To potentially turn this into more than just me venting and ranting, how quickly should that be the answer?
This is something I'm struggling with as I think towards the future and games that may involve other online groups. If I end up in a similar situation and after 4 months 4 of the 5 players say "Hey lets burn down an orphanage" or something equally dumb and stupid, should I immediately say "Okay, Garret leaves the party, I'll see you guys next week with my new character Drago Bloodfist the 4th." Or do I try and struggle to keep the character even when it causes friction in the group? Do you ever press for alternative answers to the situation?
I mean, like you said the answer almost always is "Bring a character who does what the party wants" but that is a lot harder once you've got an established party and story as compared to session zero.
Find a more sensible group
I know it is a difference in playstyle between me and them, but is this sort of “Screw the world we only care about the Party” type of mentality more the norm? Is the idea of just chasing whatever random suggestion the DM off-handedly mentions instead of following logic of our situation normal to most groups?
I know people do this sort of thing in one off games, but this is two separate long running campaigns where I’m being indicated that caring about NPCs is weird and makes no sense.
I could reply by ranting about D&D's 'Alignment' issues, but I won't...
Is this a real life group or an online game?
To potentially turn this into more than just me venting and ranting, how quickly should that be the answer?
This is something I'm struggling with as I think towards the future and games that may involve other online groups. If I end up in a similar situation and after 4 months 4 of the 5 players say "Hey lets burn down an orphanage" or something equally dumb and stupid, should I immediately say "Okay, Garret leaves the party, I'll see you guys next week with my new character Drago Bloodfist the 4th." Or do I try and struggle to keep the character even when it causes friction in the group? Do you ever press for alternative answers to the situation?
I mean, like you said the answer almost always is "Bring a character who does what the party wants" but that is a lot harder once you've got an established party and story as compared to session zero.