This is a topic that interests me, because I don't have this problem. I play one system. Just one, for everything. I don't collect new systems, and I don't even find new systems all that intriguing. If a new system is going to convince me to play it, it's going to have to convince me that it does a better job than my current system of choice. (This assumes I'm gamemastering. I'll play something else if someone I like is running it and I'm interested, but it'll have to fit into my style of play for me to be interested.)

I think the issue comes down to a basic issue of "why do we roleplay?" Do we roleplay as playing a game (system), or do we roleplay as telling a story? Tim apparently gets a kick out of the system… nothing wrong with that. But it's getting in the way of something else he wants to do, which is support a long-running campaign… which implies something leaning more toward a desire for "story" of some sort or another.

I play the system I do because it's very rules-light, and my first priority concerning the game system is that it should get out of the way and be "invisible" as much as reasonably possible. I play the same system for everything because I don't want to deal with the players having to learn different systems all the time. I think the learning curve of picking up a new system causes the system to stand out… the group spends too much time learning how characters and combat and skills work, which causes the story, the events of the game, to be overshadowed by the system. To me, the system is like the rebar support structure in a concrete building… I want it to do the job of holding things up, but I don't want anybody to notice that it's there. System-hopping runs very counter to this, because it focuses on the "neatness" of the system at the expense of getting along with telling the story.

Obviously, not all of us game for the same reasons. There's nothing wrong with liking to try lots of different systems, but Tim seems to have a conflict… he wants to try lots of systems, but he also wants a long-running campaign.

Actually, I have the same conflict with different campaigns… I've got two or three "big" campaigns back-burnered, and numerous little ideas I'd like to try running something in. Don't have time for all of that… barely have time to run the one campaign or a series of one-shots.

And that's the essence of the conflict… there's not enough time to do everything we want to do. Adult gamers can have enough trouble cramming just one game every couple of weeks into their schedule, and trying to find the time to run a game can be difficult. That makes the more "obvious" solution to the problem not so useful… few of us have time to run multiple games, one long-term campaign and a series of one-shots, for instance, side-by-side. My own gaming group gets together only once every two weeks (if our schedules work), and that's barely enough for a continuing campaign. (I don't like once-a-month… that's just too far apart to get any feeling of momentum, and if the GM or players have an "off" day, it makes it even worse.)

So it all comes back to time, and the essential conflict… I have to choose how much of my time I will devote to game preparation, running the game, writing, playing board games, watching TV, playing with my son, hanging out with my wife, working in the yard, cleaning the house, working the day job, etc. (Maybe if Tim weren't trying to recreate Hawaii in his back yard, he'd have more time for gaming. Personally, I'm trying to figure out how to dump the day job to spent more time writing and gaming. :)

My only solution has been this: think seriously about your priorities and decide which things you just don't have time to do, and accept it. For Tim's specific dilemma, he needs to decide which is more important to him… trying out new systems, or enjoying the rewards of a long-term campaign. They're not entirely exclusive… he can put the long-term campaign on-hold occasionally to try something new and then come back to it later. A long-term campaign can be very rewarding… there's something cool about having years of history the same players and their characters. For me, story and depth take a much higher priority than trying out new systems, so my choice there is an easy one. The hard one for me is deciding which campaign run right now, and when to take a break and do some of those one-shot adventures I've got in mind.