D&D General D&D "influencers" need to actively acknowledge other games.

[UngainlyTitan]

I have definitely played narrative games with folks for whom it is difficult. Lots of players want to know what happens, rather than make up what happens themselves. Creating Aspects on the fly in fate or deciding how something fails forward in FitD can be a stressor for those people.

I have seen similar in sandbox play. The tyranny of choice, some people do not handle wide open well. I would not attempt to run a Fate game, I would be willing to have a go at playing but improv (in the sense of coming up with something on the fly) has never been a thing I was any good at.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I have definitely played narrative games with folks for whom it is difficult. Lots of players want to know what happens, rather than make up what happens themselves. Creating Aspects on the fly in fate or deciding how something fails forward in FitD can be a stressor for those people.

Especially since it can be difficult to provide help in learning how to do these things. I've seen more than one person literally tell me, "you just do it".

 

[payn]

I have seen similar in sandbox play. The tyranny of choice, some people do not handle wide open well. I would not attempt to run a Fate game, I would be willing to have a go at playing but improv (in the sense of coming up with something on the fly) has never been a thing I was any good at.

On the flip side, some GMs think they handle wide open sandboxes, and they can not. Sometimes the combination of anxious player and overconfident GM leads to a terrible time.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

On the flip side, some GMs think they handle wide open sandboxes, and they can not. Sometimes the combination of anxious player and overconfident GM leads to a terrible time.

Oh! Absolutely agreed. I would say that a couple of instigator players are more valuable in a sandbox situation than the DM.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Oh! Absolutely agreed. I would say that a couple of instigator players are more valuable in a sandbox situation than the DM.

For sandboxes, I just make sure there are a few specific possibilities highlighted by NPCs, street rumors, postings, and the like. That way the PCs can still go where they want, but there are clear hooks if they get stuck.

 

[Umbran]

Except @overgeeked was replying to me but I have never played Fate, seen one stream but what you say fits with my intuition. Roleplay intense and world building intense is a lot more effort than a D&D style adventure path (not saying that one cannot put similar effort into a D&D game, but I am talking about casual play here). In a D&D style game one can play one's character sheet and follow the breadcrumbs of the AP. Which I think is lower effort than the more freeform games.

I think the difference in effort between, say, Fate and D&D is marginal.

The overall time investment for all of them is similar - RPGs, in general, take hours and hours and hours to play. There's usually several other people involved, so we cannot play them at a drop of a hat. We typically have to coordinate and schedule them into our lives.

These are not pickup games you can say, "I'm bored right now, I'm gonna play some D&D for an hour," and get the experiences we are looking from out of the games.

 

[Micah Sweet]

These are not pickup games you can say, "I'm bored right now, I'm gonna play some D&D for an hour," and get the experiences we are looking from out of the games.

This last thing, of course, is the big advantage of video games. In many cases, you absolutely can play them as a pickup game. Yesterday I just decided to play Stellaris for an hour, apropos of nothing.

 

[Umbran]

This last thing, of course, is the big advantage of video games. In many cases, you absolutely can play them as a pickup game. Yesterday I just decided to play Stellaris for an hour, apropos of nothing.

Video games, or any hobby you engage in by yourself. My wife does fiber arts - she can pick up a crochet hook, or sit down at her spinning wheel or loom, any time she likes.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Video games, or any hobby you engage in by yourself. My wife does fiber arts - she can pick up a crochet hook, or sit down at her spinning wheel or loom, any time she likes.

Of course, but video games often scratch the same or a similar itch to tabletop, so it seemed especially relevant.

 

[Reynard]

On the flip side, some GMs think they handle wide open sandboxes, and they can not. Sometimes the combination of anxious player and overconfident GM leads to a terrible time.

There are few things more frustrating than a GM who invites you to play a sandbox game and then constantly tells you "No."