TRPG General Chat

12:22 AM

There is a difference between knowing a section of dungeon exists (a corridor leads off that-a-away), but never exploring it, and not even knowing it is there (you fail to find, maybe even don't even look for, the secret door).
Both seem perfectly valid (but not, IMHO, *essential* ) features

I can see a point to being able to "complete" a dungeon (find the loot, recover the maguffin, defeat the Big Foe, etc) without having to scour every single section.

Pixie

It's really about what you want out of the process. But yeah, I certainly wouldn't say that a linear dungeon =/= exploration. You are still going through an area and finding things you'd never experienced before because you'd never been there, either way.

I'm perfectly alright with not finding every single thing, and the "replayability," you could say, that comes from an area being large and complex enough that you're likely to miss parts of it can be can be fun and valuable. But you can also achieve "replayability" by simply having the known world change in between visits.

Black Spike

Not that I 100% agree with the article, but I can see the point that a Linear structure, with no meaningful choices, just "Room1 -> Corridor -> Room 2 -> ... -> Boss" can stretch my interpretation of "Exploring"

Pixie

It's not really what I'd expect out of a game intended to be exploration-focused, but exploration really can be as simple as walking into an interesting area you haven't been in before and checking that out.

Black Spike

Yes, but ...

:)

"A game is a series of interesting choices." - Sid Meier. If the emphasis of the Game is not the Map, but how you interact with what you find in it, fair enough. But there is a long tradition in RPG of Dungeon Delving, and expecting those Dungeons to have structures (maps) that present interesting choices/challenges in themselves. Mazes, crossroads, loops and turns. Dead ends. Often with the challenge of dwindling resources (torches, food, spell slots etc).

Pixie

12:39 AM

Again, it's really down to expectations. Pokemon is linear as heck in all aspects (and even more so nowadays than ever before), but the first time I go through it, I'd still say I'm exploring. It's not the game I'm going to pick up if exploring is my primary goal, but it's not... not a feature the game has. It doesn't stop counting because I'm necessarily going to get through all of it in a linear playthrough.

Of course. Dungeon delving a completely valid method of play, don't get me wrong. There is, again, value in structures being large and complex enough that the content isn't easily discovered, and going one way or another will necessarily impact what you experience. That's just not the definition of exploration.

Black Spike

Long time since I played Pokemon (Game Boy "Yellow"). The 'cities' are all in Linear fashion. But the 'quests' require going back and forth between them? Yeah, not as much "exploration" ... although you don't know that on a 1st play

V2Blast

Hello all

How's everyone doing today?

I've been sick for the past few days but thankfully feeling a bit better today

Black Spike

I tend to run cyber-punk/urban games. The nearest we got to "dungeons" are Office Blocks, or shanty-towns. And there are definitely sections to miss! :D

HI @V2Blast.

Good to hear you're feeling a bit better

Pixie

The caves in Sword and Shield are so tiny, lol. I was gearing myself up, and it was like "oh... you just walk straight through... and there's a healer before you go in and after you come out."

Aww, glad you're feeling better as well.

I've been dealing with bronchitis since the first week of January. =w= It's at least better than it was, but the cough is going to stay for a while.

Black Spike

The "Christmas Cold" has been doing the rounds, here. most of us have recovered.

Pixie

12:54 AM

I went to a convention in another state, where I danced a lot on Thursday night (which I normally never do). I'm pretty sure it was the combination of that and exposure to unfamiliar germs, because I started getting sick by the end of Friday.

Black Spike

:(
Yeah, those pesky out-of-state germs!

trogdor

yeah I would guess that being in a new area exposed to new germs about explains getting pretty sick afterwards

I mean, it certainly isn't going to happen every time you travel, and you can definitely still get sick staying at home all day, but it probably increases the risk of sickness rather handily

Pixie

Yeah, and just the nature of getting a whoooole bunch of people together in one space. Germs will travel.

Black Spike

What convention was it? Not got a Con lined up yet :(

Pixie

MAGfest, I go every year.

Will be going to Mysticon in February. It's pretty good. Had a chat with Jody Lynn Nye and Steve Jackson in the hallway last year.

Black Spike

1:07 AM

Cool.
Here in UK, we've been to some of the big MCM ComiCons, and varying smaller versions, over the past few years. From the big London one with Critical Role, to the back-room of a local rugby club :D

trogdor

true I understand that cons bring a lot of people from a lot of places into one place

that's definitely a recipe for at least some of the people who go getting sick

Black Spike

@trogdor That's how we get "Christmas colds", too. Visiting friends/family from all over, that we don't see too often.

V2Blast

hence the phenomenon of "PAX pox"

trogdor

yes

PAX pox is a well known example

Pixie

Yeah, I go to cons in many varying sizes because my friends have a dance troupe and they perform. We just go to MAGfest to go, though. It's the biggest one I've ever been to.

trogdor

1:34 AM

I've never been to one

not even the pretty small ones we have here now

I mean, I doubt anyone travels here for a con xD

so maybe it doesn't count

Pixie

Local cons count! For a long time the only one I went to was the one that was originally in my city, and then moved to another one. It's reasonably large now, but it used to be tiny.

trogdor

well I think our cons right now are like, one room in the mall

but I haven't been to them so don't quote me on that one XD

Pixie

Heh, some are.

Black Spike

One we went to was "2" rooms ... well, one room and the foyer :)
Some good stalls, and talks by several interesting folk (including Norman "Holly from Red Dwarf" Lovett).

Pixie

There's a small tabletop con in the area, I went one time because it happened to be on the same day and in the same place as a baby cousin's birthday party, haha.

Black Spike

1:45 AM

haha

Pixie

I just bought a vendor room pass, bought stuff, and painted a free mini.

trogdor

nice

@BlackSpike also that's actually amazing

I love Red Dwarf

Pixie

It was the first mini I'd ever done. I'm really trying not to get into them since I don't need more expensive hobbies that are going to cause me to hoard a lot of things I don't ever use. :v

Black Spike

@trogdor <3 Yeah, it was good to see him at a small venue. Had chance to meet him :)

trogdor

my favorite characters are Cat and Rimmer but Holly is good too

@Pixie I feel that, mostly I have a lot more books than I should but still

Black Spike

1:49 AM

Saw Lister and Rimmer at a con years back (we had a Stall, so not much time spare tho). Lister was ragged as heck on Day Two ... seems he went out drinking after Day One! :D

Pixie

I have... so many. Figures, dolls, stuffed animals, books, DVDs, dice, everything. I almost never play tabletop games offline, and it's rare that I play anything that would require minis.

Black Spike

That was the time I first saw Official Storm Trooper armour for sale ... and I had my week's pay on me ...

... but my dilemma was solved for me ... "Do I blow a week's pay on some Costume?" ... erm, no. Nowhere near enough! I might just afford a Blaster ...

trogdor

@Pixie wow, also as far as the tabletop games offline, I've been getting to play more board games both offline and online recently and I forgot how much fun it is to play a good board game with freinds

recently got Tokaido and Aquicorn Cove

(they were Christmas presents for me but they only got shipped after the new year so I only got them maybe a week and a half ago or so)

Pixie

2:05 AM

I should see if my roommates want to play anything I have sometime, as far as board games go. I don't have much though, only Smashup, Heart of Crown, and Tanto Cuore: Winter Romance. Haven't even played the Tanto Cuore, lol.

I love Smashup, but I need more expansions.

Black Spike

We only play board games when we don't get quorum for our weekly ttrpg group. And then we tend to play Small World

trogdor

I also have Star Trek Catan and Tea Dragon Society and Code Names, and Taboo, and I think I still have Stratego but I haven't played that for probably 15 years

(and I have not played Star Trek Catan yet but I have played normal Catan before)

oh and I also have Munchkin,....... and Risk

Risk takes too long though, I don't know if I am ever playing it again when I have so many more fun options that take less time to play XD

Black Spike

@trogdor We used to play Risk a lot! But yes, who has time for that any more? :)

trogdor

well

I am not sure I have ever even finished a game of it

Black Spike

There are a few games sat in our Archives, probably never to be seen again ... Risk, Talisman, Blood Royale ...

trogdor

2:13 AM

I've only played it with my family, and it's always taken about an hour or an hour and a half or so for most of them to decide the game isn't going anywhere

and honestly at the time it made me kinda annoyed but now I see the value of time a liiiiitle differently

Black Spike

Yeah ... spending the entire weekend on a game used to be a thing ...

trogdor

and besides that, why play a single game of Risk that takes forever when I could play 30-45 minutes of a single game of Tokaido, or Tea Dragon Society or Aquicorn Cove, or even my freinds' set of Coup or Sherrif of Knottingham or

ect ect

XD

Black Spike

I did try setting up some "online" games, back in the day ... like PbP, but on forums, and such ... try to spread the game out, but not enough people were interested

trogdor

I've played two online games of Tea Dragon Society

not very close together but recently enough

Black Spike

Don't know that one

Ash

2:19 AM

Tea Dragon Society is a fun game!

Ben

I played Selfish recently - That was fun

trogdor

Tea Dragon Society is great

Ben

Sorry, Selfish: Space Edition

Ash

3:22 AM

This is not RPG related, but y'all are my friends, so. Found out today that my local transit is on strike as of Tuesday. I don't own a car. It will now cost my household 60 dollars a day to get to and from work via taxi or rideshare services. I cant afford it, but we dont really have anyone we can carpool with because of the shifts we work and where we live. I am just gonna pray really really hard that it is a short strike.

We will figure out a way through, but right now I am just going to breathe and hope and let myself be really really frustrated. I get what they are trying to do (the union is fighting for better pay and stuff) but oh man the impact to the individual people who rely on transit is gonna be huge.

trogdor

:(

Ben

@Ash Oh man... Yeah I can only imagine what that must be like. I rely on Public transport as well, if that happened to me I would really struggle. Here's hoping it doesn't last long!

Ash

I hope it's quick. A week or two at most.

nitsua60

3:47 AM

@Ash Am I remembering right... you're in Toronto?

In any case: good luck, and vent any time you want.

Ash

Kitchener, so close to Toronto. About an hour drive away.

Thanks, for both reminders.

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Ben

5:35 AM

So, I figured this would also apply here: I left a comment on a question over on Arqade, addressing a comment that has since been deleted, that was insinuating people's beliefs and values.

I was wondering, in this case, my comment has not been deleted - should it remain, since it is addressing a point about site etiquette, or should it also be removed, since the original comment was removed?

For reference my comment was: "please avoid insinuating or assuming other people's beliefs and values."

Ash

6:02 AM

I'm not sure both sites will treat it the same, and I am not sure bringing it up cross site is productive. If you feel it shouldn't stay, delete it? Otherwise, leave it if you feel it adds anything useful to surrounding stuff.

If it's just hanging about as a general etiquette note I am not sure it's necessary

SmokeDetector

6:34 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in link text in answer, potentially bad ns for domain in answer (82): How can I deal with the Remove Curse spell spoiling my plot hooks? by akankshamehtha on rpg.SE

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V2Blast

9:29 AM

@Ben Generally, if it's responding to a since-deleted comment, it likely doesn't need to stick around as a "mark of shame" tagging that user. If it's a larger trend (e.g. multiple people are doing it), it sometimes warrants a mod comment reminding people of site policies/guidelines, but rather one not pinging any specific user.

Naturally, policies on this may vary from site to site.

That's just my personal approach.

@Ash Let us know if there's anything we can do to help. <3

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Ash

2:01 PM

@V2Blast mostly right now hope it's over soon so I can afford it :p

KorvinStarmast

2:15 PM

@Ash Hoping in progress, which is about all I can manage. (My sister used to go to Toronto a lot, but I've only been to Vancouver BC and Calgary and Canmore/Banf)

Rubiksmoose

@Ash That really sucks. :( Please do let us know if there's anything we can do to help.

Ash

Gonna just take it day by day, and see if we can find people carpooling or something. We will make it through. I just wish they could have figured something out.

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