We've been playing together for almost ten years now (God how time flies!) and though that time hasn't always been smooth what with the cancellations, personal conflicts and all the other drama that happens when people come together, I still find myself gathering with them every week and having a great time playing with my friends. 

It isn't easy to find a group of people that you like, enjoy the way they game, and want to play the same game.  I think that is one reason why you hear about so many gaming groups sticking together for years, even decades.  Before I joined this group I spent years without one wishing I was gaming regularly.  Now that I am I often forget that fact.  Not today though. 

If you, like me, are lucky enough to be a member of a solid group of gamers whose company you enjoy enough to set aside time from your busy schedule you may want to stop and smell the roses.  Be greatful for what you have because it isn't easy to find.