Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
License for Inclusive and Creative Homebrews
Not everyone considers online play via VTT and Voice acceptable modes of play for themselves.Sure. It takes more effort. That doesn't make it impossible.
In the case of total novices, online play is a huge hurdle -- how does one find a group when all one knows about D&D comes from Critical Role??? What software? How do I open myself up enough to roleplay with total strangers?
How does one figure it out without willing victims and having seen play when someone sends one a corebook that isn't D&D or Pathfinder?
Given how Google tailors recommendations, if one isn't already tripped off by google as a gamer, useful hits are going to be almost purely D&D.
Note: my 18yo doesn't like to play remote, my 22yo does so reluctantly. Dismissiveness won't change that it's not a generational thing; in fact, it flat out smacks of gatekeeping mindset.Yeah, kids these days have a really hard time with new technology and virtual friendships.
Oh, wait…
My on-line group covers the age spectrum from 60s to 20s.Note: my 18yo doesn't like to play remote, my 22yo does so reluctantly. Dismissiveness won't change that it's not a generational thing; in fact, it flat out smacks of gatekeeping mindset.
In my two current groups (the third group is a subset of the second); Only my wife and I are past 35; the FTF group is mostly under 22, except for my wife and I; the remote one is low of mid 20's and high of (IIRC) 32 year old, excluding myself. And I started a few weeks before Moldvay's D&D Basic Set hit the shelves,
I staunchly support people's right to play online... but one thing I've heard at local cons aplenty: "How do I find a group?"
Also, I moved states, had no friends local when I moved. Finding a group online wasn't easy; the one I have was a FTF group in Alaska, who wanted to at least finish the module with the same GM. (Princes of the Apocalyse).
the pacing of VTT play was not good for one particular player; Even TOTM is slower for me. I find FTF far superior to VOIP, even when running pure TOTM, as the subtle cues of faces, body language, and even what's in hand are all lost.
General Open Book License Imperative Network?My biggest surprise in this is that Paizo didn't somehow fit the ORC idea into the acronym GOBLIN.
Note: my 18yo doesn't like to play remote, my 22yo does so reluctantly. Dismissiveness won't change that it's not a generational thing; in fact, it flat out smacks of gatekeeping mindset.
In my two current groups (the third group is a subset of the second); Only my wife and I are past 35; the FTF group is mostly under 22, except for my wife and I; the remote one is low of mid 20's and high of (IIRC) 32 year old, excluding myself. And I started a few weeks before Moldvay's D&D Basic Set hit the shelves,
Yes! An undead license to ensure it "lives" in perpetuity.License for Inclusive and Creative Homebrews
I think you're making a pretty big error here.I don't even consider myself as having a particularly strong opinion on this, but I certainly would not want to release anything that makes it an "ORC license" product.
Like, citation needed, man, and it needs to be actual RPG designers/commentators (indie, sure, but ones who've actually done stuff, got stuff on itch.io at least and so on), not like far-out Twitter people who run a podcast with a 130 listeners or whatever.Some people really don't care about it. Other people are offended that others are feeling offended by it.
Yeah, my middle-school aged son and his friends play with books, pen and paper. Me the fuddy duddy 50-year old dad and my friends are the ones running games on Foundry. My kid's friend's parents love that their kids are spending time socializing away from their phones and iPads. It isn't a matter of one's level of technological competence, for many getting a away from screens is part of their enjoyment of TTRPGs.Note: my 18yo doesn't like to play remote, my 22yo does so reluctantly. Dismissiveness won't change that it's not a generational thing; in fact, it flat out smacks of gatekeeping mindset.
Yeah anecdotally that reflects what I'm seeing as well with my friends who have kids who play, the kids have far less interest in using VTTs than us Ye Olde Folkes. They like the dice, they like talking to people, they like minis (where used). Some seem to like digital/PDF books as much as physical but even that's not a rule.Yeah, my middle-school aged son and his friends play with books, pen and paper. Me the fuddy duddy 50-year old dad and my friends are the ones running games on Foundry. My kid's friend's parents love that their kids are spending time socializing away from their phones and iPads. It isn't a matter of one's level of technological competence, for many getting a away from screens is part of their enjoyment of TTRPGs.
I don't understand the evangelizing over what parephenalia other gamers use to play the game.
No. It's not gatekeeping to not make time for people who won't put in the effort themselves. That's just self-respect.Note: my 18yo doesn't like to play remote, my 22yo does so reluctantly. Dismissiveness won't change that it's not a generational thing; in fact, it flat out smacks of gatekeeping mindset.
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I staunchly support people's right to play online... but one thing I've heard at local cons aplenty: "How do I find a group?"
I'm not sure that's true.But the community has grown by two orders of magnitude.
It absolutely may not be, and if you find it exaggerated I'm happy to walk it back to one order of magnitude; that's still a comparison between 500% and 75% -- I'll take it.I'm not sure that's true.
It seems more like it's about 5-10x bigger, rather than hundreds of times bigger. I'd be interested in why you think that. Or do you mean that because of the ability to contact people through the internet, it's effectively hundreds/thousands of times bigger than in the '90s? Because that would make a lot more sense.
There's no real question '90s numbers were in the millions (single-digit, I'm sure). I don't know why you'd think they were lower than that.Where I probably overreached was in underestimating the '90s numbers; I was thinking tens of thousands but it was more likely hundreds of thousands.
Sure. The massive change in the ability to find people to play with certainly means it's effectively true, regardless of the figures. And 5-10x is a pretty hefty increase.My point stands.