What will it take for you to go back to F2F gaming?

[Flexor the Mighty!]

We never stopped. Of the 7 one players has barely left his house since this started and has been Skyping in which has been mostly working. Another guy works delivery and has been not coming over though I told him last week that it was OK if he wanted to start showing up again. Though honestly I mostly suggested he remote in just to get him away from the table for a while, he's relentlessly political and tends to disrupt things. The other five of us have been meeting weekly, and other times away from games as well since we are all long time friends. One of the players who makes it quarantined himself for a couple weeks after a co worker's family member got it. After a session where he skyped in he said he was dropping out until he was back at the table. Said half the fun was hanging out with the guys and would rather just not play than do a Skype session. My game is miniature and terrain heavy so online just isn't what I'm interested in. We aren't in high risk groups so we just kept on playing.

On another note, Skype as product is not very impressive.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

If there's a vaccine that would probably do it. If not? I have no idea.

We’ll just follow the government advice and go back when they say it’s safe to do so.

Our state has okayed groups of 10 or less, but our case count is still going up, and we're getting close to capacity for ICU beds. I'm going to be more cautions than my government recommends.

 

[Morrus]

On another note, Skype as product is not very impressive.

That's why everybody uses Zoom instead.

 

[uzirath]

My main group has discussed the possibility of trying a backyard get together where we are all spread out. I think that sounds better for socializing than for gaming, but I would give it a go. I ran a pickup game last week where my kids and I were on our friends' veranda and they were in their living room, separated by about 8 feet with the windows open. That was ok, but only worked because all of the players were in two households. Even so, I was pretty hoarse by the end of it.

I think it's likely that my gaming will primarily be on-line until things are quite a bit safer (e.g., a vaccine or very low rates of infection across the state).

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

That's why everybody uses Zoom instead.

I haven't been pursuing that with security and privacy issues I've been reading about over the past few months. The people actually handling the video conference and camera setup have all agreed on Skype but its poor results may push us to a new solution. Too bad Teams isn't free.

 

[Umbran]

I haven't been pursuing that with security and privacy issues I've been reading about over the past few months.

If you get the zoom software directly from zoom.us, join from a web browser, don't publicly post the link to the meeting, and use a password, then Zoom is fine. You are running a game, not disclosing financial information or discussing proprietary design schematics, or something.

The people actually handling the video conference and camera setup have all agreed on Skype but its poor results may push us to a new solution. Too bad Teams isn't free.

Google Meet is also an option available to most people.

 

[Voadam]

My group has a bunch of higher risk with one friend at really high risk of death from most anything going wrong so forgoing ftf until things have really settled down is an easy call. I expect restrictions to be relaxed for economic reasons before conditions actually warrant it on a safety basis so it will be a while after being allowed.

 

[Jd Smith1]

We never stopped. Our weekly game clicks along, as does the game one of my players runs on a different night.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

If you get the zoom software directly from zoom.us, join from a web browser, don't publicly post the link to the meeting, and use a password, then Zoom is fine. You are running a game, not disclosing financial information or discussing proprietary design schematics, or something.

I'm not the one running the software but I'll have to mention it to them. Though I know one has used it. I work in IT but I only use VC for work and we use Teams. Though I remember using Skype years ago and having a smoother experience.

And I'm just picky about what I'm going to install on my systems and issues they have had in the past didn't give me a favorable opinion on the company.

 

[Eltab]

I think I had a mild case back in Feb / Mar. If I can find an affordable antibody test and it comes back with the answer "You are full of antibodies, no virus", I'm ready to meet people again. I want to be confident that I won't give it to somebody else.