Say you are running a game or playing in one and while there is nothing specifically wrong with it, you just don't have the same enthusiasm.

Do you drop the game or do you find a way to rekindle the fire?

Assuming you don't drop the game, what do you do?

  first, never start  a game, You...yourself  aren't excited about.

  2nd?.. unless its contempary game you can do what you want?  even then.. you set the game  into the future, and the   canvas is blank  for you to make.

  I get ideas here or there  from books and Movies.. your  game  will still have a flow...what people expect..but that doesn't  mean yhou can divert , now   and then to  some  things, as   long as its in context.

 This , however, works better  with  RP  games.

You have some responsability to your players, first and foremost - if you're getting burnt out and/or need a hiatus, say so and use the gap to read/watch/play other things and fill in clear short/mid/long-term events for your PCs. If you're completely bored and can't picture ever wanting to play any more, let them know you're ending the game and help wrap up.

I find the best cure is to find an RPG book related to your game and scavenge new material/ideas out of it, or reread the sourcebook for whatever it is you're playing to pick up the spark that originally set you off.

 I  started my ,most active  game  ( closing in on 9 years)..becausde , at the time..i didn't want to GM. But a decent    'starship troopers' game  had started. there were a few  folks in there, that were real good RPers   and the GM  just said, ok?   one month..I'm  done..

 so?   havign read  both  fiction and non fiction , and caught up in aliens  having been here  in the past, I  used the  info from a book I wanted to write. and expanded on that,  inviting  the  players  from the  dead  game to  come play in my  free-form, home brew  , system/world.

 by being homebrew?  You don't have the limits put on you by a  movie-book-game  ect..its  your  world  to create … my players  uncover...miss..or  accidently create  new plot lines  and hooks  with out knowing it...and? it makes  it  fun for me  as a GM.

 sure, there might be some  'odd bits'..but  as my most Vet player says ' never let facts  ruin a good story." ( which is why  I stay away from Historical, unless its  in another Dimension., or somethign like that)

I personally am excited by the responses of the players when running a game.
You never know what they are going to do!

Timely responses by other players also keeps interest up.
Out of Character banter keeps a sense of involvement while waiting for those with more restricted response times.

But, when that is few and far between, it gets hard.

that? in a nut  shell, is the   whole  core of being a GM...

 I had a new player  join  in the spring..relatively  active... his friend  who recruited him for my game is  RL   ill..and  has  posted   slowly ..while he hasn't posted ..I sent a PM..he said he loved the game, then never posted   again ( since Aug.) .. I don't keep lurkers.. so I cut hi loose.

 I have good players whose  RL is busy, and they are  in other countries  or  on the west coast, we  have the flow  set to include  everyone in nattels, actions or  even  'off duty' RP.

now? the key to this, is those   same players giving us a ' heads  Up"... sometime sthey get pushed off to teh abck round, until they can post again, with  reasonable explanations   for 'where they were'

 Greentongue  also mentioned  about OOC?....  once a new player   joined, and the other players  know they are interested... the OOC  becomes more then just a Message/question thread.. we share a lot..because the players  are all close.. sometimes?.. we  are closer then RL folks, because they can reach us here...helping folks  though RL  'bad times" makes us  a bit closer then most groups, I believe that bleeds into the story

 so? it doesn't matter how  'good' a GM  you are.. if you  don't  have Great players.. I have  been overly lucky, on that score.

I'd be interested to know how you people manage your time and also how to stop your enthusiasm from causing you to be swamped.

I am running several games now that I really want to keep moving but RL keeps getting in the way and there is always something to suck up my time. Also I have a problem with resisting the urge to start something new when an Idea enters my head.

So far I've managed to keep my main three games alive but I worry that I'm not posting frequently enough.

I think  I am permitted to run 15 or 17 games..I have 3..one is a niche  game..one is  slow moving  fantasy  game, and  a very active   Sci-Fi game.

 the past 2 years I have more free time then  normal, and I will confess, there are  something I want to try. But? it goes to  my rule  I use  for myself...if a GM ,has too many deleted games..or  two many  games ..period. I won't ask to join, because the time  won't be there for them to make the time worthwhile.

I do see some honest ads , that say this game is for one adventure and such, so you know what you are getting  into.

 The best think for a GM to do..is have a few  games, they will give thier attentions to ( because you are a player  elsewhere , most  times?)..better top  run  some  good  games, then many  'so-so' games.

Like donsr said, it's a good idea to know what your limits are. For me, I know I can probably run one game at a time and give it my full attention, and problems arise when I add another game or two to that load. For playing games, probably six at a time is my max.

I typically don't drop out of games due to boredom. When I drop games, it's usually because I've let myself get too busy offline and don't communicate properly to my GMs or players. I've stuck with games for years when I didn't feel especially inspired, but if I stick with it, sooner or later that spark will return.

Once it was down to only having two players still with me, but one player was excellent and really rewarding to play with, and the other player was game enough to keep posting, and we were able to finish at least the current adventure we were on.

What keeps me engaged as a player is having meaty, interesting adventures to play in filled with description, exploration, choices, and consequences. I've played with some excellent GMs who really put care and time into their games to create living, breathing worlds for the players to explore, and these GMs typically only run one or two games at a time.

It's important to be honest with your players and GMs, too. Check with them periodically to find out how invested they are in the game. Often I find players' motivation to continue can be infectious to make me want to continue. It's good to let GMs know when you're enjoying their games. They may be wondering if anyone's still invested in that game.

And as donsr said, it's important to run games that you're interested in. If you're thinking about starting a game, but the game doesn't interest you, you probably shouldn't start it. It's hard to manufacture enthusiasm for something you're not that interested in.