Season 2 - Planning Stage

I had a lot of fun conducting these 14 interviews. When I decided to release the interview with Lenpelletier as s1e01 I had two things in the back of my mind:
- I could take a break at any time and just call the last one published a season finale
- I could shift gears dramatically, with a new design philosophy separately from the rest cleanly

So the question for the few of you that watch the show, or would if it was different, what should I (we) do for season 2?

If you came here from mobile, you might need to scroll up to see that there is a poll at the top.

This poll is hosted inside a game. Apply and I'll let you in.

A mix of B and C is what I'd pick. Went with b because that wasn't an option.

I would add that, but you can't edit polls

Off the top of my head, I'd like to see interviews on GM strategies and styles for preparing for a game for both homebrews and published adventures.

I've now spent hours and hours watching and listening to you interview people who talk about systems that I don't know and will probably never play. So, let's be honest, I'll watch anything.

But what one thing that did occur is that they're difficult for outsiders to find and consume.

But what about:
You have a list of PbP related questions (like now)
You ask a bunch of people the questions from the list (some people will have nothing to say on some questions - like now).
You then edit together the answers for each question.
Release the videos for each question (which will have many interviewees).

So someone searching youtube might see videos for:
What tools do you use for PbP?
How do you make your PbP games run faster?
What do you do when someone is on holiday in a PbP game?
Which system do you find works best in PbP?
Do you watch sports?

Each video has different people answer that one question.

They become a resource that not only GP users can use, but discord, TavernKeeper, MythWeaver users can use too.

I have no idea how difficult this would be to edit and pull off. It sounds difficult to me. Maybe try it with your existing videos by thinking of a common question (e.g. search the transcripts for "dream game" so you can find your timecodes for editing)? Dunno.

You might also find more people prepared to be interviewed on just a question or two, rather than commit to talking to you for a whole evening.

So, what I'm thinking is like this below but with longer answers (and only one question).



Too left field? If so, then I did miss the accent skits when they stopped. So more of the same with daft accents works too.

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I personally prefer the more rambly interviews as they are now but this would definitely be better for SEO and to get people from outside GP to find the vids.

I'd prefer round table discussions on topics to this but those would probably be very hard to organize

And yes, we need more accents

Your detailed example is really what I meant to include with the third choice in the poll.

Stitching video segments together is really easy; arranging for a guest and an interview time has proven to be way more difficult, so I imagine it could take a month or more to get three or four people recorded even if there were known to be willing guests in advance.

---

I am interested in reaching a broader PBP community, but have very little interest in serving content for the non-PBP TTRPG peeps, and zero interest in attracting, say, non-TTRPG civilians.

Told you when you asked me, I'll put it in here as well; dropping the interviews for the sake of them and chit chat would be beneficial.
-RPG reviews through the PbP scope
-Tips&Tricks, PbP style
-- this, again pbp scope
-pbp rpg podcasts (can have guests as well)

I think that's exactly right. If discord works for your PbP, then peace be with you brother - but I've tried it and I thought it sucked.

Ah - I wonder if instead of seeing faces during interviews we should be looking at GP screenshares?

Question "What are examples of things that could only work on PbP"
Answer: (Brings up the post with the Alaric's speech)
"Let's look at this Alaric's speech to the Waterdeep Watch on why they shouldn't be arrested for breaking and entering.
There's no way a player could have come up with this IRL...."

Question "What tools do you use?"
Answer: (Brings up post with Grummond dying)
"So here I used HeroForge to create Grummond..."

To the non-PbPers it shows how PbP works.
To the PbPers it shows how GP works (and Discord just... doesn't).
To the GP PbPers it's still interesting having a nose about someone else's game!

Also - we all ain't as pretty as your first fourteen interviewees.

I like this idea. It's different but maybe S2 should be different

@Adam
FYI since you said you didn't have time for a Savage World One Shot you made a cameo as a body guard for a shady space business entity by the nickname 'Loki'... you had the cat toy on a stick and a gun and just looked around guarding he hasn't called for the toy yet... Good job. Would hire again. XD

Oh as for Season two whatever floats your boat. If you get bored you could gamify "pitch the game" people get a random idea they pitch it and maybe discussion on system to run it in or system to definitely not run it in.

@Qralloq - you said on discord that you had some thoughts about series 2.

Waterdhavian nib for them?

I'm thinking a hybrid model. A few more interviews like season 1, but the focus will be on asking a number of people the same question and then sketching them together in a more documentary format. I'm thinking that if I can interview 8-10 people and ask them 6-10 questions, I can turn that into 7-9 episodes, each a deep dive on a single topic.

I'll need to think carefully about the questions/deep dive topics, of course, so any help would be appreciated.

I think that's a great idea!

Topics?

1. Strategies for dealing with burnout (yourself and spotting it in others)
2. What new features would you like to see on GP?
3. What do you miss from IRL games in PbP games?
4. What are your three favourite things about GP - preferably each in twenty words or less with suggestions for icons that can appear above them, because no other bugger seems to know.

GM game prepping styles is of great interest to me as I wrote earlier but also how they vary among GMs. Where does inspiration come from? Published adventures? A combo of your ideas with the adventure as a guideline or a total home brew? Why run a game at all and not just be a player?

Since it's come up for me when and why to end a game (ask for feedback), ask a Player if they're going to continue or bow out after they go inactive in the game but not the site.

Here's my season 2 topical list for interviews. If you're interested in participating, either by interview or simply through written submission, I'd be happy to work with you.

Short Topic List
What do you miss from IRL games in PBP

What do you miss from PBP games in IRL

What is your GM prepping style for a PBP adventure or chapter?

When do you want to be a player and not a GM and vice versa?

What's your sense of balance in a PBP game: combat/action vs dialog/drama vs investigation/mystery?

What tips do you have for dealing with a game that doesn't work, or is flagging?

How do you deal with a player you don't mesh with?

Tips for dealing with/replacing ghosting players

Do you have a favourite character in your pbp games, both from a player and GM perspective?

Things DMs did that made you admire their way of thinking

We all probably want GP to grow, and I don't want to poach players from other sites, but can we learn from THEM too? Is it possible to reach out to competitor sites and improve both?

What RPG system works best for PBP for you?

New season. When?
How's montage going?
Got moar accents?