Of course, that can happen. We had a player in a tabletop group who ALWAYS fell asleep (until he changed his medication). We just accepted that he would be out for half an hour each session. It did help that this was a pretty casual game.

That’s exactly the great thing about playing online. You can easily find groups, and I’m pretty sure if you check dedicated online RPG platforms like roll20.net (or ask in social media groups for RPGs like on Facebook or Google+, which yes, is used by a lot of online groups because of Hangouts), you’ll find some GMs…

Absolutely. I have three more or less regular offline groups, and use online groups for the more unusual games or to play with people who have the same playstyle I do. Both are great ways to play.

Well, in addition to time and distance, there is one other important fact: tabletop RPGs can be played in a hundred different ways, and not all of those ways are compatible. Just in DnD, you can have a group of hardcore minmaxer, who want strategical combat. You can also have a group of players who just want to…

Falling asleep is a bit extreme, but I personally get more easily distracted when playing online. Especially if you play after a hard workday, it’s just so tempting to open another tab and check a website for a minute, if your character isn’t involved.

And I actually think that most 2D top-down tiles for Roll20/Maptools/etc. are prettier than those 3D-graphics... not to mention that Roll20 and Hangouts allow videochat, which means that, well, you can actually see the other players and read their expression.

I’m guessing the first episode was supposed to be a one-off gag, because the rest of the show is completely different. And now that they have everybody’s attention, anime-madness episode isn’t needed anymore (and might lead to false expectations). I admit I don’t really get most of the jokes in the actual show...

Most coop-boardgames tend to be a bit complicated. Pandemic is actually pretty easy, and you’ll probably win after a few games. I personally like:

Anybody who has ever been to a Pachinko parlour knows the are loud as fuck, so now I imagine the weird metal-clanging-soundtrack of Silent Hill playing at ear-splitting volume while people put coins in their slot machines. Horror at a whole new level.

In the otome game Sweet Fuse, you-as-the-heroine can save you uncle Keiji Inafune from a crazy pig mascot, who threatens to blow up a video-game themed amusement park. He also helps you with your love life.

I’m not convinced of the pillow-talk concept, but bishonen lovingly whispering to me that they will do my taxes with me... yeah, I can see how that might motivate me.

If you want to avoid spoilers, start with Fate/stay night, then Fate/Zero, and then Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works. Fate/stay night is more of a generic shounen story, though. Fate/Zero gets much darker, and I liked it much more.

I admit I learned to rules to Andor by playing it with friends who alread knew the rules. I’d say it’s perfectly valid to first read the rules and then play. I think it’s well worth it, because it’s a really well balanced coop game - either you win by a slim margin or you loose by a slim margin (it might be harder if…

I love cooperative board games. I highly recommend Space Alert for communication and teamwork skills. You play as the crew of a space ship, which has to deal with enemy forces and general space-trouble.

Should be Love Exposure, a four hour long movie about catholic guilt, true love, and the search for identity. Be forewarned, it’s more arthouse than comedy.

Sweet Fuse is great. Every otome game... no wait, every game needs a “flip out and call people out on their BS” button.

Ooooh, good to know both Code:Realize and Norn9 are coming to the west, thanks!

That’s true. I admit I let my love for romance stories and otome games drive me to start my own interactive fiction during last NaNo (not a visual novel, because I can’t draw, and for Twine, not Ren’Py). The writing alone is a fuckton of work if you want a game of decent length, not to mention that it can get really…

I’m currently playing through Sweet School Life - it’s not particularly great (mini games, ugh), but my Japanese is rather bad, and it’s super helpful to know all the characters and their quirks beforehand.

I was suprised just how huge otome games are in Japan. I certainly didn’t expect every small game store to have at least one shelf of them, giant advertisments, or, of course, otome road in Ikebukuro (okay, that’s for female-aimed romance stuff in general, but still...). I was glad I picked a few titles I wanted to…