So, I was curious as to just what the ratio is here of people who do most of their gaming at cons or at regular play events at stores or clubs, versus people who do most of their gaming at home (theirs or someone else's)?
Right now my regular game is running 5e bi-weekly at the local library. I do not have a home game right now if that is the difference you are getting at.
But I'm cool with that because I have gotten back into miniatures and fantasy scenery in the time I would have spent on a home game.
Though.... I'm starting to get that itch that a pre-made campaign can not scratch which is about all the library game can support due to people in and out of sessions.
I've never played at any of them. Closest I've come to a convention was a competition when I was still at school run by TSR at their head office in the UK. One of the worst sessions I've ever experienced.
I've never played in a game store. I've never looked for players at a game store. I'm not sure if I've even spoken to somebody about an RPG at a game store, other than asking after specific items I was interested in purchasing.
I have played in a handful of con game sessions. Were I to attend a con at any point in the future, I would be extremely unlikely to sign up for any tabletop RGP session.
Everyone I game with is either someone I met outside of gaming, or who met another member of the group outside of gaming.
I go back and forth; 2008-2014 I played at my local Meetup; 2015-16 split home & Meetup, 2016-2017 only at home, and I'm just going back to GMing at the Meetup while also GMing a separate pub game since the start of the year.
Generally speaking I like GMing at home with all my stuff handy, but it's much easier for mid-week play to meet at a central location which for London means a pub, and it's much easier to get new players at the Meetup.
All my current regular players I met via my Meetup, or is a friend or girlfriend of one of those players, or I met through gaming before joining the Meetup.
Back when I lived in Virginia I gamed at the local store (Game Parlour) but since returning to the UK and finding a club in Bournemouth I've gamed there on a Friday evening, I've also simultaneously gamed at home for various lengths of time (running The One Ring for 2 years for example) and recently started running games at another local group in Southampton on a Wednesday. I also do the big UK cons (Expo and Dragonmeet plus a load of smaller conventions (mostly Contingency, Revelation, Controll, Seven Hills, Longcon, Continuum, Furnace) which typically run 80-200 attendees.
A good part of my gaming I'm reminded is playing on-line with various groups of people I know in real life but who live too far away for FTF gaming.
I do most of my gaming at home, and generally my own at that.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1007150So, I was curious as to just what the ratio is here of people who do most of their gaming at cons or at regular play events at stores or clubs, versus people who do most of their gaming at home (theirs or someone else's)?
Right now, my games are at the local nerd bar (Green's Tavern) or at FLGS's or conventions (when work does not prevent me from attending, like this weekend). My home is a mess and only friends are invited over, not all of them are into tabletop RPGs.
My games at public places have always been, at best, sporadic. The last decade or so, it's trended towards non-existent. The home game continues as always, and I've added a game at work on infrequent lunch breaks. But that one is limited to co-workers.
I do all my gaming at home and online. I used to go to game stores back when I new regulars at them who I got a long with. The past few times I've popped into game stores to play, things were a bit too chaotic for my tastes and the civility level wasn't the greatest.
I've never played at a store. Have no interest in that. It's always been with private groups, at my home or at a friend's home.
I played in one demo at Gen Con around 15 years ago.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1007150So, I was curious as to just what the ratio is here of people who do most of their gaming at cons or at regular play events at stores or clubs, versus people who do most of their gaming at home (theirs or someone else's)?
Most of my gaming is weekly at home.
I play at conventions, normally once a year or once every two years.
I never play at games stores/clubs, no particular reason, just never had the need.
Almost all my RPG gaming has been at (my or someone else's) house or over the Internet, or in a semi-public place that isn't a game store or convention (e.g. some side room of a school or university).
I have played other types of games (wargames, board games) in game stores, conventions, cafes, etc.
I do my RPGing mostly at mine or someone else's home. I play X-Wing miniatures weekly at my local gaming pub. I have occasionally gone to said pub for RPGing.
I run a game in a store because I moved to a new city and have no friends here.
Play almost always at someone's house. We have a mini-con/club that meets 4 times a year that brings together about 20 people. I've played twice in a store - it was ok I guess but I've never felt the desire to do so again.
2010-2015, mostly with a home group (or online) running a game every 2-3 weeks (4-6 hour length)
2016-2017, mostly conventions running 5-7 games of 4-6 hour length (Gary Con, NTRPG Con, Gamehole)
My regular game is a home game, we play long sessions once or twice a month. I also regularly play in one-shots at other home games.
I enjoy conventions and try to attend several per year. I love playing with strangers at Cons, almost always an amazing experience.
I have had a couple of poor store-game experiences, and a couple of excellent ones.
Mostly homes and stores. FLGS are more like "the nerd bar," with more chips 'n soda, going around wide open table spaces, with bright lights to read rules.
Done the restaurant and bar thing, too. But bars tend to be too dim, restaurants too cramped for table space, and overall you best not abuse your welcome of camping out a table so long.
I try to never do Cons. After working them for the dealer's booths the romance is gone. Not even that interested in the new stuff put out (and it's mostly boardgames, which I no longer care about). Only reason I have left is to go is to catch up with acquaintences with a pick up game, and at those prices let's hit a bar or restaurant instead.
I used to game, occasionally, at SF cons, when I was still doing SF cons. Haven't run a con game since ... 1993?
Used to game at the UMass-Boston SF club, but haven't since moving out of the area in 1988; haven't gamed at a club since.
Never have gamed out of a store; I've a whole mini-rant on the subject.
It's been homes pretty much since 1986 and exclusively since 1993.
Regularly, yes, but not most of the time.
I am a member of the local university's wargame club, and have been, first as a student and then as an alumnus, for over 35 years. The club has met in the student union every Saturday (and in the past on Wednesdays as well, but these young kids don't have any stamina any more) since 1974. The student union meeting rooms have everything that a GM might want--white boards, dry erase markers, unlimited supplies of food and soft drink on site, rooms that are actually somewhat clean in any size from a table and half a dozen chairs to the grand ballroom (which the club used to use twice a year for free for miniature naval battles, until someone on the union staff changed the reservation policy.)
With this resource, have only had in home game sessions a couple of times in my life. My experience with conventions has been uniformly pretty bad. I have occasionally played a quick board or card game at the local game and comic store, but the club's location is more comfortable anyway.
Never, always played with family and friends.
Always family friends, even when at GenCon me and three friends always game together. I could see myself having fun with random folk, but never have had the need or surplus time.
75% of my gaming has always been in public venues - conventions, game days, FLGS events, Meetups events, and back in the day meetups before Meetup.com exists. Our high school RPG club was through the local recreation center where we met every Friday and our college RPG club had the pick of various "study rooms" to split into for games.
My minis gaming is probably 90% in public venues and boardgaming probably 50/50.
90% of my gaming is private. With family and friends. Less than 10% is conventions and public venues. For five out of the last seven years I have not attended a convention at all, and only started attending again last year after having two convention seasons in a row with really poor experiences in 2011 and 2012, While I did not attend conventions over the last few years until just last year, I have hosted a few games online for the general public, ...however stopped doing that again in the spring of this year, and am content to run just about 100% private games. The only reason I even attend game shows is to help a few friends with their gaming business, and to meet a few other gaming friends I haven't seen in quite a few years.
My best friend from high school is dead already. My second best friend from high school moved to Germany, permanently. Being half German like me, he cares little for the hypocrisy that is the United States. Third and fourth friends from my original gaming group are strung out on drugs, and have accomplished absolutely nothing with their lives, not even raising a family, I haven't spoken or correspended with them in almost two decades. Fifth friend lives about a thousand miles away, and we speak every few years, and exchange Christmas Cards now and again.
My youngest son likes some gaming, and there are a few gaming friends I have made over the years and we get together once in awhile and game. There's a new college group that started gaming with me last year, and we are all still playing, hopefully we'll get in a game before Thanksgiving.
So, mostly home play. I'm thinking of starting up a second group, but only because I want to run Traveller and MindJammer games, and maybe a few Fallout IV games, if Modiphus will hurry on up, and get some minis made I can use to game with.
I might actually run a EPT game as well, if I can scrounge up Swords & Glory, Book II. I kind of want to try running a game using the Empire of the Petal Throne RPG rules instead of running a Tekumel game using D&D.
I currently play in two different private groups with friends, however I will say that I was running games in a local club for a couple of years previous and this was a good way to recruit players in the first place.
For about 8 years cons were pretty much my only way to RP due to living in the middle of no-where. Before that 99% of my gaming was at the local library in a room rented by a gaming club that I later became the owner and organizer of. Not counting the occasional times GMed for family.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1007150So, I was curious as to just what the ratio is here of people who do most of their gaming at cons or at regular play events at stores or clubs, versus people who do most of their gaming at home (theirs or someone else's)?
I run this: https://www.meetup.com/London-Darkness-Roleplaying-Club/
So yeah...
I love it.
I visit two Cons a year where I'll play and run. Other than that it's almost entirely online, 13 hours a month, with a trusted group of players whi get along well with no hassle or bs. There is an occasional family game at home but it's irregular.
The first 10-12 years of my gaming "life" were always in a store and so it's still the "default" when I think about games.
That said I haven't played in a store since college.
ATM mostly at gaming clubs in libraries, running DnD 5e, although starting to feel a bit burned out with 5e.
So I might drop one of the clubs and focus on other RPGs either at home or at another club where they support RPGs other than DnD 5e.
I only play with my IRL friends back at my house.
I've always done friends and family gaming, however, yesterday I was approached to run an rpg in a bar that wants to get away from the sports bar thing and have "nerd night". So I'll see how this goes.
I mainly play at home. Lately, as the movement to gaming events and cons has grown here, I've often been invited to GM here.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1007150So, I was curious as to just what the ratio is here of people who do most of their gaming at cons or at regular play events at stores or clubs, versus people who do most of their gaming at home (theirs or someone else's)?
Half in store. Half in Google Hangouts. I don't do cons.
These days, I play exclusively online, play by post or Roll20/Hangouts.
1977-1979 was exclusively at home
1979-1981 was 95% at MIT SGS while in high school
1981-1989 was split in various ways between clubs (MIT while on break, RPI in college) and dorm room, with really much of the club time not during a club meeting (the RPI club operated more as a social circle, with folks hanging out between classes or over pizza, and then dispersing to meeting rooms, dorm room, apartments, or class rooms for actual play, and really most of the dispersed play sessions being coordinated outside the social time).
1990-1999 or so saw some club play at NCSU club eventually migrating to exclusively at home
2000-2001 didn't see much gaming at all
2002-2013 was almost exclusively at homes, with one session at a game store (about the only time I've ever played at a game store) and a few sessions at someone's office, with play by post gaming starting in 2008)
2013-2016 was exclusively play by post
2017 I added in Hangouts/Roll20 once a week
Along the way I have done some con gaming, most of it in the 1979-1981 time frame, split between Boskone and MIT SGS Summer Con and Winter Con. I've attended two Gencons and one Origins but didn't do too much traditional RPG there, I attended to run Evil Stevie's Pirate Game (LEGO pirate game written by the US Steve Jackson), which is almost a role playing game. I did make lots of RPG purchases... I also ran the pirate game at LEGO conventions from 2000-2005 or so.
Frank
Shouldn't this be a poll?
Quote from: RPGPundit;1007150So, I was curious as to just what the ratio is here of people who do most of their gaming at cons or at regular play events at stores or clubs, versus people who do most of their gaming at home (theirs or someone else's)?
At home, totally. I game to play with my friends, not for the sake of gaming. No need to go out for that.
Quote from: Bren;1007880Shouldn't this be a poll?
I vote Yes.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1007916I vote Yes.
That's one for you. :D
Yeah, I'm always lazy about making polls.
Q: How Many Of You Regularly and Mostly Play in Conventions/Stores/Clubs?
A: Every once in a blue moon we have played at a game store in the backroom. Usually it's at someone's home or, rarely, at a restaurant.
The main thing to remember about gaming at cons is that you have no control over who you will be gaming with.
It could be bad, could be great. Over the course of years and years of convention gaming I only ever had two notable issues. One involved some players fucking with a blind player. That about ended in someone being laid out flat. The other was being screwed over by the Stormriders Guild leader and his flunkies. Other than that it was minor stuff like the damn RPGA DMs being more concerned with their points and forms than running the session and the same with DP9s attempt at an equivalent. That only happened once each.
Quote from: Omega;1008688The main thing to remember about gaming at cons is that you have no control over who you will be gaming with.
It could be bad, could be great.
That and the noise are the main reasons I vastly prefer running games at home.