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* My session at TPK Gaming last night was not as good as my first one, but way above almost every session I've had since moving to the west coast. Which makes sense, the main place to find home games until recently has been Gamestorm or Adventure League.
When I was still with the Gamestorm/Orycon community it was struggling with 'uninvited touch is bad, the person complaining is not oppressing you for your sex positivity'. Also they have deep issues when it came to LGBTQIA+ stuff. I don't want to get into that right now. Source: I was on the comcon, I was on the concoms enough to be be part of OFSCI the overarching committee for both, etc. We had long term staff we needed to replace and deal with the fall out of replacing.
* The most recent game I was in was some people I knew via fandom putting together a game for during the pandemic. They were all big Matt Mercer fans and communicated in fandom references. They'd say things like 'I do the thing that [character] did in [episode]'. I'd say I don't know what they mean, and they acted like I was joking, like I was memeing about how funny it would be if someone actually didn't know all the details of Matt Mercer's every campaign. Also, they barely listened to be because they were all vibing so much together in their like Mercer-fandom. When I left they didn't even notice.
* Previous to that, it was a new DM who'd never played D&D but loved Matt Mercer stuff. There were a lot of problems, but I'll only get into one. She'd told every player 'yes, you can do that in a D&D game!' and had a group with wildly different expectations. One couple who joined basically wanted to explore things game they wouldn't do IRL, which lead to the wife's character hitting on my character while the husband watched intently, and then they got upset when I wasn't into it.
* I tried Adventure League, which is something run by D&D to get people up and playing. I singed up, went to a session and got there early to make sure I was prepared. But, when it was time to sit down, there was this other guy. He usually plays in that timeslot/with that group and didn't think he could make it so he hadn't singed up. I was asked to give up my seat for him. So I went to the DM... and he asked me to give up my seat. Yeah, playing for hours with people who don't want you there because you're blocking this buddy from playing, not fun. I shouldn't have had to give up my seat, but realistically standing up for myself would have sucked.
I then found out that even though Adventure League is supposed to be a way to get people playing, meeting fellow gamers, helping people find groups for home games, the local scene is very cliquey and people just stay in the League long term rather than using it as the transitional space it's supposed to be. I found a lot of people complaining that they do not want new people.
Finding a group can be hard, especially if the two main ways to do it are a cliquey Adventurer's League and a convention having discussions at the concom (what they call a board) level that are like 'Yes, he's been pushing women against walls and pulling out a roll of duct tape and explaining what the wants to do to them for literally decades and feels this is a welcoming space for him, a lot of the men think he's a great guy and banning him will be major drama... but he keeps pushing primarily young and first time attendees against the fucking wall and pulling out a roll of duct tape... We did give him warnings he assumed they were jokes... no we do NOT need to keep warning him until he understands'
So yeah, when I lived on the east coast table top gaming was my main hobby but just haven't really been able to get into it... during this whole TTRPG boom that's been happening for like a decade. Even if I can only ever do one-offs at TPK, it's really just fucking nice.
* Table top gaming has a lot of accessories these days. I've been tempted now and again, but never really bought anything even though I wanted it. Having a bunch of TTRPG stuff laying around unused didn't spark joy. But, having a lot more stuff is pretty much expected now. Even the person playing D&D for the first time last night had a dice tray and a mini of her character. I apparently have some shopping to do! Rose City Comic Con would have been the ideal place for this shopping, but oh well.
I made a list of some of the problems I've had trying to find a game, and it touches on some of the past SA problems at Gamestorm/Orycon
When I was still with the Gamestorm/Orycon community it was struggling with 'uninvited touch is bad, the person complaining is not oppressing you for your sex positivity'. Also they have deep issues when it came to LGBTQIA+ stuff. I don't want to get into that right now. Source: I was on the comcon, I was on the concoms enough to be be part of OFSCI the overarching committee for both, etc. We had long term staff we needed to replace and deal with the fall out of replacing.
* The most recent game I was in was some people I knew via fandom putting together a game for during the pandemic. They were all big Matt Mercer fans and communicated in fandom references. They'd say things like 'I do the thing that [character] did in [episode]'. I'd say I don't know what they mean, and they acted like I was joking, like I was memeing about how funny it would be if someone actually didn't know all the details of Matt Mercer's every campaign. Also, they barely listened to be because they were all vibing so much together in their like Mercer-fandom. When I left they didn't even notice.
* Previous to that, it was a new DM who'd never played D&D but loved Matt Mercer stuff. There were a lot of problems, but I'll only get into one. She'd told every player 'yes, you can do that in a D&D game!' and had a group with wildly different expectations. One couple who joined basically wanted to explore things game they wouldn't do IRL, which lead to the wife's character hitting on my character while the husband watched intently, and then they got upset when I wasn't into it.
* I tried Adventure League, which is something run by D&D to get people up and playing. I singed up, went to a session and got there early to make sure I was prepared. But, when it was time to sit down, there was this other guy. He usually plays in that timeslot/with that group and didn't think he could make it so he hadn't singed up. I was asked to give up my seat for him. So I went to the DM... and he asked me to give up my seat. Yeah, playing for hours with people who don't want you there because you're blocking this buddy from playing, not fun. I shouldn't have had to give up my seat, but realistically standing up for myself would have sucked.
I then found out that even though Adventure League is supposed to be a way to get people playing, meeting fellow gamers, helping people find groups for home games, the local scene is very cliquey and people just stay in the League long term rather than using it as the transitional space it's supposed to be. I found a lot of people complaining that they do not want new people.
Finding a group can be hard, especially if the two main ways to do it are a cliquey Adventurer's League and a convention having discussions at the concom (what they call a board) level that are like 'Yes, he's been pushing women against walls and pulling out a roll of duct tape and explaining what the wants to do to them for literally decades and feels this is a welcoming space for him, a lot of the men think he's a great guy and banning him will be major drama... but he keeps pushing primarily young and first time attendees against the fucking wall and pulling out a roll of duct tape... We did give him warnings he assumed they were jokes... no we do NOT need to keep warning him until he understands'
So yeah, when I lived on the east coast table top gaming was my main hobby but just haven't really been able to get into it... during this whole TTRPG boom that's been happening for like a decade. Even if I can only ever do one-offs at TPK, it's really just fucking nice.
* Table top gaming has a lot of accessories these days. I've been tempted now and again, but never really bought anything even though I wanted it. Having a bunch of TTRPG stuff laying around unused didn't spark joy. But, having a lot more stuff is pretty much expected now. Even the person playing D&D for the first time last night had a dice tray and a mini of her character. I apparently have some shopping to do! Rose City Comic Con would have been the ideal place for this shopping, but oh well.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-02 05:35 am (UTC)From:Ugh. Those consent issues, fucking yikes. Sounds depressingly familiar.
The whole "nah, just give up your spot to the regular guy" thing is also super crappy.
I am happy that there are people into TTRPGs because of things like Critical Role or other liveplay games... but it's frustrating that it seems common for people to basically want to play their own like... fanfic of those campaigns rather than actual games? I know we've talked about it before, but things HAVE to be different to suit liveplay podcasts and such. They're cool as their own thing, but they are *their own thing.*
no subject
Date: 2024-10-04 12:33 am (UTC)From:Yeah, we need a word for people whose TTRPGing is basically an exercise in Mercer fandom. We talk about role-play heavy games or 'let the dice fall where they may', etc. We need a term for like, not just Mercer-influenced but basically an indulgence in fannishness
no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 05:24 am (UTC)From:Having a term for that sort of thing would be good. I can imagine why it's fun, and I get why that could be the experience people are looking for, maybe especially when super high-production liveplays are the only real exposure they may have had... but it's also really far removed from/counter to the typical TTRPG experience.
Assuming that every game can or should or will be a fully "rule of cool" fannish experience is not a good assumption. I won't say that there's a "wrong" way to play, as long as everyone involved is having a good time... but it's definitely a huge disconnect between what different people are looking for, and it should be easier to distinguish between some wildly different expectations.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-07 04:05 am (UTC)From:I've signed up for a bunch of one-offs at TPK. Turns out that Leyfarers is having it's birthday this month, it's not even been running a year yet. I am not as late to the party as I thought!
It's like they are LARPing being those people. I am still a little weirded out at being so into other people's TTRPG characters, but that's just me I guess.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-12 04:27 am (UTC)From:For home games... yeah, buy your DM some beer/pizza/coffee/etc. in appreciation, sure, but that shouldn't be a paid position.
I hope all the one-offs are good! And it's nice that they're newer than you thought! Definitely not late to the party!
That's a really good point: I think more than wanting to emulate that type of story or character, they're trying to *be the players.* That's I think the part of the vibe that seems weird to me, which I hadn't quite figured out how to express.
Because I do get seeing a really epic, cool story playing out (even if it's in a way that allows a lot of artistic/creative license in terms of mechanics), and having that "I want to do that!" feeling. But it feels a lot weirder to me to see people who don't want to *play a game -like- that* so much as they want to *be those players* and then try to weirdly speedrun or act out the out-of-game "these are people who are friends/partners/coworkers who know each other pretty well but are also performing for their audience" dynamic in a way that is not at all natural.
I can understand being into characters or a storyline, just like people get into the characters from any other media. It doesn't feel that different from being into a book or series character to me.
It feels weirder to me when people *expect* other people to be into their characters, lol.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-21 03:48 am (UTC)From:Yeah, they are trying to be that group but in the exact wrong way. It's not the memes and mimicing them that makes an amazing group, it's a good session 0, paying attention to your fellow players and being good 'scene partners' for them, emotional buy in to the story, and... basically... listening to the other players. If that makes them happy, fine, but it's also weird that they don't get that going through the motions is missing the spirit of things by a mile.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-23 02:41 am (UTC)From:Exactly! The group isn't great because of the specific jokes or mannerisms or even specific storytelling style... It is the fact that they play off of each other really well - like you said, being good scene partners, taking the story and each other seriously in-game, etc. Part of that is the practice they have as actors, and part of it is that they know each other... Wanting "that kind of game" is a lot more likely to happen if people, y'know, try to build up genuine rapport with the other players and help support the in-game play. I feel like actually becoming friends would be more satisfying than trying to LARP as people who are friends? But what do I know?
no subject
Date: 2024-10-27 06:04 am (UTC)From:Yeah, that is part of why it weirds me out, along with people just assuming everyone knows Matt Mercer memes... and I can't even remember which of the real plays is the big Matt Mercer one! It's like they think D&D and Matt Mercer fandom are the same thing
no subject
Date: 2024-10-31 04:06 am (UTC)From:His is Critical Role, I'm pretty sure, though I haven't ever listened to or watched any of it.
But yeah - I would absolutely feel weird as hell making like... Adventure Zone references in a game I was playing. (That's the only actual-play I ever listened to, ha.) D&D is not the same thing as any given group's specific game, and it's really weird when people act like it is!
no subject
Date: 2024-10-31 04:18 pm (UTC)From:Like if we really want to get into who is Most Gamer here, like these people can't even run a proper session 0 because they don't understand the basics. Also, I lied to my parents to go to an lgbt gaming mini-con where the program cover art was by Colleen Doran. They should be glad I don't try to pull out my gaming cred.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-06 01:20 am (UTC)From:I don't have a ton of gamer cred here, but I've played in at least a few sessions with friends and such, and that was before the liveplay popularity surge(s). I don't want gaming spaces to get gatekeeper-y - and it's been a common problem at times in the past where they have been! - but MAN is it hard not to feel a bit "get off my lawn" about it. (Not personally... it isn't my lawn, but still.)
The lgbt mini-con with Colleen Doran program art is pretty fucking rad, though.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-09 11:00 pm (UTC)From:Yeah, the mini-con was fun. I miss those days.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-13 02:33 am (UTC)From: