Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[MoonSong]

Game systems that evolve (in the actual sense of change to fit new environments) are going to leave some people behind. That's not a flaw, but neither is not feeling great if you're one of the people left behind. It can be particularly painful if its the big dog that you've been able to be comfortably on the back of for a long time.

I'm in the case were I liked beng aligned with the big dog, but now that it is slipping away from what I like, I'm just happy if I can find somewhere with enough people to play with that let's me do it. Unlike other kind of hobbies, community is very important in RPGs. Without the social aspect, it isn't any different from videogames, or just play pretend with dolls like when we were children.

 

[overgeeked]

I'm in the case were I liked beng aligned with the big dog, but now that it is slipping away from what I like, I'm just happy if I can find somewhere with enough people to play with that let's me do it. Unlike other kind of hobbies, community is very important in RPGs. Without the social aspect, it isn't any different from videogames, or just play pretend with dolls like when we were children.

The trouble is the community (mostly online, large parts of most of them, and many separate communities) are just so overwhelmingly toxic. With clearly no desire by many of the members to change this at all.

Better to solo play, play video games, or play pretend with dolls than engage with the community.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Better to solo play, play video games, or play pretend with dolls than engage with the community.

Nah.

Better to go on a Hero’s Journey to find a group that wants to play the same stuff you do. Even if you never succeed, you’ll get to wear cool post-apocalyptic clothes & gear.

(Metaphorically speaking.)

Disclosure: I’m currently neither playing CRPGs nor actively seeking a new game group.

 

[trappedslider]

 

[Scribe]

View attachment 416204

Guy didn't miss.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Is that a play on Between Two Ferns?

Yep. A spectacular OSR adventure review show by the creator of Cairn and an Ennie-award winning adventure writer. (Now joined by a fantasy RPG artist.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Its kind of interesting in a 'this is the last game/nerd thing I think about at least partially at an intellectual level' kind of way.

I dont know if its because of the explosion of RPGs in 'normal' space.
I dont know if its because of the explosion of RPG games and the increase in their adoption post OGL fiasco.
I dont know if its just general hobby growth and drift.

I cannot think of many other hobbies I've participated in which have such wildly different expectations. I guess RPGs at this point need to be understood as the same level of pointless label as 'videogames'.

A hardcore arena shooter player, is absolutely NOT the same thing as my sister, who plays some roblox game with her 7 year old daughter farming plants or something like that. They just are not. Just as she is not the same as me, the guy who was raiding in WoW for years, or who wrote code for mods.

We definitely need to stop pretending that all RPG players are the same, because there are some pretty fundamental differences, even if some things are shared.

I saw this sort of split as far back as the Usenet days. I think there have always been lots of different RPG gamers:

• The wargamers, who were there first
• The folks who want to play (including DMs)
• The folks that want to collect
• The folks that really just want to paint miniatures and scenery
• The folks who want to write to fanzines/Dragon/ENWorld/reddit and tell everyone else they're doing it wrong

 

[Deset Gled]

Guy didn't miss.

Well, the next lines in the book are basically looking down on people who enjoy fart jokes. And everyone should be allowed to love a good fart joke now and again.

It's almost like the idea of condensing the book to a meme would be contrary to exact thing the author was talking about. "The decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less,)" ... now down to a single image.