Chat events are a thing, I recently learned. They range from project meetings to movie nights to happy hours.
Are there ideas people have for events around here? Propose topics, time-frames (recurrence?), objectives, &c. I don't know how/whether any of this will work, but that won't stop me from trying =)
Our Very OwnTM chatizens have written a number of small RPGs. (And there are hundreds of other micro-RPGs out there worth trying!) Often people will take them for a test drive, but I know I forget about them pretty quickly, since they're not often in my RL-group's rotation. But plenty are amenable to play-by-chat. Let's do it some time(s)!
Some that I know of:
COLONYPUNK by Our Very Own @BESW
Gotterdammerung by OVO @Magician
Quarantine by a Stackizen
Shonen RPG by OVO @AnneAunyme
Scheduled:
A lot of people visiting the chat (including myself) have awareness of only so many different RPGs, with some folks only familiar with D&D or D&D-and-friends. Let's have an evening when we discuss, review, share and raise awareness of less known but not necessarily obscure games, especially ones that are small, free and different. Obvious candidates for such tasters are Cthulhu Dark, Lady Blackbird, Great Ork Gods, Lasers and Feelings, Honey Heist, Dog Eat Dog; or if going for something larger (that we are more likely to discuss than play) Fiasco, Dogs in the Vineyard, Night Witches, Lovecraftesque, 13th Age, ...
OK, it's entirely unoriginal. And, OK, most of the movies that are on-topic for us are terrible. But it's not like we're under any obligation to keep these events relevant to our site's purpose, and movie nights are a really fun thing.
@KRyan's suggestion, and presumably easier for people to find a 20 or 40 minute time to watch an episode of something than a 2 hour slot to watch a movie.
Alright, I'll admit it: I've had Playing at the World for over a year, and I'm not quite halfway through. But with your help, maybe I could make it by 2018?
Alternatively, there are (of course) hundreds of other books out there I could be pleasantly reading, if only I knew which ones they were....
This is a silly one, but also a relatively little-known site...
The pitch: draw a picture from a random prompt using MS Paint level tools in 10 minutes. Someone describes your picture, and someone else draws from that description. Down it goes in a chain until everyone has either drawn something or described something.
You can create "private games" when you reach a certain level (Level 3, I believe), wherein you can invite 6, 12, or 15 people to participate in that private game.
You can see all the pictures and prompts at the end of the game. The spirit of the game is like "Pass the message" where you start with a prompt and watch the message get distorted as it goes down the line. Usually, the result is entertaining. And no, you don't have to be good at drawing.
Seriously, it's fun. These are recent games between newbies. Notice the intentional misreading and misinterpretations. And note that any given person only has access to the one panel (whether drawing or prompt) before them.
Bite-sized book club. Short enough to read and comment on in an hour or two.
Crazy idea. I don't know how this will work, but what about...
Someone wrote an online version of Coup and the designer, Rikki, has no issues with it. It's quite fun even without using the chat interface (but it also has a chat interface, which is useful). For warming up, it even offers an AI mode.
Something about playing deception games is just so appealing. Give it a try!
