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Oh I do this as standard practice. And everyone does give me their actions which works fine in most cases. But there are times between action scenes or when prepping for something upcoming that I’d like to see the group to coordinate or at least talk to each other. It’s the difference between...

Nah, just a grumpy and overbearing old git. :p

I like those edits. Are you thinking the one I bolded in your quote would cover the situation I've posted, or is that new one I'm thinking of getting at the cooperation goal?

Sure. Two of the players are veteran role-players and the defacto "speaker" is one of them. They both understand well at least the concept of cooperative play, but the "speaker" pretty much dictates all tactical operations. He doesn't talk to other players, only to the GM. Of the other players...

Oh, it's definitely a behavioral issue.

You just gave me a great idea. Dragonbane awards bonus XP checks for each of the following questions (each session): Did you participate in the game session? Did you explore a new location? Did you defeat one or more dangerous adversaries? Did you overcome an obstacle without using force? Did...

So one of the things I've had struggles with in our group is getting players to talk with each other and to strategize together. Often, each player is a miniature silo telling me what each is doing without any interaction or cooperation with other players. Pretty frustrating, especially when I...

No. "Skilled play" is not metagaming. Skilled play is being aware of the scenario situation, thinking proactively, responding to challenges with clear thought and deduction, using your character's skills and abilities intelligently, acting as a team, and applying common sense.

They might have been better off buying one of the other VTTs or contracting out a dedicated team from that VTT to support D&D and Beyond subscribers.

I have never in my lifetime used a rulebook guideline on what magic items to give out. I do what I think makes sense for the adventure and for the party.

Yeah, I would think if they were to do this, it would be outsourced with product requirements set by the WoTC team.

Could it be that WotC has decided in-person play should remain the focus?

Ah you’re right, it was Thieves that had the fast track xp. Still, I always liked that you might have different level PCs within the party and that xp rates changed as you rose in level. The backstabbing could be quite powerful if played well.

Streamlining often = boring. I loved that mages and thieves were weak initially but could level quickly.

I ask because I actually preferred the different leveling rates for the different classes in AD&D and never liked the unified leveling that came later. Characters felt more unique and it’s not something I ever viewed as broken.

Is the goal of an OSR for AD&D intended to reproduce it or to “fix” it?

Other systems that might be worth checking into are Pendragon and QuestWorlds. Combat seems be de-emphasized in both of those, and more on player decisions, interactions and so forth. Even Traveller might be a different look that pulls a bit out of total combat thinking.

How invested is the GM in combat as a central activity? We've played games where actively finding ways around combat (and getting experience awarded for it) was a lot of fun. I'm wondering if a Call of Cthulhu game might be a nice change of pace.

Wow, so the dynamics of groups were so bad they drove folks to solo play. It’s making me wonder if we need more guides on how to foster better groups independent all our game settings and systems.

There was a recent article in the Atlantic about this as well. We're seeing restaurants less busy and rarely do bars stay open to 2 a.m. anymore. I do think pandemic inertia is real. That said, I don't think that necessarily coincides with an interest in solo play. I think there's always been...