Hello everyone.
If you are getting invited to read this then you have played games with me in the past and maybe even are playing a game with me now. Or maybe you are just a random visitor, however unlikely that is based on my view numbers. In any case, you know I like boardgames, video games and role playing games and I like playing games with people I know. I like meeting new friends yes, but I also like to talk about and reminisce with friends about great games we played together even many years later. Good times.
HOWEVER its very hard to stay in touch and to get folks up to speed on who is playing what games lately, what platforms they have (e.g. Steam, consoles, online games like Eve Online, online game sites like Boardgame Arena), and simply figuring out when people would be able to play. No one wants to sign up to a new game or game service unless they know there is a chance its going to be worth the time. Many games have lobbies or ways to make friends but they are generally limited to that game or platform which means there is a real fragmentation of your game buddies unless they all happen to be interested in the same things you are currently playing.
Many people use email or Facebook to keep in touch or organize games and I've tried that... It sucks.
Email always devolves into a rabbit hole where people have a hard time following a topic. People miss parts of the conversation or derail the topic or take time to reply only to find the conversation has moved on and its very hard to invite specific comment or add people to an email thread without breaking it. Facebook was pretty good a decade ago, but the way it shakes up posts and moves content around has made it very hard to retain continuity in a sea of competing posts. Plus I deleted my Facebook account when Meta decided to mess with politics and join the technarch oligarcy while also having pretty low value interactions. Anyway enough about social media.
What is the answer oh two bit oracle?
Well there really isn't one. Fragmentation is a fact of life and really there is no way around it except constant effort. Its that Third Law biting us in the ass yet again. But as mortals we can only strive to push back the inevitable end of things, the looming entropy.
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| must... save... the games. |
I have a discord server I set up called Upper Canada Irregulars so that I can talk about games and try to find times or opportunity to play games with folks I know. I'm first to admit, its not a very active discord, but its still a great place to organize information and do some video conference stuff. I use it to run my role playing games since its free voice and chat. I also set up other groups for playing Minecraft and for all kinds of discussion topics.
Discord is very easy to access, you can go no-install and use a web browser, or you can get a PC or mobile app, you can use the dedicated neuralink. Discord is a lot like the old chat net forums where you set up channels and can tag topics to better find and focus discussions. There are community tools to organize events, and it has very good voice and video capabilities. Also its free and gamer friendly since its used by a lot of gamer guilds to manage their members. If you already have Discord for some other group, they its very easy to navigate between your various servers. The UCI Discord is there to help people find games, talk about games and play games. Its invitation only, but I'm pretty happy to approve any invite requests and make sure you get the proper roles to match your interest.
I also have a blog (note: its this blog right here) that goes way back and was the primary way of trying to communicate game stuff with people. I also have Upper Canada Irregulars groups set up in Steam and one on Board Game Arena so its easy to find other UCI people on those platforms. I am working on a plan to refurbish the blog and make it more useful and functional as the web facing part of the UCI experience, including expanding the tools I have, putting together more posts, and getting a proper domain address. I'm also thinking on a newsletter idea to keep people updated on games that have been played, are being played, and that might be played. So if that tickles any part of you then - watch this space.
