tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post1336234897536371256..comments2024-03-12T22:45:16.936+01:00Comments on The Disoriented Ranger: Some fun with the Sad DM (and other fun thoughts) - Part 3Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-9980530030454979562016-10-19T08:48:24.079+02:002016-10-19T08:48:24.079+02:00Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your experien...Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience. I had hoped that someone came forward like that. There is a hangout talk in the work about the ideas above and if you are interested, it'd be nice to hear more about that from you (particularly about those fallbacks, as it is something not entirely discussed enough and going to be important). Jens D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-38954904566767457712016-10-19T05:20:32.993+02:002016-10-19T05:20:32.993+02:00for 13 years, I've been pushing this whole blo...for 13 years, I've been pushing this whole blog posts concept: I have travelled the world to promote it, I had, at my best time 7 GMs in 4 countries all using a few google docs to share what was going on between different campaigns, the basic rule was 'if its blank, you can create it, if not, use whats there and document your groups events'. A Very large world of over 80 countries came about from that, and the history would take me years to individually document. Interactions between kings, but also roleplayers travelling within the world, some of the stories I only heard snatches of, an entire session being recorded by the GM as "players took down the Cave of Sunder, All creatures dead, all furniture burned at door, head of wyvern taken, 99% of treasure claimed, except secret door 4B untouched."<br /><br />The Map is there for any other GM, and they adjust accordingly..<br /><br />I don't think its a pipe dream, but it has its fallbacks.. Day-Z adventurers, pre-spoiling adventures by writing on the walls for the 'next possible group' I've seen a lot of it. Yet I still think its possible and will push onward. BaneStar007https://www.blogger.com/profile/17892053401607691383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-6294419163255216172016-10-18T11:41:45.319+02:002016-10-18T11:41:45.319+02:00Maybe you are right. I'm not in position to fi...Maybe you are right. I'm not in position to find out any time soon. And yet, seeing that one DIY club described above, going strong for 60 years, gives me hope. It'd be nice to have DM tutorships, it would be nice to no get ridiculed by the media. But the saddest thing is that there are real benefits in therapy, education and human resource management and it's just not happening.<br /><br />A local club here in Leipzig actually offers rooms to game. They also organize public play events in libraries and attended to the local book fair (until they started to demand huge amounts of money, that is ...). Many, many problems they have would be less problematic if the hobby had a better standing in public. I admit, money is always a problem, though. But it's common practice to pay a fee to participate in a club and I believe, if they'd offer more than just room and PR (something like the organized play described above, for instance) they'd get, over time, more funds and thus more effective PR and so on ...<br /><br />Might all be a pipe dream, though.Jens D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-64261698059827296802016-10-18T06:48:15.142+02:002016-10-18T06:48:15.142+02:00Oh Jens, I hate to disappoint but I'm not comi...Oh Jens, I hate to disappoint but I'm not coming up with anything which I think you will not find disappointing. Sorry.<br /><br />Personally, I don't like the idea of competitive gaming, and I like the idea of people being able to have completely different adventures in the same made up world with a small group of friends. To pull off something like WoW for table top gaming you would simply have to become WoW. The end goal would corrupt the phenomenon.<br /><br />The other thing which I KNOW you do not want to hear is that if you want ttrpgs to gain the same recognition as the arts or sports then you will have to do what the arts and sports have done to be recognized - make ridiculous amounts of money for the people who invest in it. The sad unchangeable truth about our existence is that everything follows the money. No one would give a rats ass about professional arts or sports if it didn't turn a dime. Media coverage would evaporate overnight. There would probably be no professional artists or athletes.<br /><br />Gaming's big problem with money is that it is stuck on the matter of selling and reselling people the rules. Meanwhile it ignores the litany of needs we often hear from people - no place to play, no people to play with, no time to prepare for the game. Maybe what the world needs is something like a pool hall for gamers, one with small booths you can rent, ones that are stylized with cool lighting and a local sound fx machine which the GM can easily control during the game to emphasize the atmosphere of the adventure. Some place with big comfy chairs and heavy oaken tables. Anything other that the plastic tables and folding chairs one finds in the back of gaming stores. I always feel like I've been relegated to the kiddie table of a family function when I sit at one.<br /><br />Then behind it all a coordinating website so people can schedule meetings in advance, arrange players, almost like a never-ending gaming convention. Here is where you can give people the recognition they crave, where groups can form and post pictures and updates and such. They can give each other kudos, make recommendations, some local celebrity, etc.<br /><br />All of this would shift the financial model of ttrpgs away from selling ridiculously overwrought editions. It might just cause the games to scale down and become more accessible in order to reach a wider audience.<br /><br />It still doesn't solve the problem of the Sad DM though. You might be able to employ people to be professional DMs (a bit like the chefs at Japanese Steak Houses but with more dice rolling and less knife flipping) but I can't imagine anyone doing that day in an day out without burning out or becoming a boring DM. I don't know. I don't really have an answer for that.JD McDonnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11733422185181944721noreply@blogger.com