social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
Are there actually places left where people have big messy-but-friendly group conversations?
Is there anywhere left where people actually immerse themselves in a character and roleplay?
I honestly can't tell anymore if things have dried up because:
(a) I'm just too shy
(b) I suck and everybody's sick of me
(c) I'm getting old and have lost track of where people go
(d) my depression ate it
(e) everybody's depression ate it
(f) I've outgrown it and should just shut up and focus on my day job my lawn or something
(g) the Internet just doesn't do those things anymore because half of us are too busy Instagramming their sandwiches and the other half are trying to get away from them
(h) the Freemasons, allied with the Greys and the NSA, have suppressed it
(i) an unforeseen side-effect of the overuse of neonicotinoid pesticides*
*this one might be a bit of longshot
social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
Table top rpgs would be my answer.
I got 6 people to pretend to be ratmen badly running a stolen inn last week.
Tonight abducting/liberating a captive magical researcher and his chimera boyfriend.
social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 Also also, not going to lie, I've been contemplating how hard it'd be to set up a dial-up era styled BBS for JUST such a purpose.
It's nostalgia and desperation conspiring in a way that will never overcome my ineptitude or laziness, but it's a nice idea at least.
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 Honestly, I think its a combination of C, D, E, G, which is not a very pleasant sounding chord.
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 I feel this extremely hard, and... outside like, F-list (which is a hellplace all of its own), not really to my knowledge.
That said, E and G feel like huge contributing factors there, along with a light sprinkling of H in the form of tech companies stomping down on passive self-expression wherever possible, I feel.
social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 I think the reality is that these sorts of experiences have moved into smaller and smaller spaces. With the increasing homogeneity of internet culture, genuinely personal creative environments have necessarily gotten more private. Someone else brought up tabletop gaming, and I don't think they're far off for a few reasons, one of which is an ongoing narrative context for RP.
social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 Our culture, on a large-scale, INCREASINGLY devalues context and narrative for anything and everything. We live in the Clickbait Age of the Soundbite Epoch. People respond by going back to the oldest ways; the modern equivalent of campfire yarns and bedtime stories, tailored exclusively for an audience of 4 to 6 people.
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@hystericempress You know I would FUCKING KILL to get in on one of your or Dai's games one of these years, right? I realize you probably got 'em lined up 'round the block. just going out on a limb, being bold, and expressing my interest for once 'cause... GOD DAMN, I have never seen such rich DIY worlds put together for the sake of a tabletop. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 I mean, really just depends on how many free saturdays you have lined up. I can definitely poll the group.
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@hystericempress No real obligations besides wanting to get back into DiS! Lemme think about whether I can really make the commitment, since I don't wanna flake out on y'all if I do join in! 'Bout when and 'bout how long is your typical session?
(Thank you, sis! <3 )
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 Usually a given session starts sometime around 4:30 to 5 PM PST; we'll typically go to somewhere around 10 PM to midnight depending upon how everybody is feeling their pepper and how long the GM has had to plan that given week. Currently we're just getting started on a Lancer campaign, which is full-up, BUT, I do have a more ad-hoc 5E campaign in the works as a more low-commitment, episodic thing.
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 We typically coordinate on the Slack, since it is Zander's server, and all of our games are run through a website called Roll20, which also keeps meticulous logs of every session, which is nice for later reference, and has integrated dice rollers and character sheets.
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@hystericempress I'm not crazy about 5E, so I think you've inspired me to try Plan B: throw together that psychotronic, Prisoner-inspired transcendent horror campaign I've been talking about...
re: social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 That might be something I'm interested in playing, given the pitch...
social, internet, mh-adjacent, Old Person Stuff, RP, same old periodic question
@zebratron2084 If you find such a place, I'd love to know. I'm halfway tempted to try to make new social media accounts to fill that desire, but I know that's just desperation.
Also, my money's on (H).