Our first genre survey since the pandemic... I was about to say "of the post-apocalypse" but since we have WW3 to look forward to now, I thought I'd save it! (I have a V8 so I'm sorted if we do end up in a nuclear wasteland. Do I have to cut a sleeve off my leather jacket though, this thing cost me 90 quid?)

Based on feedback from last time we're merging some genres and streamlining the selection to make voting simpler. What do you think?

That means if you have a nuanced flavour in mind when you vote, you should explain below.

Remember, you have two votes so don't click 'Submit Vote' until you've ticked two boxes.

I see a vote for "Others" but which other? Don't forget to tell us.

That was me. I get two votes and I don't like any of the settings other than Fantasy, and I can't vote for Fantasy twice. Since "Fantasy" (I expect) covers High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Gritty Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, etc I would put both votes there if I could.

I know at one point we split Fantasy up on this survey but it made the results appear a bit misleading. Could we have some sort of indented list like:

- Fantasy:
A - High Fantasy
B - Dark Fantasy
C - Alternative Fantasy (Amber etc)
etc.

And then we could roll up the Fantasy results into a single total but still see the specific areas of interest?

Not saying I 'dislike' the idea Zeim. But ... then where do we draw the line? How many 'sub-categories' for each 'category' should we have? And then what about sub-sub-categories?

Sure wish I had the perfect answer <sigh>

Well, otherwise just give everyone a single vote. Make a choice for your favorite setting. OR, allow placing both votes in a single area. OR you just lose one of your votes.

I think as we par down the genres we could go to a single vote, aye. We had expanded out to 15 options so one vote didn't really cut it but now we're down to 9 options one vote is probably sufficient.

Another idea ... have a 'primary' vote that counts more than the 'secondary' vote.

The poll manager only allows you to set number of votes, it's dead simple but adequate for this purpose I reckon. Doesn't allow us to insert headers for categories either, but you could define the category in the option itself. "Fantasy: High Fantasy", for example. Ultimately that's not so different to having 15 or more options like before.

Its fine the way it is. No need to overcomplicate things.

Why not do follow up polls periodically? Like the genre poll quarterly, then the next month Fantasy sub genres. The next something else... etc. Just adding in my 2 cents

Yeah ... and then next ... you will want people to 'vote' before they can 'enter' the site <sigh>

I don't mind the annual poll. But I don't want something like that to be a requirement for visiting the site!!

So Supers and Others

For others a variety of options, Steampunk or Urban Fantasy would be favorites (maybe with a little Soap mixed into one of those).

I vote, but to be honest, what's needed is what a GM wants to enjoy themselves with and run. Running a game is a lot of work (Thanks folks), getting players is rarely the problem, so GMs, run something that excites you.

Agreed. It is much more about what people are excited about GMing than what people are looking to play. I've played in games where the DM was doing it half-heartedly because there was demand from players, and I've played in games that were not my preferred setting but the DM was enthusiastic about running it and the latter is a much better experience.

Sorry ... gotta disagree (a bit <weg>)

It is the combination. There is the 'game' that a GM ... who hopefully has a game that (s)he likes and is looking forward to running ... =and= ... players who want to 'experience' that world.

Yet it is much easier for an enthusiastic GM to create enthusiasm in his players than it is for enthusiastic players to drag along a reluctant GM. In my experience, those latter type games always fail.

Yup. If the GM isn't all in on the game, it will absolutely fail.

As a GM, I can say that if I'm not interested, a game will fail. But players can drag a game down too. F2F is also different than PBP. They are very different mediums. A lone player can destroy a session and ruin a game in a single F2F session.

Role-playing games are sometimes burdened with a strange mystique by people who don't play them but the group dynamic isn't so different from Monopoly or baseball or even going to the pub for beers with your mates. It needs everyone co-operating to have a good time, and you have to find the motivation to take part to avoid bringing everyone else down.

Player or GM, it's easier to find that motivation when you're interested in the game, the setting, the mechanics, whatever, but can still be done even if you're not. It's just much much harder!

As a GM, I'd rather not have the challenge of motivating myself on top of the challenge of running.

Ummmm ... so I am confused. Why would =anyone= go to all this trouble for something they didn't enjoy doing???

Well for me personally it's a bit like going out on the town, MikeD. Sometimes I just don't feel like it, especially after a week at work, but I know that if I get my act together and go out I will enjoy myself and not regret it.

But it's like you said, regardless of how everyone feels before a game, once you're there, sitting around the table both players and GM need to give it a fair shake. Like Nep said, it only takes one person having a bad day to sour the mood.

Bringing this back to choice of game though... this reminds me how I'm often surprised by how a game idea can be exciting and interesting, yet not work in practice.

Most recently I was discussing The Matrix* with a friend and thinking how weird it was that no-one had published an RPG because it'd be awesome. But afterwards I thought more deeply about it and realised that most of the cool stuff in The Matrix is visuals and sound and style.

These things don't translate into an RPG in my experience. Rather than The Matrix style, the game will have the gaming group's own style. Which is as it should be.

And then there's having to create two characters, one virtual, one real, with the virtual character being able to download new skills on the fly. Urgh! What a mess!

*I'd just watched The Matrix Resurrection. Don't bother. Bland visuals and sound and a remarkably absent sense of style.

Actually ... I think =any= 'premis' can work ... =IF= the GM and the plays all work to make it happen <g> Sadly, that doesn't happen very often <sigh>

MikeD - Peer pressure. I have seen it happen here when there was a clamoring among players for a certain setting, all sorts of excitement and pressure on a DM who was known to have run games in that setting in the past. That DM gets his/her arm twisted and convinced to run a game because of all the comments, but their heart really isn't in it. The game slowly fades away and dies.

Exactly!! With that evidence of the 'problem' ... why would it happen again and again?? Are we so 'blind'? Are we so 'desperate'?? <sigh>

Nominations for the 2022 ENNIE Awards have been announced.

https://ennie-awards.com/2022-nominations/

I'm glad to see less solo games nominated this year. Nothing against solo games but I don't consider them role-playing games per se.

It's like that age old philosophical question, if you role-play in a forest and no-one sees are you really role-playing?

But other than that quite a low-key selection of games. I skimmed through yesterday and didn't find anything I wanted to playtest. That's a first for me!

Have a look yourselves though and if you find inspiration, why not tell us about it here?