The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[Snarf Zagyg]

This reminds me of how when people ask me what my favorite book is I don't say Moby Dick since I don't want to come off as pretentious. I say Absalom, Absalom instead.

How did you know what book I conspicuously leave laying on my coffee table when I know I'm going to have guests over?

I used to have The Brothers Karamzov ... in Russian. But I don't like to let geopolitics get in the way of pretentiousness.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The challenge for a lot of us, though, is that this is a largely self-inflicted problem. Most people are able to play online in some fashion, ranging from the people who can do VTTs with all the bells and whistles, to playing on Discord, or even just playing by post or email. These other groups are available, and tools to find them are getting better and more broadly available all the time.

I think you're being a bit more than overoptimistic here in many cases, once you factor in the number of people who, even online, have already got extent games or even groups, the one's who's schedules are incompatible, and the at least modest increase in tendency for people to flake in online games. And that's not even getting into the fact you still need to vet people you're playing with online, and it can be harder than face to face.

"I can't find any groups to play games other than 5E D&D" isn't accurate. It's "I can't find any groups to play games other than 5E D&D in the exact way I'd prefer." Which is a problem, sure, but a much smaller one, one that could be addressed by convincing some of your regular group to play online with you for a trial game or two and then maybe getting those folks to either convert others or start a smaller Blades in the Dark, or whatever, group.

Like I said, I think you're being a bit uncharitable here, or using "in the exact way I'd prefer" in a far broader way than seems fair.

 

[FrogReaver]

It isn't always difficult, but the population willing to play or even try games outside D&D is not evenly distributed, and even online play only helps so much here (because time zones and scheduling are still a thing). So people in one area may not have much of a problem and people in another, in practice, find it impossible.



Yup. And I can see how that could be awfully frustrating. I've mentioned before that if D&D 5e was my only option, I'd probably be out of the hobby pretty quick. And its not necessarily better for people who are more into the D&D-model, but 5e has gone the wrong way in various fashions.

Also, once a game or 2 is going, those players aren’t looking for more games typically - at least until they are finished a few months later.

A video game population of 10,000+ active users for short 10 minute matches usually feels good. A ttrpg population that takes 2-4 hours per match, and the nature of sequential matches means the groups members are mostly locked down, also has stricter time schedule requirements because of this- this is going to take vastly more users to be able to find games at the times you want. Also couple potential house rules and play idiosyncrasies and it can be hard to find a group you are happy with.

The other games just don’t have the player base required, 50,000 online players willing to play with random online people is probably a minimum. Some kind of modified erlang formula could probably estimate. Only a handful of your largest ttrpgs could achieve this.

 

[Gradine]

I wonder how far off topic that thread will be allowed to go

I think i just need to make more nudge to make that thread really go off topic

Going off-topic would've implied that the thread was, originally, on topic, and frankly that's way too credit to give in this case.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

even online play only helps so much here (because time zones and scheduling are still a thing)

There are a few time zones on Earth that are shared with a very small number of people. But by definition, most people aren't facing those issues.

And there are still more people online in those time zones than even the largest in-person friends group, so the scheduling issues aren't going to be comparable.

 

[Pedantic]

This reminds me of how when people ask me what my favorite book is I don't say Moby Dick since I don't want to come off as pretentious. I say Absalom, Absalom instead.

Moby Dick infuriates me.

My misguided parents decided I was wasting all my precocious reading talent on trashy fantasy novels when I was 12, and forced me to start reading classics. I was not interested, nor ready for Melville, and hated it while forcing myself through in that persistent way children sometimes do. Flash forward to my English undergrad, when I encountered the book again, and was forced to admit the brilliance of the prose, while still having an embedded emotional response I couldn't shake.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think you're being a bit more than overoptimistic here in many cases, once you factor in the number of people who, even online, have already got extent games or even groups, the one's who's schedules are incompatible, and the at least modest increase in tendency for people to flake in online games. And that's not even getting into the fact you still need to vet people you're playing with online, and it can be harder than face to face.

Part of my optimism is due to the fact that I'm in the Facebook groups and Discords for Shadowdark and Pirate Borg, where open calls for games are happening all the time, especially on Discord. It has literally never been easier to find groups or people to play with, whatever game one plays.

Yes, one has to vet those people and work out scheduling, but those aren't issues somehow unique to online play. In fact, I'd say discovering that you're in an incompatible group is better online, because you can just quit mid-game if you find yourself in a horrifying mess. In real life, if you drove 90 minutes to play with a new group, only to discover you were gaming in a basement filled with Nazi paraphernalia, it'd be a lot more challenging to get out of there safely and quickly.

Like I said, I think you're being a bit uncharitable here, or using "in the exact way I'd prefer" in a far broader way than seems fair.

I mean it in a value-neutral way. "I'd like to play with people whom I already know, on my preferred schedule, without major changes in my playstyle" is of course what I think almost everyone would prefer. It's not realistic when starting a new relationship with anyone. It's fact with no implicit judgement.

 

[Ryujin]

This reminds me of how when people ask me what my favorite book is I don't say Moby Dick since I don't want to come off as pretentious. I say Absalom, Absalom instead.

Say "Catcher in the Rye" instead. If they follow true crime then you'll never have to deal with those people again. This comes as part of my "How to live in a castle with a moat" self-help series.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Moby Dick infuriates me.

I mean, Moby Dick infuriated another guy too ... if that makes you feel better.

....not sure how that ended for him.

 

[Velderan]

Part of my optimism is due to the fact that I'm in the Facebook groups and Discords for Shadowdark and Pirate Borg, where open calls for games are happening all the time, especially on Discord. It has literally never been easier to find groups or people to play with, whatever game one plays.

The Shadowdark discord does seem like a pretty friendly community. I haven't really interacted with anyone beyond just reading some of the posts, but it does seem like a good place to start if you wanted to play but couldn't find people.