for me it's a mixture of things.  nostalgia, things can never be as good as they used to be.  d&d reminds me of my highschool and college days, hanging out with my friends, all night sessions with pizza and beer, followed by sushi lunch the next day and continuing the session.

it also comes down to the time versus money phenomenon.  you can either have the money or the time to spend it.  back then i was all kinds of broke.  beer money came first, followed d&d books, then rent, then books for classes, then food.  now that i have the money to pay for everything i don't have to time to game.  

last problem would be that my friends are now scattered across three continents.  makes it harder to game.  that also ties back into the nostalgia.... collecting the books reminds me of the years we were all together..

The early 80s gaming was great: all night sessions etc. Having said that none of the group really had any responsibilities.

Some of the best times gaming for me were when I returned to it after univrsity in 89. Gaming was a great, social and cheap source of enjoyment amidst the start of self-employment and a fairly hand to mouth existence After a lull I ran a fairly homebrew campaign which lasted until 2002 when I met my now wife.

Now, two kids & wife to support. Work is very demanding (but rewarding and satisfying). I've very little time to spare.

Would I swap the wife & career for more time, relaxed beers at the weekend and some regular craic? Nah....

where's my lottery ticket .............

For me I'd just love to play again - anything!

I was the same, late night and all day sessions on weekends. Ordering pizzas, drinking iced coffee. It was so much fun and the game was a little simpler and more elegant then.

I have lived in remote places and countries for the past 14 years, my friends are scattered across the world. I have just moved back to Australia and civilisation this year. And don't know many people where i live.

I am happily married and have three kids - on sabbatical doing my PhD. My only hope is to wait until the kids grow up, and hope they see the game with the same wonder - though it will be hard to compete with computer games like Oblivion.

I can picture it now: "Aw. Dad wants us to play with his stupid pencil, dice and little bits of cardboard again!"