Resuming Face-to-Face Gaming

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Since I got my bitching out I'd suggest making sure people have a good internet connection and a quality microphone/camera setup. Use a good service as well. Zoom works much better than Skype, and I'd use Teams but we don't have a license. Try to make sure you have a good microphone and camera setup at the table. Start early so you can trouble shoot network issues before normal starting time if possible.

 

[JediSoth]

My attempts to generate discussion about the matter in our Facebook group utterly failed, so I guess we'll talk about it during the remote game on Friday.

Maybe they can put to rest the mystery of who killed the administrator of Trinity Station, too, and secure a Tibanna gas mine for the New Republic (we're playing an FFG Star Wars game; Foundry VTT has some good tools for that system).

 

[aramis erak]

Generally because they were exposed to the disease before they reached full efficacy.

But, yes - the vaccines are not strictly 100% effective at keeping you from getting covid. This is why current advice suggests small groups of fully vaccinated people are appropriate, not "go out to bars and concerts like you did before."

Some cases are because there are strains it's far less effective against. (at least, according to Oregon Public Radio. Corvallis is having a surge of the South African strain... as is Eugene... and it's being detected in the sewers. Pfizer's Vaccine is less effective against it, and is the majority of local vaccinations.)

OPB article: COVID variant detected in wastewater from Albany, Corvallis
NPR article on the variants vs vaccines: A link to another source noting the weakness of Pfizer: Study: Pfizer Vaccine Less Effective Versus South African Covid Variant

Pfizer says South African variant could significantly reduce protective antibodies

(Reuters) - A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce protective antibodies elicited by the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

 

[doctorbadwolf]

My entire gaming group is now vaccinated, and by the time our next regularly scheduled game comes up, will be fully immunized. According to CDC guidelines, it's safe for us to resume gaming in person at my house, even if one couple brings their school-aged child (who doesn't game with us and usually watches cartoons in an adjacent room, except for popping in for snacks and to bring me Lego robots he wants me to attack the PCs with). One of my players is adamant about not resuming face-to-face yet because of their elderly father's risk factors (though, he is also fully immunized at this point).

Rather than try to convince them it's safe apart from providing the CDC guidelines, we're considering suggesting that they join remotely. So, we'll have 4 players around the table, plus me, and 1 remote player.

Has anyone played with this sort of set up? What challenges did you have? What solutions did you use? Any advice/suggestions?

This is how my group normally plays, because one of us lives in another state.

We had our first in person session in over a year last night, and it was great.

As for tips,

• a top down camera is useful for any battle map, while a laptop camera is fine for letting them see most or all of the faces at the table
• laptops get hot running that much video data for an extended period
• Put them at one end of the table, even if it changes where the DM sits. It’s worth it.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Some cases are because there are strains it's far less effective against. (at least, according to Oregon Public Radio. Corvallis is having a surge of the South African strain... as is Eugene... and it's being detected in the sewers. Pfizer's Vaccine is less effective against it, and is the majority of local vaccinations.)

OPB article: COVID variant detected in wastewater from Albany, Corvallis
NPR article on the variants vs vaccines: A link to another source noting the weakness of Pfizer: Study: Pfizer Vaccine Less Effective Versus South African Covid Variant

Pfizer says South African variant could significantly reduce protective antibodies

(Reuters) - A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce protective antibodies elicited by the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

IIRC, it’s “less effective” by a fairly insignificant margin, but even that can be scary for at risk folks. Still, don’t share food or drinks, don’t cuddle your friends, play in a space with room to not be cramped together.

 

[Cadence]

Several years ago, we had one with one player virtual. The key was always being able to have the camera in the room pointed at the map, and the making sure the microphones and speakers worked.

Good luck!

 

[Jd Smith1]

We never stopped.

 

[glass]

Has anyone played with this sort of set up? What challenges did you have? What solutions did you use? Any advice/suggestions?

In the before times, we had one player who sometimes had to be remote due to transport issues. We used Skype set up at one end of the table with the GM at the other and the meat-space players on either side in between. Usually, we used an iPad - made it easier to pick up and point at the battle map when necessary.

That player's transport issues have got a little worse (in that I am not able to offer him a lift any more since I changed jobs), plus we have another couple in one of the games who are going to be remote when the rest of us resume face-to-face gaming, since they have had a new baby in the meantime. And we picked up a new player in the other game who lives too far away to commute on a week night.

We have been using Discord during lockdown, so whether we continue to use that or revert to Skype remains to be seen. I guess it depends on how easily/reliably we can get video working in Discord (we have not bothered with video during lockdown).

_
glass.