Dragons Dragons
idle thoughts about DWRP culture again: this time it's the shift from having event partners RNGed from a pool of signups to having people pick on their own
Dragons Dragons
Unlike a lot of things that have changed over time, there were clear upsides to both, but I think the change was just because so many of us have known each other for years.
Dragons Dragons
When these things were more often decided by RNG, you'd meet new people and make new CR a lot of the time, which helped when you didn't know most of the people.
Dragons Dragons
And nowadays, a lot of players know who they work best with and will approach their friends at the first hint of the event.
Dragons Dragons
The downside of one is that you might not get the same thing out of the event as your RNGed partner, and also your personalities might clash; the downside of the other is you don't get that push out of your CR circle and it's harder for people who are new or more hesitant to approach others.
Dragons Dragons
I don't know, what are your thoughts?
DehydratedWater
honestly, I don't remember event partners being forced rng'd at all. the only times I remember rng being a thing was in plot heavy games.
𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿!
yeah, the only times i can remember rnged partners being a thing in recent years is in murdergames
𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿!
or... mmmmayyybbee in avalon? though i think i'm misremembering and i'm thinking of the tournament results, actually
Dragons Dragons
yeah, it's been a long time
Dragons Dragons
other than those of course
Dragons Dragons
and I don't know about forced, a lot of the time iirc you could still plot with your friends, it was just more common to post your character to a list instead to have a mod RNG their partner or team
Dragons Dragons
just more and more over the years, there were more planned partners and fewer floater signups
Cherry
I dunno, I can remember getting unexpectedly amazing CR out of RNG matchups for events that I never would have considered otherwise. And making new rp friends as a result. I kind of miss that and random roommate assignments.
Dragons Dragons
^
blair
this also depends on the situation like... id rather be partnered up w someone who shares the same timezone or at least close to mine, for example
𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿!
that's a good point actually
𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿!
if you're not in a canadian or US timezone, it can be a nightmare trying to get timely event stuff done
𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿!
so sometimes it's just easier to plan with someone you know will be around
blair
yeah there's only a handful of us on the asia/oceania timezones so we gotta stick together
Cold XC
I've always worked weekends and had weird tagging hours so I've always had trouble... in general?
Cold XC
with stuff like that
kilmer．
i've actually found rng still fairly common in closed/private games these days - specifically because it means you get that surprise cr combination, but you likely already know every possible player at least somewhat
𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿!
flashing back to how i got the cr ever in unknown seas because i was, by pure chance, roomed with the only other person in the entire fucking game who has read the villainess turns the hourglass
kilmer．
whereas back in the days of e.g. ddd, rng would happen in big games to get you new cr bc it was so big there was just no way of naturally forming cr with every possible person lmao
kilmer．
and these days we're all slower and have to portion out our time more carefully so in a huge game now, it's like. well if i'm gonna do event plans i want them to be with the cr i already have and the new cr i know i'm interested in
kilmer．
"cliques" have also become much less taboo lol
Dragons Dragons
Makes sense. If someone complains about cliques these days, it just means "they have friends."
Zombibble
whenever i was rngd the other player almost always ghosted me which was frustrating when i was actively avoiding being cliquey and, y'know, was interested in the event
Gabiluzbad
I was briefly in The Far Shore, where players are paired up into kind of soul eater esque partners
Gabiluzbad
And my character’s partner just immediately idled out
Gabiluzbad
Which wasn’t great
Gabiluzbad
It’s definitely a pros and cons sort of thing though
yukkie。
yeah i've had partners idle out for things like this before too LOL
Uncontrollable
RNG always failed me. TFS was a perfect example.
Gabiluzbad
I think having an RNG option is certainly not a bad idea for some events, though
𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏
as another farshore-er, yeah, i felt like i had problems doing much stuff with my rng'ed partner
Dragons Dragons
yeah definitely
𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏
nowadays i just think of assigned rng partners as feeling like being assigned group projects in school...
Dragons Dragons
A partner system in RP always sounds great but the threat that people can and will drop or idle out tends to make the end result not as good as it could have been.
Gabiluzbad
The other side of it is
Gabiluzbad
If you play OCs a lot, it can be hard to get tags
Gabiluzbad
The stigma is real
Gabiluzbad
So sometimes there’s an appeal to just having the mods grab someone to get things jumpstarted a bit
Dragons Dragons
Yeah, makes sense.
Echo
I think having it as an option is good, yeah. Like have the mods go 'you can either pick a partner or, if you want a surprise, sign up for the RNG pool and we'll randomly select one for you'.
Makimerry🤶
I sadly do feel like I can't support RNGed partners that are intended to be for the entire duration of a game. But i wish i could. I do think it is possible for cliques to exist ngl
🎄Misteltein
Yeah, honestly I would much rather pick just for the reason other people have already stated, matching up timezones and tagging speeds
Dragons Dragons
Makes sense. I don't really have anything against either style. I just like to think about how our culture has changed.
yukkie。
i think rng could work in like, the capacity of "people putting a lot of deets so that mods could randomize players who would fit together better" like in terms of like people putting their timezones/tagging speeds
Makimerry🤶
See in LTGs timezones didn't matter to me because we were just writing one long tag every two days anyway