What Does the RPG Hobby Need Now?

[dragoner]

Over the years when we did use a VTT, with discord, maybe Roll20 had video but no voice function iirc, but regardless most of the time when we used it for remote play there was usually some technical issue that ate up a good amount of playtime to resolve. Which needless to say got to be rather annoying the more it occurred, and it usually came down to 1 or 2 players not having the correct settings turned on.

You also have to have an intersection of people who are interested in both RPG's and technology such as video conferencing, virtual table tops. I have run successful play by post games, though those are different, slower, more literary.

 

[aramis erak]

The West End Games version of SW got quite a bit of support from what I recall. We played the 2E version and I don't remember it being overly complicated or having any strange rules. There were over 100 books for that RPG

Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There are plenty of people who'd love a WEG based Star Wars still... and since LFL owns the copyrights... which is how FFG was able to reprint the WEG 1e core and sourcebook.

If the licensee made a good enough case, the WEG rules could easily make a comeback.

If one doesn't need them with Star Wars examples, what was WEG SW 3E was released as D6 Space. Just before WEG was bought, and it was rereleased under the Wizards OGL 1.0a just after purchase.

Chaosium's selling the D6 Space corebook and supplements on DriveThru...

If you want to know the changes by edition, see my list at d6 Star Wars and d6 Space Opera - A comparison in detail

 

[aramis erak]

Our online group, which has been together for years, doesn't use video, just audio.

Mine as well. But having played FTF with these scenery chewers, I miss being able to read their expressions.
We only sometimes use a VTT...
and haven't used video chat because one of them lives in an area where that bandwidth is too much - he has trouble with voice if it's not a sunny day.

In 8 years of weekly online play, we've had fewer than a dozen sessions where none of the 5 of us had no tech issues.

 

[R_J_K75]

Unless your group has really wonky wi-fi service, that's a thing of the past. We've been using Roll20 + Discord audio for over six years, and the most we've ever had, and it is extremely rare, is someone having to restart on of the systems, and that's an issue of a couple minutes, and never stopped the game.

You also have to have an intersection of people who are interseted in both RPG's and technology such as video conferencing, virtual table tops. I have run successful play by post games, though those are different, slower, more literary.

In 2013 we were using Hero Lab and just Skyping but none of us at that point knew much about playing by video conferencing. Seemed like it should have been straight forward, but we had issues. Same when we were using Roll20 in April of 2020. We're all somewhat tech savy but besides myself who was DMing, no one else wanted to take the time to learn Roll20 so it usually came down to them trying to get it to work when they signed on to play. We just decided it wasnt worth it and just started playing in person outside regardless of COVID.

 

[R_J_K75]

There are plenty of people who'd love a WEG based Star Wars still... and since LFL owns the copyrights... which is how FFG was able to reprint the WEG 1e core and sourcebook.

If the licensee made a good enough case, the WEG rules could easily make a comeback.

If one doesn't need them with Star Wars examples, what was WEG SW 3E was released as D6 Space. Just before WEG was bought, and it was rereleased under the Wizards OGL 1.0a just after purchase.

Chaosium's selling the D6 Space corebook and supplements on DriveThru...

If you want to know the changes by edition, see my list at d6 Star Wars and d6 Space Opera - A comparison in detail

One of my players expressed interest in playing a SW RPG about a month ago, but the rest of the players weren't game so we nixed the idea. I've long since sold my WEG and WotC SW books, so I'd imagine those are pretty expensive on the secondary market. I did give the free 5eSW a cursory look last night, which if I were to start another campaign that's probably the most ideal option. Not to mention after the sequel trilogy, I got SW fatigue with everything on Disney+; which I don't watch. I enjoyed the TTRPGs well enough, but I always found players had trouble separating the movies from the campaign we were playing, which made it hard to GM. Thay always wanted to find a lightsaber, hang out with Han and Chewie and joyride in the Millenium Falcon or fight Darth Vader. So, I'm pretty certain my days of playing a SW RPG are behind me.

 

[aramis erak]

One of my players expressed interest in playing a SW RPG about a month ago, but the rest of the players weren't game so we nixed the idea. I've long since sold my WEG and WotC SW books, so I'd imagine those are pretty expensive on the secondary market. I did give the free 5eSW a cursory look last night, which if I were to start another campaign that's probably the most ideal option. Not to mention after the sequel trilogy, I got SW fatigue with everything on Disney+; which I don't watch. I enjoyed the TTRPGs well enough, but I always found players had trouble separating the movies from the campaign we were playing, which made it hard to GM. Thay always wanted to find a lightsaber, hang out with Han and Chewie and joyride in the Millenium Falcon or fight Darth Vader. So, I'm pretty certain my days of playing a SW RPG are behind me.

Don't give up hope... I've had a lot of players who had no problems; while the issue you've had is not unique, I've had only 3 players who couldn't get out of the "must play the setting mains" mode. Of about 50 who have played either WEG or FFG with me over the decades.

Also, if you want the mechanics of WEG, that's easy - D6 Space is the core rules from WEG 2.5 (2nd R&E), but without the fluff. Nocturnal Media (administered by Chaosium since Greg's demise) holds the rights, and the PDF is under $2. Softcover is just under $20, hardcover under $25...

And no, I'm not paid to schill it.

 

[R_J_K75]

Don't give up hope... I've had a lot of players who had no problems; while the issue you've had is not unique, I've had only 3 players who couldn't get out of the "must play the setting mains" mode. Of about 50 who have played either WEG or FFG with me over the decades.

Also, if you want the mechanics of WEG, that's easy - D6 Space is the core rules from WEG 2.5 (2nd R&E), but without the fluff. Nocturnal Media (administered by Chaosium since Greg's demise) holds the rights, and the PDF is under $2. Softcover is just under $20, hardcover under $25...

And no, I'm not paid to schill it.

When the idea of running a SW campaign was brought up recently it was quickly vetoed by 2 out of 4 players. I don't think those two are interested, and personally I'm not really keen on trying to teach the group another rule set. We played Modern AGE which is based on a d6 mechanic, wasn't a disaster but wasn't great either. I think my players are just more familiar and comfortable with d20 based systems. As I said earlier in the thread, we just seem to keep coming back to D&D. I haven't run a SW game or read any of the novels since 2010 so my recollection of the lore, systems, races, equipment and vehicles, etc of the setting is not what it once was, which adds another barrier to a successful campaign. The Death Star novel is the last thing I remember reading which was good.

 

[Wolfpack48]

IMO Face-to-Face (FtF) isn't the correct term, because once you've enabled video conferencing via webcams, players can see each others faces and expressions. IMO the better term is In-Person and yes, that is somthing VTTs just can't provide.

I also prefer "in-person" over "face-to-face or "meatspace."

 

[pablomaz]

VTT play has done wonders for scheduling. Even if people are local, cutting out travel time and letting people still watch their kids or whatever means more people are able to play more often.

I recommend folks pick a regular day, preferably a week night. Nothing fails harder, in my experience, that trying to schedule session to session. And weeknights, while often busy, do not see as much shift as weekends. Most people know what they are doing on tuesdays into perpetuity.

That's exactly my case. I started GMing online back in 2018 (first on Roll20, then on Fantasy Grounds) because one of the guys had moved to another state. Here in Brazil, air travel is way more expensive than in the US, so our in-person sessions were happening only about once every 45 days.

We quickly got into the habit of weekly online sessions, even though they were much shorter—just 3 hours max, compared to the 6 or even 7-hour marathons we used to have in person. When the pandemic hit (just as hard here as in the US), we actually added a second weekly session. We kept that twice-a-week schedule going for three years!

These days, we’ve got a cop and an IT technician in the group, both working shifts, so weekends are basically off the table. But we can always find a weeknight that works for everyone.

 

[GothmogIV]

I think your grants to schools, @SlyFlourish, are a wonderful thing (and my school in particular benefited from your generosity!) We have 30-40 kids each week playing D&D. I'd love to teach them different games, too, but D&D is still the big dog in the market. I hope other publishers will do more outreach and support for schools (Troll Lords offers free books for schools, for example). Hook the kiddos early!