I'm not going to start with a middle ground. Feel free to delve into nuances in replies. What makes it ideal for your choice? What would make the other choice ideal?  All that stuff. 

If you haven't DMed or PCed or played much yet, go with what you imagine is ideal.

No clue. I could never find a game to be a player in so I just started writing up a story and now I just DM. Would love to be a pc in a few one shots or something but just never found any. Love dming though.

I would do either if it meant getting to play more D&D...

But ideally, someone else would DM. I prefer to solve puzzles than make them.

AM I a DM or PC? Why yes I am.

Currently? Neither.

I wouldn't make a good DM. Some might say I'm not a good PC either - bit of a rules lawyer - but almost certainly a better PC than DM.

I like coming up with challenges my PC have to solve.

Under ideal circumstances I would want to be the DM.

Ideal circumstances include I have the free time to keep up with being DM without failing in my other IRL obligations.  Ideal circumstances also includes a group that appreciates the time I put into being DM.  I am more willing to forgive less than ideal circumstances when I am a player.

You know, I'll be honest, in ideal circumstances I'd rather be a PC. But in most groups I've played in I'd rather be DM, even if someone else is willing to, because honestly a lot of people are just not that good at it.

I’d rather be a player if the DM has the exact same narrative tastes as I do, but since that’ll never happen, DMing it is.

I enjoy DMing and I think by now I'm decent at it, but boy does it take a mental strain and i feel exhausted at the end of a session. When I play as a PC though I feel invigorated and excited about where my character is going, because I think more in terms of character more easily. 

So my answer is i like both, but i prefer being a PC

I enjoy the creative flexibility that comes with DMing, so that's my pick. Although I do get burned out and enjoy sitting back and playing from time to time. 

playing for me as I can't dm anything other than a dungeon crawl lol

in an ideal world, I would be a PC in a game that takes place once a week. however, people much smarter than me have suggested that we do already, in fact, live in an ideal world. "It is what it is!" as the old folks tend to say. anyways, what I thought was interesting was on that WOTC survey about 5th Edition not too long ago, one of the questions was "Why did you start DMing?"

one of the answers was

"Nobody else wanted to be the DM."

THEY KNOW

so DM I must

always the DM

foreverrrr

I am a DM.  Some clarification tho: I have played d&d for 30+ years at this point.  For a long while I was a player, and even when my friends needed someone to run, and I was the only one that would run, I was still a player.

For the last 12 or so years, I have been a DM.  Even when I am on the PC side of the table, I help DM's run their game, manage players, etc.

In my current group, a friend wanted me to get a chance to play (it had been 5 years since I last ran a PC).  Even so, I manage our discord to work out dates of play, I help him decide rulings during down time, I am often the go to in my group for general knowledge, as well as they see me as the person that "knows the game best."  Most of my friends that play d&d with other groups, talk builds over with me, ask my opinions on things they have planned or had happened.  Anytime someone needs help on a backstory, making a character concept come alive, or even decide on what equipment they need to acquire, I've become the go to person in all of my groups.  In many ways I've become the DM for the DM's I know.  I am not saying I am great at it, but for me that's the sort of stuff that defines a DM vs a player.

There is a level of ownership a DM takes in their groups, in making sure everyone has a good time, and a communal story is told.  A player, even when on the DM side of the screen, doesn't have that same level of ownership in the experience, and typically isn't as solid on managing a group.

DMing isn't for everyone.  It is difficult, and you often make wrong, or even bad calls.  Many people feel like they are failures.  With that said, for me its far more rewarding to help a couple dozen people have a great time, and everyone they play with, than it is to have 1 character be a hero.  And at some point you have to get experience behind the screen if you ever want to become a DM.

After posing your question you linger for a moment, clicking off your phone and enjoying the cool evening air. Reflecting on the festivities and inevitable personal difficulties of Wintermass you stare wonderingly up at the ancient  bones of Siberys hung like a road map across the crystal winter sky. The night will soon grow colder and you had better find shelter quickly, unless you wish to spend another evening battling your own kin amongst the Thorned Sisterhood.

i guess DM mostly. :)

Man.. I just wanna play more DnD

Quote from jonniipalos >>

Man.. I just wanna play more DnD

That's it in a nutshell.

We all just want to play more. Got my first time as a player and not a DM last week and our DM tpkd the party. We lasted a whole 30 mins. It was fun regardless. Wish that it could have gone on further. But the dice room as they do.

I don't have the mental fortitude to DM a game, and those who do have my whole hearted respect. :)

Being a support class that keeps the other PC's going is my jam.