My group alternates between Shadowrun (which I play) and 4E D&D (which I don't). I can't justify dropping the cash to pick up a new game right now, right after I dropped a bunch on my SR4 books.

For us, around 1995-96 it sort of started turning into a rather expensive arms race of sourcebooks where each one that came out seemed to be full of things nastier and more horrible than the last one in terms of their potential impact. Don't get me wrong, I like Rifts its not too bad as a system (there are far worse) and its a great setting, but it does need a lot of micro-management on behalf of the GM to filter out the sheer amount of crap PC's will want to be lugging around or playing.
Think the best way to keep it in check was to limit a campaign around a sourcebook where you're only using the PC classes and NPC's out of it, because they'd either tear their way though an earlier sourcebook like proverbial paper it was made out of or get squished by later material.

Which is ok if you only run short series of games, it doesn't provide great continuity though.

It depends on the GM entirely. I have a friend that has been running the same "campaign" using Rifts since he was in high school. (As in one continuous meta-plot, lots of campaigns and game sessions with may different groups.)

I'd agree that on a per-game basis, you need to be clear which books are in play. Other than that, it's one of my favorite games.

Right now we're playing though a Burning Wheel conversion of DNA/DOA.

Planning on starting up a D&D 4th ed campaign by the end of the month.

Eagerly awaiting Rogue Trader so i can finally create my Robotech, Planet of Adventure, Logans World mashup.

Pretty much just Sr3; with some input from the Sr3r stuff from here a while back, and adaptions of sr4 tech. Its hard to do much else when my group is spread across 4 states, 3 time zones, and 2 continents.

I on the other hand want to go back to Gencon and run games for the con team, and need to know the sr4 rules. Blarg. And now (Im assuming) the sr4a rules. Double blarg.

Nope. SL and live in MN. Jimson was my first Shadowrun character. Was that the same for S.M. in Texas?

Yeah, Jimson is the recurring name of many PCs. He was originally FROM MN, so I was curious.

My group plays RIFTS more often than not and some D&D 3.5. We used to play Warhammer 40K and Magic: The Gathering but those kind of fell to the wayside. We haven't been doing too much gaming lately though. Everyone's kind of spread out at this moment (different states, cities, etc.)

Wow! That is bizarre. Like I said, he was my first shadowrun character. I couldn't think of a name, so my friend just said, "Jimson". That was also my friends first time playing too.

Well, my group has run through a variety of games.

*D&D 3.5- We beat the game
*Call of Cthulhu d20- A failure of epic proportions
*Dark Heresy- Didn't quite jive with the group
*D&D 4- Will never play that one again.

Thank God for Shadowrun and bell cure based rolling.

Oh geez played alot of stuff heres a short list of more recent stuff

D&D 3.5
Vampire the Dark Ages
Call of Cthuhlu
Exalted 2e
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Vampire the Requiem
Unknown Armies
Mage the Awakening
Burning Wheel

While we play other things I would say we always end up back in one of the world of darkness games.

I modded almost every RPG I reffed, and my rulebooks just ended up covered in notes.

For a charity RPG session [Rednose Day, mid 90's] I put together some rules that let various people run various RPGs with the same characters, without too much confusion.
Those led to the current rules I put together from scratch and I incorporated various bits, themes, material and scenarios from others - Dark Heresy, Shadowrun, CP2020, Call of Cthulhu, Castle Falkenstein, GURPS, TORG, Aeon Trinity, Space 1889, SLA Industries, Earthdawn, Chill, Dark Conspiracy, Traveller, 2300 AD, and some other, minor RPGs.

So that's what I use whenever we play.

With the group in VA (Wed or Thurs nights, once a week), so many different concurrent campaigns for this group, whenever someone needs a break, there's always someone up to bat.
-Used to play D&D 3.5, we've moved on to Pathfinder now. Currently a couple games in that including the Pathfinder Society Scenarios and also several other campaigns. (GM to one of the backup games)
-Dark Heresy
-Used to play Savage Worlds, Necessary Evil campaign, that kinda fell when the GM got deployed, at least he's back now.
-Star Wars d6
-nWoD

Another group in MD (meets once every two months on Saturdays)
-Shadowrun 4E (GM), on hiatus
-Dark Heresy (GM) current

Did try playing with a group in DC for SR4E. However, meeting on Sundays are bad for me.

Well...I have a group I play with at school and a group I play with when I'm home for the summer.

At school, mostly DnD, since that's what everyone is already familiar with. Sometimes we play Rifts as well, but not recently.

At home, however, we have lots of games we play:
Kobolds ate My Baby
GURPS
RIFTS
Shadowrun
Traveller
DnD
D20 Modern (and the variants thereof, like D20 Apocalypse)
All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Zombie survival Horror)
World of Darkness
Warhammer 40K (I know, not an RPG)
Anything else we can get our grubby little fingers on

Sr4 (which I play in)
L5r (which I end up dm'ing most of the time, which is a shame, I really enjoy getting in there and breaking heads w/ my Hida).

I'm expecting Feng Shui to make a recurrence at some point.
And Pathfinder is apparently awesome.

Only issue is that the majority of folks I game with are uh... well... broke college student types, so the financial investment for any new game is a burden ><)

Also, I've tried Dark Heresy & enjoyed it greatly, but I don't know if I could get anyone else to play along.

Well, how shall I say... my group is very set in their ways. Blasphemer that I am, I'm actually not actively running Shadowrun at present... in the gathering/plotting stages. Really, all they really want to play is DnD. I'm playing in a 3E campaign and I'll be running a 4E one. That said, I'm certain I could get them to play Shadowrun no problem.

The systems that I'd like to play, but I can't get them to even try, I usually run via PbP. I've run a successful, long-running Call of Cthulhu game set in the 1890s (I'm fixated on the Victorian era, so atmospheric for horror). I find myself really fiending to play some Pendragon. I've just recently found the system, and I find that with all its supplements and stuff it's almost exactly what *I'd* like out of a fantasy-type game.

My life recently could be catagorized by the dissolution of my RPG groups made worse by second shift's ability to kill a social life deader then disco.

Initially had a Scion game, things were going good until we had some new players join who A) wanted the plot to be all about them B) Constantly bitched about why they wern't as powerfull as the people who had been playing the same character weekly for a year by that point C) Wanted to turn it into a competitive game, which it really wasn't D) Constantly bitched about being railroaded. Just because they couldn't get that we wern't go to stop the high myth and legend campaign for them to play out their own personal game of superpowered NCIS.

The blow up from that game while being a potential candidate for worst gaming experience I've had, didn't take the top spot as no fist fight broke out. For a couple months I just stoped gaming other then to play in or run a living campaign i'm involved in and concentrate onw ork and school. Eventually on a whim I called a smaller grouyp of people together to play OWoD Mage.

We all loved it, I found out that the problem before wasn't the game or my failure as a storyteller but some of the people in it. With a smaller and less drama fileld group we could all have a lot more laid back gaming experience. The game went on pretty regular for several weeks with only 4 regular players. Then my work schedule got changed to different nights that wern't compatable for the other second shifter. After talking about it we opted to put the mage game on hold and start a shadowrun game. We're doing character creation tommorow night and maybe a quick introductory deal.

As an aside to mage, it's a lot looser then most games, and I will always believe that none of the WW games should really be mixed as none of them get a fair shake when that happens. If you have a GM and players that trust each other and are on the same page power level and storyline wise you can have great fun with it.