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<blockquote data-quote="Ondath" data-source="post: 8664199" data-attributes="member: 7031770">That's a really heartwarming story. And I completely sympathise with your situation. The one thing I wanted to have for the last 10 years was a regular, face-to-face group, and I never really got it. I couldn't get a single game to play from 2012 to 2015 actually, but 5E plunging TTRPGs to mainstream thankfully changed that. I then had an online campaign from 2016 to 2019, and once that was done I was dead set on getting a face-to-face group in my new uni where I started a PhD. I joined the uni's sci-fi and fantasy club, started a group... and the pandemic started. So I never had a proper face to face group, and I can completely understand the things you lose in online play being a dealbreaker. Playing in person makes it easier for everyone to concentrate, and being able to interact physically people (or just read their nonverbal cues more easily) makes everything so much easier.I'm almost certain what I say won't be news to you, but have you tried getting the online experience as close to face-to-face as possible? Things like asking that everyone has their camera on throughout the game, asking for no phones or other tabs while playing, taking breaks more frequently so that Zoom fatigue won't make everyone miserable, or using more lightweight VTTs like Owlbear Rodeo so that people don't get lost in the automation but focus on the immediate experience. I've tried several of these, and while it never fully replaces the energy you get from being in the same room as other people, I think it helps to some extent.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ondath, post: 8664199, member: 7031770"] That's a really heartwarming story. And I completely sympathise with your situation. The one thing I wanted to have for the last 10 years was a regular, face-to-face group, and I never really got it. I couldn't get a single game to play from 2012 to 2015 actually, but 5E plunging TTRPGs to mainstream thankfully changed that. I then had an online campaign from 2016 to 2019, and once that was done I was dead set on getting a face-to-face group in my new uni where I started a PhD. I joined the uni's sci-fi and fantasy club, started a group... and the pandemic started. So I never had a proper face to face group, and I can completely understand the things you lose in online play being a dealbreaker. Playing in person makes it easier for everyone to concentrate, and being able to interact physically people (or just read their nonverbal cues more easily) makes everything so much easier. I'm almost certain what I say won't be news to you, but have you tried getting the online experience as close to face-to-face as possible? Things like asking that everyone has their camera on throughout the game, asking for no phones or other tabs while playing, taking breaks more frequently so that Zoom fatigue won't make everyone miserable, or using more lightweight VTTs like Owlbear Rodeo so that people don't get lost in the automation but focus on the immediate experience. I've tried several of these, and while it never fully replaces the energy you get from being in the same room as other people, I think it helps to some extent. [/QUOTE]

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