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

[Scribe]

Woo, if there was ever an article I shouldn't have read, that would confirm my hatred for our species, and the reality that I really just should not read the news, that was the one.

We are a waste, a drain on this planet, and a scourge to ourselves, and for some no amount of punishment will ever be sufficient.

/rant

 

[overgeeked]

Pointless.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Woo, if there was ever an article I shouldn't have read, that would confirm my hatred for our species, and the reality that I really just should not read the news, that was the one.

We are a waste, a drain on this planet, and a scourge to ourselves, and for some no amount of punishment will ever be sufficient.

/rant

This is a very big reaction to the Oxford University's new word of the year.

 

[Parmandur]

I always find it helpful, when encountering those people, to blink slowly at them and say, But I liked Gravity's Rainbow! What do you have against Thomas Pynchon, anyway?

It doesn't change any worldviews, but it does provide me some amusement. Which I am reasonably certain is the purpose of existence.

I mean, Pynchon is not my jam per se, no hate though, but I find it a rather peculiar red flag to blame "postmodernism" as being the problem with how Pizza Hut makes their pies.

Sure, hate on the toppings, hate on the cheese...but...postmodernism?

One suspects other issues at play.

 

[Parmandur]

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.


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.

To keep it on topic, it is kind of bizarre behavior to bust into a party where people are eating Little Ceasars and hanging out, screaming about nobody will eat anchovie pizza with you.

 

[Ryujin]

From elsewhere: No, having been a member for 20 years doesn't mean that you get to constantly sling anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories around with impunity. The bill has come due.

(... and I've been a member for 25 years, so NYAH NYAH! )

 

[Thomas Shey]

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.

Yeah, I mentioned that in my post to Whizbang.

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.

Or, bluntly, just end up finding that the GM or other members of the group have unpleasant habits you can't ignore.

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.

On the other hand, the upside of the smaller populace is that they're less likely to be taken off the market quickly. Someone who wants to play Heroes and Hardships and is halfway determined to do so may be waiting around when the D&D players in the time zones and such you want have already been gobbled up. So it isn't a completely one-sided issue. You're also probably less likely to find people who are one-game-system types outside the D&D sphere; the guy looking for a Fantasy AGE 2e game may be willing to give a Savage Worlds Fantasy game a look.

 

[Thomas Shey]

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.

Doesn't mean they're irrelevant, especially if you're used to playing longer than 4 hours at a pop.

 

[Thomas Shey]

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.

On the other hand, I've looked for specific games in the past that were compatible with my available time (which adds up to most of the day Saturdays) and not been able to find enough people to put a game together. There were people who were interested, but either had to end the game earlier than the time frame that seemed practical for others, or wanted it on other days of the week. Also, to be blunt, people who say they're interested can end up not actually being able (to be charitable, sometimes the term is "willing") to actually show up on a consistent basis. This can happen in person too, of course, but there are a lot of people who seem to assume just because they're playing virtually they don't need to manage their schedules.

Yes, one has to vet those people and work out scheduling, but those aren't issues somehow unique to online play.

They are, however, in my opinion (and second hand experience), worse.

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.

But the flip side of that is its also a lot easier for someone to flake off on you.

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.

But at least some of those aren't as value neutral as you may think. "Preferred" schedule may very well be "practical" schedule, and "without major changes in my preferred play style" may well be "being allowed to play in a fashion I at all find interesting". I don't think either of those being a dealbreaker is exactly unreasonable.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Doesn't mean they're irrelevant, especially if you're used to playing longer than 4 hours at a pop.

OK, but again, that's a preference thing, which is what I'm saying. It's hard to find your exact way of doing things, exactly how you want it, but that's true of literally every new relationship you're going to have with humans in person or elsewhere. This is not an issue of online gaming, this is an issue of spending time with other people.

You are, of course, allowed to have any of this stuff be dealbreakers, but your original contention seemed to be that the fact that you couldn't dial up the perfect group on demand means that online gaming doesn't have the ability to get you the gaming you want.

I just played Pirate Borg with someone on the other side of the Pacific, who was playing at 7 a.m. his time. Not ideal for him, but he wanted to play, and we worked it out across two continents and three time zones. Life gaming finds a way.

If my gaming group disappeared tomorrow -- and at the rate everyone is aging, it could certainly happen -- I would figure out what kinds of concessions I was willing to make and go looking for new gaming groups from there. It would almost certainly not be as good of a fit as the people I've played with continuously since 2006, at least not initially. But it would be gaming.