Do you buy new versions of TTRPG games when you haven't had time to play the older version sitting on your shelf?

[Umbran]

Unless you're on the official demo team...

If your contract gives your employer right to reach into what you do privately on your own time... that's a lawyer-level problem.

 

[payn]

I tried meetup. 25 people joined. 1 showed up.
After a year of running a game for 1 person, he moved out of town. I consider Meetup to be a failed system.
The only replies I got from the other 24 people when I asked was "Why isn't this on Discord," "I want to game during the week from 8pm to midnight," and "But I want to play 5th edition." Given that I spelled out specifically what I was willing to run (but that I would play any other edition or game if someone else was running it), I really have to wonder why people joined a group that wasn't going to be what they wanted. (I can go on and on about this.) Also, why join a group that's 30+ miles away and across toll bridges? I just didn't understand their logic.

Interesting we’ve had a lot of very successful meetups here in TC. That was of course some years ago and they seemed to have migrated to discord as you mentioned.

Hang in there!

 

[Ath'kethin]

On occasion I will, but I'm seriously trying to limit myself.

There are games I buy specifically to show support to the creators; I have a couple of unfulfilled Kickstarters that don't bother me because I backed them to show support, not because I actually wanted the product. And ther are games I buy mostly to loot for other games. Sometimes both things are true about the same products, which is nice.

 

[Buzzqw]

No! Never! That would be a waste.
OK, maybe this happened a few times.

ahemm.. just few hundreds times.. for me

BHH

 

[Duke_]

For me, it depends mostly of what I think of the edition I have, and what's changing. For example, I have the BRP Big Gold Book, tons of RuneQuest stuff, etc. I don't really like the BRP system anymore, and won't play it or any of its spinoffs or incarnations, so why shell out for the new BRP UGE edition? I already know what BRP is all about, and a new edition isn't going to change how I feel about it.

OTOH I bought QuestWorlds despite owning but never having played the previous HeroQuest branded editions. I thought there were enough improvements there.

 

[MNblockhead]

I tried meetup. 25 people joined. 1 showed up.
After a year of running a game for 1 person, he moved out of town. I consider Meetup to be a failed system.
The only replies I got from the other 24 people when I asked was "Why isn't this on Discord," "I want to game during the week from 8pm to midnight," and "But I want to play 5th edition." Given that I spelled out specifically what I was willing to run (but that I would play any other edition or game if someone else was running it), I really have to wonder why people joined a group that wasn't going to be what they wanted. (I can go on and on about this.) Also, why join a group that's 30+ miles away and across toll bridges? I just didn't understand their logic.

I find that Meetup's usefulness is highly dependent on location. In the Twin Cities, it was great. I built my current group through Meetup and while there has been a few who have come and gone, I've been running campaigns for the core 4 for over a decade now.

But I didn't create a meetup for this. People--including me--will join a Meetup group just to see what its about and I just don't find it worth the hassle for something as small as a single TTRPG group. What worked for me is finding some of the more active TTRPG fan Meetups where multiple events were posted, which had large numbers, were active, and already had people posting find a game posts. I wrote out a detailed call for gamers post where I clearly set out the campaign I wanted to run, including a description of the world, expected play style and tone, the system I would be using, any homebrew or limitations, expected schedule, etc. Then I would communicate with those who were interested by mail.

Another thing I did with my first campaign was that I designed it so that each session was a stand alone oneshot but tied into larger plot lines. This allowed people to drop in and out without the stress of making a long-term commitment. Over time a core group of folks showed up to every sessions and we just stuck to that group thereafter.

For a short time until work and life in general didn't leave time for it, I posted a flyer at my FLGS looking for players interested in trying one shots of different TTRPGs. I listed 10 or so games that I was interested in running one shots of and had both a QR code and tabs on the bottom of the flyer with an e-mail that people could rip off and take with them. The idea was to build a distribution list that I could use to announce a one shot sessions I would be running. It was a good way to meet a diverse group of players because different people would show up for different games.

I think that many GMs get stuck in a trap of having a campaign concept that they are keen to run and trying to find a good group for that campaign. I find more success in just running games for a lot of different people until I find the right group of people who are interested in committed to a longer campaign that I'm interested in playing with over a long period of time.

PLAYING in many games locally, however, has not provided much success in organically building a group. Perhaps it is because you are "poaching" from another GM or players don't get to experience you as a GM so they don't really reach out to you to see if you are running a game (and I don't like to talk about games I run or that I'm looking for players when I'm in game run by another GM--it feels gauche). But when I put myself out there and run low-commitment one shots I eventually find people interested in playing in a regular campaign.

 

[MNblockhead]

That's what I get for being an old, out of touch, stick in the mud who doesn't want to change or get with the times or whatever. I think we've derailed the thread enough. Maybe future suggestions should go through PM?

There have been other threads in the past that discussing similar issues with finding players or GMs. I think there is more good discussion to be had if you wanted to start a separate thread. I'll just end by saying that I don't buy into the old, out of touch, stick in the mud excuse. There are going to be players for home your are the stick in the mud they were looking for. There are also lots of polygamerous (my new favorite term, learned from this thread) who are happy to play in almost any system and game world.

I think the bigger challenge is location. Are you in or near a large urban area? How vibrant is your local gaming community? If you don't want to play online, it is harder to find play opportunities if there is not a large TTRPG community in your area. I'm in what should be a vibrant gaming community (I moved about a year ago) but I find that I have to drive about half an hour to get good access to a good FLGS with a good community of gamers.

 

[payn]

I find that Meetup's usefulness is highly dependent on location. In the Twin Cities, it was great. I built my current group through Meetup and while there has been a few who have come and gone, I've been running campaigns for the core 4 for over a decade now.

But I didn't create a meetup for this. People--including me--will join a Meetup group just to see what its about and I just don't find it worth the hassle for something as small as a single TTRPG group. What worked for me is finding some of the more active TTRPG fan Meetups where multiple events were posted, which had large numbers, were active, and already had people posting find a game posts. I wrote out a detailed call for gamers post where I clearly set out the campaign I wanted to run, including a description of the world, expected play style and tone, the system I would be using, any homebrew or limitations, expected schedule, etc. Then I would communicate with those who were interested by mail.

Another thing I did with my first campaign was that I designed it so that each session was a stand alone oneshot but tied into larger plot lines. This allowed people to drop in and out without the stress of making a long-term commitment. Over time a core group of folks showed up to every sessions and we just stuck to that group thereafter.

For a short time until work and life in general didn't leave time for it, I posted a flyer at my FLGS looking for players interested in trying one shots of different TTRPGs. I listed 10 or so games that I was interested in running one shots of and had both a QR code and tabs on the bottom of the flyer with an e-mail that people could rip off and take with them. The idea was to build a distribution list that I could use to announce a one shot sessions I would be running. It was a good way to meet a diverse group of players because different people would show up for different games.

I think that many GMs get stuck in a trap of having a campaign concept that they are keen to run and trying to find a good group for that campaign. I find more success in just running games for a lot of different people until I find the right group of people who are interested in committed to a longer campaign that I'm interested in playing with over a long period of time.

PLAYING in many games locally, however, has not provided much success in organically building a group. Perhaps it is because you are "poaching" from another GM or players don't get to experience you as a GM so they don't really reach out to you to see if you are running a game (and I don't like to talk about games I run or that I'm looking for players when I'm in game run by another GM--it feels gauche). But when I put myself out there and run low-commitment one shots I eventually find people interested in playing in a regular campaign.

I too used meetup in the twin cities and had a lot of luck with it. Though, meetup seems to be dying out since those 10+ years ago. It’s all discord now.

 

[MNblockhead]

On occasion I will, but I'm seriously trying to limit myself.

There are games I buy specifically to show support to the creators; I have a couple of unfulfilled Kickstarters that don't bother me because I backed them to show support, not because I actually wanted the product. And ther are games I buy mostly to loot for other games. Sometimes both things are true about the same products, which is nice.

It is a breath of fresh air for me to read this. I have the same attitude towards Kickstarters. When did you start backing Kickstarter projects? I think my first was the first or maybe second year after it went live. I think the old ethos is dying out as it is being used more and more (at least with TTRPGs) as a pre-order system, which I think has lead to a whole new cohort of backers who have very different expectations and often toxic reactions when things do go well with a project. I've always treated it as either a self-interested charitable donation or an investment. In the former, I don't really expect or care if I get much out of it and for the later, I don't invest what I can't afford to lose (and "afford" here also means not getting upset enough to doom scroll the updates and comments or waste time with angry comments).

 

[MNblockhead]

I too used meetup in the twin cities and had a lot of luck with it. Though, meetup seems to be dying out since those 10+ years ago. It’s all discord now.

Yeah. I hated Discord for a long time. The first adjustment was when many software and TTRPG support forums were closed down and moved to Discord. I still find it frustratingly difficult to find useful information that I could much more easily find searching an old-style forum. But I've adjusted out of necessity.

I even use it for my own campaign when my players convinced me to move to it from Google Meet. I still find the GUI and control unintuitive and inconvenient, but I mainly use it for voice and it performs great for that.