You must be below this line to go on this ride

In the comments of my last post about a Holmes only campaign there were two things that really got me thinking - to absolutely no conclusion. Is there a significant portion of players that prefer a grittier, low level campaign versus the super-heroics of high level play? Is there a difference in DM preferences to player preferences - do more DMs prefer a low level campaign? I have no way of answering these questions but there are a few one-off, tangental observations.

As pointed out be Herb, towards the end of the official run for 3.5 there was the emergence of E6 where character advancement was effectively halted at 6th level. I know I have seen discussions about 4E Heroic-tier only campaigns. There is a sword & sorcery supplement for BFRPG that effectively halts advancement at 6th level. The discussions on DF about a Holmes only campaign went on for 10 pages and spawned a number of follow-up threads.

And finally, and the one that matters most to me, my C&C campaign has been going for ~6 months and we have met approximately 8 times. Characters have just made it to 2nd level but even with what some might call slow advancement my players seem to love their characters and appear to be really enjoying the game.

Badmike comments, "good luck finding a handful of players willing to game for 30 or so sessions to get their characters to 3rd level!"

I appreciate the fact that the faster advancement of 3.5 and 4E gives players new doodads for their characters every session or two. As we get older, have kids, jobs, and other responsibilities it gets tougher to get in a weekly game. If you can only get together once a month, it is kind of nice to have your character advance in level every couple of months.

I don't know if I can keep my C&C campaign going for 12 to 16 months so the characters can get up to 4th and 5th level. We'll see. However, given the enjoyment of the campaign and the levels that will be covered (low levels) I don't see many issues with running a low level only - ie a Holmes-only - for a long-ish term campaign.