Dallas/Ft Worth

[Moritz]

Instead of posting this twice, one to the Dallas board and then one to the Ft Worth board and starting multiple threads, I figured this would be a better option.

I did a Player Registry search (love that thing), and discovered a few things.

Using 75062 (Irving, Texas - a central point of the D/FW area), I discovered there are 136 gamers within 40 miles (a semi reasonable drive time for a game -I say 'semi-reasonable' because we all know D/FW traffic and how it sucks).

Reducing the radius to 20 miles, reduces the number of gamers to 94. (this excludes me because I live in Waxahachie - I love the boondocks, so peaceful out here).

Both searches encompassed all game genre's.

Now, I respecify the fields to three game types (Fantasy, Superheroic, and Space Opera - obviously since I'm doing the search, I get to pick the fields - those being what I am open to play), and set the radius to 30 miles (still excludes me because I'm around 34-36 miles from 75062).

In this search, I find 30 players. That's a ton of players (literally). More players than we could use at one sitting.

Now, this search serves a few purposes.

It shows me the players out there within my desired travel distance. However, the search engine doesn't allow us to narrow down a field that I'm normally inclined to desire - Age range. I would also be interested in seeing that search field be able to pick and choose playing styles. Rules rapists, rules lawyers, power gamers, et al, need not be searched.

Further, it gives me ideas about a gaming convention. Yeah, I know they already exist, but having 136 listed gamers within 40 miles just means that we could have a sweet gaming convention of our own that wouldn't cost anything other than gas, food, and rental space/gathering hall - Ultimately not paying 100 bucks to some Slick Willie who is trying to make a buck off the local geeks. This isn't to say that I'm the one to set this up. I don't have those skills, I'm just a Chiropractor. - Just a thought.

But anyway, what was my point in all of this? Oh yeah, just to see who was within my desired travel time from Waxahachie.

30-40 miles of 75165, Fantasy, Superheroic, Space Opera, results in 15 people. Now that's a pretty sweet result.

Just my ramblings.
Moritz

[Farcaster]

Adding in an age filter is something that I have been considering. The only concern I have is a matter of privacy. Many users do not choose to share their age on their profile and they might not want to be searchable even by an age range. Still, I know it is definitely a consideration when I am considering a potential player for my group. Although, I would probably not exclude a younger player who was more mature for his or her age.

As an aside, I'm not sure how many members would actually categorize themselves accurately as power-gamers, rules lawyers, etc.

I think the mini-con idea is a great one. The Seattle D&D group did something similar a few months back and they had a great turn out and it went very well. It takes a lot of work though to organize. You might shoot off an email or PM to SeattleMeetupOrg (http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/member.php?u=338) (Jon) and see if he has any insights for you on how he organized his group.

And, I'm glad you like the search tool. Let me know if you think of anything else you'd like to see. Is the new map integration a big help as well?

[Moritz]

The map integration rocks the camel's ass. Seriously, it shows me where I may or may not be driving to get to the party. Especially with the D/FW traffic, I won't drive up 35 from Waxy unless my liver is about to fall out and the only place I can get liver tape would be in downtown just off 35. Hell no.

Maybe we need a questionnaire when joining.

One question could go something like this, "When faced with a superior foe, do you, A) Whine about how powerful it is. B) Consult the rules ad infinitum looking for a section that states the DM is wrong. C) Pull out your trusty +26 Sword of Everything slaying and slice it into bits. D) Expect to be rewarded with every 3rd magic item in the book if you defeat the foe. E) Walks into a room and says, "I call the most powerful Magic Item!". or F) Trust that the DM knows what he's doing and roll with it because it'll make a great story as long as the player shuts the hell up and just plays the game.

Something like that would tell me whether or not I'd want that player in my group :).